A Little Afternoon Fun

[eminart]

Yesterday, after work, my daughter and I went for a short herping trip a few miles from our house. We made some cool finds, so I thought I'd share.

Besides the animals below, we also saw a couple of ground skinks, and countless frogs that didn't want to pose for photos.

Gray rat snake (Pantherophis spiloides)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0015_zps5m09ppko.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0033_zpstgaxtend.jpg

Gastrophryne carolinensis (Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad) X2
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0034_zpshej9zqju.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0046_zps9x1gb1dd.jpg


Pseudacris crucifer crucifer (Northern Spring Peeper)http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0038_zpsknhc5lkh.jpg

Ambystoma talpoideum (Mole Salamander)http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0048_zpsjq66clpq.jpg

Agkistrodon piscivorus (Cottonmouth)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0040_zps0mmjxj3w.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0042_zpsfur8s40j.jpg

[Minkness]

Awesome finds! Thanks you for sharing!

[EL Ziggy]

Beautiful animals and great shots Em. What camera are you shooting with?

[eminart]

Thanks Mink and Ziggy!

What camera are you shooting with?

I have a Nikon D80. I'd love to upgrade to a newer body that handles higher ISO's better. I used a Tokina 100mm macro lens for these shots. The lighting was terrible though, so it was a struggle to get any keepers.

[Albert Clark]

Great idea Em, to go herping with the fam. Fantastic shots! I really liked that cottonmouth. From a distance of course.

[Pogie]

Great shots :)
Nikons are good cameras, that's what I have. Mine is the Nikon D5200. I love it!

[FWK]

Nice finds and great shots, the head shot of the Rat Snake in particular is beautiful. I really need to upgrade my camera game lol. Thanks for sharing.

[eminart]

Here's a few more from another trip a couple of weeks ago. I chased a black racer from briar patch to briar patch for 10 minutes. I had the opportunity to photograph him a couple of times, but I THOUGHT I was going to catch him. Turns out I should have just taken the shot when I had the chance. Man those things are fast. I also saw about 3 inches of black tail that I think was an eastern black king snake. But, it went under the leaf litter and, apparently found a hole.

Anyway, here's the photos I did get.

A couple of eastern box turtles.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0010_zpszpxxpxd3.jpg

Tough little buggers. He was doing fine, and it appeared to have healed ok.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0013_zpsuqzc5k0a.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0049_zpsrl2jgina.jpg

I think these are recently morphed northern spring peepers.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0026_zps5ewltnqw.jpg

And, my favorite catch of the day, a big gray rat. He was close to 6 feet.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0061_zpsdknmxzv3.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0087_zpsuhdsoybf.jpg

[EL Ziggy]

More great shots Em. I really like the first pic. The turtles are cool and that rat snake is awesome!

[Pareeeee]

Great photos! What camera do you use?

Thanks for sharing.

[eminart]

Great photos! What camera do you use?




Thanks! I use a Nikon D80. It will make better photos than most of the ones I've posted here. These are mostly just quick shots in poor lighting, although the close up of the rat snake turned out ok. I'm due for a camera body upgrade. The newer bodies handle higher ISO's infinitely better than my old D80.

[eminart]

I stopped by a little spot of woods this afternoon to see what I could find. Flipped this little guy under a piece of tin. He bit me 3 times, once on the ear, and musked on me, all for one mediocre photo in poor light. Still, lots of fun to find them.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0008_zpsinpfonwa.jpg

[eminart]

Another quick trip this afternoon paid off with these three. Nothing exotic, but pretty little guys. Saw several skinks too, but I generally don't waste my time trying to photograph those guys.

A fresh Thamnophis sirtalis.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0009_zpsdprquhfn.jpg

Lampropeltis getula niger. These guys are some of my favorites despite how common they are here because I kept several as pets when I was a kid. They did a lot to get me into the world of herps.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0012_zpsf6vg3t7y.jpg

An even fresher Thamnophis sirtalis.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Herps/Herping/DSC_0027_zpsipsxejtj.jpg