A short nature walk through the woods near the campsite...

[HerperPsychlobe]

I went on a short hike through the dense and tick-infested woods of Clinton Lake. ALong the way I turned rocks looking around for reptiles and insects. I saw a pair of Osage Copperheads under a large flat GreenHorn limestone rock in the woods. These are venomous and quite common around the woods bordering the campgrounds. I also found a large 11 inch Scelopendra ssp. under a rock. I was surprised at the number of Black Widow spiders, but not surprised at the density of Centroides vitatus scorpions.

I enjoyed the birds as well. I saw some kind of starling and several Red-Winged Black birds. The aquatic birds were also pretty cool. I loved the fact that I could bring both of my passions together in one setting with my friends: nature and music. I thought that Robert Randolf as off the chains as usual. Did anyone else experience any cool animal sigtings>?
Herpetology rules!

[PolyOntology]

Damn...I wish I would've gone for a hike! Although I'm not sure if I would've wanted to run into poisonous snakes. When I wasn't checking out the music I was usually trying to sleep or get food. I did swim in the lake a couple times though and it was great!

Yes, we also went hiking around the lake and it was beautiful. We found some ticks of course, but happily found no snakes. A wood chuck crossed our path and I did spot a deer running through the forrest not to far from us. It was nice to see the halks and great blue hearings on the water front. Next time we plan to rent a canoe. It's so much better to be a part of nature than to muck it up with all the air and noise pollution. The Lawrence newspaper reported that one young man got bit by a copper head. Hope he's okay. I'll take my chances outside any day.