Maryland-Spring '05



I met up with Justin, Brandon, and Mark on a cool spring morning in Maryland for some herping. Our target species was timber rattlesnakes. The weather started off in the low 60's and crept up with the sun poking in and out. There was basically no wind. We were in for a great day!





The second herp of the day (the first was a fence lizard that scurried under a rock) was the beautiful eastern hognose snake Heterodon platirhinos. She was out basking when Mark found her. She was about 32" long and fat...most likely gravid.











Here is the habitat. She was found on a rocky Hillside with little to no substrate to burrow into. It was very odd to find a hognose in this habitat, but 2 American toads Bufo americanus were found at this spot.






Next, we found our target species, the timber rattlesnake Crotalus horridus. 27 Individuals in all. Enjoy!







We also found this male 5-lined skink Eumeces fasciatus scurrying through the rocks.













































Timber habitat shots:





Trip Totals:

2 American toads
1 Five-lined skink
1 Eastern hognose snake
1 Northern Black racer
27 Timber rattlesnakes


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