Here's a few shots of the only herps found in a trip from Texas to Virginia to see my new grandson around march 17th-22nd. We did see several dor red eared sliders and an aor gator leaving Texas but those don't count! Nothing was seen in Louisiana or Mississippi, we stopped over in Gulfport. I had grand ideas of speckled and black kings and box turtles. We stopped at a bar b q spot in Alabama for refreshments and a leg stretch and I wandered around the property to find a small skink, probably a five lined. That set me into search mode! i located a metal sign that was half buried in the brushline. Voila! A large male gray rat snake was therming underneath. Nice looking snake and a lifer.
Didn't see anything else until the return trip, and there wasn't much time to look, what a long trip. Nothing in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, or Virginia, and it was getting colder the further north we went. I suspect they were still a few weeks from totl emergence up that way, with night time lows in the low 40's. I took another route home through the Smokies of Tennessee and Northern Alabama, lots of tin to flip, but no time. beautiful country. On another road side stop at a rest stop in ;bama, I flipped a log or two and found a single slimy salamander. I just cannot get good shots in dappled sunlight. I took maybe 20 shots and they all blew. I wonder if this slimy is the same sub as the ones in north central Texas?
Further down the pike, I started seeing masses of turtles sunning on branches in the flooded roadside ditches. They were very wary and my zoom couldn't reach them for clear shots before they disappeared!
I had a good time seeing my grandson and kids but didn't have much time to waste. Kudos to my wife Charlotte for putting up with me and letting me "stretch my legs", lol!
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Todd Hughes
