In Flight Internet

Despite the hefty price tag ($12 per flight) I am loving in flight internet as we fly from San Diego to Chicago. I am able to catch up on hulu, purchase xmas gifts and check email, all better than the wifi at the resort we just spent a week at. Not a bad way to spend the 3 hour flight.

Unfortunately, the week was dry. SOCAL was in bad need of rain and herps were impossible to come by. This morning we woke up with a strong storm just as we were leaving. I would have killed to stay another day or two...

It's Always Sunny In San Diego

I am finally on something of a real vacation. We leave for San Diego Saturday, and hopefully I will have some wildlife to share. Molly and I visited there last March and had a great time. The time of the year isn't optimal from a herping standpoint, and the weather in Michigan is chilling around a balmy 50F, actually pretty pleasant.

How about some animals from the last visit?











I can't really expect to do that well, but I really hope to knock off a few animals I missed last time.

The League

Never thought I would throw in the towel on the Browns, but man is this year bad. Luckily, I work every Sunday and even missed the abysmal Monday night game. I was excited to hear the game vs Detroit this weekend was going to be blacked out in my area, prohibiting me from watching it. Unfortunately, we will be in San Diego for the week, so I might actually be able to watch us loose to another terrible team.

The good news is FX has a new show called the league. If you like football, and you never really "grew up" this show is for you. Check it out.

Childhood

I imagine my interest in herps started in a manner similar to this...



My childhood also involved devouring as much of the escapades of Calvin and trusty Hobbes as I could.

Vacation

I finally get a few days off and hope to get back out in the (cold) field. Planning on spending a few days in Cleveland, and I knew a few places where salamanders can be found under snow, so hopefully I will have some images to share. I should have some more time to post some old trips as well. Sorry about the long silence...

A Game of Thrones

Despite today's recently improved weather, things have been rather cold and rainy around here, even for October. I haven't been out in the field for a few reasons, and laziness is among them.

I am a bit of a closet bookworm, and this often gets worse during the winter. One of my favorite authors, George RR Martin, has a wonderful series for anyone interested in science fiction or fantasy. It is very adult oriented, but the books are gripping reads. Don't just ask me, HBO is just starting the production of the pilot episode. It should be a wonderful addition to the likes of Sopranos, Rome and Deadwood if it gets picked up. The casting seems to be all done, and looks to be perfect.

So if you are also looking for a good book to pick up as the weather cools down, check out A Game of Thrones, the first in A Song of Ice and Fire. If you don't like to read much, make sure to check it out on HBO or DVD, hopefully...

Melanistic Garters of Ohio

The northern part of Ohio is known for having a few melanistic garter snakes as well as some melanistic massasaugas. I haven't been fortunate enough to see the latter, but I have lucked into a couple garters.

Interestingly, melanistic garters are fairly common in the NE, especially in areas around Toledo. I haven't ever had the pleasure of seeing them there, despite seeing a good number of garters. Both of my examples came from farther south.

The first one I actually stepped on and initially thought it was a small racer.




The second one was found in early March during an unseasonably warm week in Cincinnati. I was walking through the ghetto on the way to my car and noticed this animal basking in a rock wall - what luck!


For the record, every now and then garters sometimes look like this too.



Maybe you should think again next time before saying "just a garter"...