Gene's Notes:
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Wild flowers about the farm have been plentiful and gorgeous this month. The Butterfly Weed (below, left), a.k.a. Chigger Weed, displayed itself early in the month. The Wild Petunia (below, right) began blooming at the end of the month. In between, there were many other beautiful plants. There have also been many colorful dragonflies darting about. I spent most of my free time photographing wildlife on the farm. |
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About 1 pm on June 7th, I noticed a female Fence Lizard at my garage entrance (below). Later, my two grandsons caught and released the lizard. About 7 pm I decided to take a cruise around local roads. As I was getting into my van, I spied a strange sight on the foundation wall of my house. At a distance, I thought I was seeing a dead toad hanging by its feet. A closer look revealed it was the female Fence Lizard (right). There was an ant crawling on its head and its eyes were open. I assumed the lizard was dead. I retrieved my camera and took pictures. Then I decided to investigate further. To my surprise, the lizard roused and ran away.  |
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On June 26th, I went on a fieldtrip with SCAN to Belle Grove Plantation, a hunting preserve located south of Columbia. The fields of Sunflowers were breath taking (below, left). I managed to capture images of a Whitetail Deer and her fawn (below, right). At a road culvert where a small stream crossed, I saw two Brown Water Snakes basking on limbs. One snake dropped into the water and disappeared. The other remained in place. I looked on the other side of the culvert and saw another basking Brown Water Snake. As I backed up on the gravel roadway trying to get a better camera angle, I stepped into a depression. I went tumbling backward, landing hard on my shoulder and forearm. The camera was not damaged, but I still had a sore shoulder and a knot on my arm over a month later. Regaining my dignity, I looked for the snakes. They were both still on the limbs. Later, looking at the images I made, I saw that at least one of the snakes was molting (below). |
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August 11, 2010
Contact: South Carolina Reptiles and Amphibians