In May, my cousin got married to his longtime girlfriend in Rhode Island.  I used that as an excuse to go home to VA for a week, before driving up with my folks.  I really got into herping after I had left to go to school in Florida in 2000, and so had never spent much time herping the area I grew up in.  I've seen a few timbers and ratsnakes, but only after I left had I learned about the remnant populations of Pituophis that lived <20 miles from my parents' house, let alone the massive diversity of salamanders in the Appalachians.  So, I left with high hopes, with goals being- Pituophis, L. triangulum, Agkistrodon, and Caudata, none or few of which I'd ever seen in VA.  I especially hoped that early May would be right around late emergence/den dispersal, and that the snakes would still be relatively concentrated.

Unfortunately, the weather forecast wasn't good.  The week before I arrived temps had soared into record-highs in the 90s, and, by the time I had arrived, had plummeted to near-record lows in the 30s.  The combination of ultra-high temps followed by unseasonably cool weather really put a damper on reptile activity, and I saw only 1 Nerodia sipedon, 1 Diadophis punctatus, and a couple of Sceloporus undulatus.

Still, you can't find anything if you don't look, so I hit some beautiful habitat early and heavily for the short time I was able:

Southwest-facing talus slope with the Shenandoah Valley in the background and Elliot Knob (highest peak in Augusta County, one of the highest in VA) in the right-hand distance.

Southeast-facing talus slope that peaks 800 feet above the valley floor.  I spent about 5 hours searching that slope with nothing but wolf spiders to show for it.

View from the top.  The rocks "bow out" somewhat, so I was very conscious of my footing in an attempt to avoid creating any kind of rockslide.  I probably needn't have worried, as most of the boulders were motorcycle or car-sized.  Note the Blue Ridge Parkway in the distance.  The prior photo was taken from the dam on the lake below.

In between talus slopes, I also did luck into some exceptionally sandy ridgeline habitat that looked perfect for any remnant Pituophis that might be around.  Unfortunately, the oak and rhododendron scrub made walking through the stuff nigh-impossible- it reminded me of a non-prickly version of south Texas arid thornscrub.  Didn't find a thing.

A rare reptile, yearling Sceloporus

With the cold front came a soaking rain that gave me the opportunity to check out a 100 (or so)- acre woodlot that juts against my parents' farm.  There's a spring to the south that runs into our property where I'd found Pseudotriton ruber as a kid (kept one for ~7 years), but I hadn't been in the woods in nearly 20 years.  After crossing some fields, I found myself in one of the prettiest remnant forests I've ever seen, especially in the rain.  Most of the forest was double- or even triple-canopied, with large maples, oaks, and hickory forming the dominant trees, and probably 2 dozen species of shrubs and soft broadleaf understory making the lower levels.  Its clear that 100+ years free of logging had done this place wonders.  Deer were everywhere, and I spooked easily a half-dozen each hour.  Under the logs of the forest, I found about 20 Plethodon cinereus.

After the rain, I decided to look for some of the other Caudates I hadn't seen before, and I wasn't at all disappointed:

2 of about 30 Desmognathus monticola

a beautiful Eurycea longicauda

2 contrasting Plethodon sherando, the newly-described Big Levels Salamander- my #1 sallie goal

larval Gyrinophilus porphyriticus- felt bad about not having a wet container to lessen the impact on its gills.  Searched hard for an adult, but no luck.

Also saw one of the 2-lined Eurycea.  Both bislineata and cirrigera occur in the area, so no idea which it was.

After that, it was time for the drive north, and no more herping.  I did have a couple of interesting things to share, some of which were personal pilgrimages:

Walter Camp Field- one of the great shrines of college football.  Each of the 4 sides of the entry has plaques that commemorate the contributions made by all of the schools of the day to the sport and tradition of college football- most of the current BCS schools (and some lesser-known, such as VMI, Lafayette College, etc.) are listed.  Darren McFadden won the Walter Camp award in '06 and '07, so as a Hog fan it was even cooler to see.

Louis' Lunch, supposedly the first place in the US to serve hamburgers, New Haven, CT.  Any burger aficionado MUST check it out.

Their trademark vertical burners.

The epitome of simple, but man they were good.  LL grind their own meat, so many burgers are RARE and bloody.  mmmmmmmmmm good

On to Newport, RI, where my cousin got married:

Family Guy fans must appreciate!

Methinks think I'm more used to seeing the other side of this wall....

Catch of the day?  Robinfish and herring...... yuck

free handouts?

A pre-USA house- We are merely travelers through history.  This, this IS history.

Thanks for looking, and special thanks to Mike Pingleton and Kenny Wray for tips on herping parts of the Appalachians.

Van