 |
 |
Spring Break 2003 - Florida
14 March 2003
This year, for our Spring Break trip, we decided to head down to South Florida, then to come back to the Apalachicola. We left Arlington from school and drove until we got tired (without pushing it) which turned out to be Lafayette, LA. No herps seen, but this drive was all interstate (well, there may have been basking turtles in the ponds of East Texas, but we didn't pay much attention).
15 March 2003
Got up early and drove towards Florida. Left the interstate at Crestview to cruise down FL 20 and hit junk spots. A couple of the spots I had picked out were relatively productive, while a couple weren't. The best spot had someone living on it in a travel trailer. Temps were cool (in the upper 70s) and it was sunny. Found:
4 live, 1 DOR Coluber constrictor
1 DOR Elaphe guttata
1 Nerodia fasciata (got hit)
1 Scincella lateralis
1 Eumeces egregius
1 Anolis carolinensis
1 Terrepene carolina
1 DOR Kinosternon subrubum
4 Gastrophryne carolinensis
1 Bufo terrestris
|
|
We intended to camp tonight at Manatee Springs, but the the campground was full. So next, we went in search of cheap motels and couldn't find a room. We ended up spending the night at a rest area on I-75 south of Tampa.
16 March 2003
We got up early and headed out to meet Kenny & Maria Wray and Tim Burghart (& his girlfriend Sam) at a scrub area in Highlands County.
On the way over, we found several roadkills:
1 DOR Elaphe obsoleta
2 DOR Nerodia fasciata
1 DOR Coluber constrictor
1 DOR Agkistrodon piscivorus
We arrived at the scrub area where we were to meet Kenny (et. al.) but couldn't find them or get them on the cell. So Marla & I decided to just go exploring the area on our own. Every road we looked at had trash on it, so we started at a likely looking spot. Mostly, we focused on just the trash. Found:
2 Coluber constrictor
2 Tantilla relicta (lifer)
1 Eumeces egregius
sev Eumeces inexpectatus
sev Cnemidophorus sexlineatus
sev Sceloporus woodi
sev Anolis sagrei
1 Gopherus polyphemus
sev Eleutherodactylus planirostris (lifer)
1 Gastrophryne carolinesis
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Went back to the gas station and finally go a hold of Kenny. Went back out and met up with them. Continued herping, found:
1 Elaphe guttata - possible piebald?
1 Masticophis flagellum
2 Coluber constrictor
1 Rhineura floridana (lifer)
4 Neoseps reynoldsi (lifer)
~10 Eumeces egregius
sev Eumeces inexpectatus
TMTC Sceloporus woodi
TMTC Cnemidophorus sexlineatus
sev Anolis sagrei
2 Hemidactylus tursicus
2 Pseudemys nelsoni (butchered shells)
1 Trionyx ferox - hit on road
2 Rana capito (in tortoise burrows) - lifers
1 Rana grylio - calling
many Acris gryllus - calling
1 Bufo terrestris
sev Eleutherodactylus planirostris
 |
 |
 |
 |
Found all 4 Neoseps and most of the Eumeces egregius by sifting sand beneath leaf litter. Most everything else was under junk except the scrub lizards, the racerunners, and the coachwhip. It began to rain as I began to photo some of the stuff, and the Camera got wet - and the lens fogged before I noticed, screwing up several of my photos. Oh well, reason to go back!
Kenny & Co left to go to his wife's grandmother's house while Marla, Cheyenne, and I headed down to Big Cypress Preserve to camp. It soon got dark on us, and so this was road-cruising. Found:
2 DOR Elaphe obsoleta
3 DOR Elaphe guttata
2 DOR Coluber constrictor
1 Cemophora coccinea
7 DOR Nerodia fasciata
3 DOR Thamnophis sauritus
1 Regina alleni (thinking it was yet another DOR, I backed up over it! - lifer)
1 AOR, 1 DOR Agkistrodon piscivorus
We got camp set up at Bear Island Primitive Campground just before it started to rain - it rained almost all night.
17 March 2003
Got up early to head over to the south shores of Lake Okeechobee to meet Kenny & Co and herp the sugar cane fields of the canals for Florida Kings. On way out of Big Cypress, saw lots of Alligators and abundant bird life, many of which were drying their feathers in the sun (birds included a Bald Eagle and many Wood Storks). On way over to the lake, found:
1 Chelydra serpentina
1 Terrepene carolina
2 Trionyx ferox
 |
 |
Met up with Kenny & Co at about 9:00 a.m. and headed into the cane fields in search of a suitable canal. Hunted until about 1:00 p.m. Found:
5 Lampropeltis getula
3 Coluber constrictor (including a copulating pair)
1 Nerodia taxispilota - lifer
2 Nerodia fasciata
1 Thamnophis sirtalis
TMTC Eumeces inexpectatus
TMTC Anolis sagrei
1 Pseudemys floridana
1 Trionyx ferox
1 Chelydra serpentina
sev Alligator mississippiensis, including 2 tiny juveniles
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
The king-count was (in order of capture): Kenny - 1 four foot male, Marla - 1 five foot male, Tim - 1 three foot female, and me - 2 four foot males. Tim, Kenny, and I were all walking different side canals in the center of a large field while Marla, Cheyenne, Maria, and Sam were walking a large canal along the field's periphery when we started to find kings. Kenny found the first one - it was perched on top of a rock along a side canal. He hollered at me and held up the king from about a 100 yards away. After finishing our canals, Tim & I went over to look at Kenny's snake, and Tim told us that "the girls" had just caught a big king, too. As it turns out, Marla spotted it lying under some grass, and it turned out to be a five foot monster which she (actually!) caught all by herself. Anyway, after looking over Kenny's beautiful light colored king, we all three started walking along the main canal. Shortly, Tim flips a really crappy looking rock at the edge of the road and under it was a three foot brown and yellow female king. At this point, I'm beginning to get just a bit frustrated - I'm the only one of the group that is really into kings! Then I spot about 4" of the edge of a yellow coil under the edge of a large rock. I say "There's a king" and flip the rock to reveal a 4'+ adult male yellow kingsnake. Within minutes, I spot my second king lying on top of some dead grass across the canal - it looks really light from a distance, almost hypomelanistic. I kick off my shoes, take off my camera bag, and swim across the canal to get the king. It turned out to be a nice male, but in the blue. I don't think it was quite as nice as my first male. Shortly thereafter, the girls meet up with us, and Marla shows me her five foot beauty - light brown and yellow king (That I wish I'd have taken pictures of!).
Instead of continuing to hunt canals (a decision I now regret, as I'd have liked to find a female king), we decided to go try and hunt aquatic salamanders. Not entirely knowing what I was looking for, the spot I picked was a water lettuce spot, which Kenny tells me isn't very good for salamanders. We looked for about 30 minutes, then drove back to camp to road cruise. Ironic thing is, I later noticed 2 separate water hyacinth spots within a few miles of the spot we tried. How we failed to notice them after the futile attempt at the water lettuce spot, I don't know. Anyway, on the way over to the pond and at the pond, found:
1 DOR Elaphe guttata
1 Thamnophis sauritus
1 Pseudemys nelsoni
1 Rana sphenocephala
1 Rana grylio
many Acris gryllus calling
On way back into camp, found:
1 Ophisaurus ventralis
1 Trionyx ferox large adult female
1 Nerodia fasciata
1 Thamnophis sauritus
 |
 |
After dinner, I went out roadcruising by myself. I only got to cruise for a short time before the bottom fell out of the clouds and sheet of rain started pelting the road. Found:
1 Elaphe obsoleta
2 Thamnophis sauritus
3 Nerodia fasciata
1 Nerodia floridana
many frogs, mostly Rana sphenocephala and Rana grylio
 |
 |
Met up with Kenny back at Camp, gave him his net. After Kenny & Co left, they saw a Florida Panther just south of the Campground. After they left, I went out after some frogs in the campground, and found:
1 Osteopilus septentrionalis
1 Pseudacris nigrita (and several calling - lifer)
many Acris gryllus calling
many Bufo terrestris calling
 |
 |
18 March 2003
Got up with the sun and the birds, ate breakfast, photographed herps from yesterday, preserved several days worth of roadkills, etc. Overall, a liesurely morning with no rush to get anywhere.
 |
 |
We head out to sight-see in Big Cypress, the Everglades, and Corkscrew Swamp at about 9:15 a.m. Spent most of the morning looking over canals and levees along Turner River Road. Found:
1 Thamnophis sauritus
2 Nerodia fasciata
1 Nerodia floridana
1 unid Nerodia
1 Coluber constrictor
Drove down to Everglades City and Chokoloskee. Saw many Pelicans, Hermit Crabs, and Brown Anoles. Ate lunch at the Everglades National Park visitor's center.
 |
 |
Drove on up to Corkscrew after lunch. Bird life wasn't so concentrated there as it had been in 1990 when Toby & I came through, but I think that this year was a much wetter year than that one had been. Saw Gray Catbird, Common Grackle, Little Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Anhinga, Wood Stork, Downy Woodpecker, Swallow-tailed Kites, and Turkey Vultures. Herp-wise, we found:
1 Alligator mississippiensis
TMTC Anolis sagrei
1 Anolis carolinensis
1 Eumeces inexpectatus
sev Pseudemys nelsoni
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
After a couple of hours at Corkscrew, headed back to camp. On way back, found:
1 DOR Nerodia fasciata
1 AOR, 1 DOR Ophisaurus compressus
1 Thamnophis sauritus
 |
 |
It had rained and cooled temps down sometime that afternoon. After a quick dinner, we all went out road-cruising. We found very little:
1 Cemophora coccinea
1 Diadophis punctatus
1 Nerodia floridana
TMTC Rana grylio
TMTC Rana sphenocephala
TMTC Bufo terrestris
 |
 |
Back in camp, went after calling frogs again and found:
2 Hyla cinerea calling in duet
4 Hyla squirrella (on tent eating mosquitos) and 1 calling in pool
1 Pseudacris nigrita (calling)
sev Bufo terrestris (calling)
sev Rana grylio (calling)
1 Nerodia fasciata
 |
 |
19 March 2003
Got up, packed up camp, and headed out. Saw several Anolis sagrei in camp before we left. On the way out of Big Cypress, we stopped a few times to check out sloughs and bridges along Turner River Road. Found:
2 Nerodia floridana
1 Elaphe obsoleta
1 Nerodia fasciata
1 unid Nerodia
2 Ophisaurus compress
1 DOR Farancia abacura
1 Chelydra serpentina
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Once we left Big Cypress, we headed back to the Highlands Co. scrub spot. On the way, we found:
1 Thamnophis sauritus
1 DOR Coluber constrictor
At the scrub spot, the sand was very wet from several consecutive days of rain, and we could find no suitable loose sand to sift for Neoseps. It was also very humid - too humid for Marla & Cheyenne, so we didn't stay for very long. Looking mostly under junk, found:
2 Eumeces egregius
2 Eumeces inexpectatus
sev Sceloporus woodi
1 Cnemidophorus sexlineatus
1 Anolis carolinensis
2 Eleutherodactylus planirostris
Continuing on around Lake Istokpoga where I though Kenny had said there were several good junk spots, found nothing. In talking to him later, I think he meant for me to look around Grassy Lake. We did find a couple of spots NW of the Lake. Found:
1 Anolis carolinensis
TMTC Anolis sagrei
1 Gastrophryne carolinensis
1 dead hatchling Gopherus polyphemus being eaten by fire ants
Continued north, heading for the Apalachicola. On way, found:
1 Hemidactylus garnoti (on gas station)
1 Hyla gratiosa
1 Hyla squirrella
1 Bufo terrestris
1 DOR Rana grylio
1 Rana sphenocephala
sev Hyla cinerea calling
1 Nerodia fasciata DOR
1 Hyla chrysocelis DOR & sev calling
Arrived at Camel Lake CG at about 11:45 p.m. The following were calling around the lake:
Acris gryllus
Pseudacris triseriata
Rana grylio
Set up camp in our usual spot and went to sleep.
20 March 2003
Got up to hunt the Apalachicola NF for scarlet kings. Hunted all day, mostly looking under the bark of standing dead pines. Gnats and mosquitoes were particularly bad all day. Many trees, especially near roads, had been stripped of bark from as high as could be reached (with a hook) down to ground level. We tried to look under the bark as carefully as we could without knocking it completely off the trees. Many places which looked to have suitable trees yielded no snakes. In the morning, we found (all under bark unless otherwise noted):
1 Coluber constrictor - AOR
1 Eumeces laticeps (male)
1 Eumeces inexpectatus
2 unid 5-lined skinks
1 Sceloporus undulatus - out on log
2 Terrepene carolina - AOR
1 Pseudacris ocularis - in grass
3 Hyla femoralis
Around noon, we went down to the Sumatra store for ice and bread. Headed down to the Sumatra dump site and found it to be full of water, covering most of the junk I normally flip. Found:
1 Coluber constrictor - out crawling
3 Scincella lateralis - under junk
sev Acris gryllus - calling
Continued on various Forest Roads. Stopped to eat lunch at old barn site we regularly look at. At the barn site, found:
1 Crotalus adamanteus - out basking, in blue
1 Sistrurus miliarius - under tin
Continued on, finally started to find snakes under bark:
4 Lampropeltis triangulum - 2 juvs + adult pair
2 Elaphe guttata -1 juv 
under bark, 1 bright orange male DOR
2 Agkistrodon piscivorus - 1 in grass, 1 AOR
1 Coluber constrictor DOR
1 Cnemidophorus sexlineatus - under junk
1 unid 5-lined skink
3 Terrepene carolina, including mating pair
1 Hyla femoralis
1 Gastrophryne carolinensis
 |
 |
Went back to camp, dropped Marla & Cheyenne off to start dinner while I drove into Bristol for gas. On way into Bristol, found:
1 Ophisaurus ventralis DOR
1 Nerodia fasciata DOR
Came back to camp and ate dinner. After dinner, I went out and hunted frogs, mostly along the scenic route. There were some decent choruses of frogs, but only toads AOR. Found:
Hyla squirrella - sev choruses
Hyla femoralis - sev choruses
Hyla chrysocelis - 1 chorus
2 Pseudacris triseriata
1 Pseudacris crucifer
Pseudacris ocularis - sev choruses
Acris gryllus - sev choruses
Bufo quericus - 1 chorus
Bufo terrestris - sev choruses & many AOR
Rana grylio - sev calling
1 Rana heckscheri
1 Rana sphenocephala
1 Nerodia fasciata DOR
 |
 |
21 March 2003
Today, we decided to focus on looking for goini. We first hunted bridges along the New River, then hit a dump spot in Franklin Co. If I'd have known that there was so much junk there and that so much of it was in the sun, I'd have hit that spot first thing - there were lots of holes under that junk, and snakes could have headed back into those holes are gone out and crawled around. After the junk spot, we worked our way along the coast over to Carabelle, then back up into the forest. In the late afternoon, we hunted scarlet kings again. While it was cooler today, the skies were clear and cover objects were hot. Found:
3 Coluber constrictor - 1 under cement slab, 1 DOR, 1 under board
1 Elaphe guttata - under carpet
1 Cemophora coccinea - under tin
2 Sceloporus undulatus
1 Eumeces inexpectatus - under tin
1 Terrepene carolina AOR
sev Acris gryllus
1 Bufo quericus
 |
 |
After lunch, we headed over to Carabelle looking for more trash (found none) then headed back into the forest. Found:
1 Farancia abacura - juv DOR
2 Lampropeltis triangulum - juv's
1 Diadophis punctatus
1 Sistrurus miliarius DOR
3 Eumeces laticeps
sev Eumeces inexpectatus
sev Anolis carolinensis
1 Terrepene carolina
2 Hyla femoralis
sev Acris gryllus
1 Bufo terrestris
 |
 |
Instead of going frogging tonight, I built a campfire, preserved all of my roadkills from the past few days, relaxed, ate dinner, and just lounged around.
22 March 2003
Today as our last day in Florida. The weather was cool and sunny, about like yesterday. Before leaving the Apalachicola, we headed over to a Longleaf Prairie area to look for orchids. After two days of looking under bark of pines all day to only find the scarlet kings late in the day, wouldn't you know the second tree I looked at had a scarlet king. Anyway, on the way out of the Apalachicola, we found:
1 Virginia valeriae - dead in camp
1 Lampropeltis triangulum - juv
1 Elaphe guttata - 4 1/2 foot male AOR
1 Nerodia fasciata DOR
 |
 |
We went to Cape San Blas to take Cheyenne to the beach. I bird-watched and really had a good time watching the 40 or so Northern Gannets dive-bombing into schools of fish while the dolphins circled around.
After 45 minutes or so at the beach, we continued on and found:
1 Crotalus adamanteus DOR
1 Agkistrodon piscivorus - under junk
1 Anolis carolinensis - under junk
1 Terrepene carolina DOR
1 Trionyx ferox - DOR
1 Bufo terrestris - under junk
3 Coluber constrictor - DOR
Drove to Homochito National Forest's Clear Springs Recreation Area east of Natchez, MS, to spend the night. It was very cool and no herps were seen on the road after we left the interstate.
23 March 2003
Got up at sunrise to hunt salamanders for about 30 minutes before packing up. Found:
3 Eurycea cirrigera
2 Desmognathus auriculatus
1 Eumeces fasciatus
 |
 |
Packed up camp and headed for home. On way, in LA, we found:
2 Trachemys scripta - AOR
1 Eumeces fasciatus - under junk
