Memorial Day and Beyond...

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brick911
Posts: 3488
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:52 am
Location: Morrisville, PA

Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by brick911 »

I stayed down the shore during the weekend. I had a chance to take the womanfriend and a nephew of mine out on Saturday, but would you believe I left my battery in the charger at the house. Figures, I found a lifer that day... :doh: So anyway, I'll spare you the cell phone pics, but I found twelve snakes that day (racers, ringnecks, worms, and one water snake). Not the black rat, king, or coastal I was hoping for, but I'll take the quantity and variety. Also found for the day were marbled sals, Fowlers, Cricket frogs, and my lifer NJ Chorus Frog. Uggh. That little bastard took me four years of hardcore herping to find, and I don't have a freaking picture of it. Anyway, enough of the bellyaching...

On Monday, I stopped at a spot on the way home, that was rather unproductive, but I'll get to that. Shield your eyes, I'm gonna show some of the negative aspects of beach season. ...Such a shame.

Diamondback Terrapins

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Box Turtle Salad

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Black Rat Jerky

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And this fresh kill, which looked alive if I concentrated on only its face. :(

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So anyway, the place I stopped at only yielded a few Fowler's Toads and three worm snakes (only took crappy vouchers), BUT another (non) exciting LIFER... Final-freaking-ly... My first four toed salamander!

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After I came home, I took the day off to take my boys out. This was the first Memorial Day they had ever spent without me down the shore. It's a bit hard getting used to some of the changes since my separation. So I pulled them from school, took the day off, and headed North.

We hit two spots. The first one, many of you have been to, so shhh. I spend plenty a day getting skunked. If I have a special day with my boys, I'm gonna make sure I show them something cool. That said, we found three species of snakes there, but it was 3 of the 4 I wanted! *oh yeah... this time, I forgot my camera completely, so I had to use the back-up. I only had two beers all weekend - I don't know what was wrong with my memory.

My submission for crappiest picture of a Five-lined skink ever:

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Copperheads... Aghastly contorting moccasins

What's that?

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Hmmm...

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Sweet.

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Climb the wall... Hello.

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Some other copperhead shots...

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Species number two: Black Rat, Eastern Rat, Melanistic Corn Snake

en situ

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en hande

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en cropped out version so it looks like I'm not touching it because no matter what, I couldn't pull the thing out without risking injury, so what can ya do?

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Species Numero Third - Northern Canebreak (First timber of the year, so I'm gonna vomit some pics all up on this jawn.)

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Oh snap... his twin brother was up on the path.

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Ok... It was almost six miles we walked. The boys were great. No complaining, besides wanting a hognose. I woulda complained to if I had someone to listen to me. So they napped and ate pb&j on the way to Jeff's (notread) house for a new spot. Jeff's spot kicked BUTT. I know he was a bit disappointed, as he wanted some different species, but, it added four new species to the day... and species that the boys can handle and not lose an arm. So a big thanks to Jeff. I GPS'ed your spot and will ramsack it soon. :silly: ...Seriously, thanks!

American/Fowler - I simply thought it was an American until Nate (spinifer) questioned my id in the database. I never realized Fowler's went up that high (Pike County), but according to paherps.com, they were verified before 2000, so now I'm kicking myself for not removing it for some diagnostic pics.

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Jeff spotted an eft... see it?

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I coaxed the little guy out by offering it some left over pb&j (that's a herping secret).

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While I'm at it, here's another secret. If you've ever wondered why it seems impossible to get crisp shots of these guys, its because they have that blurred horizontal line going through their eye. We tend to focus on the eye and make it crisp in our shots, and no matter how crisp the pupil is, the blurred line is just part of nature and throws us off, thinking our focus is off. *This could be the most knowledgeable thread ever... Even better than that one Kiley put together about amphib eggs. :clap:

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The boys (N8 and Wes)... it was gloomy for a while.

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Jeff... I didn't get a shot of his face, but he's a stunner ladies.

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Eastern Garters (Nothing sat still like the dangerous snakes did earlier)

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Ringnecks... Uhhh - Northerns with belly dots. As if I wasn't confused enough.

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Redbellies - two flavors

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And finally, my favorite, Eastern Milks... I love these snakes.

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Thanks for looking... good herping to you all!

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TimCO
Posts: 891
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:27 am
Location: Colorado

Re: Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by TimCO »

Nice post, lots of color to brighten the day.
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DCooper
Posts: 203
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:20 am
Location: Marshall County, WV

Re: Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by DCooper »

Nice stuff as usual Bob!! love the timber!!!
Joe Mahoney
Posts: 108
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:44 am
Location: MA

Re: Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by Joe Mahoney »

Great stuff Bob. I bet your glad you saved that post elsewhere after all the time it must have taken to put it together.

And yes, the ladyslipper was for you, as I remember most of your posts having some sort of flowers in them.
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brick911
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:52 am
Location: Morrisville, PA

Re: Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by brick911 »

Thanks guys. Well, new forum, but it looks like I'm still gonna be the flower guy forever. :lol:
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spinifer
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:48 am
Location: Delmarva

Re: Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by spinifer »

brick911 wrote:Thanks guys. Well, new forum, but it looks like I'm still gonna be the flower guy forever. :lol:
That should have been your new name: Flower Guy.

This one of yours is my favorite:
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brick911
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:52 am
Location: Morrisville, PA

Re: Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by brick911 »

Dude, How the hell do you have that picture? :shock:
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spinifer
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:48 am
Location: Delmarva

Re: Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by spinifer »

brick911 wrote:Dude, How the hell do you have that picture? :shock:
HaHa. :lol:

Sorry Bob, but that one was just too good to let die with the rest of our posts.
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Gibson
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Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
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Re: Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by Gibson »

Wow! Great Post! Awesome Timbers, milks, and I really liked the pic of the Copperhead's Scales!

Thanks!
bobassetto
Posts: 733
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 5:01 pm

Re: Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by bobassetto »

ehhh.......youse two should keep a lotta space between youse
ugh

Re: Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by ugh »

I'm gonna go out on a limb here brick- trying to be as nice as possible though I think it's just pointing out the obvious,since no one else has- and implore you to please think about getting your kids some gaiters or at least some fricking boots(!?).And how about pants,did you think about Lyme's disease?I have that and it's a bitch,i would barely wish it upon my worst enemies.

That pic of the two of them standing among thick ground cover along the pipeline just wouldn't leave my head since I saw it when first posted.Two of the best rattlesnake hunters I know have gotten tagged in the past couple years,and not by handling them but simply stepping on them,one in habitat more or less identical to that in the pic.The second event was enough to scare me into making the investment in some gaiters and I'm glad I did it,really it's a no-brainer.

I'm not gonna get into wether they're perhaps still a bit too young for such excursions into prime TR habitat period;I'm just trying to suggest a preventative measure,they're your children.And no I' have never been bitten but some close calls(sooner or later they happen) are all I needed.
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Ryan Thies
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Re: Memorial Day and Beyond...

Post by Ryan Thies »

Awesome post all around! You have definitely put the time into looking for some of those herps. It sucks that you missed getting a picture of the chorus frog. To keep from forgetting your camera or camera battery ever again. You should set your herping bag/equipment next to your charging battery and/or camera, so that you can't forget it. Chances are you will not forget all your herping gear and when you go to get your bag, all your stuff will be present. Of coarse, I am telling you this and I will probably forget my camera on my next outing. Now that you got this great advice, you can head out and get a picture of that chorus frog. :thumb:

Great post man!

Ryan
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