It started to warm up and thus it was time to start getting down and dirty in NC. My first sandhills trip fo the year yielded me a pretty copperhead and my lifer (in hand) eastern coachwhip flipped at one of the sites we made this spring.
I released him and he immediately started to periscope for me
DSC_4174 (3) by
santosh_shanmuga, on Flickr
A quick trip to the Uwharries to check on a timber den produced a mountain corn but no horridus
Ali and I made a trip to the OBX, and boy did we strike gold. We got us a huge Dare county Alligator on film as well as my lifer getula...an Outerbanks Kingsnake (L. getula sticticeps)!!!!
DSC_3803 by
santosh_shanmuga, on Flickr
DSC_4256 by
santosh_shanmuga, on Flickr
Another trip to the coast to look for an elusive rainbow snake produced a bunch of rat snakes, nerodia taxispilota and sipedon, cottonmouths, eastern ribbons (lifers), and 3 DOR rainbow snakes...what a gut wrencher.
2 more trips to the same spots over the course of a month yielded one more DOR rainbow, some DOR mud snakes, copperheads, cottons, waters, rats, ribbons, a bunch of eastern kingsnakes (after I got my lifer, eastern kings just started falling out of the woodwork), many spotted turtles (my favorite turtle), and my lifer glossy crayfish snake (and a 150 mile range extension+county record)! I ended up seeing another glossy crayfish at the same spot a few weeks later and a DOR.
lifer NC glossy cray! Wee little baby
The glossy crayfish would be the start to one of the best weeks of my life. I found that snake on Sunday. The following Wednesday, I was itching to go herping and really wanted to see my FOY canebrake (my absolute favorite species of snake). I got out of work early and headed east to the coastal plains of NC. On the drive over, I got a call from the Dean of Admissions at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, saying I have been accepted into their School of Medicine. This made my year, as I know could achieve my dream of being a doctor

Giddy as hell, I accepted the seat on the spot and continued my drive east. I stopped at my canebrake spot and on the first past turned up a DOR cane and hognose. A few more passes and nothing. For some reason, I was not feeling it and decided to ditch and head 1 more hour east to a new spot and try there. First past and I came across this BEAUTY. All 5' of her and 15 rattles to boot! I was over the moon!!
DSC_4359 by
santosh_shanmuga, on Flickr
After a few photos, I sent her on her way. I cruised into the night and found a bunch of Nerodia erythrogaster and fasciata. Two days later, Ali and I decided to head down to the Sandhills to try and see if my luck would follow. We found a few coppers and rats the first night and went to bed early. After flipping the next morning and turning up squat, we started roadcruising and on the first past we came across my lifer Southern hognose (and Ali's 4th)!!!
DSC_4639 by
santosh_shanmuga, on Flickr
DSC_4454 by
santosh_shanmuga, on Flickr
DSC_4645 by
santosh_shanmuga, on Flickr
We continued herping, finding some nerodia, cottons, ribbons, racers, etc. We dipnetted some Sandhills eurycea and Dwarf waterdogs, which is always cool. As night fell, we decided to hit up an isolated wetland. It paid off as the pine barrens tree frogs were calling en masse (about 3 dozen). We caught 2 in 30 min, took some pictures, and went back to the campsite to grab some sleep. On the way, we cruised up my lifer NC barking treefrog. Always good to add to the state list!!!!
DSC_4604_1 by
santosh_shanmuga, on Flickr
The next morning, we started cruising around 0900. First 100 yards on the road and we came across a big rat snake. A mile down the road we see another big black snake. As I get out of the car, Ali yells "PINE" and all madness breaks loose. I run over, see that it is indeed a pine, then start hugging Ali and jumping up and down. We both couldn't believe it...this snake has been #1 on our list and we had finally got one!!! We bagged it to be tagged for Nate Shepard's research and continued cruising. 30 min later, we see another large silvery snake crossing the road. No doubting this one. I basically jump through the window of Ali's car to get this snake....Pine #2. We were on cloud 9....a simus and 2 pines! WOW!
Pine #1 in situ
Pine #2 in situ
Both
Tagging (both snakes were released where found afterwards)
DSC_4878 by
santosh_shanmuga, on Flickr
We cruised into dark in hopes of a carolina pygmy. This wasn't prime time, but we were cruising hard on a mile long stretch of road. As we were contemplating leaving, we saw this little guy making a bee-line for the solid white line. YES, pygmy!!!
DSC_4921 by
santosh_shanmuga, on Flickr
DSC_4911 by
santosh_shanmuga, on Flickr
What a weekend, we ended up with 11 different species of snakes (including 2 pines, a simus, and a pygmy), and a bunch of amphibians including andersoni, gratiosa, and waterdogs! The sandhills of NC can kick your ass, but trips like this make all the blanking and time and effort worth it!