Michigan Results 2012!

Spring has arrived and it is past due that I finish up my Michigan 2012 record keeping tasks. All of my records have been entered and tallied for a few months, but I had to update and fix some bugs in the database (Thanks Carl!). I am three to fourth months ahead my curve compared to last years results. With spring approaching, and new entries starting to come in, here is how 2011 turned out for me.

Let us see how I did with my goals for 2012:

1. Wood turtles from new river systems.

I made a much stronger effort to get to some new river systems in 2012. Having my own kayak definitely helped, but I still got off to a very slow start and didn't paddle until August. I spent many hours on the water from then on though and found woods in three new rivers. Check! I also struck out numerous times this year, for more than years past. I explored the edge of their range and distributional gaps in records more than previously and view this as a part of doing business.

2. Rifle River wood turtle.

Never made it out to the Rifle this year. I planned on it a few times, but skipped it for weather. It will be on the list again this year. If anyone does hear or have recent confirmed Rifle River Michigan wood turtle sightings, I would love to hear about them.

3. Fox snakes from new counties, specifically Macomb.

Epic fail. I worked hard at finding a Macomb Co fox snake. I hiked through patches of the remaining habitat on wonderful days in April, May, June, July and August and struck out. I have found another area close by I want to check out this year and hopefully this luck will turn.

4. SE Michigan Spotted turtle

Epic success! I found Clemmys in 2 new SE Michigan counties last year. It was a banner year for them. I never saw great numbers, but was able to find one or two at a bunch of new locations for myself. This will continue to be a huge area of focus for 2013.

5. MI spotted salamander.

Embarrassingly, I failed yet again. Hoping to turn this around in 2013...

6. MI newt.

Still no newts.

7. Lay more tin. More tin.

While not nearly enough, I did put some more boards out in a possible massassauga field close to home.

8. MI Box turtle.

A lone DOR boxie along a SW section of highway sadly cleared this goal for me. Now to turn up a live one.

9. Herp the UP (a western fox, wood turtle, or mink frog would make this even more sweet.)

I got as far north as Mackinac Island, which I guess technically falls into Mackinac County, part of the UP. For my purposes, I am not counting this though.

10. Record a respectable 150+ records for 2012.

and the final goal... I logged 193 records in 2012, coming oh so close to breaking the 200 record mark! This was huge for me. I discuss total numbers a few years back in this post about the 2010 field season, and set my 2011 goal at 200. I herped real hard that year and only logged 145, so I had lowered my standards to a reachable 150. Looks like that 200 mark is reachable after all.

Which brings us to 2013... I am going to try and limit a few goals in an effort to not spread myself thin. I am also hoping to spend some time out of state during prime time - May and June. Taking this into account my goals are (in no particular order):

1. Rifle River Woody

2. Macomb County foxy

3. Michigan spotted salamander

4. New wood turtle rivers

5. Log 175 herps for 2012

So many others missing the list, but I am trying to focus here. Honorable mentions include green snakes, hoggies, box turtles, the UP, Belle Isle  etc. So much to do, so little time. 

A quick look at my Michigan 2012 map.

And my total Michigan map - 644 records so far. Still lots of ground to cover out there. 

What are your goals for 2013?

Happy Herping!

BH

Michigan Results 2011

I have finally wrapped up Michigan for 2011 as well.  I had mentally thought this was a banner year, but was surprised to see myself fall short in a few categories.  Here were my goals for this year, as well as my Ohio results.

Michigan Goals 2011


1. Oakland County massasaugas at new locals.

Check. I added one new Oakland County local, but struck out at many more.

2. SE Michigan spotted turtle

Epic fail. Luckily, there is always next year...

3. Wood turtle from a new river system

Check.  It looks like I paddled 5 times last year.  3 of them were new rivers, all of which I found at least one turtle.  One trip I paddled a couple new sections of a previous river, but a few counties over.  We scored one turtle.  The last day, I once again paddled the Rifle River.  This river historically had wood turtles, but it is unclear if they are still present.  This was once again a failure.

4. MI spotted salamander.

Laughably, epic fail.
5. MI newt (?!??!)

Laughably, epic fail. This is actually humorous.
6. 200 + record year
(reaching 300 or 400 is possible in Ohio, but I expect it to be difficult in MI due to the much shorter field season and much lower diversity.  I just don't see the same numbers of animals as I did in Ohio)

Epic fail.  Sadly.  I worked hard this year and I thought for sure I would hit 200.  I ended up around the 145 mark!  Makes me wonder how I ever saw 300-400 a year in Ohio.  Looking back, I recorded 0 herps in March due to being in Hawaii.  This hurt.  It also looks like I didn't herp once in August.  Ouch.  I had just returned from Arizona in July to a newly purchased home.  Molly probably would have killed me, but I should have gotten out once or twice...

7. Lay tin.  Check.  I purchased and put out a few car hoods.  None of which have produced a year later. I need to get more aggressive on this front.

8. MI box turtle.  Epic fail.  I never got over to where they are a bit more common, but I keep hoping to stumble across one in the SE.

All in all, not a terrible year.  The wood turtling definitely kept things honorable.

So for 2012.  The goals I have been working on.

1.  Wood turtles from new river systems.
2.  Rifle River wood turtle.
3.  Fox snakes from new counties, specifically Macomb.
4.  SE Michigan Spotted turtle
5.  MI spotted salamander.
6.  MI newt.
7.  Lay more tin.  More tin.
8.  MI Box turtle.
9.  Herp the UP (a western fox, wood turtle, or mink frog would make this even more sweet.)
10. Record a respectable 150+ records for 2012.

2012 is more than half over and I have been working hard on a bunch of these.  Sadly, I have a ways to go.

BH

Michigan Cougars!

A couple of summers ago I was exploring some areas of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in NW Michigan.  I was surprised to notice signs in a few of the parking areas mentioning the presence of cougars in the area.  I couldn't help but think, "Really, cougars here?"  Upon further investigation, I was fascinated to find out that every year or two there are a trickle of cougar sightings in Michigan, although most of them seem to occur in the Upper Peninsula.

A few days ago a remarkable photograph showed up in a number of news stories.

This big cat was photographed via trail cam on private property in Marquette County, Michigan.  The photo was released by the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy.  Pretty cool stuff if you ask me.  If you look into the issue more, it turns out there a few organizations that keep track of cougar sightings in Michigan, and there are a number of trail cam pics, tracks, hair samples, etc which have all been identified as cougars!

The DNR website states they were all extirpated at the turn of the century in the 1900s, but it does acknowledge sightings and provides a place to report any possible sightings.  Cougars are currently listed as Endangered in Michigan.  They even have a Michigan Cougar FAQ page.

You can also visit www.savethecougar.org for an updated account of Michigan cougar sightings.  Many are up north, and some have pictures, but I was shocked to see a number of "sightings" from southern counties like Macomb, Clinton, Oakland and Washtenaw.  I find a few of these hard to swallow a bit...

I love when our outdoors areas really feel wild.  I might be in the minority, but having native cougars and wolves in Michigan is pretty darn cool.

BH

Go Wolverines!

Despite the name of the blog and the website, I am a Michigan Wolverine fan through and through.  Unfortunately, my wife, family and medschool roommates are all OSU buckeyes.  I wish I was better at picking friends...

THE big game was in Ann Arbor this year, so a bunch of us loaded up the cars and set out for a day of tail gating fun.  It was blustery and cold, but good times were had by all.

I grilled up some nice breakfast of eggs and sausage.  We had been up at 6 to get out there just after 7am.

Painful apparel...

Remind me why I even invited David?

David sleeping during the first half.  Weak sauce.

Quite the setup working here.  Actually one TV was nonfunctional, we couldn't get a borrowed satellite dish to work, and ended up resorting back to the rabbit ears you might notice on top of the van.  Well they worked, with nice crystal clear HD picture (except when the helicopter would fly over).

Good thing the good guys won (finally!)!

Klev - disgusted with the results.

Hail to the Victors!

Let's go wolverines on January 3rd as they take on the Virginia Tech Hokies in the Sugar Bowl!

BH

Winter Has Cometh...

Winter has cometh, and has grasped us in it's icy grips.  Let the count down until the spring rains (March?) begin...

I haven't spoken much about our new digs on here, but Molly and I purchased our first home last July.  We are happily enjoying our little corner of suburbia.  The winter rains turned into flurries this evening and the neighborhood trees look very immaculate in the first real snow of the year.  From here on out it will be gray, dirty and depressing in SE Michigan for the next 4-5 months.

Can't wait for those spring rains!

Northern Wood and Rattles...

I was fortunate enough to get to tag along on one of Molly's business trips up north to the Traverse City area in September.  The weather was still nice, although it had started to cool down.  I of course took every opportunity to get outdoors, and selected a new river to kayak, and some nice swamps and fields to check out.  Like all my trips up north, main targets included wood turtles, green snakes, hog-nosed snakes, massasauga rattlesnakes, and blue racers.  It ended up being a very good couple of days...

I hopped on the river early morning, and things were pretty quiet.  The water was frigid, and the ambient temperatures really were not all that much better. Two hours into my paddle I noticed a mink exploring the side of the creek.  This always makes my day, and I was even more excited to be able to get to the shore and snap some pictures.

American Mink Neovison vison

I was pretty pleased, and about 50 yards downstream I rounded a bend to see a wood turtle basking in the shallows!  While getting to the opposite bank for in situ pictures, a second mink (maybe the same one?) popped out of the grasses about 3 feet away.  I quickly tried to frame them both for a shot, but this mink bailed in a few seconds.  The wood turtle cooperated, and hung out all day for pictures.

It doesn't get better than this...

The rest of my paddle was uneventful, but I was alone on the water and pleased with the mornings success.  I headed a bit north, finding a few fields and power line cuts to explore.  Despite flipping cover till I was blue in the face, smooth green snakes continued to evade me.  I was also surrounded by sandy soils, and hognoses also decided to stay hidden.  I did roadcruise this very small redbelly snake, which always makes my day.

In situ on the road

I found some tin I spread out a bit, although who knows when I will return this far north.  The mid-afternoon found me in a marsh I had read a little about.  The temps were now low 70s and the skies were bright.  Leopard frogs were hopping along the trail, and a number of hatchling snapping turtles were moving as well.  I had a couple garter snakes get away, but my hike was fairly uneventful.  Nearing the end of the trail, near the march, I noticed a large dark snake take off in a hurry from the edge of the boardwalk.  It was fairly heavy bodied and I figured it was a watersnake, until I heard the tell-tail sound of a rattle!  My first northern Michigan massasauga and I was a happy camper...

Pure Michigan

I head back down south and roadcruised while exploring around some lakes.  Again no greens or hogs, but I found a DOR blue racer which is interesting, as well as a skink.  A nice end to a wonderful day.  The next day or two I got rained out, but the last morning I headed to areas I have hunted before in the west.  A couple garters later and I had to call it a day.  No greens or hogs this trip.  I did manage to find some a nice board site though and am excited for next years season already.

Happy herping,

BH

Got Wood 2011

As you may have noticed from previous posts, I highly enjoy searching for wood turtles during the warmer months.  I my opinion, there is nothing better than cruising in a nice canoe/kayak down a northern Michigan river.  Each year I try to add another river or two to my list, and hopefully a new wood turtle as well.

I probably won't get out again, but I won't completely close the book on the season yet.  Anyway, this year was extra successful.   I kayaked 5 Michigan rivers this season on all parts of the state.  3 of those were new for me.  One of the repeats was a river I have yet to see a wood turtle on yet, and it is unclear if they are even still there.  I will most likely do this river each year at least once in hope of getting lucky.  The only day I got skunked was on this river, and it did rain all day early in May.

I want to share with you a magical day in mid-July. I was looking into a few rivers to paddle in NW Michigan, near where my wife and I vacation for a few days each summer.  The friend we stay with mentioned he fishes one of them and told me it was by far his favorite river.  I was hooked.  I applied some of my past experiences in deciding how to attack the river, and drew up a game plan.  

Part of that plan was trying out a sit-on-top kayak or a fishing kayak.  I had already flipped a canoe with my dogs this spring, as well as a small kayak randomly and am trying to avoid that as much as possible.  I pulled up to the store around 830-9 am and asked about renting a kayak for the day.  I was informed I was in luck, not only did have have a couple sit-on-top boats, but he had a new one that just came in that he thought we would perfect for me (we can visit the perfect boat subject later).  He also mentioned they see tons of turtles on the river.  Needless to say, I was getting excited.

I was dropped at the put-in site a few minutes later.  I usually explore around a little, but I was too anxious today.  After a short prep with the new boat, I was on the water.  I paddled under the bridge overhang, looked to my left and noticed a wood turtle basking right there.  We were off like a herd of turtles...

Seriously, that easy?

It was about 930am.  I will spare you the intimate details, but basically I spotted 10 turtles in the next 2 hours, and 14 for the 4 hours.  It was unreal.  I would climb in the boat, paddle a little, then see a turtle, turn around, find a way to photograph it, rinse and repeat.  Again.  And again.  It rocked.

And finally, the last of the day, about 20 yards away from the bridge I would get out at.

This day was pretty awesome.  I only saw 1 other turtle, a large snapping turtle.  I can't believe it is always that awesome, but the owner of the shop did say they see tons of turtles...  Have to check it out again next year as well.

So how was the kayak?  Ahh more to come on that later...

BH

Massasauga Rattlesnakes in Niles, Michigan - Maybe, but not this one!

The Niles Daily Star, the local newspaper for Niles, Michigan, just reported a story of a rattlesnake being found on the property of one of the rural residents of the area.  The story is full of wonderful information regarding the Eastern  Massasauga Rattlesnake, Sistrurus catenatus, and the snake has not been killed and will most likely be released back to where it was found.   These are all great things, except the snake is really an Eastern Hognose Snake, Heterodon platirhinos.  Please read the article that I have linked.  I hope they don't mind if I share their picture as well?

http://www.nilesstar.com/2011/09/26/rattlers-in-niles/

 Niles Daily Star Photo/Katie Rohman

Hognose snakes are often confused for massasauga rattlesnakes as they can have similar size and patterns.  Although this picture hides the best characteristics with a blurry head and a wood chip over the tail, it is clearly a hognose snake.  Massasaugas are typically very young at this size, and have an overall thinner body.  The have a well defined neck that tapers down after the head, unlike the "neckless" hognose.  Young massasauagas also typically have much more black/white/grey coloration at this age with stark contrast.  The tans and creams of this snake would not be seen in massasaugas.  If you look closely at the blurry head, you can make out the blunt, short head and upturned nose of a hognose snake.  Hognoses are toad specialists and live in sandy environments where they can dig around for their prety.

This midsized hognose from a few years ago looks similar to the snake from Niles.

This is a young eastern massasuaga rattlesnake - note the yellow tail, one segment button of the rattle, contrasting tones and narrow neck.

This is a young eastern massasuaga rattlesnake - note the yellow tail, one segment button of the rattle, contrasting tones and narrow neck.

Hognose snakes are completely not harmless to humans and will sometimes even put on a great display of "playing dead", rolling on their backs, and laying still with their tongues hanging out.

They will often flatten their heads out, hiss and strike with a closed mouth.  This garners a few other common names from locals such as, "puff adder", "spreading adder", "hissing adder" and "cobras".

Either way, the snake is really cool.  I commend Ms. Bowles for cherishing Michigan's wildlife and dealing with it in a responsible way.  She has helped raised awareness of two of Michigan's periled snakes!  These animals can be hard to tell apart, and whenever in doubt if the snake is venomous, it is best to err on the side of caution and keep a safe distance.  For more information on telling apart Michigan's venomous and nonvenomous snakes, please visit - Michigan Snake Identification - Venomous or Not?

Rattlers in Niles? | The Niles Star

By Katie Rohman

Published 10:28pm Monday, September 26, 2011A rural Niles resident has captured an unusual but once common native to Michigan wetlands.
Marjorie Bowles, of 925 Anderson Rd., found an Eastern massasauga rattlesnake Wednesday in a side yard during an excavation project. A worker helped Bowles move the snake — just a baby at shorter than a foot long — into a large plastic tub with water in it. She then contacted the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
“It’s not dangerous, (but) you don’t want to play with it,” Bowles said.
Bowles, who lives with her husband John near a swampy area by Pine Lake, off M-60, said she has only seen garter snakes on her property, and had to research what kind of snake it was.
“This is a new one by me,” she said.
Bowles said she was concerned someone would kill the snake, and wants the public aware of the species and its declining population. She said she hopes to release the snake back into its habitat, but was awaiting a call back from the DNR at press time.
According to the DNR, massasaugas are classified as “of special concern,” are protected by the State of Michigan and are a candidate for federal listing. They live in the entire Lower Peninsula, and were once common but their populations are declining due to the loss of wetland habitat and human harassment.
Massasaugas are slow-moving, but may bite if threatened, and can grow to 18 to 30 inches long. They have thick bodies with gray, grayish-brown or brown coloring. The young snakes have yellow buttons, or “rattles,” at the tip of their tails. The adult rattles are grayish yellow and resemble corn kernels.
If bitten by a massasauga, the DNR advises seeking medical attention immediately. The snakes are venomous, but possess the least toxic venom of any rattlesnake in the U.S.
If a massasauga is spotted, the DNR recommends not picking it up, using caution and submitting the sighting to www.dnr.state.mi.us/wildlife/pubs/massasauga_obsreport.asp.

Michigan Snake Identification - Venomous or Not?

I am contacted by many people each year asking for help to identify snakes they find in their yard.  Many are just curious as to what animals call their yard home, or what they saw while camping.  I would be lying if I didn't mention that most just really want to know if they are in danger and often adopt the approach of "shovel first, questions later".  Is it "poisonous" or venomous is more often than not top of the list of questions they ask.  My hope is that this will address some of those questions and help provide a place for others to ask their questions and contact me more easily if needed.

If you don't care if it is venomous, still feel free to leave comments or contact me as directed below.  You may look at the pictures under the Reptiles tab to try and figure out what snake you have seen.

Michigan Venomous Snakes

Michigan only has one species of venomous snake.  That is one species out of the eighteen snake species that call Michigan home.  It is the eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus).  Unfortunately, due to habitat loss, road mortality and persecution, the massasauaga rattlesnake is listed as a species of special concern and can only be found in very specific locations in the state.  These snakes are small, and very secretive.  It is highly unlikely that most Michiganders will ever encounter these animals.  They are also not present at all in the Upper Peninsula. 

Here are some general rules for identification when you are looking at a snake in front of you.  These rules only apply to Michigan and snakes that can be found in the wild.

1. Vertical pupil vs round pupil - Massasauga Rattlesnakes have vertical, cat-like, pupils.  Michigan's nonvenomous snakes do not.  Again, outside of Michigan, there are snakes that do not follow these rules.

Massasauga Rattlesnake

And a nonvenomous snake, the eastern milksnake.  This snake is commonly confused for a massasauga rattlesnake.

2.  Presence of a facial pit - The Massasauga Rattlesnake is a pitviper.  They have a heat-seeking pit that helps them localize their prey.  The are ambush predators, and will sit and wait for a small rodent to run by, sometimes at night, and their pits help them hunt.  Michigan's nonvenomous snakes do not have these heat-seeking pits.

Massasauga Rattlesnake

Northern Watersnake, nonvenomous - note the lack of a vertical pupil or pit

3. Divided anal plate and double tail ventral scales after the cloaca vs single anal plate and tail ventral scales after the cloaca. In normal terms, the nonvenomous snakes have a split or divided scale that covers their cloaca.  The cloaca is the opening (butt) of the snake where feces (poop) is excreted.  The scales after the anal scale will also be divided or doubled. Venomous snakes of Michigan have a single anal scale and single scales after.  I will obtain pictures of anal scales soon, but please refer to the above figure.

4. Presence of rattle - The Massasauga Rattlesnake has a rattle that produces a loud noise.  I will be sure to record one soon as well for you to listen to.  This trait is not as easy as it seems, as most other nonvenomous snakes will rattle their tails in leaves to mimic the rattling sound.  Also, young rattlesnakes just have one segment of rattle, or a button, and their tails will not make noise.  If you see a rattle, or hear a rattle, it is best to just walk away.

Massasauga Rattlesnake, with large rattle, saying "Stay Away"

Massasauga Rattlesnake, neonate or baby, with single button

 5.  Triangular head vs Rounded head - It is true venomous snakes often will have a triangular head.  Many nonvenomous snakes will flatten their neck and change their shape slightly to look more triangular.

Northern Watersnake with a fairly triangular head

Eastern Hognose Snake showing a triangular head

Remember, massasauga rattlesnakes have specific habitat preferences and needs.  They are not found all over the state.  They are small, secretive snakes, typically associated with wetland areas, swamps, bogs and fens.

Now, you are probably reading this and saying "BuckeyeHerper, you are crazy if I am ever going to be close enough to a snake to look it in the eye, or lift it's tail to check the butt."  I agree completely, but I do not feel this is a reason to kill the snake. If you aren't sure, just keep a safe distance and leave the snake alone.  Luckily snakes are not as aggressive as people typically think they are.  They will run more often than not.  If they do happen to stand their ground, you can very easily walk away or around them without any worry.  If you are comfortable, everyone has a digital camera or cell phone these days, and it is easy to take a quick picture from a safe distance.  You can then compare your picture with pictures on this and other websites, or email it to me or others for assistance.

Again, if you aren't sure, just keep your distance.  These snakes are very rarely encountered, and chances are you have just found one of the more common nonvenomous snakes.  Despite what you might have heard,Michigan also does not have any cottonmouth, water moccasins or copperheads.

If you have any further questions, or want to share pictures or stories, please feel free to leave a comment below or email me at foltjr AT gmail.com .

Michigan and our Love/Hate relationship

After having a few days off in which the clouds decided to dump rain all day with very cold temps, or even just flat out snow, I managed to drag myself out of bed and hit the field with a dismal weather forecast for the day.


Sun poked out though, the day grew bright, and fun was had by all.

Joy deciding whether a racer tastes like her usual fare of birds and squirrels.

More to come.  I need to wrap up a ton of Hawaii stuff too.  It's a great thing to have to much content to post.

Hate is a strong word, but I really, really don't like Michigan

Sometimes.  Like today.

Woke up and was greeted by mid30s temps and a little less than an inch of snow.  On my day off. On April 18th.

I chose not to legitimize the event by taking a picture.  Hopefully I can forget this ever happened.

Last Michigan Snake of the Year

On a short trip out a couple weeks ago I spotted my last snake of the year.

Storeria dekayii

Not the most exciting end to the year, luckily it is still warmer other places...

Back in the States, Back in the Field

I arrived back in the US on August 20 feeling tired but excited to be back in the States. The heatwave from the summer rendered the Midwest bone dry, but with a little work and luck I figured we could turn up a few animals. After being home for only a day or two, my Dad and I made a roadtrip up to Michigan to visit the Buckeyeherper and catch a baseball game. Naturally, we scheduled in some field time. We invited my brother David along, but he declined, saying that "we never find anything" when he comes out into the field with us. His loss, our gain, I suppose....

We checked out a neat fen in southeastern Michigan. The area supports some interesting fauna, including a few species of turtles, snakes, and frogs. Bob particularly enjoyed the pitcher plants and sundews, when he was finally able to spot them. Of course, Cid and Joy tagged along for the trip, who are always eager to get out into the field. After investigating the area for about an hour, Cid, Joy, and I hiked right past this little 1 year old snake. Fortunately, the more experienced Michigan herper made the spot:

Eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) found on August 22, 2010 at 6:35 PM.
This was Bob's first ever swamp rattler, and only my second, so suffice to say we were quite pleased. Too bad Dave wasn't along for the fun......

About a week later, I found myself back down in Athens, Ohio, gearing up for the start of another school year. On the August 28, the weather was looking prime to see pitvipers, so a buddy and I went down to a familiar hiking and flipping area to see what we could turn up. Unfortunately, the first find of the day was absolutely devastating. I've had zero luck over the years with one of Ohio's more interesting snakes, the Eastern hognose snake (Heterodon platyrhinos), and it was certainly in the back of my mind when we set out that morning. Imagine my dismay when we found one on the road around noon... but dead:

Bummer. We proceeded on to check a few flip spots before embarking on our hike. The first thing flipped is one of the usual suspects for southern Ohio, the Northern ringneck snake (Diadophis punctatus):
On our hike, we saw a few lizard species. Unfortunately, the skinks were too quick for us to bring in hand. However, we did successfully photograph an Eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) and an Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina):

Our luck was pretty raw on the hike. We didn't see any vipers and both of us found our pants covered in hundreds of "micro" ticks: minuscule ticks less than 1 mm in diameter (I literally scraped hundreds off my ankles that night. Disgusting.).

We checked a few other spots. A Northern black racer (Coluber constrictor) was too quick for us and bolted away. However, we flipped a nice Black rat snake (Scotophis spiloides), which promptly tagged Carl on the cheek:


Ouch. I also photographed this pretty snake:


Eastern milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum).

After grabbing a bite to eat and hitting a few more spots as it got dark, we decided to roadcruise a few "new" roads that haven't been too successful in the past. It was a cooler night, with temperatures down into the 70s. At 8:30, right as it was getting dark, we were pleased to find this:

A Northern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), in situ. The rest of the night was fairly eventful, as we stopped for two more copperheads at 9:03 and 9:45. At around 10:30, we headed home, decently pleased with the day's activities.

Three snake night... not bad!

Unfortunately, I'm currently super busy with club soccer to spend much time in the field in search of herps. However, I did participate in a field trip for my Ornithology class on Saturday September 11. At three different localities, we saw over twenty species of birds, including a few lifers. First, at 7:15 AM, we saw a few local vultures hanging out on tops of houses along Grosvenor Road in Athens, OH:
-10+ Black vultures (Coragyps atratus) (lifer)
-2 Turkey vultures (Carthartes aura)

Next, we stopped off highway 686 along the Hocking River, down beneath the ridges. There we observed:
-2 Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) (lifer)
-American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
-1 Belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
-Mourning doves (Zenaida macroura)
-Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
-1 Pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
-1 Canada goose (Branta canadensis)

From around 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM, we hiked around the Ridges, an elevated ridgetop area that is a part of Ohio University's campus. There we observed:
-American robins (Turdus migratorius)
-1 Cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) (lifer) "the bird that rocks," according to our prof
-1 Yellow-throated vireo (Vireo flavifrons) (lifer)
-1 Red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
-1 Downey woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
-1 Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
-1 Caroline chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) (lifer)
-Blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata)
-Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis)

A few other species were seen by people in the group. However, I only listed the birds above that I was able to visually ID.

Hoping to get back out into the field soon....

Brian