My herping adventures during my last semester at college in Vermont. For the majority of this time, I have been searching for salamanders. This has involved cruising on early spring nights when its raining or searching around vernal pools. Salamanders found on the road are quickly and safely helped across the road in the direction they were headed and I don’t have any photos to show for those salamanders. Those salamanders include: spotted salamanders, jefferson salamanders, blue spotted salamanders, eastern newts, four toed salamanders, and red backed salamanders. The only salamanders found at vernal pools were spotted salamanders. In terms of snakes, while I have been looking for a couple different targets I have really only been seeing gartersnakes so there aren’t too many snake photos to show. Saw one yearling milk and was around when a friend caught a glimpse of a eastern ratsnake disappearing into a rock pile but don’t have pictures of either.

April 11

After stumbling upon a vernal pool near campus, I returned with my camera equipment with hopes of documenting the first spotted salamander in my area. With my luck, I found just that, a single spotted salamander.

May 15

Checked some rock piles that had some tin leaning against them. Got some photo shots of in-situ garters.

May 18

Now the real reason I’m making this post. As the warm weather is now in full swing, the snakes are truly out and about. It has always been a goal of mine to see a smooth green snake and I made it happen this weekend. Under one of the first rocks flipped on a grassy hill I found my lifer smooth green. Sucks that it was in shed, but I assume it will be the first of many so a nicer one will come.

Cool to see the cloudy blue eyes indicating its readiness to shed. Also the scales have a grey outline around them which is the literal skin almost coming off. Also trying my hand at some more habitat type shots which requires me to not use my maacro lens for once.

May 26

Short hike before a thunderstorm yields a gartersnake on the crawl, some toads moving about, and four eastern newts.