russians were free

You wouldn't believe how many people mistake the harmless Northern Water Snake for cottonmouths! Even all the way up here in New York, where Cottonmouths do NOT range into. We do have plenty of water snakes here though, who unfortunately get killed very often for no reason. Even if they were cottonmouths, there is absolutely no reason to kill them. Of the cottonmouths I've handled within their range, I've had 100% of them react in a docile manner and wanting to escape, and 0% who acted "aggressively" and try to bite. They only want to get away from humans, and unfortunately the humans sometimes get in between the snake and its escape route (the water or thick brush), so as the snake tries to get away it often appears to be "chasing" people.
These harmless baby water snakes, however, will defend themselves if being bothered by a person. They won't come at you and attack, but if you're handling or cornering them they won't hesitate to protect themselves. However, these snakes are totally harmless, of course. Their bites really don't even hurt very badly, especially from tiny babies like these guys! The big ones will draw some blood, but the wound will look worse than it actually is because of the anticoagulant in their mouth that makes you bleed a little more. I actually love getting bit by nonvenomous snakes! If I catch them, I feel as if I owe them the opportunity to bite the heck out of me if they wish to do that. And in this case, getting bit by water snakes is many times the only "proof" to people that they are harmless! So if I can get people to realize that snakes aren't as bad as they thought, I'd be willing to do almost anything to accomplish that.

Shot in Greene County NY

This entire swamp was created by beavers! This also happens to be one of the best amphibian breedng sites i know of, so the beavers were really beneficial to the habitat around them.

This is probably my favorite frog call because it reminds me of those early summer nights as a little kid when i'd hear them out my window. Unfortunately, just a little over 10 years later, they have all but disappeared from my neighborhood due to increasing pesticide use and development. They can still be reliably found in nearby ponds, however! From this video it is difficult to hear, but there were also bullfrogs, green frogs, spring peepers (they're breeding season is just about finishing up), and pickerel frogs. Pretty soon gray treefrogs will start calling too!

Just a really short clip of a racer found recently. It's amazing how vigilant and aware of their surrounding they are!

Suffolk County, NY

Nassau County, New York