This is a long post about a field herp trip so you can stop now if you don't really care....
Today I had to drive my brother upstate so he could pay a court fine (yes he is an idiot) So I had to drive about 250 miles upstate and noticed that the land was subtly changing. By the time we got to where we were going I noticed that I was definately in emoryi country. So of course I had to stop on the way back to investigate. I pull in to a state park on the way back and we are just driving along the dirt roads. Well after moving about 3-4 box turtles off the road I see a little abandoned tin shack sitting about 10 feet in the woods. So of course I have to check it out. After walking up to the shack I notice a 6' black ratsnake right off the bat. What a start! The snake was blue and quickly retreated back into it's crevice. I start looking around and sure enough there are about 10 pieces of tin scattered about randomly. Truely this place is a herpers dream (I suspect that a fellow herper had set up the area anyway) I flip the first piece and see 2 little ringnecks. I flip the second piece and a 3' juevenile black rat it sitting there staring at me. So I picked him up and examined him for a little bit untill I was ready to move on to the next piece of tin. Right when I walked up to it I heard a "rustling" sound. So I cautiously flipped it and there are 3 yellow-bellied water snakes curiously staring at me. So I picked up the largest (which was also blue) and examined it for a little while. I moved on to the next piece of tin only to see what I can only guess was an eastern yellow bellied racer dart off right after I flipped the tin. I flip the last piece of tin and am greeted by a 5' black ratsnake that has the most beautifull red and white "blushing" I have ever seen. He was the only bad mannered snake I encountered all day and honestly he wasn't that bad! As we were walking back to the car I noticed that the ratsnake in blue had come out for some sun. I grabbed him and quickly realised that this is the strongest snake I have ever encountered! I was huddled over him and grabbed him behind his head and the other hand had his mid-body. He wrapped his tail around a small tree and literally pulled me over! So after exhausting the tin site AKA "snake heaven," I drove up the road a little ways to see if there were any similar sites. I came across an abandoned alluminum hay storage garage??? Car port with hay linng the ground... I was explaining to my brother that these are great places to find black rats and milksnakes and right as I finished my sentence I notice a little 2' black rat slithering across the barn. He was jet black with not a scar on him and if I were going to keep anything that day he would have been it. But I released him where I found him just like the others. So to sum it all up 10 beautifull snakes in 30 minutes is not bad at all! The only bad part is that I never found my emoryi. I will definately be stopping back there on my next trip to Kansas City! And unfortunately, NO...I didn't have a camera!
-----
0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Ball Python "Wilson" (Castaway)
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
0.0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Onyx"
0.0.1 Black Ratsnake "Molly" (Flogging Molly)
As we say in Missouri, "I ain't goin back to Missouri!"
