Appalachicola April, 27th 2006
On April 27th-29th, 2007 a few of us from the SHHS (Southeastern Hot Herp Society) decided to make a weekend trip out of herping in the Appalachicola Forest in the panhandle of Florida. It was nice seeing some familiar faces and meeting some new people as well. Conditions were ok, however, it was very dry and combined with a full moon we did not see as many herps as we would have liked.
I met up with Chad Minter aka “Swampy” in Southern Georgia so we could consolidate vehicles and save on the fuel costs. As we were about to turn onto the dirt road leading into the campsite we saw this common snake slowly making his way across the road. I had to move him to avoid an oncoming vehicle.
Shortly after turning onto the dirt road we encountered this Gulf Coast Box Turtle. The mosquitoes appeared to be fat and happy.
Doug Williams made the trip down all the way from Kentucky.
Doug also showed us that meat left in the sunshine all day long is still edible!! We left some pieces of this on the table at the campsite and the bugs refused to get anywhere near it.
A few bird shots just because:-) Cattle Egret Below.
I was also thrilled to be able to get pictures of one of my favorite birds……a Swallow-tailed Kite. These birds are common in the Forest but I always enjoy seeing them fly around catching insects. Now I just need to find a Barred Owl that will sit still for me.
A couple of Black Racers that were found active during the day.
Barking Treefrog that I just could not seem to get a good shot of………
John Ziegel was very generous and cooked our group a wonderful Low Country Boil. I don’t think anyone left hungry after that feast!!
A group picture of us all. From left to right: Dave Scopaz, John Ziegel, BW Smith, Bob Herrington, Mardi Snipes, Doug Williams, Chad Minter, Chris Hartmann, Jason Clark, Shayne ?, Karl Betz, Bryan Hudson, Daniel Hudson, Sean Belanger.
I went out with Sean Balenger and Dave Scopaz to see if I too could find the ever elusive Appalachicola Kingsnake. These guys were a lot of fun and let me flip a lot of their sets but to no avail. I did flip a nice little Dusky Pygmy Rattle. Here it is in situ.
A toad on the road.
