Snakes of Arkansas: 2007 Fall Field Trip

Reports

Official Report (PDF Format), by Cynthia Porter and Kory Roberts
Unofficial Report, by Brad Birchfield

Finds of Interest

No new county or rare records.

Gallery

Unofficial Report, by Brad Birchfield

In order to keep my seniority in the union�

Its been just about 7 days now since we rolled into the parking lot of Vino�s in Little Rock to meet Adam & Anya to hand off some ball pythons and to meet the E & C duo for lunch before heading to the fall field trip. My how time does fly. We were also to meet up with Ryan, aka �photographer 24/7�- his mother met us at the Clinton library where he transferred his gear to the silver ford. I must say, it was a bit strange because he introduced this other kid, Gavin, and I assumed he was coming along with us�and In my mind I was envisioning Ryan laying atop all our gear in the back of the truck all the way to Walnut ridge. Little did we know, Ryan has a brother named Gavin, who, like my brother, tolerates them when I am around but is not �into� reptiles at all. After assurances to Ryan�s mom that he would be fine, we headed back to Vinos to meet up with everyone else. There was only on piece of the puzzle missing. Lindsay. Now, you gotta give it to Lindsay, she must REALLY like us to drive this far for a weekend of herping. She called and was just south of Little Rock, so with some directions, soon she was sitting right beside us at Vinos, all of us giddy with anticipation of the weekend to come. There are a few things besides the major holidays that I live for each year. One of them is the AHS field trip.

Later than anticipated, a caravan of 3 loaded vehicles (my truck, with Me, Van, Ryan; Erica�s Toyota, with Cyndi and holly the wonder dog; and Lindsay & Jeremy in Lindsay�s truck ) headed north on I- 67. We didn�t get far. Just out of North little Rock, Erica vrooms past us and onto an off ramp. I follow. I look in the rearview to see Jeremy and Lindsay watching helpless as the keep on going down the interstate. So there is the first mishap. Shortly thereafter, they found us at a Valero station where Lindsay and Erica both topped off their tanks. Soon, we were back on the desolate stretch of road that connects Newport to the civilized world. At Newport, the interstate ends. Literally, like big signs and saw horses. I guess they ran out of money, but beyond the stop is a bunch of rice fields. From the End of I-67, we get onto Hwy 67�it�s a 2 lane road that runs all the way to Walnut Ridge, which is just minutes from our destination. Somewhere along there, we stopped at a local grocery store that had a �Beer� sign on the front window. After one more miscue, a turn onto hwy 91, we righted ourselves (notice how I did not point out that it was because a WOMAN was leading the caravan and took the wrong turn, notice how I didn�t point that out and make like women have no business driving�) and soon we were FINALLY on hwy 412 which takes us right by Crowleys Ridge State Park.

I must say, this was gratifying for me personally, as well as goin on the herping field trip, as I had often wondered what was at Crowleys Ridge state park since I worked as seasonal maintenance at the state park in Mountainburg. The park is in the town of Walcott, which is just some houses clustered on the western edge of the �ridge� before it turns into a vast landscape of bean and rice fields. The park itself is quite wooded, not unlike any park up here in the NW portion of the state, with the exception on the surrounding nothingness. As we pulled into the camping spot, all the familiar faces were there (with a few exceptions) and a few new ones. After greetings and a quasi swap meet (Jeremy brought some corn snakes to give out, I had some of Kory�s stuff from the kidz fair, Kory had a snake for me, etc) we all set about getting our tents erected as the sunset cast a nice magenta on the western horizon.

Even though it was Friday the 12th, the nights events were on par with any Friday the 13th I have been present at. For starters, a new guy from ASU showed up, named Brad. We�ll just call him funbobby 2.0 for the sake of entertainment. Without getting all ugly (and believe me, part of me is just DYING to call it like I see it) I will just say in synopsis that funbobby2.0 drank way too much and became a physical, emotional, and financial burden to all those around him. A few of us wondered if he�d still be breathing in the morning as we drifted off to sleep later in the night. Others that I recall, and I do apologize because the busy work week coupled with my fading memory will undoubtedly leave me calling someone the wrong name or not remembering a name, were the infamous Bobbyneal, Tyler, who drove from freaking new Mexico!, some brown headed dude that was real nice who�s name escapes me, and later, Heather the park�s Interpreter. If you think you�ll never loose your ability to remember names, wait till your 35, married with kids and then it will make sense.

As normal, the campfire conversations did not disappoint. I hope Heather was not too mortified. Between some of the juicy topics discussed and funbobby2.0 first beer, we may have left a mark on Crowley�s Ridge that will never be forgotten. The weather was absolutely perfect for camping. Night time temps in the upper 50�s made for good campfire and sleeping bag comfort. I think I turned in at about midnight, but I could hear more revelry around the campfire as my thoughts drifted the next day�s herping.

Saturday, we were all pleased to see that funbobby2.0 had not passed into the hereafter via a diabetic coma. After a much needed shower, we all enjoyed an outstanding breakfast from Tory. Not long after taking the group picture, our old buddy Keith Whalen from the forest service showed up with his significant other Rhea, and her daughter in tow.

The first stop was a couple of ponds off the main road. It contained a bunch of larval (that�s pre-salamander looking) salamanders. The ASU crew captured some specimens and marked them with an injectable via syringe colored elastomer so they will know if they recapture the same ones next time. Next, we hit a boggy/swampy area north of Paragould. There we found several animals, but nothing earth shattering. On the way to the next stop, a few of us held back and stopped at a horrendous junk pile on the side of the road. We elected Jeremy to acquire permission to check the spot, so after some sly PR work on a shirtless man in sweats on his front porch, he agreed to let us have at it. After we were done, (we didn�t find a thing!) I said �man, we appreciate you letting us look around here�� His reply was �oh, I don�t own this�I don�t even know who does�I just wanted to see if you guys found a snake. I think we attract stuff like this by our very nature.

We met up with the rest of the group at a big �de-forested� area of the forest. Tyler and Josh saw some sort of fast moving snake, but never got a positive ID, while the rest of the group took a break back at the vehicles. Note to self, get some more guacamole Pringles. Since it was close to 14:00, we headed back towards the park, breaking off into different groups. Our group which included my truck and Tyler�stopped at an old abandoned house. Although it looked very promising, nary a reptile was found. Back at camp, we fueled up for an evening of herping with star crunches and Gatorade. We hit the parks dump site and found some green tree frogs and not much else. Then we hit an old abandoned home place right across the road from the park. Glenn did manage to find a ribbon snake, so that was enough to keep the rest of us looking. As the sun dipped and the temps were dropping, we decided if there was road cruising to be done, we�d better get on it. With that we broke up into a couple different vehicles and headed out.

Temps were already in the upper 60�s and I guess it was just not meant to be. I think we saw 0 herps, while Kory�s group found a leopard frog. We were back at camp to enjoy a fine brisket dinner by 8pm and listened to the Hogs get dismantled by the Tigers on the radio. The football loss did not dampen spirits though. Funbobby 2.0 left un announced, couple that with Jeremy becoming giddy like a schoolgirl, I think we may have turned the corner on staying up Saturday night! Again, I returned to my eureka at midnight.

Sunday morning, we were slow risers. We ate some breakfast, sat around talking at the remnants of the previous nights fire and longed for more herping. After some lengthy good bye�s, we reluctantly headed back homeward, with a few stops right outside the park. The first was an abandoned house. Nothing found there. The second was an abandoned house with tons of abandoned junk around it. There, the group found 1 good sized rat snake, a couple of ribbons (probably the biggest ribbon any of us had seen, like 3ft long and big around as a half dollar, no, no one took a picture!). It was a nice way to end the trip. With that, our group became even more splintered until the original 3 of us in my truck, ME, Van and Jeremy, were headed back west on I -40 already wishing for spring.

Ya�ll be sure and make that spring trip so I will have something to write about.

Ps Since I typed this in a hurry, please be lenient on pointing out grammatical and or spelling errors.