Social Distancing: Snakes 3-21-2020

So, it was a Saturday, late morning, when Andrea suggested we go out and walk some local trails. It was sunny and in the mid-high 40s... why the hell not? I hadn't thought about going out that day so anything we saw would be a bonus.

Like the night before, we immediately heard Wood Frogs clucking but were unable to see any. That is until this little guy hopped across the path.


Roble's den had no Garters up but I flipped a tiny Redback that was dwarfed by some worm castings. Note the flatworm, too.


The Valley, however, was Garteriffic! We saw this guy basking...


Then Andrea noticed this guy periscoping at her.

See?


We went up to the "new" den site and this Garter came crawling down towards us, obviously on a mission. Business Garter.


Five feet away, this one was watching the progress.


Business Garter poked around for quite a while, never paying any mind to us. It was a real treat to watch him. We realised that he was headed toward the other one and we poised for action...

Nah, he just crawled right over the other, unphased snake.

Heading back to the trail, we noticed a small Water Snake had emerged from the den. I like this because his tail is still yet to get all the way out.


We made our way over to the Cottonwood Dens. To the right of the fallen tree, Andrea spied a Garter. That's a first!


I flipped another little Redback.


From here on out, it got a little hectic. We saw a bunch of Garters. I can't promise these are all different, but I think they are.






We thought that was it, then noticed this guy stretching out higher up.


On the way back to the trail, Andrea made an epic Redback flip... eleven salamanders were under it, including our first Leadback of the year. Here are ten of them... one slipped away.



It's always nice to see how variable this species can be.

The Rock Wall Dens were quiet, as they have been this year, but on the way out Andrea saw this guy.


We went up to the more human-y part to see if any snakes were basking or any turtles were up. Right away, we saw a Garter. A couple of teen kids saw us and I said "Garter"... and one lunged right at it. I said "no-no-no... try not to handle snakes this time of year! They're probably near their dens!" He understood and released it. Pretty damn good grab, though.


We walked for a bit up there but there weren't any animals other than off-leash dogs, so we turned back. A distant dark spot on the far shore turned out to be worth a zoom... a Painted Turtle!


Heading back to the car, we decided to peek at the Valley again. At the top of the hill, three Garter sentries were guarding the entrance.




I'm sure glad Andrea suggested we go out.

Like the night before, we immediately heard Wood Frogs clucking but were unable to see any. That is until this little guy hopped across the path.


Roble's den had no Garters up but I flipped a tiny Redback that was dwarfed by some worm castings. Note the flatworm, too.


The Valley, however, was Garteriffic! We saw this guy basking...


Then Andrea noticed this guy periscoping at her.

See?

A third one was tooling along and slipped down an incline and disappeared.

We went up to the "new" den site and this Garter came crawling down towards us, obviously on a mission. Business Garter.


Five feet away, this one was watching the progress.


Business Garter poked around for quite a while, never paying any mind to us. It was a real treat to watch him. We realized that he was headed toward the other one and we poised for action...

Nah, he just crawled right over the other, unphased snake.

Heading back to the trail, we noticed a small Water Snake had emerged from the den. I like this because his tail is still yet to get all the way out.


We made our way over to the Cottonwood Dens. To the right of the fallen tree, Andrea spied a Garter. That's a first!


I flipped another little Redback.


From here on out, it got a little hectic. We saw a bunch of Garters. I can't promise these are all different, but I think they are.






We thought that was it, then noticed this guy stretching out higher up.


On the way back to the trail, Andrea made an epic Redback flip... eleven salamanders were under it, including our first Leadback of the year. Here are ten of them... one slipped away.



It's always nice to see how variable this species can be.

The Rock Wall Dens were quiet, as they have been this year, but on the way out Andrea saw this guy.


We went up to the more human-y part to see if any snakes were basking or any turtles were up. Right away, we saw a Garter. A couple of teen kids saw us and I said "Garter"... and one lunged right at it. I said "no-no-no... try not to handle snakes this time of year! They're probably near their dens!" He understood and released it. Pretty damn good grab, though.


We walked for a bit up there but there weren't any animals other than off-leash dogs, so we turned back. A distant dark spot on the far shore turned out to be worth a zoom... a Painted Turtle!


Heading back to the car, we decided to peek at the Valley again. At the top of the hill, three Garter sentries were guarding the entrance.




I'm sure glad Andrea suggested we go out.