Summer Doldrums

It has been a very slow July, and I haven't been able to do much.  I did try canoeing a bit with my wife and the dogs, but we didn't see a single turtle despite 4 hours on a nice river.  I am heading out for another canoe trip Tues and hopefully we will have some better luck on the west side of the state.  Other than that, I don't have much interesting to offer at this point. 

I have tried to get my brother to share his Costa Rica adventures, but despite initially being excited, I think he is just too busy at the moment.  I can't blame him for wanting to waste time in the country on a computer.  Hopefully he will share when he returns.  I will be flying down to meet up with him for a week in August.

About this time of the year in Ohio, I would start focusing on herping in the late afternoon/evenings and then roadcruising in the hot humid weather.  This ended up being a very productive method at turning up some interesting pitvipers.  Depending on your selection of roads, and persistence, you may happen upon a few of these...

Timber Rattlesnakes Crotalus horridus

and even more of these

Copperhead  Agkistrodon contortix

We will try our luck a bit with roadcruising in Costa Rica and hope to turn up other members of Genus Agkistrodon and Crotalus.

BH

Some Habitants of Michigan Fens

Don't expect any herps in this post.  I am on a steadily lengthening string of failures. 

On a trip early in the year I found an excellent looking marl fen than I know has wonderful herps hiding in it.  I have struck out on a few trips to the area, but the habitat is so wonderful I manage to forget the lack of success.  It wasn't a surprise then when checking out the fen a few weeks ago I managed to stumble into a nice area with a couple Michigan carnivorous plant species.

I usually see the pitcher plants at most of the bogs and fens I check out. 

Sarracenia purpurea

 If you look closely in the bottom left though, you will see something I don't often see...

Drosera rotundifolia

I ended up see hundreds of little sundews littered around the property, mixed in with the pitchers...  score!

No massasaugas or spotted turtles today, but Michigan has many other natural wonders to keep you busy even on the slow days.


BH

Meet Joy

Molly and I decided to adopt a second dog a little while ago, and I am shocked I haven't shared pictures of her yet.  Her name is Joy, and she makes an excellent addition to the family.

We thought Cid would enjoy a friend to play with and Molly picked her out a crowd because she looks like his sister.  We also thought we had been sleeping too well lately.

 Things were a little dicey at first, but they get along wonderfully now.

She makes an excellent addition in the field, but I wonder how many animals they scare off when they run through my fields.

I recommend rescuing dogs to anyone looking for a family companion.  The application process can be tough, but we have been able to pick up two wonderful friends this way.

BH