First things first... Andrea went over to our friends' house on August 21st to get a worm for the Snapper hatchlings and found a DeKay's there.
On Saturday, the 22nd, we went to Plymouth County to try our luck. We didn't have a gangbusters day but saw plenty of cute things. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to upload the photos online before my computer died, so for the first time in 11 years of this blog, I do not have pictures to show for the day. If I am able to retrieve them, I'll slip 'em right in. There were Bullfrogs, Green Frogs, Painted Turtles, Fowler's Toads and one Red-bellied Cooter whose head I couldn't get in frame.
Luckily, I kept everything else in my camera while waiting for my new computer.
Sunday, the 23rd was hot, hot... hotter than hell. Since we'd seen no snakes the day before, we decided to try for some almost sure-fire Garters at our Norfolk County "Green Snake" place. They're pretty easy to find there but in the end, we only saw one. Much to my surprise, after going down a trail alone to flip a rock that had been good to me before, I got back to the top and Andrea said... "right there... at the base of the tree..."
How she saw that, I'll never know. She said "I saw it because it had a face."... OK. At any rate, it's the first Massachusetts Green we've seen in five years. I got the one picture, then it was gone.
My contribution was the one Garter, which I flipped under some bark.
It was 90° and those would be the only two critters we saw, but a First-of-Year Green and a pretty Garter is nothing to sneeze at. I'm always baffled that there are any snakes in this peculiar setting.
The following weekend, it was super-rainy on Saturday and we stayed in and puttered around the house. My friend Ryan had suggested we hit our Copperhead spot on Sunday and, with all of the rain on Saturday, we decided to join him since the area is also very good for salamanders.
Ryan had forgotten about the proposed trip, but we decided to hit this Norfolk County spot anyway. The weather was nice... mid-70s and breezy. We didn't see as many salamanders as expected, but this FOY Marbled was a welcome sight.
I almost didn't see him as he backed sideways under cover but he was easy to reveal. I don't think we saw a Marbled at all last year.
Just as exciting was this plump Spotted Salamander.
While in Copperhead territory, I was keeping my eyes peeled. I was standing on a rock when this absolutely gorgeous Garter gal slithered past me.
We went to the high, sunny part of a more montane area and I was looking in every nook and cranny up there. Ryan and I had talked during the week and we surmised that gestating females would likely be up there, baking their bellies. But after exhausting myself and potential hiding spots up there, I gave up. Andrea went down into the shady, rocky side to continue her search and to stay out of the sun. I clumsily walked a bit above her.
Evidently, I had stepped within a foot of something... I heard her say "there's one right in front of me..."
Yes, she'd found our FOY Copperhead this time. There was a youngster nearby, as well, but she didn't see it until it moved into the rocks, yellow tail flashing. Looks like babies were already present. I'd missed that one but the adult is sure stunning.
We were pretty happy about that and on the way back down to the trail, this Racer was sunning in an open spot.
Thanks for letting me get a shot of your face, buddy.
So, that was the end of our August hikes. What of the turtles, you ask?
We still had 9 hatchlings... these pictures are from August 30th. They were starting to eat (commercial turtle pellets) and poop and they were looking pretty good.
Wrappy was still with us. We hadn't yet seen him eat yet, but when he was active, he was a total asshole, climbing all over his siblings.
Snapling update coming soon.
I haven't seen a MA green snake in years. Great pics of those copperheads.
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