Just got back from my spring trip down to southern Illinois to find my modem fried. Nice. The cable company came today, and I am up and running again. Gave me plenty of time to edit my weekend's photos, although it did take me the better part of an hour to read all the posts that were made between the time I left and the time I got home :cryin: Nice shooting everyone.

I'll start with the snakes. This year's strange weather has made snake hunting tough - no one who we ran into was having much luck, we had to work VERY hard for the amount of specimens we turned up. From last thursday until this tuesday, I've put 1,000 frames on my camera - although at this point I've become much more of a snob about which shots get attention and which get scrapped, here are the ones from the trip that I like.


Black Rat snake.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/black%20rat%20portrait%201%20small.jpg

neonate box turtle.
http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/box%20turtle%20small.jpg

cottonmouth.
http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/cotton%201%20small.jpg

neonate cotton in situ

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/cotton%202%20small.jpg

Diamondback watersnake

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/diamondback%201%20small.jpg

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/diamondback%202%20small.jpg

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/diamondback%203%20small.jpg

common kingsnake

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/kingsnake%201%20small.jpg

midland watersnake

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/midland%20water%20small.jpg

plainbelly (yellowbelly) watersnake, neonate.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/plainbelly%20water%201%20small.jpg

black racer.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/racer%20small.jpg

red milksnake.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/red%20milk%201%20small.jpg

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/red%20milk%202%20small.jpg

ringneck snake.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/ringneck%201%20small.jpg

worm snake.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/photos/shawnee%20spring%2007/worm%20snake%201%20small.jpg

Stay tuned for part 2!

These are superb Erik, i get the feeling that these will come out of the screen they are so lifelike, i got some grassnake shots and more adder shots on my recent vacation but i think i might hold back on them!!!!!!

OMG! You sure did find alot on your herping trip!

Wow! very nice.Im just wondering how you got that black racer to stay still!!?
:thumbsup:

Oustanding. I like that turtle and the third diamondback watersnake pic best.

I was getting worried about you, Erik.

Glad you're back safe and in one piece. Looks like a successful trip to me. I like the black rat snake image.

Love the turtle, and the snake are way cool!

NICE! Good work!

Wow, don't know how I missed this thread. These are really good Erik, I couldn't pick an absolute favorite, but the turtle is way up there.

thanks everyone, I'm glad that you liked these.

BB, I seem to have a knack for getting racers to sit still. In fact, out of the 2 or 3 HUNDRED that I have found in the wild over the last six or seven years, I have only come across a handful of cantankerous ones. This shot was taken in situ, I just lifted the board it was under and fired away. I don't think it even understood what was happening until it was over!

Black Swamp or The National Forest area?

What a great set of images. Nicely done, Erik.

Black Swamp or The National Forest area?

Union and Alexander counties.