I've never officially gone "herping," as in turning over logs and rocks looking for snakes, lizards, etc. But recently I ran into a few surprises.
First, I found a ringneck snake (a colubrid!) that I had never heard of or seen before. I live in Tennessee, and neither my mom nor I had seen one before. I am familiar with all venomous snakes in Tennessee, so I knew at least this was not one of them. I found out later that they are "slightly" venomous. Oops. Even though it musked on me, I fell in love. I regret letting it go. I should have kept it. So beautiful
Then this big guy/girl was making its way through my front yard. Definitely a snapping turtle, I made sure to keep my distance.
Finally, this poor thing was trapped in my garage. When I found it and put it in the grass, it had no fight left. Didn't even budge. After I gave it some water, it felt good enough to scurry off for some food. And yes that is the cap of a water bottle. It drank from it like a dog and I was thoroughly amused. Glad I saved it
Very excited to post in this topic. Maybe one day I'll get to go "herping" for real!