5-30-10

Trip Details

Start Time: 10:15 a.m.

Weather: Mostly sunny and little wind. High 93 degrees.

Location: San Augustine and Angelina Counties, Texas

Herpers: Scott Wahlberg, Mike Pingleton, Jeff LeClere, Jim Scharosch & Matt Ricklefs

Account by: Matt Ricklefs
Photos by: Matt Ricklefs

Thought of the Day: It's freaking hot...but the bats are cool!

Our main contact for the area in Texas had been Scott and he was extremely gracious in helping us out and fortunately he was also able to get out with us. ScottÕs a smart dude and is very nice. It was great having him along.

At our first site we turned up a Southern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus undulates) about six inches long.

After Jeff and I got some pictures I also got a shot of him entering data under a huge flowering tree.

I thought it looked cool. Along the way I also found a cool little black and orangeish grasshopper.

Walking along we also turned up a Gulf Coast Toad (Bufo valliceps) about three and a half inches long

Scott turned up a Rough Earth Snake (Virginia striatula) about six and a half inches long and we took a little time to get some shots.

That was all for the first spot and we moved on. At our next spot we found a larval Dwarf Salamander (Eurycea quadradigitata).

We also had a goose walking around so I took a picture of it as well.

We took a quick break and then moved on to another location. One of the really cool things here (beside the sawmill itself) were Rafinesque's Big-eared Bats (Plecotus rafinesquii).

We got some pictures of them hiding out. Next we found an adult male Five-Lined Skink (Eumeces fasciatus) about five inches long.

On the way out we found an adult Dwarf Salamander about two inches long.

We moved on and stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant and then stopped at a couple of spots on the way home. I turned up a Black Widow at one location and a pair of pairs of Walking Sticks.

We saw a lot of Walking Sticks throughout the trip.

That was all for the day. We flipped a mountain of tin and did a lot of driving to find those few things, so we turned in and got a good nights rest so we could hit it hard all of the next day and into the night!

Tune in for the next exciting adventure tomorrow. Same big-eared bat time and channel!