Field Herping in Wisconsin (+ other wildlife)

[Crazy4Herps]

We've got some property up in Wisconsin that's crawling with wildlife. We go there every summer. This year is the first time I've been there since getting my new cam, so I had lots of fun with some photographing.

Hatchling Northern water snake I found in a deep pit my brothers had dug on the beach. I watched him for a while and decided he must have fallen in there and couldn't get out. I did pull him out and let him go near the water a ways away. For such a little guy, he was QUITE the snapper!



Northern prairie skink my brother found by the road.


Mink frogs! These guys are a highlight of every year. Last year we found and caught (then released) well over fifty. This year there was somewhat of a drought, so we only got around five.



American toad. This was a first for us. He was the CUTEST little thing, and super friendly!!



Painted turtle we caught. Not seeing as many of these guys as usual. Last year we got three, none of which were as nippy as this guy!




Non-herps:

One of around twenty smallmouth bass. I'm not big on fishing, but everyone else in the family spends many hours every day catching things.


My bro holding a Northern pike. Lol he didn't catch this one, they found it dead. It was too old to eat so we used chunks of it as snapping turtle bait. We came so close to getting one, but alas, no luck. Maybe next year.


Bald eagle. Chased this guy around the lake in the canoe for about twenty minutes before I could get a decent shot.


We had a family of red-breasted grossbeaks visit for about a week. These birds are so shy, we felt very privileged to have them here. NOT the easiest animals to photograph.

One of the juveniles (there were about 7 in all)



The male feeding one of the juveniles



The usual chickadees and finches. They usually only eat from the feeder, but with the grossbeaks around cracking the shells of the sunflower seeds, both the finches and chickadees had a feast.



There is SO much wildlife up there, I didn't get a fraction of it on camera. We've also got bull snakes, common snapping turtles, badgers, loons, blue herons, various hawks, raccoons, deer, otters, and just about everything else. A great place to get some photography done!





Oh, and here's a slideshow I put together with some more pictures.
YouTube - Wisconsin Wildlife ~ Summer 2009