I ran out of trail on the Econfina and I decided to head over to St. Mark's again, where I had spent the first day herping with Scott.  Driving into the park I stopped for a dead snake on the road - it was one of the Blue Garters I had been hoping to see.  It's always a terrible disappointment to find what you're looking for in the form of a DOR, and of course it is a shame when creatures end up that way.  The fact that there were DOR snakes on a road with a fifteen mph limit doesn't lend much credence to an accidental flattening.

I decided to hike the bank alongside one of the pools.  Perhaps here I could turn up a king snake or perhaps a live Thamnophis or Nerodia.  The day was warming up a bit and there were no clouds to block the sun, so I had some hopes.

I ended up walking alongside three successive pools and back without seeing a single serpentine form.  The gators were out, of course, along with a number of unseen frogs whose passage was marked only by a plaintive BLEEP and a splash - Green Frogs perhaps.  Some turtles were out today, a change from my first visit here.  Through my binoculars I was able to identify a pair of them as Florida River Cooters, a new species for me.

I wanted to get a closer look at these cooters, which were sunning themselves on a bit of dry land jutting out into a pool.  Up above them on the embankment, I was partially screened from view by a stand of tall grass.  I walked up the bank about a hundred feet or so and then slipped down the side, crouching and weaving my way through the grass.  When I reached the level of the pool at the bottom the ground  was either muddy or under water, and in places I sank into the muck to mid-calf.  Hoping I wouldn't run into a large gator in this thick vegetation, I angled back in the general direction of the turtles, and when I thought I was close enough, I slowly straightened up to peer over the grass...the turtles, of course, were long gone.  Turtles have ears and these cooters could certainly hear me coming.  This was not my first attempt at stalking aquatic turtles, but the outcome was the same as the others.  Perhaps someday I'll find one hard of hearing.

Time to head back, and on the way I stopped off at the Refuge visitor's center.  Around the building was a pond and a swampy area, criss-crossed with trails and interpretive signage.  Crossing a small footbridge I looked down to one side and spied the forward two-thirds of a Florida Cottonmouth, crawling out from beneath me.  Remaining still, I was able to observe it undetected for a while, until I got too close with my camera, whereupon it slithered away from me.  It is the rare Cottonmouth that stands its ground when escape is an option.

This snake was the last herp on my trip.  For late October, the results were pretty good, a couple new species in the Scarlet King and Florida Cooter, and a chance to see another Eastern Diamondback.  It was a good trip to end the herping season.