Alachua County Cotton
Cottonmouth by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
Cottonmouth by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrI've also noticed river frog tadpoles at a local spring-fed pond in Clay County.
River frog tadpole by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrIn February, I visited Blue Spring in Orange City. It was a cold morning, so there were lots of manatees keeping warm in the spring.
rolling manatee by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
manatee by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrA cormorant at the spring.
cormorant by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
cormorant by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrIn March, I revisited the spring-fed pond and found some banded water snakes courting.
pair of banded water snakes by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrRiver frog tads were still present.
river frog tadpole by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrApril brought on the first coral snake sighting. It is not uncommon to find them while road-cruising during the spring, at all times of day and night.
coral snake by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrWhen there are no snakes, I photograph other things.
morning deer by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
doe by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrA kite flying high.
kite by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrA black and white fox squirrel.
fox squirrel by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
fox squirrel by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
fox squirrel by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrThis past week, I have been on vacation, and my friend Dale came down from Kentucky to join me on some herping expeditions. The first day he was in town, it rained, so we only got to see some slimy salamanders, ribbons, and water snakes before the weather became intolerable (think wet t-shirt contest). The only thing I bothered photographing that day was a pair of wood storks in Columbia County.
wood storks by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrOh, and a brown water snake trying to bask despite the cloud cover.
brown water snake by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrThe next morning, the weather was shaping up to be quite nice, so we set out road-cruising. We saw several black racers, which did not hang around for photos, and then a couple of bald eagles that did.
bald eagle by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrLater, we weren't seeing any snakes on the roads (besides racers), so we started checking around the bridges. Brown water snakes were found in a couple locations basking.
brown water snake by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrWe counted three heads in this ball of browns. Maybe there were more.
brown water snake ball by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrWe got tired of road-cruising and not finding anything, so we decided to go hiking for diamondbacks at a location I have seen one and found the shed from another. It was getting pretty warm out, and the only snake we saw was a large yellow rat in a shady area.
yellow rat by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
yellow rat by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrI was starting to get overheated and it was getting to be cruising time again, so we returned to the car and drove back to where we had been cruising earlier. We didn't have to wait too long.
Dusky Pygmy
dusky pygmy by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrNext was what we really wanted to see all along - an Eastern Diamondback. When we spotted it, it had just crawled out onto the road from an area where some loggers were working. All the equipment noise had probably spooked it. We helped it across the road to an area that has so far been spared. I hope it stays that way for a while.
Eastern Diamondback by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
Eastern Diamondback by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrIt was bittersweet to walk away from this animal, knowing its future is not secure here with all the logging activity.
EDB in habitat by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrA little bit later, we cruised a very small coral snake.
coral snake by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
coral snake by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrThe rest of that day, we cruised some ribbons, an eastern glass lizard, and a DOR cottonmouth before calling it a night. The next morning, Dale had to leave fairly early to catch a plane, but we got a few hours of herping in before he had to go. I took him to a spot where someone has tossed out some plywood by the road. He immediately flipped a large yellow rat.
yellow rat by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
yellow rat by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrA few feet away under another board was a pair of broadhead skinks.
pair of broadhead skinks by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrFrom there, we moved on to another road cruising area of mine. It was looking bleak.....
vulture by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrBut then, just as we were heading out to get Dale on his plane in time.....
coral snake by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
coral snake by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrAfter Dale left, I spent the rest of the day sprawled on the couch (herping is hard work), but the following day, I got a wild hair up my butt to try Osceola National Forest again, since we had been rained out earlier in the week. I was hoping for a Canebrake, but no dice. I still think I did OK though.
rough green by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
cottonmouth by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
cottonmouth by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
cottonmouth by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
red rat by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr
red rat by soulsurvivor08, on FlickrI also cruised a DOR pinewoods snake, a couple DOR corns, and a couple DOR garters. Cruised one live eastern glass lizard, and one DOR glass lizard. Also cruised a live southern ringneck.
Hopefully I will still find time to get out herping after my vacation is over. I think it's going to be good year.
heron by soulsurvivor08, on Flickr~Bree
