downs park

[Lrptls]

i finally got to go herping and i would like to say it was very much a success even though every time i go herping my main goal is snakes and they are almost never found, same goes for today =( BUT i did find some stuff that got me really excited. for example i have NEVER seen lizards and today i saw 3. all were skinks, 2 were blue tails and one im not really sure, he was about 7 inches long, all brown and red head. i looked in my herp book but none looked exactly like him, so if any one could ID him that would be cool. i'll also add right now incase any one doesnt know where MD is, its on the east coast of the US. he had a nice little home in a hollow log right on the beach, he has a wonderful view of the chesapeak bay. the other skinks i couldnt get any where near, but they were pretty.

down at the swamp there were HUGE snapping turtles, there were either 2 or 3. there shells were probably over a foot long. if i had the proper boots i would have went right in there after them but they were about 10 feet away from the land. they were staring at all the yummy fishes. there were frogs every where. a bull frog was the very first thing i saw when i went to the park, he was not at the swamp though. its interesting because he was bright green and the bull frogs at the swamp were very dark.

there was also pretty far away some sort of mammal critter in the water, not a beaver...usually im good at IDing! but im just not sure what he was either. no snakes though *big sigh* i really looked every where for them, under logs, under rocks, under leaves, any little patches of sun in grassy areas...little buggers just dont want to be seen. the temps were in the 70s, some sunny spots felt about 80 degrees. it just seemed perfect and im SURE they were there and i didnt see them, its perfect habitat for any thing, iv seen snakes there before. last time i was there i brought home an eastern box turtle shell.

well good luck every one else, if any one knows any snake finding tricks please tell me lol.