Michigan Herp Trips

After months of a typical freezing cold Michigan winter, I was able to visit family in Florida from the 22nd of February til the 29th. The weather was warm, the sky was blue, and I was just happy to be able to get out and do some herping. Of course joining me during the week, was my usual Florida herping partner, my cousin Robbie. This was our first opportunity to herp with each other in 2008, with other opportunities at Snake Road in April and Everglades National Park in June, but we wanted to start the new herping year off right. We began our herping at a few usual sites in Polk County near Rob's & our Grandparent's places. Our first stop was a sandhill scrub which is home to Gopher Tortoises, and even more importantly, a healthy population of Eastern Indigo Snakes.

Sandhill Scrub in Polk County, Florida (Photo by Robbie Webb)

Saw Palmetto (Photo by Robbie Webb)

We checked a few Tortoise burrows and saw one or two Gophers go darting back into their underground homes. But no Indigoes were in sight. Our first really cool find of the trip was later that evening. Rob & I came across a large pile of rotting bark under which we have flipped Coral Snakes in the past. But this evening was something completely new.

Underneath the large pile debris, was this Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus). This was the first Fence Lizard I had seen and was the first lifer of the trip for me.

Eastern Fence Lizard

We caught a glimpse of a Southern Black Racer (Coluber constictor) disappearing into a palmetto thicket, but thats the last of any herps we would see for the night. But the next morning, we were back out at a new location. We arrived around 10 AM, and started searching for any herps that were out basking in the warm Florida sun. The habitat transitions from Pine Flatwood to Sandhill, and then into Cypress Swamp. Species found at this site include Gopher Tortoises, Eastern Indigo Snakes, Florida Cottonmouths, and Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes. We checked a nearby pond and found our first herp of the morning basking on a log.

Striped Mud Turtle 

We found that this Striped Mud Turtle (Kinosternon bauri)  wasn't alone, we found another pair of Muds in the same pond. However, they weren't exactly happy to have their picture taken.

Grumpy Kinosternon bauri

After checking the surrouding areas of the pond, we headed on to a transition in habitat. The pine flatwoods of peninsular Florida are home to some endangered & protected species, especially the Eastern Diamondback & Gopher Tortoise. These two species walk hand in hand with each other due to the fact that they utilize the same areas, and even share the same home. Eastern Diamondbacks often use abandoned Gopher Tortoise burrows to take refuge in during the heat of the day or during cold spells. Both species are threatened state wide & protected by state law.

Pine Flatwood with Saw Palmetto

The sun was beginning to warm the sandy forest floor, so we expected to find snakes or tortoises out and basking. It wasn't a long before we came across our first burrow. It had tracks outside of it, so it was still an occupied burrow. After checking and finding it's resident was not home, we checked the surrounding area for the tortoise.

And sure enough, not too far from its home was a nice looking Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus).

Out for a morning stroll!

Gopher Tortoise

This species of tortoise is one of my favorite herps, they are just so darn cool. After spending a few minutes photographing this awesome little tortoise, he took off as fast as he could back into his burrow. It was a really great encounter, and I was sure it wasn't the last I would have with Gophers for the week. We spotted a few more Gophers scurrying back into their burrows, but the weather was beginning to look threatening, so we headed back home. We decided to go out and do a little night herping around Rob's house and turned up this nice Cuban Tree Frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) on a tree.

Cuban Tree Frog

Some severe weather moved through Saturday night and in hindsight probably hurt our chances the next day. We woke up early and headed north to visit the Ocala National Forest. Being such a large area, it was hard to even figure out where to begin our search for herps.

Pine Stands in the Ocala National Forest

The large amounts of rain had left the forest extremely damp and a thick misty fog blanketed the entire area. It wasn't un til about 10:30 AM that the fog finally parted and allowed the sun to warm up the forest. We cruised several forest roads over and over in hopes of turning up a Pygmy or Diamondback crossing the road, but had no such luck. We decided to stop near Lake Eaton and check out a trail through scrub which leads to a sinkhole. Along the trail we turned up our first herps of the day. Lots of Anoles were seen on the move, as well as several Florida Scrub Lizards.

Florida Scrub Lizard

After not having a whole lot of success with the road cruising, we decided to head to a nearby spot we were given along the Silver River for Water Snakes & Florida Cottonmouths. Upon arriving, we were blown away by how beautiful the spot was.

Silver River near Ocala, Florida

As beautiful as the river itself was, the surrounding Nerodia & Agkistrodon habitat was even better looking. If we were going to find a Cottonmouth, this would be the spot.

Along the Silver River

Moccasin Habitat

Cypress Dome Habitat

Walking through the Cypress domes yielded a few nice herps. Our first find was this nice adult Brown Anole I spotted scurrying along a fallen tree.

 Cuban Brown Anole

We kept trudging through the swampy muck and turned up two Green Anoles within five minutes of each other, both scurried high into trees very quickly.

Green Anole

Unfortunately, no water snakes or cottonmouths were turned up in a few good hours of searching. So we decided to head back home and stop by grandparents house to do some herping in the surrounding areas and their neighborhood. We headed up to a reliable spot to look for Squirrel Tree Frogs & Green Tree Frogs. We weren't disappointed, I spotted this nice little Green out on the hop.

Green Tree Frog

We decided to do a little road cruising in the neighborhood to look for any herps out on the move. I noticed a snake on the side of the road and slammed on the breaks. It was a nice looking snake as we approached it, but it didn't move. Unfortunately, it was a fresh kill probably minutes old. The snake was a Southern Banded Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata fasciata) and appreared to be in great condition before it was hit.

DOR Southern Banded Water Snake

The following morning, Rob & I headed about twenty miles north from my grandparents' home to visit the Green Swamp in Sumter County. We had heard good things about the area and started walking the roads around 9:00 AM.

We hadn't been walking for five minutes when I spotted something laying in the road ahead. At first I thought it was a snake, but it turned about to be an awesome find and the second lifer of the trip for me, an Eastern Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus ventralis).

Eastern Glass Lizard

Close up Ventralis

I couldn't get over how cool of a find the Glass Lizard was, it was the last thing I would've thought we would see during the trip. We continued on walking the roads and followed a trail which went around a small lake. The path was flooded because of the heavy rains a few days earlier, so we made our way around a patch of palmettos and saw this.

Southern Black Racer in situ

This was the largest racer I've seen without question, we estimated the length of the snake to be just over five feet. She was healthy and in beautiful condition.

Coluber contrictor up close

Southern Black Racer

After releasing the snake, Rob spotted a good sized American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) a few yards from shore on patrol.

American Alligator

We spent a few more hours out in the Green, but didn't see to many other herps. We headed back to Polk County and decided to do a little more herping on our way back to Rob's house. We stopped at a usual spot and went and checked near some ponds for anything that might be out and about.

This pond used to be home to a good number of Alligators, but is only filled with water to a fraction of what it once was. Nontheless, there are a few bits of debris around the pond that are worth flipping I flipped a long board and noticed a small ampbibian lying still beneath it. I couldn't believe what it was, the third lifer of the trip for me, an Eastern Narrow-mouth Toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis). I had always wanted to see a Narrow-mouth and was so glad to finally turn up one. I couldn't believe how small it was, no more than an inch in length.

Narrow-mouth!

Eastern Narrow-mouth Toad

The second lifer of the trip had me really excited, I was still holding onto hope to get a few more lifers by the end of the trip. We went and visited some of our cousins for a bit. We left their house and within two minutes, received a frantic phone call from my aunt that there was a snake in their garage. So we immediately turned around and headed back. We figure it would be a racer or something common like that. But what we found was a really cool find for Florida, and another lifer for both Robbie and I. It was a Florida Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi victa). Back home, I see Northern Brown Snakes all the time, but Florida Browns are a much more special find as they are nowhere near as common. I was also blown away by the color of the snake, it was a bright brick-red, an absolutely stunning little snake.

Storeria dekayi victa

Florida Brown Snake

On Wednesday, a large cold front moved through and dropped temperatures into the low 30s during the night, basically ending herp activity for the week. Overall, the trip was a fun one and it vaunted four lifers along the way. It was a good start to the 2008 herping year, and only a small glimpse of the months to come.

Species Observed:

• American Alligator
• Florida Red-bellied Turtle
• Florida Softshell Turtle
• Peninsula Cooter
• Striped Mud Turtle
• Gopher Tortoise
• Florida Scrub Lizard
• Eastern Fence Lizard
• Cuban Brown Anole
• Green Anole
• Five-lined Skink
• Ground Skink
• Eastern Glass Lizard 
• Green Tree Frog
• Cuban Tree Frog
• Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad 
• Southern Banded Water Snake
• Brown Water Snake
• Southern Black Racer
• Florida Brown Snake

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