Braving Death and Brain Damage to See Garter Snakes. 9-15-2019

We might have been a little tired from the night before but we hauled ourselves up and out and into the danger zone by mid-morning. We wanted to try for baby turtles again so we went to a place that borders on two towns... one with a moderate EEE warning, one with a critical EEE warning. Obviously, we sprayed ourselves down pretty well. The sun was shining and the temps were reasonable.

With all of the aerial spraying going on, we keep fearing for the lives of our resident amphibians but our first sighting was a hoppity American Toad. A good sign.


Even before making it to the first pond, this gorgeous cinnamon spotted Garter Snake was seen prowling off-trail.


My first turtle sighting didn't go as planned.


This Bull felt sorry for me and my photo-failure so he sat tight for a portrait.


A sneaky Garter, thinking he was hidden. Well, he was, really.


We approached a spot next to a gully that we remembered as testing positive for neonate Garters. A proven dumping spot for mom. Much to our delight, there were three young 'uns there, of which we photographed two.


That second guy has just been to the buffet!

Another Garter, this time with some pleasing reds.


Walking by some water, this little Green Frog hopped into the corner, thinking he was hiding. I guess he was.


We got to our known turtle hatchling spot to look around for wandering pebbles or successful nests but saw no chelonia. We scored two species of frog up at that spot, though. A well sequestered Pickerel followed by a double-masked Wood.



Back on the trail, we saw this stunning Garter sunning herself.


A little further along, this slim Garter was posing beautifully. Unfortunately, a guy and his noisy-assed brat were zooming down the path in what sounded like a steamroller and it took off. At least Andrea got a voucher shot.


Up at the next pond, we had some begging Sunfish. We did, in fact, have some pretzels with us that accidentally got crushed and kicked into the water. Oops.


The Caudata Gods finally smiled on us and we flipped a lovely Redback.


We finally hit the turtle groove... the warming sun brought out the Painters.





Heading back, we saw this skinny Garter, who I thought might be dead. But he slithered off like a champ. Upon inspecting the scars on him in the picture, I've come to realize he's just a kick-ass warrior... a survivor.


A pretty perfect Pickerel.


Last flip was an in-the-blue Garter who gave me the stink-eye. The blue stink-eye.


Before leaving, I saw this Painted Lady atop the visitor's center.


So, we survived. No 'skeeter bites, no brain damage, no death. And lots of cute things. We're pleased about that.