Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My annual trek from Mass to MD/VA is this weekend and the weather didnt cooperate most of the weekend until this afternoon. Friday and saturday consisted mostly of worm snakes,ringnecks,redbellys and skinks with a racer or 2 thrown in for giggles(they really like warm dry shirts of the people I hunt with for some reason).
Today the skies cleared and warmed up and in literally 5 minutes we saw more turtles on the pond than we saw all day. We were hunting a amazing swamp on the southwestern tip of MD and we saw HUGE beaver,bigger Bald Eagles, and even bigger Red belly turtles.
We didnt get that close to the adult red bellys(even with the water as cold as it was)but I did find a hatchling and a adult female Red ear slider which according to Petersons is a range extension. Sad news is that about 1/2 my hunting spots from just 3 years ago are gone forever to the bulldozer. Anyone that knows someone who's idea of herping is going to a herp show......take em out in the field before its too late please,Jeff

What? No moles? Not even a black rat? I won't even ask about coastals.
Did you hit the eastern shore? How bout Joisey?

No on the eastern shore, and it rained most of the time down there. This one pond/swamp I have looked at from the road for years--so I drove all the way down with the canoe....definately worth it! Kinda funny canoeing with a deaf guy...the beavers were making such a racket it sounded like they were dropping boulders in the water every 30 seconds and of course he didnt hear a thing. Dont ever ask about the red guys, I am hoping to find one on a day when I am not looking for them....anything to change my luck.J