Herps, ho!

I am so digging this weather. I love having the windows open so the whole house smells like line-dried laundry. This morning, after picking up the kids from their dad's house we came home and started working in the garden. Chicky caught this grey tree frog and it hopped on my new sock yarn! (It must be a kindred spirit.)





We went with our friends Mel and Angela to the Carolina Botanical Gardens (first trip of the new year) and nature was freaking everywhere! The weather was great, there were leaf buds on many trees, and the river was cold at first, but very nice. It's always a wonder we see more than a toad when the children are around because they are LOUD! Once we got down to the stream we saw this juvenile northern water snake.



It was very sweet and calmed down quickly once caught.



Then, after Mel and the kids went up the stream and saw a larger water snake, Morgan spotted this along the bank:



Angela, being very quick and nimble caught the little bugger. I think it is a northern cricket frog.



The hard thing about identifying juvenile creatures is that most i.d. books show pictures of adults.

P.S. No herps were hurt for these photographs. All creatures were released in the area where they were briefly held.