Well, it’s definitely been a rogue year – I didn’t get to go on very many herping trips besides some local cruises; but the beautiful thing is the southern Appalachians are still a new and exciting region for me, so I’ve really enjoyed digging into the local herpetofauna. I’m fortunate to have a cruising road that’s about 10 minutes from my door and is good for a nice mix of Piedmont and Mountain species – most of my western N.C. finds are from this road, because I can head out and be back in an hour, which had been a necessity over this past summer with a year-and-a-half-or-so kiddo and one very pregnant wife, culminating in our second daughter 10/21/16. In short: lots of life events in a very short time – luckily for me, I’m easily fascinated by even “the usual suspects” of herps in our area (which is good, because if I only liked the rare stuff, I’d be mostly-unhappy!)
Starting November of 2015, I got the opportunity to film with the Discovery Channel for a show called “Snaketacular” (#22 here: https://www.amazon.com/Snaketacular/dp/ ... aketacular). For this, I got a flight out to LA, which was my first time being more than a stone’s throw west of the Mississippi (in North America, at least). Though I was staying at a Hotel in the heart of LA, I chose to skip the tourist-y stuff and hit the pavement to head to the infamous Whitewater Canyon. It was cold, but it was also rainy – so I was hopeful for some sort of cool amphibian; and wasn’t disappointed though I only turned up one species.
Back in NC, we started doing some cave surveys after hearing reports of a possible new species of salamander. Our efforts weren’t fruitless, but we didn’t find anything that we could peg as a new species… Some interesting phases of Seal Salamander though…
I honestly didn’t mess with the exposure on this – the background rock was quite white.
A more normal one from the cave:
It was about the time we were conducting these surveys that I realized how abundant my favorite salamander, the Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) was at my local cruising road:
Other winter and early-spring herps from “the Road”:
And I did manage a little bit of travel for winter Ambystomatids – once with Cary Howe to cruise for Tigers:
We saw dozens, but it was during a heavy rain so I opted not to do any prolonged photo sessions.
Next month, I got out with Chance and Marissa for some Amphibiaction. We had two goals, one the Mabee’s Salamander, we did well with:
We saw a good 9 or 10, and could’ve seen more had we kept on walking the road’s edge or the nearby Carolina bay:
And this late-season Tiger made an appearance:
Elsewhere in the state I hunted Hellbenders; though I’ve only come up with one so far, and no pictures of the animal to boot. Oh well, it’s one of those species that it seems it takes a bit to get keyed in on. Hellbender habitat:
Right around the equinox, things started to get moving really well. A couple of snakes showed up, even, such as this Worm Snake:
More muds:
And some montaine Mole Salamanders. Having never cruised them, I was at a loss as to what they could be when I saw them driving by at ~35mph:
Spring’s harbingers:
Mo Mountain Moles:
Eastern Newts… Not the most common thing to roadcruise despite being abundant in stagnate waters:
Around about the time things started getting moving really well in NC, my herping buddy Steve and I hit the road for southern Florida. The first afternoon, we were greeted by one of those nice central FL Yellows:
And other usual suspects… It was definitely a trip of usual suspects:
A nice surprise was this Coachwhip trip-flip on an overcast day:
Then on farther into SFL. Interestingly, we turned up two racers right next to each other, one displaying typical “Everglades” coloration, the other looking firmly like a normal southern black racer:
At one point we were greeted by an American Croc laying eggs on the roadside:
Then got a crew together in mainland Dade County where there haven’t been any clarkii vouchers for quite some time. These from a night in Fairchild Tropical Garden:
In all we got three. The first of which got me waist deep in mangrove mud. It was great to be reintroduced to the feeling:
The hunters:
Back in NC, things were moving right along. We went to South Mtn. State Park for some surveys – I’m in the middle of a multiyear herp inventory for the park:
Carolina Spring Salamander, Gyrinphilus porphyriticus dunni
Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen
Lots of these were present, but I still haven’t gotten a shot I’m happy about. Ahh well – next year.
South Mountain Greycheek Salamander, Plethodon metcalfi
On the road, the time was ripe for serpents:
But, in NC, the Amphibians never really give up their crown. We went down in early May to herp with Nigel and turned up a long-expected lifer. Thanks to Nigel, as always, for the good times. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise (it’s a southern saying, evidently) I’ll be back soon:
Pine Barrens Treefrog, Hyla andersonii
Somewhere in there we got Ducks… And fast forward to this year and we have ourselves a small farm to feed the family and help ends meet – Pomegranates, Figs, Blueberries, Apples – all the good stuff.
The ducks:
At some point in there I made it to CT for a weekend. Turned up a few things, but evidently only broke up my camera for some of my Spotted Turtle friends from my favorite vernal pool:
Back in NC, my herping partner-in-crime from FL, Lloyd, came up for a weekend herp-a-thon. Nothing spectacularly rare was found, but we had a good time, especially given that the common stuff was new to him
Black Ratsnake, Pantherophis obsoletus
And I have to admit, flipping coppers is pretty cool:
Now, I have been chomping at the bit for a Mole King ever since moving here a couple of years ago. The first summer: nada, but this past summer proved to be a lot more productive – starting with this little legless bundle of joy:
…From my favorite road, of course – along with these funky looking “Timbreaks”:
Even the unproductive nights are beautiful to herp in:
And will usually yield a beautiful Copperhead or two:
And, as promised, more Mole Kings:
This one was by far my favorite Mole of last year. Looks more like an African Mole Snake than a calligaster to me:
And nearby, another Lampropeltis reigns king:
Another Timbreak:
And another jaunt last year included a trip to see my old friend Jason T in Cleveland. While the city itself is a wretched hive of scum and villainy (ok, the food was good and they had a Dunkin, so I was happy,) the herp prospects seemed good. We turned up a few Nerodia and a garter east of there. Anyone good with their Ohio Garter ID’s?
And west we found lots of turtles:
More Nerodia:
Red Squirrel… These were pretty cool, but maybe I just don’t get out much:
And, herpeteofaunally at least, I’ll end this post where I started – my favorite road by the house:
And finally, the reasons for the truncated herping efforts this year:
Well worth it, and besides that – the oldest has really been getting into Road Cruising the last couple of weeks! The next generation!
Thanks for viewing all; the best is yet to come…
-Josh
Question? 
I don't know that I've ever seen a racer in ENP proper, actually - but I'm mostly there nocturnally.
