The herping season is slipping away, just like it does every year. I guess everyone is affected by different signs that summer is not eternal and that fall is coming in a few short weeks. For me the first baby brown (Storeria dekayi) and garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) of the year gave me a startle. Already?




I was up in the cemetery on one of my routine brown snake canvassing trips when I found this three-inch little tyke, probably no more than a few weeks old.

Here's a typical female (although missing much of her tail), maybe even the mom?:

I had a good time with (not on) one of the mattresses in the cemetery:

Right when I was getting ready to flip it, a cop drove up. He asked what I was doing, and I reported that I was looking for snakes. I think showed him the photos on my camera of the snakes I'd been catching, and along with the salamander shirt I was wearing demonstrated that I was simply a geek out for a good time.

Once I got around to flipping the mattress, I found three snakes beneath it, including an adult and a baby garter:

A board gave up another baby garter, a lot bigger and more vigorous than the meek baby brown snake: