Met up with Ryan today to do some glade herping; our plan was to meet up around noon and stay until dark exploring some new glades we hadn’t herped before.  Our target species were an eastern coachwhip and maybe a red milk or two.

I had forgotten my tripod back at home; while at first I was pretty bummed over this it wasn’t long until I realized the benefit of being forced to take on a new shooting style in the field.  It’s easy to find a method that works and stick with it to the point that it becomes stagnant; being put in a position where using different techniques is not a choice can help break you out of this.  For me it was just the fact that I had no choice but to hand-hold my camera.  This meant either shooting full flash are choosing a wider lens with a larger aperture for ambient light photos.  My photos at the end of the day had some problems for sure but it was a worthy trade off for the experience I gained using my equipment in different ways, not to mention it was fun.

One of the first snakes of the day was this unusually cooperative western worm snake.

Not long after the worm snake we uncovered this lined snake.  This species has a very small and spotty distribution in Missouri.

This mega large osage copperhead was on his way out of a rock outcropping to presumably catch some rays when we intercepted him.  This is a species we had never found here regardless of years of herping the area.

This Three-toed Box Turtle was out on the move.

When it rains it pours; here’s Ryan uncovering another copperhead.

Here’s that same snake Ryan uncovered.

The last snake of the day was this juvenile eastern yellow-bellied racer.

Other than the above species we also found many of the other usual glade critters: scorpion, tarantulas, ring-necks, toads, racerunners, fence lizards, skinks, and a juvenile speckled king.

None of our targets were found but you’ll here neither of us complain too loud.