4th of July Trip 2002

4th of July Trip 2002 - Tennessee

It had been ten years since we'd been to the Appalachians, so we decided to do something different than our usual west Texas trip, and we headed east in hopes of corns, milks, timbers . . . and in hopes of good numbers of salamanders to photograph.

30 June 2002

We originally planned on leaving on the 29th, but I was running a fever, so we left Saturday around noon. We only made it to just east of Jackson, Mississippi by dark. Decided to camp in the Bienville National Forest, arrived just after dark, and did a little bit of roadcruising. This Nat'l Forest is really fragmented, with much private land interspersed with forest property. It had rained earlier in the day, and there were lots of frogs calling, but few on the roads, and we found no live snakes. Found:

Hyla avivoca

Hyla cinerea

Hyla squirella

Bufo terrestris

Coluber constrictor DOR

3 Agkistrodon contortrix DOR

1 Opheodrys aestivus DOR

Arrived at Marathon Campground at 10 p.m., just at the campground host was locking the gate.

1 July 2002

I got up and walked around the lake near the campground for about 30 minutes before we left, saw several Rana catesbeiana, 1 Rana sphenocephala, and 1 Trachemys scripta.

We drove through to SE Tennessee, and pulled into Chilohwee Campground in the Cherokee National Forest at ~5:30 pm. We set up camp, then went out for a short hike down the trail before dinner. Found:

1 Elaphe guttata about a 3 foot male, extremely dark colored, was out crawling in high grass & blackberry vines

2 Plethodon glutinosus complex salamanders (P. chattahoochee sensu Highton)

After dinner, we got ready to go roadcruising, with rain threatening. We were hoping it would pass us by so we could find snakes. Instead, we got rained on so hard that at times we couldn't see the road. In fact, we came back to camp until it passed. After the storm, we went back out looking for salamanders, and found:

1 Bufo americanus

1 Scaphiopus holbrooki

5 Pseudotriton ruber (1 was DOR)

1 Gyrinophilus porphryticus

4 Desmognathus monticola

2 Plethodon glutinosus complex

1 Diadophis punctatus very large adult female

1 unid snake

1 Eumeces fasciatus DOR

Although P. ruber appears to be the most common salamander here, I suspect that with all the sticks and stuff on the road that I simply drove past a lot of slimys and duskys. There were also Hyla versicolor and Gastrophryne carolinensis calling in camp.

2 July 2002

We got up, at breakfast, and hiked down to Benton Falls. Took pictures of rhodedendron along the trails, saw Black & White and Black-throated Green Warblers along the trail. Herp-wise, found:

1 Pseudotriton ruber DOR on camp road

sev Desmognathus fuscus at Benton Falls

Got back to camp around noon, took pictures of me & Cheyenne with corn, pictures of Cheyenne playing, and pictures of some swallowtails drinking from the gravel in our campsite. Then we drove down the mountain to get groceries, etc. On roads, found one DOR box turtle. After lunch, I found a Eumeces fasciatus in camp, then we went swimming in the camp lake. There were lots of adult Notophthalmus viridescens in the lake, and I caught a large, emaciated Nerodia sipeodon female which swam all the way across the lake, eliciting cries from the swimmers who spotted it. Then when I grabbed it, that elicited cries of "Crocodile Hunter" . . . LOL. I also hiked around near camp, and found 2 Diadophis punctatus under bark.

Went road cruising after dark, and more or less got skunked . . . found only a DOR Rana clamitans.

3 July 2002

Decided to head up to the Unicoi Mts and Tellico River to look for different salamander species. Stopped at a large natural rock outcrop north of camp, found 2 Eumeces fasciatus. Between camp and the Unicoi Mts, found:

1 Agkistrodon contortrix DOR

1 Thamnophis sirtalis DOR

1 Coluber constrictor DOR

1 Heterodon platyrhinos DOR - very flat, almost unidentifiable

3 Terrepene carolina 2 AOR, 1 DOR

Drove up the Cherohala Scenic Byway, trying to get elevation in the hopes of finding some of the different salamander species. Found:

1 Terrepene carolina DOR

1 Thamnophis sirtalis DOR

Stopped at an old building site, got out and turned some logs for salamanders. Although conditions seemed good now, it must have gotten really dry earlier in the year and drove the salamanders down into the ground. I did find an adult Thamnophis sirtalis and a nice Agkistrodon contortrix.

Next, we drove up the Tellico River all the way to the North Carolina border. In 1992, we had good success with salamanders in this area, but I reckoned without the hordes of holiday campers, blocking all the pull-outs. Since Cheyenne and Marla weren't up to crawling creekbeds through the rhodedendrons, and there wouldn't be any place for them to get out and play much, I limited my hiking to short jaunts of a few minutes here and there. Found:

1 Crotalus horridus flat DOR

2 Nerodia sipeodon

1 Diadophis punctatus

2 Thamnophis sirtalis 1 AOR, 1 DOR

1 Eurycea junaluska not caught!

1 Desmognathus quadrimaculatus small one

sev Desmognathus fuscus

We meandered back towards base camp along forest roads, much the same way we did in 1992. Stopped at one stream along the way, but when salamander numbers were restricted to neonates, I gave it up and stuck with road cruising and sight seeing. Found:

1 D. quadrimaculatus

sev D. cf fuscus

1 Terrepene carolina

1 Elaphe obsoleta just hit, still writhing in the road

1 Lampropeltis triangulum old dried DOR gravid female, eggs on road out of body

1 Agkistrodon contortrix DOR

Back at Chilhowee, it rained again, but only on the portion of the road closest to camp. Roadcruising, we found:

3 Notophthalmus viridescens red efts

3 Agkistrodon contortrix

1 Elaphe obsoleta DOR juv

1 Bufo woodhousei

4 July 2002

I got up and hunted road cuts and clear cuts in the area, more or less giving up on salamanders. I actually hunted the area most of the day. Found:

2 Diadophis punctatus

4 Eumeces fasciatus including a female brooding eggs

7 Sceloporus undulatus

1 Agkistrodon contortrix very flat juv DOR

After dinner, we decided to go road cruising before dark, so we first headed down the gravel road north of camp. After dark, we returned to the pavement. Found:

1 Terrepene carolina

1 Hyla versicolor

1 unid snake (possibly Diadophis)

3 Agkistrodon contortrix

2 Elaphe guttata 1 AOR, 1 DOR, both juveniles

1 Elaphe obsoleta DOR juv

2 Diadophis punctatus

5 July 2002

We awoke to clear blue skies for the first time since we arrived . . . of course, we have to head home today! Drove over to the big outcrop to take pictures, and found 5-6 Sceloporus undulatus. On way out of mountains, we found 1 DOR Elaphe obsoleta.

Drove across southern Tennessee, aiming for a National Forest in northern Mississippi. Once you get out of the mountains of Tennessee, the scenery becomes decidedly un-scenic farmland.

Once into northern Mississippi, drove through some rain showers, and found 1 AOR Terrepene carolina and a large DOR Elaphe guttata. The corn was very dark.

We arrived at the Holly Springs National Forest, and found it to be even more fragmented than the Bienville National Forest near Jackson. We camped at Puskus Lake Campground and roadcruised at bit after dark. We found:

1 Scincella lateralis

many Bufo woodhousei - much like our "East Texas Toads"

many Acris crepitans calling

many Hyla avivoca calling

many Hyla chrysocelis calling

2 Agkistrodon contortrix 1 DOR, 1 AOR

1 Opheodrys aestivus DOR

1 Rana sphenocephala DOR

6 July 2002

Awoke with sun, packed up and headed out. At the campground entrance, found an adult Terrepene carolina which looked much like a three-toed from East Texas.

Driving across Mississippi, found:

1 Agkistrodon contortrix DOR

1 Nerodia fasciata DOR

Driving across Arkansas, found:

1 Nerodia fasciata DOR

2 Agkistrodon piscivorous DOR

We also saw several flat DORs in Arkansas, but I didn't stop for them.