My goal this year was simply to pass my numbers from last year. I found 16 species of snakes and 64 total snakes in 2014. Well Im happy to report Im at 16 species already this year and my total snake number 75. Ive set up some tin and flip sites and those have been pretty productive for Kings, Rats, and several Ring-necks and Worm Snakes. Ive also been able to get out a lot more and nothing beats just spending time in the field. All the herps were found in Georgia with the exception of the Pygmys and Blue-sided Garter, which were both in Florida. I spent a couple days early in April at ANF and St Marks. Had to work hard but found a few snakes after lots of road cruisin. It was kinda cool while I was there and very rainy. Below are a few of my finds.
1st snake of 2015 – March 7th
First Snake of the Year. Midland Watersnake(Nerodia sipedon pleuralis) by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus) by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
a few Kings
Eastern Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula) by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Eastern Kingsnake #6 by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
King by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
King with Racer prey
Eastern Kingsnake vs Black Racer by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Wide angle Garter
Garter Snake in situ by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Big Rat Snake
Black Rat Snake in situ by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Ringneck Snake wide angle by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
First snake from ANF Trip. Florida
Eastern Garter Snake - Florida version by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
First of three Pygmys – Lifer!
Dusky Pigmy Rattlesnake by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
St Marks NWR Florida – Blue-sided Garter – Lifer! Possibly Eastern Garter Hybrid.
Blue-striped Garter Snake by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Back in Georgia – Beautiful Red-bellied Snake
Red-Bellied Snake by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Eastern Hognose by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Phinizy Swamp day trip yielded 4 Cottonmouths and numerous Gree Tree Frogs
Cottonmouth by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Green Treefrog Bliss by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Another lifer for me. - Timber Rattlesnake
Timber Rattlesnake by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Brown Snake - Being extremely cute.
Brown Snake by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Eastern BoxTurtle by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Another Timber – Ive found three this Spring now after a lifetime of none. Admittedly I had not looked for one seriously until last year.
Timber Rattlesnake by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
I have posted photos of several more on my flickr site including some sequence shots of the King vs Racer photo, which was awesome to witness. Been a great year so far.
Herping Georgia, March - May 20, 2015
Moderator: Scott Waters
Re: Herping Georgia, March - May 20, 2015
Very nice pictures. And some gorgeous kings. What part of the state are they from?
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Re: Herping Georgia, March - May 20, 2015
All found in the Piedmont region around Atlanta except the Cottonmouths which were in Augusta and the Pygmy's and Blue-sided Garter, which were Florida.rtdunham wrote:Very nice pictures. And some gorgeous kings. What part of the state are they from?
- mtratcliffe
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Re: Herping Georgia, March - May 20, 2015
Great finds and photos! How exactly does a Kingsnake go about catching a Racer? That must have been fascinating to stumble upon.
Re: Herping Georgia, March - May 20, 2015
The lighting in your pics is excellent. Do you have a flash that you use during the day? Like the worm snake pic - it looks like there is a soft spotlight right on the animal and moss.
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Re: Herping Georgia, March - May 20, 2015
Thanks.... I carry a SB600 flash and it has a little diffuser that snaps on. I don't use it often though. That Worm Snake is natural light, which I prefer. I get mixed results with the flash. Im sure it would be better to bounce the light off something but then thats another thing to carry and my bag is heavy already.captainjack0000 wrote:The lighting in your pics is excellent. Do you have a flash that you use during the day? Like the worm snake pic - it looks like there is a soft spotlight right on the animal and moss.
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Re: Herping Georgia, March - May 20, 2015
I flipped the King under a piece of tin. While I'm photographing him I notice a movement in the grass and this Racer crawls right up. I don't think he could see much and he was hungry. He had a messed up eye from a fungus. Anyway, I think he was considering that the King might be a meal for him because he crawled right up to it and they were actually about the same size, the Racer probably being a little longer. Then this happened. This photo shows the motion blur of the initial strike.mtratcliffe wrote:Great finds and photos! How exactly does a Kingsnake go about catching a Racer? That must have been fascinating to stumble upon.
Eastern King Attack by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
Here is the Racer with the messed up eye. Right before he crawled right up to the King.
Black Racer by cre8foru2009, on Flickr