Killed By Eft! 9-19-2020

The nights have been cool and Saturday the 19th wasn't supposed to get much out of the mid-60s. We decided to try our luck way out in Worcester County for Redbellies, juvenile Rat Snakes and other shoestrings. We got out there by 11:30 and it was barely scraping 60° but it was sunny and we liked our chances.

I'd asked Andrea on the way up (while listening to Crucified Barbara's version of Motörhead's "Killed by Death") if she thought we'd see any Efts. Well, our fist flip spot answered that question immediately.

No snakes there, but amphibians were present. Here's a Redback Andrea found.

A tarp came up empty. No, wait... no it didn't! Eft Magic.

THE TREE was barren at the moment, so we went to another flip spot. This served us a bit better, with a Milk and a Garter hiding under it.

A few more newts were seen. Many were rather dark, until the second one pictured here:

Before heading for the water, we saw one more Redback, a real stunner. Check out the gold-flecking on the noggin here, will you?

The sun was just starting to reach the duck-weed filled (and very low) swampy pond, and two Painters were waking up to warm up.

We made our way over to the big pond and took a stroll along the edge. It was peaceful and beautiful, nary a human in sight. In the lightly choppy water, Pickerel Frogs hopped in and out. This guy bobbed in the shallows.

A few smaller guys were actually having an easier time of it. That second guy has a lot of green, defying some of the field guides.

We continued down the beach and Andrea noticed a little pool just on the other side of the sandy beach path. It was a goldmine for small Bulls and Greens!

We made our way from the beach through a quiet wooded path. It's amazing how few humans we ran into. The parking lot had been a bit frightening, but so far so good. Out to the sunny wetlands next to the access road, we saw some happy Painted Turtles. Note that every one of them has a muddy butt. That's a sign of the cooler nights... they're planting themselves into the mud for sleepy-time.

So, we'd done our usual loop. We were back where we'd started. I theorized that maybe some of the earlier spots would be more fruitful now that the sun had been up for a few hours, so we checked a few of the flip-spots again. It doesn't happen often, but I was right! This young Milk had come closer to the surface to sleep under a warming rock.

A tarp that I'd checked earlier revealed (after gentle inspection) that a Garter had slipped in during our time there.

A twin Eft flip.

We took one last walk past THE TREE and there were still no signs of inhabitants, except for some skins, including small ones with saddles evident. Close, but no cigar. Under a rock at the base of the tree, this Pickerel was snuggled in for the day.

We took one last walk around a field before leaving. On the way out, this shoestring Garter gave us a big smile before heading to the car. Stretching in a straight line, indeed. We finally got our shoestring!

I printed this picture out and made it into a bookmark. Please help yourself... download it, make a bookmark and start a good book.

Last sight before heading home... we left as we came in... Killed by Eft.

Not a bad morning and afternoon. We left as it was filling in even more with filthy humanity. We made it home in time for me to have a nap, too. Win/ win.