The day began at 5:30am, a time that I usually don't see. But on this day I had to meet the rest of my camp at the research lab by 6:30am. I had gotten all my gear ready...as all of it was already in my car, a herper is always prepared you see. One never knows if they will have to slide a snake off the road or if they will hear that county record frog calling, which has to be retrieved. So, I hastily get-up and ready for the day. And find myself, briming with ancipation, arriving at the wet lad early, around 6am. No one else is there yet this early, so I double check my gear. Lunch (a sandwich, apple, and bottle water), my knee boots, and my camera gear (double check its all there).
At around 6:20am Mr. [=Dr.] Beane arrives at the lab. We greet each other and I load up my gear into the museum van and make conversation until the others start to arrive. Jeff Hall is the next and he loads up. At around 6:45am, most of the group points out 15 minutes late, Bob Davis arrives, not realizing he's late but thinking he was early. 6:50am we are on the road and rollin'.
We meet up with Gabriella at our first bog site. This site sits at the bottom of a hilly field. It is mostly dried up by this point in the season, but we give it a try and dip our sticks in the mud hoping for a chunk, chuck, which should indicate a turtle underneath. We give this bog a good effort for nearly 3 hours but our group has zero luck, as its dry, grown up and hard to see. We break for lunch and head to site number two.
At site two, we meet up with Tammy Sawyer and the group starts out strong with Tammy finding the first Bog Turtle of the day within 10 minutes of poking and searching.
-- The group searches on...
I continue searching...using two sticks at once. One in each hand and their movements are independent and quick. As a couple other find a few more turtles, I question my technique and my speed. Thirty of so minutes of search and I here the clunk, clunk...Could it be a submerged stick or log that I hit? I've stuck my hand in the mud many times today for those. No, its was different, more resonating when I made contact. I quickly but carefully push my hand down in the mud and over into a small pocket. I grab the object and immeditatly know what I have. I pull it out and shout something I've wanted to since my childhood..."I've got a Bog Turtle over here". I use a piece of pink ribbon and tie off the place of capture, so later after the specimen's data is worked up and he is mark, I can release him where he was exactly found...right in the same little pocket of mud.
-- My Lifer Bog Turtle (front two legs are missing but otherwise a healthy male)
I take him over for a few photographs. For one photo we placed Jeff Hall's fresh hatchling on top of my adult for a little size/lifestage reference image. As my eye is looking through the view finder, Jeff points out a snake making his way through the middle of the photo session. I then wonder how many herps go right on by without my detection while I photograph another herp, in this case two others.
-- The two age groups (Hatchling and adult)
-- Nerodia sipedon (the snake found itself in the middle of a photograph session).
I release my turtle right into the same muddy world I forced myself to take it from. I then wish him look luck and search on, round two. As I make my way up to Jeff Hall I hear another clunk this time Jeff's stick made the connection. It didn't seem like the same clunk my turtle made so I figured it was a log or something, but to his well trained bog turtle shell sensitive ears, he knew it was a bog turtle immediately. I marked his spot and searched on. Not five feet from where he pulled his turtle out I made contact with my second turtle of the day. I stuck my arm, this time farther, down into the cool mud and extracted out a gem of a bog turtle. Nearly perfect with a little shell injury as if something had tried to chew on it. This turtle was gorgeous.
-- One of my favorite finds in turn, makes one of my best photos. Winner of the 2008 Herpetological Society Photography contest, color images.
The day ended perfectly with a total of 17 turtles found, most new turtles for the population, and some BBQ on the way back home. This represents one of the most exciting and significant days in the field for me. This species was my highest life list goal. Check.
And here's to next season!
