HERPING WITH JULIA, SARAH & CONNIE
On Friday I herped some marshlands with Julia.

It wasn't long before we came across a Coast Garter.

Same snake.

Another great looking Coast Garter Snake.

Some parts of the marsh looked like a lunar landscape.

As you might expect, Western Fence Lizards were seen in a number of different spots.

Suede bike.

A "patternless" Southern Alligator Lizard.

Some of the rocks and logs around the marsh had many, many tiny newts under them.

On Saturday, my final day of herping, I took my friend's kids, Sarah and Connie herping. They were ready for action.

This Western Fence Lizard had blue flecking.

We also found a few Alligator Lizards. Did you know that they bite?

This Coast Garter had almost no red.

But we also found some very pretty ones.

A humdinger of a Coast Garter Snake.

Then we did a little creek herping and saw Western Pond Turtles.

We found invasive species like this crayfish.

Crayfish - Kids don't care that they are invasive species - they're still fun to catch.

Many of the waterways that I visited were overrun with Bullfrogs - some were almost black.

Some hard-earned herps.

A young Racer.

By far, the favorite thing that the girls found were newts.

A large and feisty Coast Garter Snake.

My favorite thing was this large (and pretty beat up) Rubber Boa.

It was a great trip. Thanks to Natalie, Zach, Julia, Sarah and Connie for spending some time out in the field with me.