Search found 179 matches

by Jefferson
February 14th, 2019, 3:07 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Winter Break Happenings-Eastern US Salamanders
Replies: 6
Views: 10320

Re: Winter Break Happenings-Eastern US Salamanders

Thanks for the kind comments guys! Streamsides are awesome critters for sure--so unique in the niche they occupy. As for Serpent Mound, I suppose me looking over the landscape and imagining it all in woodlands is more of a romanticized version of the past that never existed--except for before the Na...
by Jefferson
February 2nd, 2019, 10:49 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Winter Break Happenings-Eastern US Salamanders
Replies: 6
Views: 10320

Winter Break Happenings-Eastern US Salamanders

Note: the video companion to this post can be viewed on youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se_TMt-s9mA&t=34s Snow covered the mountains of Western Virginia about two feet deep as Bethany and I left for Michigan to visit my family over Christmas break. Curiously enough, while the Old Dom...
by Jefferson
October 12th, 2018, 9:01 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Quick trip to the Smokys
Replies: 6
Views: 14340

Re: Quick trip to the Smokys

Man, the Smokies are always a nice place to be, aren't they? On you sally pics, it depends on where those desmogs were found (and the "dull two-line"). I've never seen one, but from looking at many pictures of Junaluska, my first thought when scrolling over that picture was, "Good gri...
by Jefferson
July 10th, 2018, 4:12 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: rarest snake in Northeastern US?
Replies: 8
Views: 6466

Re: rarest snake in Northeastern US?

That's an interesting one for sure. Not to get too cute about it, but this depends not only on what she considers "rare" (you can hear a million Western Chorus Frogs in Michigan in March and April, but seeing one requires the patience of a sloth waiting for an Uber, Corn snakes are pretty ...
by Jefferson
July 10th, 2018, 3:13 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Happenings in Western Virginia
Replies: 0
Views: 6085

Happenings in Western Virginia

Hi everyone, Things have heated up quickly in Virginia's mountains since my return from DC, and to document some of the finds, mostly road cruising, which will undoubtedly continue with the hot, sunny weather. I also happened across some old footage of SW Virginia salamanders, so I've posted a coupl...
by Jefferson
June 17th, 2018, 10:56 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Herping Hallowed Ground
Replies: 6
Views: 10878

Re: Herping Hallowed Ground

Thanks Josh! You're not a bad writer yourself...a "Rogue Year" is still one of my favorite posts to re-visit from time to time. Happy herping!
Jefferson
by Jefferson
June 12th, 2018, 3:54 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Weekend in West Virginia
Replies: 0
Views: 8678

Weekend in West Virginia

At the start, let me say you can also view the youtube video to go along with this post (and some of my other older videos) at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7yOTq5_QlOEMfdL3g1JQ8Q. or on my blog at: https://middleamericanmusings.wordpress.com/ Anyway, this Saturday, Bethany and I decided to tak...
by Jefferson
May 27th, 2018, 7:26 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Herping Hallowed Ground
Replies: 6
Views: 10878

Re: Herping Hallowed Ground

Battlefield pictures are on the blog and in the video, along with video of the battlefield from two places, Culp's Hill and Seminary Ridge. Enjoy!
by Jefferson
May 27th, 2018, 7:25 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Herping Hallowed Ground
Replies: 6
Views: 10878

Re: Herping Hallowed Ground

Let's try those pictures again:

Red-bellied sliders
Image

Defensive rat snake
Image
by Jefferson
May 27th, 2018, 7:22 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Herping Hallowed Ground
Replies: 6
Views: 10878

Herping Hallowed Ground

With only another week here in my DC internship, I figured it was time to take advantage of my northerly position to visit Gettysburg and do some Pennsylvania herping in the process. Bethany and I headed north early in the morning, at first with difficulty as the labyrinthine city streets of Washing...
by Jefferson
May 1st, 2018, 3:11 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: A Day of Spotteds
Replies: 2
Views: 3826

Re: A Day of Spotteds

Ah. Right you are. This should do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vVDIImqCwI&t=3s
Thank you!
by Jefferson
April 29th, 2018, 2:39 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: A Day of Spotteds
Replies: 2
Views: 3826

A Day of Spotteds

Yesterday morning, under foggy skies and beleaguered of Washington DC, I left for the outlying areas on the Virginia side of the capital, where the strip malls and cookie-cutter housing developments begin to yield to long-abandoned tobacco fields, their soil exhausted by the Republic's Founding, and...
by Jefferson
April 20th, 2018, 9:23 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Eastern North Carolina Finds
Replies: 1
Views: 3422

Eastern North Carolina Finds

This past Sunday, Bethany and I started down from the Virginia Piedmont toward the North Carolina Sandhills, outracing an approaching thunderstorm system through the verdant, blooming springtime forests of the foothills to the sounds of Glen Campbell, 80s rock, and bluegrass covers of John Denver. O...
by Jefferson
April 3rd, 2018, 6:22 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Anyone want to herp the Croatan with us?
Replies: 2
Views: 3321

Re: Anyone want to herp the Croatan with us?

Wish we were also going to the mountains on this trip. Such a beautiful time of year in the hills out in Western NC, but we're sticking to points east of I-73 (Sandhills, Research triangle, coastal plain assorted stuff, Croatan).
by Jefferson
April 3rd, 2018, 11:21 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Anyone want to herp the Croatan with us?
Replies: 2
Views: 3321

Anyone want to herp the Croatan with us?

Hi you all, My girlfriend Bethany (RichinReptiles) and I are going to be in the Croatan the evening of the 16th and pretty much the whole day (until dinnertime) on the 17th of April here in a couple of weeks on a five-day swing through Eastern North Carolina and the Sandhills. Sorry for the short no...
by Jefferson
January 28th, 2018, 9:44 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Sunday on the York Peninsula
Replies: 1
Views: 2131

Sunday on the York Peninsula

Early this morning (yesterday morning now, I suppose), a good friend and I motored across the Blue Ridge from college, bound for Virginia’s low country, its more genteel, aristocratic section. First, we stopped in the Piedmont to go to church and pick up my girlfriend Bethany, then headed east to Ri...
by Jefferson
November 22nd, 2017, 12:10 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Sandhills Stuff
Replies: 1
Views: 2746

Sandhills Stuff

Last month, Bethany and I headed down to the North Carolina Sandhills, some of the most biologically diverse country in the American southeast. Here, the Piedmont and Coastal Plain collide in a series of dry, piney ridges and lowland swamps and seeps that flow over sand substrate and into the slow r...
by Jefferson
July 5th, 2017, 12:19 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: South and West 2017 Summer
Replies: 0
Views: 3991

South and West 2017 Summer

It's been a while since I've posted my finds on this forum, since my foray into Southern Appalachia in April, in fact. Since then, I've come home from college in Virginia, and the family took a trip to Yellowstone, the first time any of us had seen the Wyoming Rockies. The trip west took us across I...
by Jefferson
May 30th, 2017, 7:47 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Trip Report: Virginia Appalachians
Replies: 7
Views: 4650

Re: Trip Report: Virginia Appalachians

Beautiful pics and post, Matt! Those shots of the Peaks of Otter are stunning! On the Shenandoah Mountain/Redback dichotomy, I don't recall whether all the rest of those pics are Shenandoah Mountain, but they look like it. I know we found some more Redbacks interspersed with the P. Virginia, but I d...
by Jefferson
April 19th, 2017, 3:49 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Carolina's Caudates on my Mind
Replies: 4
Views: 3642

Carolina's Caudates on my Mind

Last Friday, winter semester ended, and it saw me cruising south along I-81 to the music of Allison Krauss and George Strait toward what may be properly called "Salamander Mecca," the hills of Western North Carolina. As I rolled south, I noticed a tanker truck for Sheetz that had the words...
by Jefferson
February 28th, 2017, 7:34 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: A Little Road Cruise through the Shenandoah
Replies: 1
Views: 1791

A Little Road Cruise through the Shenandoah

I've been back home in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley for just under a week now, and with college classes back in full swing, I almost wasn't able to go road cruising tonight. But when, on rare occasion, the weather guessers are correct in their prognostications, as they were tonight, it's tough to...
by Jefferson
February 26th, 2017, 10:58 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Sauntering through the Sandhills
Replies: 1
Views: 1782

Re: Sauntering through the Sandhills

Forgot the cricket frog picture. This guy had a bright red stripe and was found in South Carolina:
Image
by Jefferson
February 25th, 2017, 8:02 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Sauntering through the Sandhills
Replies: 1
Views: 1782

Sauntering through the Sandhills

Well, it's that time of the year again: February. When I lived in Michigan, it was the most miserable month of the year, the month where spring started to seem tantalizingly close but the anticipation of new herping, new birds, new life made every single day get longer. Now that I'm in Virginia, Feb...
by Jefferson
December 8th, 2016, 9:56 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Year in Review - Part One
Replies: 10
Views: 4761

Re: Year in Review - Part One

I'm down in the southern end of the Shenandoah Valley in a town called Lexington. We're about an hour from Big Levels, Peaks of Otter, Wehrle's, and Cow Knob sallies depending on which way you go from town!
by Jefferson
December 7th, 2016, 3:26 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Year in Review - Part One
Replies: 10
Views: 4761

Re: Year in Review - Part One

Amazing post with some impressive lifers from down Sunshine State way. I'm in Western Virginia, about three hours from DC, and if you ever get the time to come out this way, I can point you toward a ton of cool salamander lifers. Happy herpin'!
by Jefferson
October 30th, 2016, 6:26 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Southside Virginia
Replies: 2
Views: 3710

Southside Virginia

It's been a little while since I posted about the "Jewels of the North Woods" in Michigan. Since then, I have gone back to college in Virginia, and between writing papers and volunteering, I have found time to herp thrice in Virginia, once to see some old friends in the Blue Ridge, once to...
by Jefferson
August 26th, 2016, 12:37 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Pictures for the "Jewels of the North Woods" post
Replies: 1
Views: 1843

Pictures for the "Jewels of the North Woods" post

Thanks to Corey of the Midwest forum, I have finally cracked the code on how to put pictures on the forum here from my computer. Here are a few from my recent post "Jewels of the North Woods" about my adventures north of the 45th parallel. Huge American toad just off Lake Michigan shore ht...
by Jefferson
August 26th, 2016, 12:30 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Jewels of the North Woods
Replies: 4
Views: 3002

Re: Jewels of the North Woods

Here we go:
Image
by Jefferson
August 26th, 2016, 12:29 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Jewels of the North Woods
Replies: 4
Views: 3002

Re: Jewels of the North Woods

Take two on gigantic Bufo americanus picture:

Image
by Jefferson
August 26th, 2016, 12:27 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Jewels of the North Woods
Replies: 4
Views: 3002

Re: Jewels of the North Woods

Image

Thanks, Corey! I am trying your method experimentally here, so if a photo accompanies this post, I will have finally cracked the code! Happy herping to you!
Jefferson
by Jefferson
August 22nd, 2016, 7:08 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Herping 8-14 through 8-18
Replies: 8
Views: 4945

Re: Herping 8-14 through 8-18

Some beautiful serpents on that trip! Pine Snakes are definitely making their way up my "hit list" for 2017!
by Jefferson
August 19th, 2016, 6:21 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Jewels of the North Woods
Replies: 2
Views: 2035

Re: Jewels of the North Woods

Thank you for the kind words! On naherp, these are submitted under my real name (Richendollar, Nathan). Enjoy!
by Jefferson
August 18th, 2016, 5:27 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Jewels of the North Woods
Replies: 2
Views: 2035

Jewels of the North Woods

The canine days of summer, sweltering in Michigan just like they were in Virginia, drove me and my brother to go "up north" as we call it up here in the mitten. Monday morning, we left the Detroit metro area for the North Woods in search of fish (my brother is becoming an avid fisherman) a...
by Jefferson
August 18th, 2016, 5:25 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Jewels of the North Woods
Replies: 4
Views: 3002

Jewels of the North Woods

The canine days of summer, sweltering in Michigan just like they were in Virginia, drove me and my brother to go "up north" as we call it up here in the mitten. Monday morning, we left the Detroit metro area for the North Woods in search of fish (my brother is becoming an avid fisherman) a...
by Jefferson
July 27th, 2016, 4:23 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: First Rattlesnakes!!
Replies: 1
Views: 1900

First Rattlesnakes!!

On Friday, July 22, an alluring thought popped into my head: it was 95 degrees, and a road cruise through a rocky, south-facing slope area might yield a Timber Rattlesnake. I thought the chances were very low to actually find one of these big bruisers and that I would likely find a few non-venomous ...
by Jefferson
July 10th, 2016, 8:59 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Need a frog I.D.
Replies: 12
Views: 4946

Re: Need a frog I.D.

I would generally concur with Noah's first post here. The coloration and pattern looks like some sort of chorus frog, but if you look at the end of the toes, it definitely has treefrog suction pads, which chorus frogs don't have. That leaves peepers and the myriad of treefrogs we have down in the So...
by Jefferson
July 10th, 2016, 8:02 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Cumberland Mountains rocket run
Replies: 0
Views: 2419

Cumberland Mountains rocket run

On my way back to college in Virginia from Michigan, I decided to hit a little park in Kentucky's rugged southeastern mountains in search of my 14th lifer of the year. As such, I left Detroit at midnight headed southbound and arrived in the Southern Kentucky hills on I-75 just as the sun rose and fo...
by Jefferson
July 4th, 2016, 4:09 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Michigan herpers?
Replies: 5
Views: 3025

Re: Michigan herpers?

I go to school in Virginia, but I'll be back for a month come August. It's usually pretty slow herping around that time of year, though.

Jefferson
by Jefferson
June 3rd, 2016, 4:57 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Megolithic May
Replies: 4
Views: 2363

Re: Megolithic May

Thanks for the kind words, you all. As to pictures, there absolutely are pictures on naherp.com if you search records by me, "Nathan Richendollar." Kevin: I don't want to give away my locale in NW Virginia, but I wasn't on Shenandoah Mountain per se. It did rain about a day and a half befo...
by Jefferson
May 31st, 2016, 5:56 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Megolithic May
Replies: 4
Views: 2363

Megolithic May

Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted, but in that time, I have racked up nine lifers in the heavenly hills of Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. It all started with a spontaneous trip to a locale in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, meant only to test my car, which shockingly yie...
by Jefferson
April 20th, 2016, 9:07 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Ohio's record gaps
Replies: 3
Views: 4174

Re: Ohio's record gaps

Update: Perry, Fairfield, Morgan, and Meigs County are in the books. Franklin was not vouchered due to uncooperative frogs and a tick scare. I hate ticks! By the way, does anyone know a good way to repel those damn things?
by Jefferson
April 11th, 2016, 4:57 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Ohio's record gaps
Replies: 3
Views: 4174

Re: Ohio's record gaps

This coming Friday or Saturday, I will be making a go at finishing off the southeastern counties one and for all along with Franklin. I'll also probably be hitting Lorain and Tuscarawas County on the way back in two weeks. Any help on naherp records from the Ohio natives would be awesome anywhere el...
by Jefferson
March 19th, 2016, 7:52 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Virginia's Spring Vicissitudes
Replies: 1
Views: 1326

Virginia's Spring Vicissitudes

As a native Michigander, the start of my herping season usually coincides with a thunderstorm, seventy-degree early spring warm-ups, and a nighttime rain falling on a fifty degree night. Historically, such soaking nights yield most of my Ambystoma and huge numbers of frogs and toads. This year, howe...
by Jefferson
February 25th, 2016, 2:10 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Palmetto State Madness
Replies: 3
Views: 2109

Re: Palmetto State Madness

Yes, you did comment on the anole, and thank you for the ID advice! I'm more of a salamander person and spend a ton of time in Appalachia, so this was my first trip into the Deep South, where I don't really know all the lizards. Happy herping to you!
by Jefferson
February 24th, 2016, 9:02 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Palmetto State Madness
Replies: 3
Views: 2109

Palmetto State Madness

Among herpetologists, South Carolina is not known for rice plantations, Charles Pinckney, secessionists, and Andrew Jackson's native Waxhaw region, but rather for its diverse array of Deep Southern salamanders, frogs, and turtles, along with the world-famous American Alligator. In pursuit of all of ...
by Jefferson
January 9th, 2016, 1:16 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Ohio's record gaps
Replies: 3
Views: 4174

Re: Ohio's record gaps

Update: Muskingum, Coshocton, and Athens county finished.
by Jefferson
December 28th, 2015, 8:02 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Ohio's record gaps
Replies: 3
Views: 4174

Ohio's record gaps

This post is directed toward Mr. Hubbs specifically: I saw you post on the naherp election comment board that you need to get to Ohio as it only has 441 records. You may be familiar with my push to voucher all of Michigan (done), and I am now on to hitting some of Ohio every time I pass through on t...
by Jefferson
December 23rd, 2015, 1:53 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Herping in Michigan after Christmas?
Replies: 2
Views: 2688

Herping in Michigan after Christmas?

Hey everyone! It has been some time since I have posted on the good old Midwestern forum owing to my relocation for college to Virginia, but I am now back for the holidays, and, much to my surprise, the daytime highs are still in the 50s and will be through the 26th. Does anyone else think that on t...
by Jefferson
December 3rd, 2015, 6:54 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Giving Thanks for Southern Herping
Replies: 4
Views: 2763

Re: Giving Thanks for Southern Herping

That was Tennessee. Thanks for the kind words!
by Jefferson
December 2nd, 2015, 4:55 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Giving Thanks for Southern Herping
Replies: 4
Views: 2763

Giving Thanks for Southern Herping

As some of you know, I am now situated in the Western part of Virginia, where I am attending college. Thus, with eleven new species on the year and only three more required to break my all-time record for most sally lifers in a year, I decided to go down to south Middle Tennessee to meet up with a f...