Monoculture

This Black Ratsnake was crossing the road to sleepy creek WMA. I thought for a whole half a second that I had run the poor creature over. The catch in all was quite dramatic. I flung myself down a cliff to persue the beast. He was hot; and speedy as all hell. I almost died getting this DOR Black Ratsnake. (It's in alcohol by the way.) On Rt. 9 just before the bridge over the Shannendoah River. It's a very mature snake and in damn good condition so I figured I'd let it become a voucher. That makes for 5 Black Ratsnake vouchers. Oy... too many.

Also tonight, we had some cricket frog full choruses, a spotty onesie and twosie of green frogs calling, a smattering of grey tree frogs calling, 3 fowler's toads calling.

I drove from my house in Martinsburg to Sleepy Creek, to Glengary, to Gerrardstown, to Inwood, to Middleway, got lost in Clarke County, then on to Charlestown, took a trip up to Shannondale, followed the Shannendoah to Harpers Ferry, then Shepherdstown, and back home.

And all I produced from that circuit was two black ratsnakes and some calling frogs and toads. Rediculous.

I really think I should focus my road work to Back Creek, Sleepy Creek, and Morgan county. Most of the rest of the night was comparatively unproductive once I left those regions. It's a shame that the densities of herps in Jefferson and most of Berkeley county frankly don't justify road herping.

Ugh.

In other news, dreams of Corn Snakes drive me on.

The other question is.. why do I find 90% of the time Black Ratsnakes DOR... and almost nothing else. It's rediculous... and it's weird. Do we have a monoculture of Black Ratsnakes around here?