Green Frog, Macomb County, Michigan
Midland Painted Turtle, Macomb County, Michigan
On the drive back home to Missouri, we stopped in Northwest Indiana in the dunes to try for an early-season Hognose Snake. We didn't see any, but I did see a few Redback Salamanders and log a new county on my herp list:
Eastern Redback Salamander, Porter County, Indiana
September and early October were extremely busy and I did no herping whatsoever (plus, the temperatures stayed unseasonably hot deep into October), but a friend from Florida from the forum came for a visit in mid-October, and we started with getting him his lifer Western Slimy here close to home:
Western Slimy Salamander, Greene County, MO
As always, there were also Cave Salamanders at this locale!
On the Arkansas/Oklahoma leg of the trip, we had a good time, but the drought (it had not rained in a solid month and a half) was keeping down the Plethodon that my friend wanted to see in the Ouachita Mountains. We did get this slimy salamander from the extreme Southeast corner of Oklahoma, which will reputedly be a new species sometime soon, as it is south of the Sequoyah Slimy Salamanders and in very different habitat near the Red River.
"Western Slimy," extreme Southeast Oklahoma
After trying for amphiumas, sirens, Alligator Snappers, and a few other things unsuccessfully, I made a last stop near Little Rock to see if I could catch turtles sunning. I got a heap-bunch of River Cooters and Red-eared Sliders, and then one each of two lifers: Mississippi Map and Mississippi Mud.
Mississippi Map Turtle, Central Arkansas
Mississippi Mud Turtle, Central Arkansas
That pretty much wrapped up my fall herping until a recent mid-November trip through Tennessee/Georgia and into the Deep South, which will be the subject of the next post. Thanks for reading, and happy herping!