SC Reptile and Amphibians

RECENT OBSERVATIONS

December 2002

Gene's notes

With work, surgery, holidays, and cold weather, I had very little opportunity for herping this month. I looked for salamanders under boards and logs around the farm once or twice but found none. I noted a couple hardy Green Anoles out on warmer days. The good news is that we ended the year with adequate rainfall. The farm pond recovered about 2 feet of water this month and the big creek filled the floodplain.

Looking back over the year, I think this has been the most unproductive herping year that I have ever experienced. This was partially due to my limited opportunities due to health problems, but it was generally unproductive even when I had the chance to search. After several years of drought, this year started with adequate rainfall. The spring-breeding frogs appeared to have a successful year. However, the drought returned with a vengence in late spring and continued until middle fall. Snake activity was slow to start, then almost disappeared. I did make one significant find this year, my first-ever live Carolina Pigmy Rattlesnake that I found in early May.

I am looking forward to a more productive year in 2003.

Gene Ott

====================================================

Joey's notes

Week ending 12-01-02

It is hard to believe there are but 4 weeks left in the year. I can already find myself looking forward to 2003! Warm sunshine. Remote rivers. Boat landings. Dirt roads. It will be great!

For the here and now, very little is going on.

On Sunday (12-1-02) I went to some local places. By the creek I found no Tiger Beetles, although I often see Cicindela repanda there at other times of the year. I went over to the River Pasture and found a Spotted Salamander. At the pond, some Ducks that appeared to me to be Gadwalls, but I was quite a distance and am not totally sure about this ID.

Throughout the week, I have seen assorted Anoles, Fence Lizards, and Ground Skinks, but that is about it for wild Reptiles. Other animals, birds in particular, have caught some of my attention. Here are a few I have noticed:

  • Gadwall Ducks
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Plover (species unknown)
  • Red-Tail Hawk
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Pileated Woodpecker
  • Yellow-Shafted Flicker
  • Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
  • Brown Creeper
  • Brown Thrasher
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Slate-Colored Junco
  • Rufus-Sided Towhee
  • White-Throated Sparrow

Certainly others were seen, but did not stand out in my memory. I shall try to do a better job of keeping up with the Birds.

Week ending 12-08-02

This week has been a struggle!

Tuesday (12-3-02), With a winter storm in the forecast, I had some students load about 300-400 pounds of rocks into the back of my truck, for added traction on icy roads. Just in case.

Wednesday (12-4-02), The day began pleasant enough. We cleaned cages in our mouse house, and checked our surplus in the freezer. 800 mice. Good. I can thaw and feed 50 per week for 4 months. In the event of a disaster I like to be prepared. Then the weather began to be the focus of attention. Rain and sleet began mid-morning. By early afternoon it was freezing. Ice was glazing the trees, lawns, power lines, everything! I made it home without incident, settled in and slept soundly. It was the kind of thing that makes limbs and power lines heavy. Breaks occur, and the power goes out.

Thursday (12-5-02), When I arrived at work, I was informed the power had indeed been out most of the night. No big deal, we were above freezing and surely the power company was already working hard to get us our electricity back. I took a group of boys to the classroom and we worked jigsaw puzzles (animals of course) to keep busy for the day. It was not expected to get below freezing, and I fully expected to power to be restored at any minute, so I went home. As the evening wore on I realized that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, in the area were without electricity. This storm was a big deal! Then, at about 5:45 PM, I lost power at home. We had supper and family evening time with camping stoves and lanterns. Kind of fun. Went to bed early with many pounds of blankets on the bed. Woke up at 10:20 PM, sweating. The lights had come back on. Emergency teams must be working around the clock to restore electricity Friday (12-6-02), I was surprised when I got to work and found the power was still out. The clouds were thinning and colder air was moving in. We added extra food/bedding to all the mouse pans, but what to do about the herps in the classroom? We had some portable kerosene heaters, but we do not use them around the students. I could use one to keep the classroom warm, but would have to stay overnight to tend it. The boys and staff were going to another facility for the night, so I would also serve as security on campus. It needed to be done.

Saturday (12-8-02), It was a long, cold night. I was sitting in the classroom at 8:15 AM, wishing the power would come back on (as I had been wishing all night), and the lights suddenly flickered, came on, and stayed on. Super! Time to go home and sleep!

Nature, in the form of cold, came indoors, and had to be dealt with. It consumed a good portion of the week, and I must say, I have never seen a storm like this, this early in the season. Very odd.

Week ending 12-15-02

This week again, had very little time for outdoors.

Monday (12-9-02), Still feeling the effects of last weeks ice storm/power outage. When I arrived at work and entered my classroom, I was hit by that smell. Not good. Looking around, we found that our Caiman had suffered from some serious digestive problems. He had been well fed on

Wednesday (12-4-02) as the weather was turning bad. A few hours later, the power/heat went out. It was out for about 60 hours. His cold-blooded reptilian systems had been slowed down, digestion included, by the chill and during that time the food in his stomach was rotting faster than it was being digested. With rancid rat getting worse in his tummy, he just had to barf. It was that barf that we smelled in the classroom. I took the Caiman out and washed him off, then put him in a spare cage while we totally cleaned his big (125 gallon) tank and the fixtures. Big job, but hey, it was actually on the schedule for this week anyway!

Thursday (12-12-02), I had no Caiman tank to clean, so we spent a few minutes outdoors and collected some Ground Skinks. We used these to flavor pinky mice and feed some stubborn baby Everglades Ratsnakes. We also got a small crayfish from the small creek behind my classroom and fed the Glossy Crayfish Snake (he has NEVER refused to eat).

Friday (12-13-02), Rains had moved in, and (outside) human comfort was lacking, but during a brief errand outside, we found an adult Cricket Frog, hopping about. He would flavor some pinkies for baby Eastern Garter Snakes to enjoy.

Saturday (12-14-02), For the evening, we went to Ashville, NC, to the Gray Eagle, where my brother Jeff (a fine herper and a fine musician/songwriter) was doing a show. We enjoyed the music and our visit to the mountains. The show was over by 10 PM so we able to get home by midnight. Not bad.

Slow time of the year, but spring is right around the corner!

Week ending 12-22-02

The Ducks have been a real treat this week. Several times I have gone by wetlands/ponds/rivers and seen Wood Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Mallards, and either Scaup or Ringneck Ducks (hard for me to tell at great distances). All beautiful!

Monday (12-16-02), Work. Outside (on campus) I saw a Sulphur Butterfly! Not bad for December!

Tuesday (12-17-02), Work. Saw a Fence Lizard basking on campus.

Wednesday (12-18-02), Work.

Thursday (12-19-02), OFF FOR THE HOLIDAYS! One of my first efforts was to go to the River Pasture and check for Salamanders. Found one Spotted (#6) under the "good log" No Marbleds, no other Spotteds. Collected a few small Scarabs while in the pasture, but little else to mention.

Friday (12-20-02), Had to stop by work for a bit, tend to some details and such, and then stopped to enjoy some sunshine at the waterfall. Looked for Tiger Beetles (Cicicndela repanda) but found none. Oh well.

Saturday (12-21-02), Family stuff.

Sunday (12-22-02), Took some family time after Church to return to the waterfall. Still sunny and fairly warm, but still no repandas.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Week ending 12-29-02

Sorry to be so late, but I have been out of town. Seems my company was taking over a juvenile facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and I was chosen to be on the team that was making the transition. Cool. Several of us, from various programs in the east would be driving out. Some people were staying a month or more. I was scheduled to be there a week. I considered the potential for mammals, birding, herptiles and insects. I knew that for most things I love the time of year was all wrong, but it would be neat to go, see the country, and help with the set-up of a Wildlife Science classroom.

Monday (12-23-02), Off work, busy with the holiday!

Tuesday (12-24-02), Off work, busy with the holiday!

Wednesday (12-25-02), Merry Christmas to All! I got some field gear, entomology stuff, some books, and even some socks! A Beaver was road-killed in front of my house (the Christmas Beaver?). Did not know any were here on my property! Maybe they have built a pond! I have always wanted a pond.

Thursday (12-26-02), Work. Schedule kids/staff to care for my classroom animals. Prepared to travel. After work I packed a couple of bags and tried to get to bed early.

Friday (12-27-02), Assembled and loaded gear at work at 6 AM! Depart for Columbia at 7 AM. Met with the team (a co-worker and I would be in a company truck, 4 others behind us in a van) and pulled out about 9:15 AM, heading west on I-20. Stopped for a fast lunch in Atlanta. On into Alabama, through Birmingham, and saw the sunset around Jackson, Mississippi. Supper was at a steakhouse in Vicksburg. I heard Spring Peepers calling from a small wetland behind the steakhouse. They sounded nice, but we had to hustle on. We crossed the Mississippi River and all of Louisiana in darkness. Shreveport was not a good place to stay the night (the Independence Bowl was that day and had ALL the rooms full) so we pressed on and got a hotel in Marshall, TX. I was farther west than I have ever been.

Saturday (12-28-02), I had my first look at Texas in the daylight. We were on the road early and drove on, still on I-20 west. The area to the east of Dallas looks much like South Carolina (rolling hills and pine forests). At Dallas-Fort Worth the land opened up into many miles of Mesquite brush/grasslands. We grabbed burgers at a little store/diner in the middle of no-where and got back on the road. Abilene was next, with lots of its land in agriculture. On to Midland/Odessa where the grasses seemed to vanish and the desert began. I-20 ends where we hit I-10 late in the day (I now know EVERY inch of I-20!). We stopped for supper at a very nice little place called Chuy's in Van Horn at sunset, and then moved on again. I-10 goes right beside the Rio Grande, and we could see the lights of towns and villages in Mexico for about 50 miles as we approached El Paso. But we had no time to stop and look around. We arrived at our hotel in Las Cruces New Mexico about 10 PM. Weary from the road, it was time to sleep.

Sunday (12-29-02), There was a 6:30 a.m. meeting in the hotel lobby, and from there we went to the program, had meetings defining objectives, toured the facility, and had a long day of working with the kids. Supper at Cracker Barrel and my room were enough to complete the day, and finish off a very interesting week.

So I had Christmas and hit the road, going farther than I ever have, but more lay ahead.

Here are the 2002 total on Snakes;

SNAKES CAUGHT IN 2002:

  • Northern Watersnake.....................................................3
  • Midland Watersnake......................................................5
  • Redbelly Watersnake.....................................................3
  • Banded Watersnake.......................................................8
  • Brown Watersnake.........................................................1
  • Glossy Crayfish Snake....................................................1 (First Glossy Crayfish for JPH!)
  • Smooth Earth Snake.......................................................7
  • Rough Earth Snake.........................................................2
  • Brown Snake................................................................16
  • Red-Bellied Snake..........................................................9
  • Southern Ringneck Snake...............................................8
  • Northern Ringneck Snake...............................................1
  • Eastern Worm Snake....................................................20
  • Rough Green Snake........................................................2
  • Mud Snake.....................................................................1
  • Black Racer..................................................................17
  • Corn (Red Rat) Snake.....................................................1
  • Black Ratsnake................................................................6
  • Mole Kingsnake...............................................................1
  • Eastern Kingsnake............................................................2
  • Southeastern Crowned Snake...........................................5
  • Copperhead...................................................................10
  • Cottonmouth....................................................................5

133 snakes of 23 varieties! Fair numbers! Fair variety!

First snake of 2002 was a Black Racer found on 3-9-02

Herping was mainly across South Carolina. I did have a little time in NC (Brown Snake near Winston-Salem) and visited, even hunted briefly in other states but without results. I visited 42 SC counties and caught my first snakes in York, Fairfield, Chester, Florence, Saluda, Kershaw, and Charleston Counties.

I got one new snake species (Glossy Crayfish Snake). Saw the expected Frogs, Salamanders, Lizards, Turtles, and Alligators. I added one new lizard, the Southern Prairie Lizard, to my life list.

Joey Holmes




January 12, 2002
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