Ten Snake Day with my friend Greg!

 

   Greg Nemes is a great herper probably the best in Rhode Island. Of all of my birder friends he was the one that spent as much time looking down for snakes as well as up for birds. I met Greg because of birding. I ran across him quite often chasing the same birds or just at birding hotspots. Because of him, I got my first Rhode Island Screech Owl and saw a show of Common Nighthawks in Lincoln. We weren't very close but always said hi to each other when we ran into each other. Unfortunately, Greg moved to the Los Angeles area a couple of years ago.

   When I got into serious herping I sent Greg a message asking for any advice such as best time of day or season to find snakes. Greg sent me an email back the length of a short story. It was full of general info such as best time and place but also so much more. He gave me specifics on each species, their range, and even some locations. The email was far more than I could have ever expected. A few months later I ran across a Milk Snake when I was on a weekend getaway in New York. I wasn't sure what it was so I sent him the photo and he identified it. 

    We have kept in touch. I've asked some advice when I had specific questions. When I've had a great day or seen a cool species I've told him the story or sent him the info. He has sent me some photos and info on snakes he has seen in California and on international vacations. We spend a lot more time keeping in contact than we did when he lived in New England. We have become solid friends. Greg had a vacation planned for this week back to Rhode Island. He told me he was coming to visit and we should plan on going herping together. Obviously, I jumped at the chance. 

   We planned on meeting Tuesday at 9:30 am but because of all the rain we hoped it would dry out some and pushed it until 10 am. We met at the parking lot and started looking for snakes along the edges of trails. Because the grass was still really wet, I thought one snake would be a good day and Greg was hoping for three. My goal was just to see one together. our other big hope was to catch one so we could take a photo together to add to my "photos with friends". 

   Luckily, today was great. We ended up seeing ten snakes together! There were two that only I saw and one that only he saw. The species count was seven Garter Snakes and three Decay's Brown Snakes. We ended up catching three. When I say we, I mean Greg caught three. We had a lot of misses where we both missed, but luckily Greg was successful at catching a couple of snakes. 

   We took photos of the three in our hands and also on the ground. We got our "selfie" with two of the snakes including a tiny Garter and a tiny Brown Snake. After getting the photos of one snake, the pressure was off of the "photos with friends". 

Tiny Decay's Brown Snake

   We missed one Garter that was easily our biggest snake. It was in tall grass but slithered at Black Racer speed to the water. I also missed a "large" Brown Snake that was about a foot long. We were happy to get our little baby snakes though.

   I had a lot of fun herping with Greg today. Seeing ten snakes far exceeded expectations. But as with other outdoor pursuits, it wasn't just the snakes. I really enjoyed the conversation. As usual, I asked a million questions but it was just a fun afternoon anyway.