Orange Salamander with Black Spots

Orange (some may call it red). Black spots. It speaks for itself.

Read more about North Carolina salamanders HERE.

Xoxoxox

I Found A Turtle In The Road...

....and jammed on the brakes of my Jimmy GMC to pick it up. I jumped out the truck and ran backwards to the turtle, grabbed it, then ran back to my truck and put it in a box to bring back to my pond at the Luck Cabin. Safe and far away from any busy roads!

I hadn't seen any box turtles at my pond yet (only two snapping turtles just this week) - and had been wishing for some turtles to come hang around. :)

I waited behind some tall ferns for Lil' Boxy to pop out it's head and check out the cool place it now could live.... I sensed a look of approval and appraisal.

A whole pond to itself to start a family! Yay!

XOXoxox

Big Green Shelled Snapping Turtle

Oh my gawd, being from Louisiana I have seen a good amount of snapping turtles in my life - some brown & ginormous, some tiny & crazy mean (lots of hissing and biting at me)... but this dark green shelled snapping turtle in the creek by my cabin is nothing like anything I have seen before.

Quiet, still, almost docile... HUGE, and most importantly not brown - like a snapping turtle of fairy tales rather then the pre-historic swamp monster ones i have loved.
It's shell and skin coloring blended in perfectly with rocks in the creek, the top of the shell being mostly smooth except for the jagged sharp edges on the back end leading to the long alligator tale.

If ya aren't sure just how big this gi-gantor turtle is... i tossed a quarter onto it's back for referance ---> check it out in the pics below.... and tell me if you can find any ID on what type of snapper this is? I tried looking it up, but having been offline for a month my search skillz are a lil' rusty.

That is freakin' big and beautiful! (not the quarter, the turtle.) ;)

PS - if ya wanna see something (someone) crazy... watch the turtle man video! I love him.

xoxo

Brown Salamander (from the creek)

Today got warm, and this is what we found...
Neat little glassy brown salamander with light black and white patterns, muted along it's sides. The way it's skin is smooth and ripples and reflects - it looks like water, running over dirt. Just how nature intended it to.
(BTW- that's not my thumb... i might have cajun man hands, but i don't have giant double jointed hitchhiker thumbs.)
It's reallllllly cute. Ya gotta admit? That face is one to love.

XoXo

Small Grey Snake

I did not expect to see a snake in mid November! Usually they are hiding away from the cold, but it just has not been cold the last few weeks- and after more of days rain this snake came out into the morning sun to heat up his cold blooded body. It was a rather small snake and very well camoflauged into it's surroundings- so well in fact that i had no idea i was sitting about 8 inches from it, while i was scraping some sap off the bottom of a pine tree.
Look in the pic below and see if you can spot it?
It's scales were mainly a grey color but there were tan bits and a tan belly. It was highly alert about me being there, it's tongue never came out, it didn't move and it took one breathe to my every 5. Watching it breathe made me forget about everything in my life I think is important, the movement was mesmerizing & beautiful.
Does anyone know what kind of snake this is? It seems rather common here, especially near creeks and spring water.
XoXo

Garter Snake, Dark Brown With Yellow Stripes

I found this garter snake under a piece of wet cardboard when I was cleaning up outside this morning! We were both super surprised to see each other - the snake was really nervous and I suppose that's because they are one of the most harmless snakes you can possibly run into...it still can bite but it won't be one wrought with venom. This one just stuck it's tongue out at me a few times before quickly slithering off into the tall grass.
Now here's a fun fact that I actually guessed before I found the answer - the word garter was chosen to describe the snake because someone (I bet a man) along the way thought the two long stripes up the snakes skin resembled the women's article of clothing that kept her stockings up, or nowadays accents some saucy lingerie. Pretty awesome.
XoXo

Copperhead Snake

How in the hell I convinced everyone not to kill this creature I have no idea... but here is a true poisonous snake. I saw his tongue slither in and out but there was no striking or hissing which I am assuming he was exceptionally chill because he was about to shed his skin (which I also assume because I read in a book that their eyes cloud over as the skin shedding approaches.) And let me tell ya', it looked like his eye sockets were made of ghostly white haze that could shoot a hole through your heart. A Medusa that could have turned me to stone.

I am actually really fond of snakes and have complete respect for the venomous ones too, I don't F with them so that they won't bite me. The two pictures below are of his quick and creepy departure into thicker grass... are you grossed out?

xoxo

Ring Neck Snake

While diggin' up an old pathway buried under tons of soil & wild plants I found this cute wittle bitty snake. I have no idea what it's official name is but he wasn't even as big as the biggest earth worm I have seen & he wasn't too aggressive either.

He has an orange belly and a yellow ring around his neck, the rest of his smooth scales were black. He's the third snake I have seen in the last week - the first looked like a little Timber Rattler and the second was a common grey water snake... I can't help but like them all. :) I may change my mind though when the Copperheads come out.

XoXo