The cliff notes version:

But, if you have about 45 minutes to kill, by all means...have at it- 

Day one.  After arriving at 01:30 friday night, we were an hour away at sun-up for a shot at herping a coastal island.  As we gathered our supplies for the day, annoying black gnats started to feast on our exposed skin. Thats our host Lindsay on the left, Glenn, and Jeremy.

As we waited for the ferry to leave, the gnats came in clouds.  They must have loved this hillbilly, as witnessed by the red welps on my arm.

As we waited and the gnats ate, I tried to occupy the time by snapping some random pics.

Glenn and Jeremy

Finally, the ferry was enroute. I was impressed at the speed of this large boat...i think you could have water ski'd behind it.

Even though Lindsay was 'off the clock', we found her trying to count birds on the way to the island.

On the island, we met Gracie. She gave us a quick overview of the island habitats in an old suburban...with her grandson in tow.

Juvie Homo sapien (male)

After our quick tour, Gracie wished us well and gave us the keys to the suburban.  Soon, we were driving around looking at all the cool habitat.

First stop was some dunes along the atlantic.  I think we checked every clump of grass and every bush on this section of beach!

As temps rose into the 80's, we figured we'd better find some shade if we were gonna find any rattlers.

I've noticed that no matter where we go herping, there are always poky/scratchy things...anyone else ever noticed that?

These little guys had a habit of hanging on every time you got near one.

While waiting for Glenn to catch up...Lindsay showed us a bounty of sand dollars she'd picked up on the beach.

Then as Glenn is prone to do...he showed up with a heavy snake bag containing one of our targets.

Yellow rat!  this one eluded us in a trip down in penninsular florida a couple years back.

The suprisingly gentle yellow rat took a liking to Lindsay...cant say that I blame it. This cajun queen is all in when its time to herp!

The obligatory brown chinned racer.

I'm fairly sure there was an 8ft EDB in here somewhere...We just never found it.

After the long hike through the scrub brush on the beach, we decided to cool our feet off and have a look at the ocean.

Lots of creatures hangin out in the waters edge...thats a large jellyfish or man-o-war there in the sand.

Spider crab?

Dead jellyfish littered the beach.

We did spot 3 large bald eagles down the beach, sharing a feast with some vultures...Glenn, being a closet birder, had to walk off in hopes of getting a good shot.

As the temps rose, we found it more productive to eat doritos and tell jeremy to get out and flip a/c as we drove around.

We tried a different area as the day wore on. 

More good habitat, but other than an armadillo, we didnt find much.

Here's a worn out Lindsay as off in the distance, some spring break revelers are clueless to our presence.

For you newbies...turns out this is not good snake habitat.

THis is my "I just walked my ass off for 3 hours and have nothing to show for it" look.

On the way out, I insisted that we go to the Island's lighthouse. I like lighthouses...

Day 2, search for the Indigo

You'd think you came to the right place when you find stuff like this, right? I mean, doesnt this guarantee one?

Searched a lot of good habitat...

No gopher tortoise burrow unchecked...

No tracks across sand roads...

Now I'm not superstitious, but when the chips are down, you do what you can. Since Van moved off to Virginny, we didnt know if he'd prove to be the catalyst that made great herping, so I created a 12" homage to our hairy little buddy that could accompany us on herping adventures.

Any indigos in there 'Lil Van?

Nope...none in here...does anyone have any toilet paper?

Lots of tortoise burrows, but no snakes.

Oh wait...we did find a couple pieces of tin out in the forrest..and found this ugly duckling under it.

It was in need of shed...but hey, nobody gonna gripe about flippin a coral!

So many inappropriate captions should go here...

Luckily, the only injury was to 'Lil Van's buttocks.

Too many skeeters at this spot to do much herping.

Next, Lindsay wanted to show us her office- the Savannah NWR. We are assuming that showing us around the refuge amounted to 'official business'.

Company truck.

We drove all over the dike system on the refuge looking at waterfowl, and gators.

Come to think of it, she did make us pull up tallow sprouts while she showed us around...

She showed us remnants of an old plantation...and some of the agri-machinery thats still there.

a large grinding wheel

Even though it was cool and overcast...there were plenty of gators hanging out in canals like this.

Theres one...center of the picture

I'm not even sure whats goin on here...but i'm fairly certain its not legal.

Day 3
Monday, we found ourselves at a waffle house at 0700 to meet up with a guy that graciously offered to flip car hoods he's placed across the state of South Carolina.  I've blurred his face for privacy...I think he normally charges for this kind of outing...but he 'guided' us gratis.  He said it was a horrible day with 19 snakes, but we were quite satisfied with that number.

First hood flipped held a nice copperhead

Copperheads from here look just different enough from the ones in arkansas to be cool!

They blooming wysteria was fragrant and beautiful...but as our guide warned us- "dont get tangled up in that **** because it dont let go". He wasnt kidding.

It was worth it though, because at the same site, we found this large canebreak!

The string of rattles on this thing was incredible!

A nice rat snake was found...not the prettiest animal..but hey, different from the ones back home.

camo!

FACT:  Sweet tea makes herping funner.

I really liked the pattern and color of this one's head.

We used this rig to get around on some property...some of it flooded...this beast would go anywhere.

While flipping some big chunks of concrete for a salamander, Glenn managed to mash the $hit out of his finger...doesnt look so bad here, but it was not pretty...did you end up loosing the nail?

speeding around the woods, looking for more car hoods.

more habitat, flooded by nuisance beavers.

While checking a trap for said nuisance beavers, we discovered a sticky situation.

Although these cunibear (sp?) traps are incredibly strong...the turtle seemed fine. Getting him out without getting bitten would prove to be a chore.

Wish I could have gotten a pic of the procedure, but I had to put my camera down to lend a hand. It took all 4 of us, but we got the turtle out safely and released him back into the swamp.

Resetting the trap for the beaver.  Hopefully the snapper learned his lesson.

Jeremy waits for any snakes hiding in the pipe to be swept out as a flood gate was removed from water backed up on the left side of this road.

Some car hood finds- Racers

A "redbelly" water snake

Glenn flipped this nice king

No, Lindsay didnt herp in this get up...but we had to haul a s s  to Charleston to meet a friend of mine for dinner at a nice resturant..the rest of us changed while she drove 95 down the interstate. You'd be suprised at the looks you get from truckers when a tacoma driven by an attractive young lady, surrounded by 4 men with their pants off passes them at 95 mph.   We did manage a fine meal that night though.

Day 4
We departed Lindsay's with no particular direction.
First stop was a state park known for indigo sightings...

lots of gopher tortoise activity...but again, no indigos!

It looked like an ice storm had added a lot of cover to the woods...just more places for snakes to vanish.

 
After a good lunch, we decided we'd head to a place we'd all thought about since we were kids...

The 90 degree temps afforded us a rare luxury...roadcruising in march.

a couple ribbons were found crossing the road well after dark...

Since Fargo, GA doesnt have an Adam's Mark hotel...we had to settle for a night at the Stephen Foster State Park Eco Lodge.  For $90 a night, it was really nice...and brand new.

Under different circumstances, this screened porch would have been a sweet place to BS, smoke a cigar and enjoy a beer.

The next morning found us on a rented boat exploring the swamp.

This place had an eerie vibe to it, but the further up into it we went, the further I wanted to go.

I would not have been suprised to see Dennis Hopper come out of the woods with a bunch of cameras around his neck yelling "Zap 'em with your siren, man, zap 'em with your siren"  (apocalypse now reference for those that dont get it..)

Finally, we made land at 'billy's island'  -again, great lookin habitat, but other than a couple skinks, it was void of herp life.

One herp that was pretty common was gators.  Even though we have these in Arkansas, I am still awestruck by these impressive animals.

The next images are a series...we shut the motor off and paddled closer and closer to this gator...he eventually spooked, but I thought it was a cool series.




I didnt realize large gators could fly!

That day we headed west to rendevous with another well known forum member that shall remain nameless. 

On the way, we hit what used to be a great tin site..but as our host showed us...A LOT of FL & GA tin sites have been cleaned up by metal scrappers.  We did flip this big brute cottonmouth under the few remaining sheets.

This one had some red/orange flecks on its face.

As we headed out to look for EDB's...we found this box turtle.

About 30 minutes into our hike, this large EDB was flipped.

This one didnt care to sit still for pics...and made a pretty quick exit.

This bad photo did a pretty good representation of how disorienting a 5ft EDB on the move looks!

After photos, this one found a nearby burrow and disappeared...you can see the last couple of feet in the center of the picture.

In need of a shed.

Day 6

Started this day of flipping by catchin these two he'in and she'in..I love the look on the male's face...so busted!

This prego-female had just shed...we found the skin nearby.

Zipping down the road to the next spot.

At the next spot we walked right by a good sized Dback up in some vines & briars...luckily Jeremy saw it!

Near this spot, another was found under some tin...

On the way to the next spot...a heartbreaker.  Large coachwhip trashed some care ahead of us.

As the heat of the day leveled out...so did our herping. We hit some great spots, but the temps were just too high.
So, we decided to head south into the ANF for some cruising.

After a couple passes on a sand road, we found our target!

One of many stops...

But rest assured, he covered his deposit up better than most kitties.

On our way to the next spot, we found this poor emaciated thing warming in the evening sun.

"herpers hands"

Another "gimme" snake in the southeast has thus far eluded us...brown water snake. So, we stopped at this bridge to check the habitat underneath.

Hey, it wasnt in hand, it wasnt pretty, and its not exactly a great photo, but it IS a brown water snake!

The perfect end to a day in the ANF.  And the end to our trip.  We did some hiking the following morning but didnt find anything of note.  With the clock bearing down on us, we headed back to the natural state and I was in my bed at 0240, with a big 'ol smile on my face. 

Special thanks to several folks I'm not naming here..you know who you are, cant thank you enough for making our trip a success!