Well, eventually it was bound to happen. True, we were aiming for harder-to-find targets like Indigos and
Rattlesnakes in natural habitat --- we hardly hit any tin sites --- but my
brother Ron and I were in the company of professional herpetologists, in
prime habitat, with good weather, and still we nearly got skunked. In the first five days we saw only six
snakes . . . and three of those were Racers!
It ended a bit better, but that was between six of us searching for three
more days, and most of those finds were under arrays of artificial cover at a
study site. So, the best highlights of this trip turned out
to be people rather than herps. Most
were scientists, which always appeals to me.
Perhaps it’s the education I gain learning from experts, or the
satisfaction of contributing to field research, or maybe it’s the vicarious
thrill of herping with folks who are living my childhood dream. But mostly, I think it’s because, in my
experience, these people are just not normal. Herping is a peculiar hobby to begin with (Exhibit A) but it takes a special kind of person to
do it professionally (Exhibit
B), and I’ve been privileged to join quite a few in the field. This time around I met several new
researchers and reconnected with others I’ve herped with before, and the
biggest bonus was discovering what good company they were and what additional
obscurities we had in common (who knew there were other herpers familiar with
DADGAD?). All in all, not many
species or stories, but it was still a great time with some fine folks (who
shall remain nameless to avoid inadvertently revealing by association the location
of their study sites). Our grand total from Day One, in the
The next day found us in Caught a few glimpses of tortoises poking out of their burrows, but
they disappeared as soon as we approached.
Besides Fence Lizards, that’s all we found after a full day in the
field. On the drive back we flipped a
few boards which produced our only finds for Day Two:
On Day Three Ron and I drove to another site to continue the hunt for
Indigos. En route we came across this
Moccasin. You can tell from the
self-satisfied smile that he knew he would be our only snake of the day.
Arrived at a perfect
spot, a sand ridge covered with active burrows, but the best we could do was
this tortoise who, in keeping with the spirit of her fellow herps, simply
ignored us.
The following morning we hit the same site hard,
inspecting virtually every burrow on the ridge. Twice.
Then once more. Saw more
tortoises and a single salamander, then finally surrendered and retreated
north to
Along the way we passed an abandoned barn that supplied our token snake for Day Four:
Day Five was spent in the Low Country assisting a field research project on Canebrake Rattlesnakes. After hours of intensive search, we proudly contributed this single, totally irrelevant data point:
Our researcher was thrilled. As to Canebrakes, we couldn’t even find the radio-tagged rattlers, who were hiding deep underground, much less add any new ones to the study. And so our first five days came to an inauspicious end with a juvenile Black Racer, the worst streak of herping I’ve had since hunting for ice snakes.
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