Early on Monday morning I set off on another herping trip.  Unfortunately, Scott had to return to work, so this was a solo expedition.  I headed southwest from Tallahassee to the Apalachicola National Forest.  I wanted to return to the general area I had visited the previous year, coming back from the Okefenokee Swamp.  On that visit the weather was terrible, with a steady cold rain falling.  Still, we managed to scare up a Brownchinned Racer, a nice find (and the only find).

This day the weather was much better, sunny with the temps in the low seventies.  Not much traffic on the roads criss-crossing the pine woodlands - a work day, and a mite early for hunting season.  Turning off onto a sand road, I stopped to reconnoiter a small pond.  When I approached, a small water moccasin slithered off a branch into the water.  That was an encouraging sign!

Moving on, I set my sights on dead trees.  If you want to find Scarlet Kingsnakes, dead trees are a good place to start.  After a time the bark loosens, and insects and Scarlet Kings work their way underneath.  I checked a number of downed trees with lots of loose bark, but could only turn up a few insects and a Black Widow spider.  I kept my eyes open as I drove along for a standing tree that fit the bill - dead but with loose bark remaining.  Finally I came upon one of good diameter some distance from the road.

The moment of discovery is always an interesting one - the small millisecond it takes for the brain to register on what the eye is seeing.  I had gently pulled back on a section of bark a foot or so above the ground - red, yellow, black colors filled my vision.  It was, of course, a splendid specimen of a Scarlet King, perhaps fourteen inches in length, wedged into the tiny space under the bark.

Once in my hands the little snake wriggled and bit me repeatedly - it was going to be a challenge getting good photographs.  I carried my prize back to the vehicle to get a much needed piece of sophisticated photographic equipment - a flat plastic plant saucer.  I carry a couple sizes of these cheap saucers.  They come in handy for plopping over a wiggly specimen and providing it with a dark refuge while you prepare your camera.  For tactile creatures like Scarlet Kings, the smallest size saucer works best - they think they're back under the bark.

A few minutes under the saucer calmed the snake down enough for me to grab a few pictures of it coiled on a small slab of bark.  The colors on this delicate animal  were so arresting I could hardly take my eyes off of it.  The red head was particularly beautiful.

I took the snake back to the tree and it quickly disappeared back under the bark where I had found it.  I did not look for any more Scarlet Kings; I'm sure there were more under the bark of other dead trees.  I didn't want to loosen any bark and disturb any more habitat, and I didn't feel the need to disturb another of these snakes - one was enough for me.

I drove the sand roads of the Apalachicola for another hour or so, and though I discovered no other herpetofauna, it was by no means a disappointing day.