How Dry I Am. 10-11-2020

 Snakes. We wanted to see snakes. It was only going to scrape 60° but it would be a little bit sunny, so we trekked deep into Worcester County where we'd previously had a 31 snake day in October. Would our luck be as good as that today? No. No it wouldn't.

Upon arriving (to a pretty full parking lot) we noticed that water levels were super low. Like, the big pond where we usually see our first turtles and snakes was dry. Muddy at best. So, we headed to the vernals to see if anything there had water. No. None. But Andrea spied this Garter warming in the sun.

I went into the dried up vernal to flip some logs and was rewarded with a Redback.

Some other humans had just started down our usual path so we continued on the main trail to let them get ahead and out of our way. The decision was fortuitous because we saw two more species of salamander by going that way... a young Spotted and the first 4-Toed we'd seen in months.

Back on our usual route, things were a little distressing. This place is usually turtle-heaven but with the drought, water is at a premium. This is a shot from where we can usually see dozens of Painted Turtles. The water on the right is what is left of that pond... a mere puddle.

Further up the trail, we finally got what we'd come for... a couple more Garter Snakes. These two photos show the range of Garter personalities... the top is a proud, majestic creature, the bottom is all like "duuurrrrr".

They were on a Beaver den that had become a snake house. The Beavers had made themselves some new digs. They also had been hard at work, building dams to keep the puddles full on one side of the trail. Impressive handiwork.

It is thanks to the Beavers that we got to see any frogs at all. Dozens of little Green Frog noggins were poking out from the puddles.

This Bull gave us some entertainment. Just after I snapped this photo, he took a leap of about a foot, landing in a face-plant with his feet wiggling in the air for a second. He had lunged for a snack and apparently got it. Lip-smacking ensued.

One last photo... a pretty Green Frog that bid us adieu.

So, not exactly 312 snakes and zero turtles! But it was still a rewarding day and perhaps the last hike we'll have for a while. We'll take what we can get.

Mercifully, it rained pretty hard the other day. Hopefully, some of that mud became water and the cracked dirt became mud.