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FLORIDA
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April 2002
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Click on any
photo to see a larger version
 3 of 3
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The following day I
joined Gerry to cruise the Gulf Hammock area, but unfortunately, conditions
were perfect (night time temps of about 70 degrees following a late afternoon
thunderstorm), which naturally meant that we got skunked. TMTC frogs, toads,
and one DOR Garter Snake, but not a single live snake the whole evening.
Fortunately, Gerry was kind enough to bring with him an extraordinarily
beautiful Bluestripe Garter, which he and Kenny Krysko had collected the week
before, so he could at least show me an endemic from the area. Pictures don’t
do it justice!
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Bluestripe
Garter Snake
Thamnophis
sirtalis similis
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Oh, we
did catch one other herp in hand, a Gray Treefrog.
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Gray Treefrog
Hyla
versicolor or H. chrysocelis
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The
next morning I
wandered a bit around Gulf Hammock, enjoying a flock of ibis circle
overhead, then headed back up to the panhandle, finding a shy Gulf Coast Box
Turtle in the middle of a road as I returned to Apalachicola
National Forest for one last cruise
on my final evening in Florida.
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Gulf Coast Box Turtle
Terrapene
carolina
major
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Although
not as much activity as the other night, just finding this magnificent Corn
Snake was worth the trip. Once again, the snakes most
frequently found were Water Snakes, Pygmy Rattlesnakes, and Cottonmouths. Also found a common snake with a
not-so-common pattern, an Eastern Garter Snake that was completely checkered
without any stripes at all. I
understand this variation is often found in that stretch of Florida and southern Georgia.
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Banded Water Snake
Nerodia
f. fasciata
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Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake
Sistrurus
milarius barbouri
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Florida Cottonmouth
Agkistrodon
piscivorus conanti
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Eastern Garter Snake
Thamnophis
s. sirtalis
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