Herping on St. Catherines Island, GA

[desertanimal]

No cornsnakes, but here are a few herps. I caught the rat snake under the lemur feeding enclosure. I didn't include pics of lemurs here, because they are not herps, but if you feel like looking at lemur pictures, feel free to see them at www.flickr.com/photos/desertanimal

By the way, I caught the juvenile skink and we put him in the fridge for a bit so we could get pics. It's not "natural."
:grin01:

 

[desertanimal]

The rat snake chewed on me and the big skink went to the bathroom on me, but these were impeccably behaved and SO CUTE!

 

[Joejr14]

The 'rat snake' chewed you because it's not a rat snake--that's a black racer, and they're mean!

 

[desertanimal]

Thanks for the correction, Joe!

By the way, those baby loggerheads are stragglers from naturally hatched nests. There's a turtle guy on the island who goes around and digs out the stragglers from the bottom of the nests and then they are released at night. I got to put them down on the beach and watch them crawl into the ocean.

Here are some more pics from today. I have never seen a grumpier snake than this garter snake! All he did was strike and strike and strike. Since it was 6:50 am, though, and cooler this morning than it has been of late, he was a little too slow to do himself any good. I was impressed at how flat he made his body and head. It was fun to find him and catch him first thing in the morning, but less so to have musk all over my right hand until 4pm when I went in for the day! uke01:

 

[sfaoldguy]

Those are some great pics... Thanks for sharing... :cheers:

 

[lefty_mussolini]

That is a big ol', angry Garter snake

 

[jennrosefx]

Baby sea turtles are quite possibly some of the cutest critters there are.

 

[jennrosefx]

And btw-

The ringtail lemurs are AMAZING.

 

[diamondlil]

excellent photos, looks like a great trip

 

[desertanimal]

Wellll... Baby lemurs might have them beat, Jen, but baby sea turtles are definitely up there. Like all babies, their heads are way too big for them! Here are some of an anole that fell out of a tree on a small branch that broke. This was not a chilled lizard, but room temperature.

And then I included a cute baby lemur pic for comparison with the turtles. Had to sneak one in, though I guess it means that this thread should really be in general discussion. I'll start one there with lemur pics when I get home this weekend.

 

[jennrosefx]

Awwwwwwwwwwww. Anoles were the first reptile I was aloud to own as a kid. Heh.

I actually went and looked at ALL of your photos on Flickr. So amazing. I'm many levels of jealous. The lemurs are so damn cute...

But I'm still partial to the turtles (allthough the lemurs are probably more entertaining!). The last time I went to sea world (ug) they happened to have two baby sea turtles in a tank...I think Adrian and I stood there watching them for at least an hour. Nothing else in the park held my attention like that. They were so amazingly cute. I've been in love ever since.

 

[desertanimal]

The last couple of herps, and two fun insects I caught.

Here are pictures of the last two herps. *sniff* The baby anole I caught on my last lemur watching morning, and the frog I noticed hanging out on a palm leaf in the afternoon, right in front of me. It was fun while it lasted. But I'm glad to be back home with my own very adorable baby snakes. They are cute and they're pretty laid back so I can handle them ok without stressing them out so much (unlike the wild herps).

And how does this picture order thing work? Usually it puts them on in the order I select them, but lately it's been mixing them up. Anyone know how it works?

Oh yeah! And that dragonfly BIT me! HARD! Drew a little blood and everything. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was!

 

[desertanimal]

Somehow it disappeared the anole. Trying again . . .

 

[jjspirko]

That garter is a great specimen! Nice full bodied and good color. To me garters in general are underated, they are cool snakes, easy to breed and easy to keep. That also looks like the meanest one I have ever seen.

The anoles bring back a million memories of growing up in Jacksonville Fla. I saw about 100 a day on the buildings, fences and wood piles. Along with a dozen or so that the cats um "played with" daily. :eatsmiley

I used to keep them from time to time but never permently just for a week or two then I would release them and pick up some new ones. They tame down pretty fast too. You could catch one in the AM and my that evening walk around with him on your shoulder.

I hated how many the cats took out but such is the circle of life. Now my cat keeps bringing me parts of Medetrian Geckos that have colonized half of Dallas-Ft. Worth. Oh well at lest I can use them to sent mice for my hatchling house snakes,

 

[Roy Munson]

Great photos. I love these kinds of threads, and you deliver them with some regularity. :cheers:

I was impressed that you caught the black racer, but a dragonfly? Are you a ninja or something?

 

[desertanimal]

I was impressed that you caught the black racer, but a dragonfly? Are you a ninja or something?

:roflmao:

Ha ha, Dean. Well, no. Though I am partly of Asian descent, so maybe that helps. :shrugs: I'm also very good at building walls out of rocks. :grin01: I caught the black racer because it wanted to be around the lemur enclosure because the food they drop attracts the lizards. I had to try twice, though, to get it. The dragonfly was a surprise to me as well. I was standing there filling Teague in on the afternoon lemur drama, it landed near me, I reached out slowly with my left hand until I was in range, and I just grabbed it. Somehow, it plumb forgot to fly away. But the last dragonfly I caught I snuck up on. Following the example of some of the most effective primate insect predators, the lorises, I stood motionless and slowly crept up on it with my hand, so slowly that it failed to notice until it was too late. But then, I made the mistake of trying to hold onto it by its legs so I could look at it. I didn't really get a good look because I was quickly left with 4 dragonfly legs and no dragonfly. So with this one I was careful to find a way to hold it for pictures so that it wouldn't abandon any body parts.