School's Out Trip 2002 - Apalachicola, Florida
We were originally planning on going to western Arizona to start our summer (wanted to hunt Bagdad & the Harcuvars, in particular) but the drought in Arizona caused us to change our plans. So instead, we changed plans and headed east, to the Apalachicola National Forest, in Florida's panhandle.
Going to the Apalachicola in late May is something of a family tradition for me. Some of my earliest herping memories are of trips taken with my parents to the Apalachicola back in the 1970s. We made 4 trips in the late '70s: 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979. During this time, we caught pretty much all the snakes in the area save pinesnakes. Dad found a total of 5 blotched kings over these trips, numerous cornsnakes, the ocassional scarlet king, and we even found a rainbow snake in 1979.
In the '80s, my Dad's herping interest took us west, and we didn't go back to Florida again as a family until 1996. In the intervening years, my brother Toby & I went through the area on our way to the Everglades in 1990 during spring break, and in 1995 Marla & I went to the Apalachicola for a few days during spring break.
We've recently made trips in 1996, 1999, 2000, and again in 2002. All of these trips were great fun, but our trip this year saw us (just Marla, Cheyenne, and I) catch the most diversity we've found in the area yet. Now on to day-to-day details, and the photographs ...
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25 May 2002
Left home around 10 a.m, headed east intent on spending the night in the DeSoto National Forest, near Hattiesburg, MS. Arrived just after dark. Road cruised into the Forest in search of a campground. Found:
1 Agkistrodon contortrix DOR
sev Rana clamitans AOR
1 Rana sphenocephala AOR
Heard Hyla avivoca calling
Camped at Cypress Creek Landing. After setting up camp, found:
1 Rana catesbeiana
sev Bufo terrestris calling, and many tadpoles
26 May 2002
Got
up early and hiked around near the creek. Found:
1 Scaphiopus holbrooki metamorph
many Bufo terrestris metamorphs
Found no roadkills or anything between the DeSoto National Forest in Mississippi and Bristol, FL – the gateway to the Apalachicola National Forest. On way to our camp (Camel Lake) we did find the ubiquitous DOR Coluber constrictor.
Met one of my former students (Sigrid Bedford), her two kids (Chloe & Phoebe), and her boyfriend (Chad) at Camel Lake. We all set up camp. Found Sceloporus undulatus on the trees in the campground (as usual). Marla & Siggy took the girls (ours and hers) swimming while Chad & I went fishing. Chad caught 1 bass.
After dinner, Siggy & I went road cruising various forest roads in the national forest until dark, then cruised the scenic byway, FL 65, and FL 12 after dark. Found:
1 Coluber constrictor AOR
2 Sistrurus miliarius AOR juv
after dark
1 Hyla avivoca calling
1 Sistrurus miliarius AOR adult
1 Regina rigida DOR
1 Agkistrodon piscivorus DOR
1 Rana grylio DOR
1 Cemophora coccinea DOR
Back in camp after road cruising, heard & saw many Acris gryllus, heard Rana grylio & Rana heckscheri and found a dead Cnemidophorus sexlineatus in the bathroom.
27 May 2002
After breakfast, Siggy & I went back out road cruising. Nighttime temperatures were cool, and it didn’t warm up until around 9 a.m. when we got started. I made a turtle trap which I set out in the grasses along the shore in the Lake (I never caught any turtles in traps in either Camel Lake or a nearby pond).
Cruising
around in the morning, we found:
1 Eumeces laticeps at old barn
1 Eumeces sp (juv) at old barn
1 Cnemidophorus sexlineatus at old barn
1 Heterodon platyrhinos shed at old barn
1 Agkistrodon piscivorus in roadside pool
1 Elaphe obsoleta large adult AOR
sev Graptemys barbouri in oxbow lake
sev Trachemys scripta in oxbow lake
1 Pseudemys sp in oxbow lake
1 Trionyx ferox in oxbow lake
1 Rana clamitans in puddle near oxbow lake
1 Diadophis punctatus dead on trail near oxbow lake
1 Sistrurus miliarius DOR gravid female – killed by redneck, head removed
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At around 4 p.m., I went
to move my truck back into the shade, and noticed a large snake crawling through
the lawn in the campground. My
first thought was that it was a gray rat, but no!
it was a 4’ female Pituophis melanoleucus!
Made a 2nd turtle trap to put in the oxbow lake where I was seeing the Graptemys barbouri. Then went to town to get gas, and returned to the forest to hunt forest roads until dark and the Scenic byway, FL 65, and FL 12 after dark. Found:
2 Agkistrodon piscivorus at roadside pool
1 Rana sphenocephala at roadside pool
1 Opheodrys aestivus DOR
1 Sistrurus miliarius AOR juv
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Set out the turtle trap, then continued on our way. Stopped at a small flowing stream where I had heard the bird-voiced treefrog the night before, got out and looked around (it was already dark). Found:
1 Nerodia fasciata juv
1 Agkistrodon piscivorus juv
1 Hyla avivoca calling (photo)
sev Rana clamitans calling
1 Rana heckscheri
1 Rana sphenocephala
many Bufo terrestris
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left the forest roads for the pavement, found:
1 Cemophora coccinea AOR
1 Agkistrodon piscivorus DOR
1 Hyla gratiosa AOR subadult
1 Thamnophis sirtalis AOR
1 Crotalus adamanteus DOR juv
1 Elaphe guttata DOR juv
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28 May 2002
Got off a little bit
earlier today. Moved my trap from
Camel Lake to a nearby pond. On way
over to the pond on a little, two-track logging road, found our first cornsnake
of the trip – I actually spotted it from a surprisingly good distance away.
After that, we headed down to the southern part of the forest to
concentrate on “goini” areas – real swamps.
Anyway, this morning, we found:
1 Elaphe guttata AOR male (dark)
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3 Alligator mississippiensis 3-6’, in ponds and roadside ditches
1 Ophisaurus ventralis under trash, not caught – very large adult with stub tail
1 Agkistrodon piscivorus at pond
1 Coluber constrictor AOR
1 Sistrurus miliarius AOR
1 Eumeces laticeps big adult male at old sawmill site
1 Scincella laterale at old sawmill site
1 Coluber constrictor shed at old sawmill site
1 Nerodia sp shed at old sawmill site
1 Cnemidophorus sexlineatus at “no dumping site”
3 Gastrophryne carolinesis at “no dumping site”
1 Bufo terrestris at no dumping site
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1 Trachemys scripta AOR female
1 Sternotherus minor male in trap at oxbow lake
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2 Coluber constrictor DOR
1 Pituophis melanoleucus 5’ female DOR
Went to Blountstown for
groceries, by the time we got back it was raining all over the area.
Roadcruising in afternoon on Forest Roads, we found:
1 Elaphe guttata male AOR
1 Agkistrodon piscivorus in same pool as yesterday – one of the same snakes?
1 Terrepene carolina AOR
Stopped to take photos of grass-pink orchids in a pitcher plant bog in late afternoon. Also took some “family” photos.
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After dark, made the Scenic byway/FL 65/FL 12 loop. Found:
TMTC Bufo terrestris AOR
TMTC Rana sphenocephala AOR
Specific frogs that I stopped for:
1 Hyla cinerea AOR
1 Rana heckscheri AOR
1 Thamnophis sauritus DOR
1 Pseudacris ornata AOR
sev Hyla femoralis AOR
1 Cemophora coccinea AOR
1 Thamnophis sauritus AOR
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Back at camp, also heard many Acris and Bufo terrestris calling on the lakeshore.
29 May 2002
Got up, took photos of
herps I’d found the night before, and we went road-cruising.
Since it had rained the night before, I expected a good herp movement
this morning, but it turned out to be a fairly slow morning:
1 Terrepene carolina AOR
1 Opheodrys aestivus AOR
1 Coluber constrictor AOR
Decided to get out and walk down the flowing stream where I had found the Hyla avivoca the night before hoping to find a “goini”, but no luck on that score. Did find:
TMTC
Limnoedus ocularis in sphagnum bog
Sev
Rana sphenocephala
1
Rana cf. grylio
sev
Acris gryllus
1
Terrepene carolina
1
Scincella lateralis
1
Cnemidophorus sexlineatus
One
of my biggest dissappointments of the trip was that my photos of the little
grass frogs did not turn out!
While
I was out walking, Marla & Cheyenne cruised around and found an Agkistrodon
piscivorus in a roadside pool.
Went
and checked my turtle trap in the oxbow lake, and had caught:
2
Trachemys
scripta adult & subadult male
1
Sternotherus minor
old adult female
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For
the day’s afternoon roadcruise, decided to head over to Bradwell Bay on the
eastern side of the national forest. On
way over, we found:
1
Terrepene
carolina AOR
1
Alligator mississippiensis
AOR 3 ½ footer
1
Agkistrodon piscivorus
AOR juv
Around
Bradwell Bay, we found:
3
Agkistrodon
piscivorus AOR (2 adults, 1 juv)
1
Opheodrys aestivus
AOR
1
Elaphe obsoleta AOR
1
unid snake, cf Ophisaurus AOR
1
Alligator mississippiensis
in roadside pool
1
Sistrurus miliarius
AOR
1
Thamnophis sirtalis
AOR
1
Nerodia fasciata AOR
1
Ophisaurus ventralis
DOR
1
Thamnophis sauritus
AOR
After
dark, we cruised over to FL 67. Found:
14
Cemophora
coccinea AOR
1
Thamnophis sirtalis
AOR
1
unid snake AOR
1
Elaphe guttata adult male AOR
2
Coluber constrictor
DOR
1
Hyla chrysocelis AOR
1
Sistrurus miliarius
DOR
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Overall,
we found 32 snakes! If only there
was a little more diversity after dark to go with the Cemophora-fest (funny, but
I would be ecstatic with ONE Cemophora
in east Texas).
30
M
Decided
to hunt mostly the highlands around Camel Lake this morning. Found:
1
Agkistrodon
piscivorus juv in minnow trap I’d
set out in blackwater stream
1
Ophisaurus ventralis
AOR
1
Terrepene carolina
AOR
5
Trachemys scripta AOR females, two laying eggs
1
Sternotherus minor
female, in trap in oxbow lake
1
Sternotherus odoratus male, in trap
in oxbow lake
1
Coluber constrictor
AOR
On
way into town to get gas and ice, found:
1
Cemophora
coccinea DOR
1
Masticophis flagellum
DOR
Got
back to camp, and it rained on us for about 3 hours.
I sat in the truck and wrote up my field notes while Marla & Cheyenne
played in the tent. Decided to head
back over to Bradwell Bay area in hopes that the rain might have stirred up some
of the more aquatic snakes (i.e. Farancia).
Found:
2
Terrepene
carolina AOR
1
Alligator mississippiensis
in roadside stream
1
Coluber constrictor
DOR
2
Kinosternon subrubrum
AOR
1
Ophisaurus mimicus
AOR
1
Thamnophis sirtalis
AOR
1
Agkistrodon piscivorus
AOR
after
dark, cruised FL 67 again, found:
1
Opheodrys
aestivus DOR
1
Cemophora coccinea
AOR
1
Terrepene carolina
AOR
1 Bufo quericusAOR
1 Acris gryllus AOR
1 Rana heckscheri AOR
TMTC Bufo terrestris AOR
TMTC Rana sphenocephala AOR
Sev Rana clamitans AOR
TMTC Hyla femoralis AOR
Calling Hyla avivoca
Calling Hyla cinerea
Calling Gastrophyrne carolinensis
(in addition to choruses of Bufo terrestris & Hyla femoralis)
We also saw a large Black Bear on the roadside, which reacted quite calmly to us shining our flashlights at him!
31 May 2002
Decided to head up to Torreya State Park to look for salamanders. On way, did spot a large Cottonmouth in a roadside pool in the forest.
At Torreya, found:
sev Desmognathus
apalachicolae
1 Desmognathus auriculatus
1 Plethodon grobmani (glutinosus complex)
1
Eumeces inexpectatus
sev
Scincella lateralis
1
Sceloporus undulatus
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Just
outside the park boundary, stopped at an abandoned trailer house, and found:
1
Agkistrodon
contortrix
1
Eumeces inexpectatus
1
Scincella lateralis
On
way back to camp, saw a few herps and decided to take a short cruise throught
the forest. Found:
1
Terrepene
carolina DOR
1
Sistrurus miliarius
large adult AOR
1
Coluber constrictor DOR
1
Masticophis flagellum AOR
In camp that afternoon, saw (and photographed in situ) another large male Eumeces laticeps.
Left
to go on our afternoon roadcruise at about 6:30 pm.
Again headed over to Bradwell Bay area.
Found:
3
Terrepene
carolina AOR
2 Agkistrodon piscivorus AOR
2 Sistrurus miliarius AOR
1 Regina rigida AOR
1 Farancia abacura AOR
1 Elaphe guttata 4’ male AOR
5 Thamnophis sauritus AOR
1 Rana grylio in roadside pool
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1
Lampropeltis
triangulum male AOR
11
Cemophora coccinea
10 AOR, 1 DOR
1
Micrurus fulvius had been hit, but still lived long enough to take head shot photo
1
Hyla cinerea AOR
1
Agkistrodon piscivorus AOR
1
Regina rigida AOR
1 Ophisaurus attenuatus DOR
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Well, it was “only” a 28 snake night, but we had much better species diversity than two nights ago! I was especially glad to find the mudsnake and the scarlet kings, both animals that I had heretofore only found DOR.
1 June 2002
Went out to pull my minnow traps (which had cool fish in them – madtoms, pygmy sunfish, pirate perch, grass pickerel) and found:
1 Sistrurus miliarius DOR
Picked
up Marla & Cheyenne and head out to cruise for the morning.
I decided that I would hike in an area where I had found (with my Dad)
goini back in the 70s (see pix of 70’s goini).
On way over, found:
1 Alligator
mississippiensis in roadside ditch
1
Cemophora coccinea
DOR
Marla
dropped me off, and I hiked around floodplain forest, pretending goini were the
speckled kings I grew up with in East Texas.
No luck on that score, but did find:
1
Coluber
constrictor
1
Lampropeltis triangulum
female, under bark
1
Eumeces cf. fasciatus
juv
1
Terrepene carolina
1
Nerodia fasciata
Meanwhile,
Marla & Cheyenne cruised around and found:
1
Elaphe
guttata gravid female AOR
1 Gopherus polyphemus AOR
2 Coluber constrictorAOR
1 Trachemys scripta AOR
Marla picked me up around 11:00 a.m. and we continued to cruise:
1 Coluber constrictor AOR
1 Opheodrys aestivus AOR
1 Alligator mississippiensis in roadside creek
2 Trachemys scripta in roadside creek
Had to drive to Blountstown for diapers, found:
1 Elaphe obsoleta DOR
1 Elaphe guttata DOR
Sat around camp all day – again saw the 1st Eumeces laticeps that I had caught, confirming that there are at least two in the immediate camp vicintiy.
Went
cruising back towards the Bradwell Bay area for the afternoon cruise, FL 67 for
the night time cruise. Found:
4 Terrepene carolina AOR
4 Sistrurus miliarius 3 AOR, 1 DOR
1 Coluber constrictor DOR
1 Thamnophis sirtalis AOR
1 Nerodia fasciata AOR
1 Bufo quericus AOR
after dark:
8 Cemophora coccinea AOR
1 Opheodrys aestivus DOR
2 Thamnophis sauritus 1 AOR, 1 DOR
1 Virginia valeriae AOR
1 Terrepene carolina DOR gravid female
1 Hyla chrysocelis AOR (others calling)
“only” 19 snakes this evening . . .
2 June 2002
Our last day in Florida 8^( . . . Got up and road cruised one last time, found:
1 Elaphe guttata 40” gravid female AOR
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1 Elaphe obsoleta AOR
4 Terrepene
carolina AOR
1
Ophisaurus attenuatus
40” speckled male AOR
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2
Coluber constrictor
AOR
1
Trachemys scripta AOR female laying eggs
And
that was that for this year’s herping in Florida.
Packed up and headed west. On
way out of Florida, between Bristol and Crestview, found:
1 Elaphe guttata DOR
1 Masticophis flagellum DOR
1 Coluber constrictor DOR
1 Elaphe obsoleta DOR
1 Agkistrodon piscivorus DOR
Stopped at the “Welcome
to Mississippi” rest area, just before entering into Louisiana, found:
1 Eumeces fasciatus
Tried to get to the
Kisatchie National Forest before dark, but really underestimated how long it
would take. It got dark on the interestate south of Alexandria.
From the interstate to the our eventual campsite in the national forest
there, we found:
1 Nerodia cyclopion DOR
1 Thamnophis proximus AOR
1 Agkistrodon contortrix AOR
1 Heterodon platyrhinos DOR
Since there weren’t many herps moving (not even many toads!) we went ahead and went to bed.
3 June 2002
Packed up and headed east. Before leaving the Kisatchie National Forest, stopped at the Kisatchie Bayou Recreation Area – a really neat stream that obviously gets overcrowded with swimmers on the weekends. Decided to take the “scenic route” through western Louisiana and eastern Texas. Found:
Louisiana
1 Farancia abacura DOR
1 Terrepene carolina AOR
1 Elaphe obsoleta DOR
Texas
many Trachemys scripta on logs at Toledo Bend Reservoir
1 Masticophis flagellum DOR (interesting chocolate snake with pink belly and tail)