I went out to PRWMA this morning around 10 a.m. to squeeze a quick trip into a beautiful day. I got a call around 10:45 a.m. from my wife saying it was time to head out to the New Orleans Jazz Festival, so it ended up being a really short trip. However, it seems that I have good luck with short trips

Since a few guys on a field herping forum asked when I would be getting pictures of a Ringed Map Turtle(which are beautiful water turtles found ONLY in the Pearl River), I have been snapping pictures of every water turtle I see...ha ha. Today was a little better than usual; however, most usually hit the water at the sight of a person. I stopped at several of the bridge crossings on the main management area road to see if I could spot anything in any of the Pearl River's tributary canals.

First shot is of some sort of turtle.....unidentified, but probably a slider. Notice the large gar fish in the water too. Then there was a gator at another bridge crossing. This one was a bit larger than the one last week at about 6' or so.





At the last bridge stop, I spotted something in the grass on the edge of the road while walking BACK to my truck. It always amazes me how easily a person can walk right past a snake without even noticing it. I spotted the tail of this one first....and had to follow the tail up to the head. Nice camo job. It was great seeing a black racer.





Right after my wife called for me to head back to the house, I spotted this little one on the side of the road. I thought it was a juvi. box turtle from my truck, but quickly realized it was a Mississippi Mud turtle when I got up close. Great little turtle.





All in all a pretty good little trip. Hope you guys are not getting bored of me posting pictures yet....lots of good herping weather left this year