A friend in NW Philadelphia send me this photo over the weekend, asking what it was. I swore out loud and then IDed it as an adult milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum). Of course there was no way I could receive a photo of a Philadelphia milk snake and stay at home. It's like pushing a button in my brain, like saying "Hey Ahab, what about that Moby Dick? Are you going to try to catch him again?" I couldn't go to where the snake was found - the property owners were away - but I could try some other spots.

And just as predictably, this time I found only redback salamanders. I didn't even find very many of them. The ground was incredibly dry, the usual moist humus of the forest floor powdery and kind of slippery to walk on. Now the question is will I be able to suppress the urge for another year, or will I waste more time on rocky hillsides finding no milk snakes in 2012.