It was time to wake up for our final full day in the field. We had to leave Peter’s place in Tallahassee and head north to south-central Georgia for our meeting with the fine folks at the Orianne Society. But first, we stopped at a trash site Nathan knew of, where Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes (Crotalus adamanteus) are known from. The sky was growing darker as we approached the site and by the time we had left the car and committed to walking hundreds of yards into the site, the rain was coming down heavily. We were drenched, with muddy shoes/boots - and snakeless. Not a single snake was seen, though I did find a single ground skink (Scinella lateralis). Getting soaked is okay if a significant find is made, but when you come up short, AND it’s kind of cold, it can make you feel rather dispirited. On top of that, I ended up walking through a thick patch of stinging nettle - with my sleeves pulled up - and with wet arms. As I write this (March 14), my arms still bear the nasty wounds inflicted by this horrible plant. Luckily, we had plans to visit Dirk Stevenson at his home not far away. Dirk is a legendary ecologist, friendly, funny, and very accommodating. After a nice conversation, Tom, Nathan and I headed to the Orianne bunkhouse, where we met up with Ben Stegenga and two techs living there at the time. We discussed herping options, ultimately deciding on a nearby lake where rainbow snakes (Farancia erytrogramma) and mudsnakes are found.
We packed into two cars and once again arrived at a lake in the pitch black darkness. As we all entered the water, Ben spotlighted a very large greater siren (Siren lacertina) and skillfully caught it in his net. However, the siren outwitted all of us by slithering its way out of the net and back into the water, where it slinked into the dark depths. After that, we spread out, some remaining at the lake shore and others into a spring-fed floodplain forest. I hopped back and forth - the call of the floodplain was clear but I also wanted to stick around and wait to see if the siren would return. Pushing into the dark forest, I walked through shin-deep water, shining for Farancia but with an awareness that other species are found here too. I found a few common frogs, and someone found a tiny yellowbelly slider (Trachemys scripta). Maybe thirty minutes into our hunt, I could see two sets of flashlights from near the parking lot move closer and closer toward myself and two others. I knew they were the conservation officers we passed in their darkened car when we arrived at the lake. They called us over to explain what we were doing and they were sort of taken aback when we told them we were looking for snakes. When they asked if we had permits, we told them that we did, but they were not interested in seeing the permits. They left us to our own devices, but nothing else was found. We headed back to the bunkhouse when all hell broke loose. Tom, Nathan, and I were so deprived of sleep over the course of the previous four days that we snapped and laughed in a dizzying display of hysteria. I’m not going to go into detail but we forged some funny material that night, much to the confusion of the Orianne staff.
The trip was loads of fun and netted 44 species of herps, which isn’t bad considering most of our time was spent driving. The people I met were awesome, and the memories will last a lifetime.
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