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After showing me lots of awesome photos of all of the cool herps Mike had seen down in southern
Ohio, I was very interested, but when he found Mudpuppys in the area and told me about it...I was packing and ready to meet
up for a little Buckeye herping. We decided to camp for one night and herp for two days down at some of his best spots
in Ohio, but unfortunately we knew the summer weather would work against us. I met him at his house in Cinci, and we
headed east to the hills of southern Ohio. After a couple hours of riding in a car, I was more than ready when he said
we were almost to his first tin site. We walked through some woods and then into a field and flipped the first piece
of tin. To my surprise, an adult Box Turtle lay calmly underneath...my first turtle under cover ever.
Terrapene carolina carolina Eastern Box Turtle
We walked on and got nothing else, but a bee sting (luckily, I can credit that one to Mike).
On our way out of the field we decided to walk by and then into a small creek. Right about the time Mike said "This
creek looks good for Nerodia or Regina", we noticed a large snake out basking on a downed tree. Upon
closer inspection we found out that it was a nice sized Queen. I was able to catch it for a closer look, but was smart
enough to take some in situ shots beforehand...those can be the most fulfilling ones sometimes.
Regina septemvittata Queen Snake
After working our way back to Mike's car, we headed off to his next spot. As we walked
toward an old building, Mike said that he always sees Fence Lizards there and sure enough...
Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus Northern Fence Lizard
After photoing the Lizards, watching a Box Turtle chow down on some berries, and flipping
the tin, we got back in the car and headed to another spot where Mike said he often finds Copperheads. As we approached
the area, I realized that I had forgotten my hook at the last spot and we were heading to the only area that I might possibly
need it. Our first stop looked really great, but produced little more than a Skink that got away, a tiny Fowler's Toad,
and a huge and grumpy Garter.
Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis Common Gartersnake
We headed to a nearby tin site and as we hiked around Mike said that he had recently found a
Copperhead there and pointed to the peice of tin where he had found it. We lifted up the tin to reveal a small Copperhead
coiled nicely under the tin. His calm reaction to us lifting the tin was a fooler, because as soon as we began trying
to lift him with a stick into an open area he went crazy. He struck and envenomated the stick and we kept having to
pin and lift him over and over with the stick until we finally got him away from the tall grass where we had some room to
work. He finally settled down for some photos after some time moving him back and forth.
Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen Northern Copperhead
After checking the remaining tin to no avail, we headed off to meet with Mike's friend Mark.
We first decided to check a nearby rock cut and the only thing we turned out was tiny baby Box Turtle under a rock.
Yet another turtle under cover...
Terrapene carolina carolina Eastern Box Turtle
We all agreed that it would be fun to try to find Hellbenders, so we spent much of the rest
of the day looking for good access points in the river they were known to be in. Unfortunately, we came to the conclusion
that the best looking area we found was flooded...it was hard to tell how good it was, but from the information we had it
seemed to fit the locality and aside from the rushing, muddy water, we could imagine it looked pretty good. We then
decided to hit Mike's never fail Green Salamander spot. We got out of the car and hiked up the steep, wooded hillside
toward a great stone outcropping of dolomite rock. Mike automatically took out his flashlight and shone it into a crack
he seemed to know very well, but dissapointedly reported that they were not there. Even though that was his best spot,
we decided to check the rest of the rock. After alot of scrutinizing over cracks and crevices, all we could see was
a tiny American Toad peeking out at us. Mike reached his finger toward the Toad and as he touced the moss around it,
something small jumped out at him. "Aneides, Aneides!" I heard him yell and I was over there like
a shot. Apparently, this tiny little guy had been spooked out of his crevice on accident. While it was only a
little one, it was still incredibly beautiful and interesting looking.
Aneides aeneus Green Salamander
After finding one more tiny Green Salamander in a different crevice, we headed back to the car.
We then drove to a great Desmog seep that Mike had discovered Seal Salamanders at before. He informed me that
he had only found a couple, but even if they weren't around there were still lots of Northern Duskies to be found...and some
big ones at that. Sure enough, under his never fail log, we found a big old Dusky that was semi-cooperative for photos.
Desmognathus fuscus fuscus Northern Dusky Salamander
We checked a few more cover sites that evening to no avail, but as night set in we turned our
sites to different critters. We cruised in between stopping spots, but the road was silent and still as the night...no
herps to be found. After checking a board site that Mike had found lots of small terrestrial snakes at, we were
all extremely tired. Mike suggested stopping at a small seep where he had found Psuedotriton before, but I
just felt too tired. After assuring me it was on our way and literally right off the road I decided that one more stop
couldn't hurt. That turned out to be a good call on Mike's part, because there floating in the shallow seep out in the
open was a gorgeous adult Red Salamander...my first!
Pseudotriton ruber ruber Northern Red Salamander
At the parking lot where Mark had left his vehicle, we began hearing Cope's Gray Treefrogs everywhere
and we couldn't resist a brief sidetrack before letting Mark go on his way. We managed to see a couple in thick brush,
but Mike was the first to get hold of one out near a drainage ditch. This was my first verified Cope's Gray Treefrog
that I could get my hands on.
Hyla chrysoscelis Cope's Gray Treefrog
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