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I didn't expect to get any kind of herping in on this particular day. I actually
had to suffer through walking all over Charleston, looking at historic buildings and landmarks, and an old house tour
that lasted way too long. This beautiful Green Anole, found sitting on a sign outside one of the houses, helped brighten
the day up a bit.
Anolis
carolinensis Green Anole
The following day was a bit more exciting. My mom had found a nice nature preserve
nearby and decided to take me over there. The nature center at the Beidler Forest/Four Holes Swamp preserve was very
nice as were the people who worked there. After looking around the center, we stepped outside and began our walk on
what was the longest boardwalk I've ever seen. I didn't see much until we got out to where the forest finally turned
into a swamp. At this first watery spot we spotted a decent sized Southern Watersnake, but because of the high boardwalk
and my mom, I was unable to jump off to get him (so no pic). After a little more walking, we came to another good looking
swampy spot. I looked over the edge of the boardwalk and saw the distinctive shape of a small turtle's shell in the
mud. I quickly stepped off the path onto a log in the water and reached down to pull up my first Mud Turtle...but he
wasn't nearly as happy to see me. He actually got a good bite on me while I was trying to photograph him.
Kinosternon
baurii Striped Mud Turtle
As we walked further into the swamp, I could hear Gray Treefrogs, Bullfrogs, and Green Frogs
calling. At the next swampy area we became sidetracked by a large group of relatively friendly Prothonotary Warblers.
As we slowly moved forward my attention shifted from the colorful golden birds flitting around to something moving on the
ground. As I gave it a second look, I noticed it was an adult Cottonmouth attempting to eat a dead possum. He
tugged at its foot like a dog tugs at a bone, but after a while he gave up and retreated into a log. As we neared the
more open swamp, that the most people referred to as a lake, I began seeing basking Yellow-bellied Sliders. When we
actually got out to the lake, there were many turtles basking out on logs, and there were even a couple that swam around the
dock below us, probably looking for handouts.
Trachemys scripta
scripta Yellow-bellied Slider
After having our fill of turtle-watching we walked over to the other overlook. Something
was oddly different about this one, and I could tell right away. It could have been the giant snake laying right in
the middle of the boardwalk or it could have been that the sun was just hitting it differently...I'm gonna go with the snake
theory. I made a dash at the huge Brown Watersnake, but he quickly slid off over the steps and into the water.
If I hadn't been blocked from the steps by a huge gate I could have caught him, but as my hand reached under the gate after
the huge tail that was quickly disapearing into the water I noticed something else. Right under my arm, on the first
step, was a smaller Brown Watersnake that I was able to easily grab.
On the hike back, the boardwalk was lit by the sun much more, and the skinks were taking full
advantage of this. The turtles were also out in good numbers in many spots, and we managed to see a smaller Banded Watersnake,
but once again...no good pics. The biggest surprise of this entire trip came when we passed by the last swampy area.
As I looked out over the water, I noticed a big snake moving through the shallows. I watched it and quickly realized
that it was a Mudsnake, and probably was around 5ft long. Since it was so far from the boardwalk I knew I could
not catch it, but it was fun to watch it swim around and through the cypress roots and trees in its search for Amphiumas.
I did manage to snap one, blurry picture.
Farancia
abacura abacura Eastern Mudsnake
The last find of the day was a Southern Black Racer that was moving alongside the boardwalk
through the forest.
Our next visit to the swamps started out with a quick sighting. On the drive
into the preserve we had a nice little surprise hop in front of the car.
Bufo terrestris
Southern Toad
The first difference on this hike was that we began seeing some Green Anoles along the boardwalk,
as well as the ever present skinks. We hadn't seen much when I happened to glance over at a vine-covered tree with a
very odd looking vine on it.
Elaphe
alleghaniensis Eastern Ratsnake
According to the people at the nature center the ratsnakes here were integrades between black
and yellow, but they looked more like dark Yellow Ratsnakes to me. Either way, the people here called them "Greenish"
Ratsnakes, and they were rather greenish. Once again, the boardwalk prevented me from capturing it. We walked
the rest of the way to the lake without seeing very much, but upon arriving at the lake we saw the many turtles out basking.
We went over to the Brown Watersnake spot, but none were on the boardwalk. Upon looking over the gate to the steps that
led to the lake I noticed the huge water snake was sitting on the last step. I really wanted to catch him so I climbed
over the gate and slowly made my way towards him. Either I was sneakier than I thought or he was really enjoying the
sun, because I was able to get all the way down to him and slowly place my hand above his tail. I even had enough time
to contemplate how he would react to what I was about to do and just as I expected, he didn't like being grabbed by the tail.
Nerodia
taxispilota Brown Watersnake
After releasing that, slightly aggitated, snake we began to head back. When we got to
the area where I had seen the Cottonmouth a couple days ago we looked around and spotted two, calmly sitting around in the
sun.
Agkistrodon
piscivorous piscivorous Eastern Cottonmouth
As the boardwalk wound out of the swamp I spotted another "Greenish" Ratsnake making its way
over the mud, probably looking for another tree to get up into. When the path came back around to the swamp we saw yet
another Cottonmouth out basking in what little sun the trees let in.
Agkistrodon
piscivorous piscivorous Eastern Cottonmouth
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