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Buck_99 · Last edited by Buck_99 on Mon May 19, 2008 4:00 pm; edited 2 times in total

During our herping trip we camped out at Newport News Park, and we also did a half-day survey there on Sunday. The habitat was a bottomland creek. We were fortunate to be guided by an employee of the park whose job it is to study cottonmouths, so he's regarded as the expert in the area on the species. On Sunday we decided not to cheat by using his telemetry equipment to find individuals that he's put radio emitters in, so we were left to count on our senses.

Junior herpetologist Liv at camp:

Southern leopard frog:

This is the habitat we were up against. We didn't have boats so we walked around it, though sometimes we waded in. Even the "dry" area around it was 4" thick mud. Squishy, smelly stuff.

You may remember from one of my posts last year that I like taking pictures of racers. Once again, you can spot yours truly in the reflection of this black racer's eye:

Here's another racer. This one gave us a merry chase, just like in an Austin Stevens show, except without the multiple camera angles and the staged pursuit. A 13-year old kid and I ran 40 yards after this guy, and the kid beat the old man to the punch, making a phenomenal diving catch just as the snake was disappearing under some roots:

The racer had a weird absess on its side. It felt "juicy". We had multiple theories. I believe it had a sizeable tick beneath its scales, but we'll never know:

We caught a nice black rat snake out there too. To give you an idea about the muck we were working in, when we put the snake on the ground, he dove right into the mud. He only made it in about 12". Not a very effective escape tactic, but entertaining:

Finally, yours truly made the find of the day, a sub-adult cottonmouth, still sporting a good deal of its juvenile coloring:

Unfortunately, while I awaited the arrival of someone with tongs, I was trying to avoid sudden movements that might scare her off (she was half in the water). So I didn't get my camera on her in time to catch her beautiful, white-mouthed threat display.

18 months and 6 herping trips after purchasing my tubes, I finally got a chance to use them:

The cottonmouth turned out to be a female. I also grabbed this shot to show how irridescent she was on her belly:

Herping also makes you thirsty. The cottonmouth expert poured me a cup of porter, the best I've ever had. It's out of Black Mountain, NC. If anyone knows how to find this stuff short of driving to Black Mountain, please let me know:

* Edited to clarify the species of snake that burrowed into the mud.
* Edited to change Blackwater to Black Mountain

deborahbroadus · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:41 am Post subject:

Liv has my respect! Shocked

While I love and respect snakes, I am too "girly" to want to be in any muddy muck! * I would have to have

waist high wadders with steel inserts from toe to knee
shoulder length rubber gloves
misquito net helmet.

and I still might not go! Cool

But I would have stopped by later for the "party" part! Laughing

magana559 · Joined: 29 Sep 2007 Posts: 1132

Nice Nice Nice! Sounds Like You And your Family Had A Great time!

hhmoore · Joined: 24 Nov 2007 Posts: 532

Looks like a fun time...even before the Porter (I may have to look into that, based on your praise...but what is it?)
Did you put that cottonmouth in the tube yourself, lol?

*nevermind - I looked it up...the look of the bottle threw me

Number 2 · Joined: 29 Jul 2007 Posts: 545 Location: Kaukauna, WI

Very cool Scott! I'm way jealous AGAIN!

MikeandSlick · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:08 pm Post subject:

Here's a quote from my herping trip thread:

PyMama · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 1646

a cottonmouth... Shocked

Looks like a lot of fun!!!

What were some of Livies comments?

deborahbroadus · Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 8:47 am Post subject:

Buck_99 · Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 10:38 am Post subject:

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