Ending the Season Until Further Notice. 4-19-2020

Andrea had initially taken off Friday, April 17th through Tuesday the 21st to have a long weekend of hiking and animal seeing. Even with the quarantine and home-working, she still got the days off, but the only day that looked good to see reptiles and amphibians was Sunday. We tried to choose a place where we could see some First-of-Years and decided on a park that we had abandoned in Bristol County, a place that had been made very human-friendly in the past couple of years. We figured we'd hit it before the throngs of disease carrying nature crushers started using it.

Nope. We pulled into the drive and turned right around. There must have been a hundred cars spilling out, each one surrounded by scum humans. We went to the other side of town to a different place that we like. It was less full, but still pretty awful.

It took quite some time, probably about 1/4 of the total walk, before we were alone on a secluded path and we saw our first Garter.

Garters are very pretty here, obviously.

Soon after, another one shot across the path. This was the best I could do.


Next up was an adorable little ring of a Redback.


We stuck mostly to hidden back trails, intent on exploring the far side of a vernal pool. That's where we saw another Garter. This guy hid under a log so we hauled him out for a close-up.


A tiny, shy Redback.


The far side of the pool was wonderful. Frogs were jumping in and tadpoles were already evident. This Green Frog hopped in and hid under the water, but it was so crystal clear, I still got a decent shot.


From our hidden vantage point, we saw a Painted Turtle up basking. I don't think he saw us.


We stood there and watched tadpoles for quite a while. We think they are Wood Frog tadpoles.


Eventually, we had to leave our little oasis and head back to the main trails. We saw this gorgeous Garter on the way out. Looks like she might have just eaten something.


Naturally, the main paths and rest spots were filled with human scum. Of course, we put up our masks and stayed clear of the oncoming shitheads. They did not. A bunch of mouth-breathing, diseased filth were trampling our woods. You know, nobody wants to be there until it's a fucking quarantine. Now it's filled with people who don't know how to appreciate it.

Still, between encounters with disease vectors, we managed to enjoy some wilderness, while it still exists. Here is Andrea and a junked, rusty car.


Since turtles were pretty hard to come by, I decided to save this picture of a Painted Turtle's butt.

The river was super high and it was pretty windy. That's what we chalked up the dearth of turtles to, anyway.

One reliable, distant turtle perch had something on it, but it sure didn't look like a turtle.

Nope, it's bird #31, a Bufflehead.

Heading back to see if we could get on to our secret trail, we always look for lumps in the swampy area below the trail. This spot was well documented here. Anyway, we did notice a lump... could it be?

It sure is. A Snapper that just woke up, all covered with leaves and tannin. We wondered if it was alive, and saw it blink. We couldn't stay to savor the moment because shit-tons of unmasked humans were coming and we decided to not share the sight with them. Fuck them.

We went on to see if our over-the-stream path was passable. It wasn't. The water was too deep. Oh, well. We wanted to check on the Snapper again anyway once the humans cleared the path. It was while we were waiting that Andrea noticed this beautiful Garter next to where we stood.


The Snapper was still there, completely hidden in plain sight, unless you knew what to look for.


We took the long way to our other, more secluded area but saw nothing there. And to be honest, we really started to want to leave. We'd already seen dozens and dozens of people and only one was wearing a mask. People just aren't taking this shit seriously. Heading back to the car, trying to avoid the noisy scum of the Earth, we did manage to see two beautiful Leadbacks to finish up the day's animals.



But since everyone and their entire family have decided that they need to encroach on the wilderness and take it over, we have decided to stay away. Thank you, shitbag humans, for destroying one of the few things that give us pleasure.