That said, I can think of a few species I’m looking for in particular places – scarlet snakes (Cemophora coccinae) in New Jersey, eastern milk snakes (Lampropeltis triangulum) in Northwest Philadelphia, or black racers (Coluber constrictor) anywhere in Philadelphia – but I can’t say I intend to target much of my time so specifically, except perhaps hunting those milk snakes.
These guys have been haunting me for almost three years. I dream of finding them, and each time someone tells me about finding them somewhere in the Wissahickon or in some Roxborough backyard, I feel like punching the wall. I know I can find milk snakes much more easily upstate or in any collapsed barn anywhere in agricultural PA (I know, Scott), but it’s the Philly milk snakes I’m after.
Here's one of my stock photos of a milk snake, caught far, far away from Northwest Philly:Aside from that obsession, I’m keeping a landscape focus. I will keep trying the Pine Barrens here and there, but I’m most interested in exploring the
Where else? First, I’d like to spend more time in Cobbs Creek. I’ve got a notion of hiking the length of Cobbs Creek, at least where it runs along
I’d like to spend a little more time in some specific parks and State Game Lands upstate. I do like my mountain herping, and now that I’ve got some good spots pinned down in my two hour radius, I’d like get deeper into them. It would be nice to find some relatively nearby red belly snake (Storeria occipitomaculata) spots. They are one of those species that is locally common but has a spotty distribution, meaning you’ll drive yourself batty finding none of them while your friends are talking about how common they are at their vacation spots in the mountains.
If I’d like to do anything new, it’s exploring out towards
2 comments:
Good luck scouting for barns in Central PA. There may be quite a few. Just be sure to wear your bulletproof vest. ;)
Who said anything about trespassing? :-) Don't we always ask permission before exploring on private property?
For real, though, we did some scouting yesterday and only saw well-kempt hobby farms and subdivisions.
Maybe the Lehigh Valley is the better way to go. Only a few more weekends to go until it's time to hit the wetlands for spring amphibian season, and then it's on.
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