Last post: http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=21918
I've been able to get out herping quite a bit this spring / summer. Also, in the middle of my year I got a promotion at my job which has limited my time but the increased pay helped me to splurge a bit and finally buy a nice DSLR and macro lens. So in the middle of this post, my photography gets a little bit better, but I still have a ton to learn.
During early may, I took a trip to up to the mountains to see if I could catch any horridus upon emergence. Only one was found, but it was a beauty. Still very thin from winter.
Timber Rattlesnake in it's natural habitat. by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
A very pretty Northern Copperhead was found as well:
Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
A few days later and back at home, my good herping buddy called me and said a Timber was crossing right in front of his driveway. I drove over to take a look and see this little guy:
Little Canebrake found crossing a road in early May. by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
We decided to head out and cruise figuring some things were on the move. We didn't turn anything up except this Black Kingsnake in a tin pile we discovered on the side of a road.
Black Kingsnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
The next day, I headed up to Dekalb County, AL to cruise for Hognose and Northern Pines. Struck out on both, the only snake seen was this Southern Black Racer
Black Racer by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Around mid may I started cruising more, mostly down at the Bankhead National Forest in NW Alabama. That's when stuff started gettin good.
Eastern Garter Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Red Milk Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Red Milk Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Black Kingsnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Red Milk Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
A couple days were spent hiking in the forest with some friends that came to visit:
Cottonmouth by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Green Salamander by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Cottonmouth by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
We left Bankhead and herped a little bit closer to home one afternoon. Turning up a few Timber Rattlesnakes on my favorite power line cut, including this one that had just consumed a rather large meal
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
After that, later in the afternoon we visited the swamp. I believe this to be a Painted Turtle we found out basking. It allowed us to get very close to take some photos.
Painted Turtle by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
The coolest find was this Ribbon Snake we found feeding on a Leopard Frog (I think). I got some video and this shot.
Ribbon Snake feeding on a Leopard Frog. by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
I wasn't lying when I said I went to Bankhead a lot. Here's a big corn found one night cruising.
Corn Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Back in Huntsville, I went out one afternoon when it wasn't blazing hot and saw this Timber out basking on the power line:
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
In late May I went back to see if anything else had emerged at a few sites in the mountains. Only saw 1 horridus that got away before a picture, as well as a few Coppers
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
On the way home I stopped at a spot in hopes to flip a Mole King with no success, but I did manage this Racer.
Black Racer by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
One lucky June day I got to participate in some trapping for Flattened Musk Turtles, a very rare animal only found in the Upper Black Warrior River System. I got my lifer and we scored 2 of these beauties! A male and a female.
Male and female Flattened Musk Turtles by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
At this point, I finally upgraded to a DSLR. I started out with the kit lens but quickly added on a 100mm macro and speedlite to go with it. Here's a rat snake found in early June:
Midland Rat Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
And another, different Rat Snake
Midland Rat Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
and a Yellowbelly Water Snake
Yellowbelly Water Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Yellowbelly Water Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
I've found a lot of Red Milks this year:
Red Milk Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Red Milk Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timbers, too. I never tire of them though, they are by far my favorite snake.
Timber Rattlesnakes by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
oh, and Kings
Black Kingsnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Red Milk Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Eastern Garter Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Eastern Garter Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Here's a massive 4.5 foot female Timber found crossing a road in early June. A very rare find, normally on the road you only see males.
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
and more milk
Red Milk Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Copperheads started showing up a bit late this year. After their initial spaz and freak out, they are a pleasure to photograph.
Southern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Southern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Southern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
I don't get out and look for Salamanders as much as I should.
Southern Two-Lined Salamander (Eurycea cirrigera) by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
So... yeah. more Timbers. I think im up to 30 or 40 so far this year. This one does have a special story though. A good work buddy of mine from the Phillipines has never seen a rattlesnake before, and one day our schedules lined up and I got to take him herping. We hit my favorite powerline and scored this beauty.
Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
we also turned up a huge Black King
Black Kingsnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Late June and early July featured more road cruising
Cottonmouth by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Red Milk Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Dekay's Brown Snake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Southern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Then, my most recent trip, I went back to the mountains to visit a few of the gestation sites. 19 Timber Rattlesnakes, over 50 Northern Copperheads, and 7 Eastern Garter Snakes were found across 2 and a half days. It was a hell of a trip and super exciting.
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Eastern Garter Snakes by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
First rattlesnake was this beatiful golden female
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Real nice Copper from later in the day:
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Massive yellow phase Timber
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
+ more
Timber Rattlesnakes by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
This ancient snake was probably the 2nd most exciting find for me. It amazes me to find snakes that are probably much older than me.
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
...more timbers were then found
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber RattlesnaketimbeTr7-20-15 by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
On the hike back down from one of the sites, the prize of the trip lay their, right next to the trail. This massive male, by far the prettiest and most unique looking horridus I have seen.
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Also, on the trail, I heard some slithering in the leaves and saw these 2 Copperheads
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
After scanning the leaves (since the above 2 were not in the leaves) it led me to Copperheads 3 and 4
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
which then led me to copperheads 5, 6, and 7
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Northern Copperhead by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
.. a pile of 7 Northern Copperheads. Sweet!
After some lunch, I headed up to another site close by. By then it was scorching hot, but I did manage this juvenile
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
The last day in the mountains, I was quite tired from all the hiking but i hit my final site in hopes to find 3 more Timbers (I was up to 17 by this point, my goal was 20). I checked the first rock and saw the coils of this snake. I looped around to the front, and found her watching me from inside her lair:
Timber Rattlesnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
The next rock revealed something awesome! Crotalus horridus hanging out with a few Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen. As found
Timber Rattlesnake + Northern Copperheads by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
All and all, an amazing trip. I didnt quite hit 20, but 19 will definitely do.
Back at home, work has been keeping me pretty busy, but I got out one day and got 2 kings in the middle of July heat. Sweet.
Black Kingsnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
Black Kingsnake by Matt Arnold, on Flickr
After not getting out much in 2013 or 2014, this year has really made up for it. It's been nice to spend more time in the field as well as work on my photography. Hope yall are having a good summer out there!
Matt
Late spring / early summer in North Alabama
Moderator: Scott Waters
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- Posts: 174
- Joined: August 14th, 2011, 6:26 pm
- Location: North Alabama
- John Martin
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- Location: North end of Lake Okeechobee, Florida
Re: Late spring / early summer in North Alabama
And its scorpion pal .Matt Arnold wrote: On the way home I stopped at a spot in hopes to flip a Mole King with no success, but I did manage this Racer.
Black Racer by Matt Arnold,
Matt
Great post, I never get tired of horridus and Agkistrodon, having grown up in Ohio and seeing many of both in the southern portions of the state. Good job on all of the in situ shots, and yes, your photography has improved much with that new camera gear.
- reptologist
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Re: Late spring / early summer in North Alabama
Really nice pics, thanks for sharing.
Re: Late spring / early summer in North Alabama
DSLR + Macro = many more keepers.
Great stuff!
Great stuff!
Re: Late spring / early summer in North Alabama
Just great stuff man, thank you for sharing
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Re: Late spring / early summer in North Alabama
Wow, Matt...just stunning images. Thank you for a truly beautiful post.