Stones, Snake, Chiggers, Ticks, and.....more

[Teegate]

All,

Near the Star Tree and Moon Tree intersections, nearby the old foundations of the Cedar Bridge Lookout on the road to the Forked River Mountains, we found two of the Ocean Township cement boundary markers.

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Our next stop was to try to find one of the corner stones to Clayton Newbold's 1000 acres in the woods between Aserdaten and the Cedar Bridge Tower Foundations. The other corners have been removed over the years. The property was surveyed in 1792 and the stone may be that old.

That is a wild area and very rarely explored, but on the way there we found this.

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/teegate/main.php/download/1651-1/IMG_6914.JPG

After climbing over multiple downed tree, multiple tick removal stops, and dense brush, we arrived at the location and quickly found it. This may be one of the oldest stones we have ever found, but can't be sure of it.

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http://www.njpinebarrens.com/teegate/main.php/download/1656-1/IMG_6915.JPG

I searched around for some other stones near Bullock, and then decided to pick up some water we had left near a tree last weekend on our hike. On the way there we saw a pine snake stretched out across the road that was over 5 feet long. I almost ran over it as I rounded a corner. Before I could get my camera out it slithered into the woods with me in pursuit.

It was mad!!! It turned and appeared to be ready to attack me as I leaned in to take a photo, all the while hissing like mad. Jessica heard the sound as she entered the woods behind me, and we were astounded at how loud it was. I had never heard anything like it before from a snake.

Hissing

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/teegate/main.php/download/1662-1/IMG_6922.JPG

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Still Hissing!

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/teegate/main.php/download/1668-1/IMG_6924.JPG

And just as quickly as it started hissing it quieted down and seemed to relax as I walked around it taking photo's.

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/teegate/main.php/download/1671-1/IMG_6927.JPG

We continued on to grab the water and found this balloon at the exact spot where we left the water last weekend. Three strikes and it was in my trunk. Pat me on the back Bob!

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/teegate/main.php/download/1674-1/IMG_6931.JPG

And this is just a small portion of our catch for the day. This really works well. The small dots are CHIGGERS!!! They are out in force now!

http://www.njpinebarrens.com/teegate/main.php/download/1677-1/IMG_6932.JPG

Guy

 

[dragoncjo]

Nice report, seems like that lint remover is great for getting rid of ticks, I'll have to keep that in mind. I'm envious of your pine snake find, I've yet to encounter one yet this spring. I've also yet to encounter any chiggers or deer ticks. I've mostly been hiking in cumberland county I guess there not as frequent down there.

 

[Teegate]

Actually, while driving near Old Half Way, Jessica yelled that I had just ran over a "black looking" snake. I slid to a stop and ran back and found nothing. It may have been a racer and was gone before I even stopped. On the ride home she was wondering if it may have still be under the car

Guy

 

[uuglypher]

It was mad!!! It turned and appeared to be ready to attack me as I leaned in to take a photo, all the while hissing like mad. Jessica heard the sound as she entered the woods behind me, and we were astounded at how loud it was. I had never heard anything like it before from a snake.

Nice shots of the pine snake, Guy! Makes me homesick!
I agree that their loud hissing is without compare by the hissing of any other snake. The pine snake and its close relatives / subspecies, the bull snake and gopher snake, have a flap of cartilage just in front of the opening (glottis) of the larynx. This stiff epiglottis is held vertical and edge-on to the flow of air that is being strongly expelled from the "windpipe". It's like blowing forcefully against the edge of a stiff piece of cardboard; it really amplifies the sound of the fast-moving blast of air.

As for the ticks ... not homesick for them!

Dave

 

[bobpbx]

Excellant Guy! Great shots of a beautiful specimen. Congrats on the stone. It really is a wild area back there, right? You are the man!

I have a spot picked out to camp not far from there.

 

[Teegate]

It is wild! That road is Dutchman's road and was once a straight road right to 539, but it is filled with down trees and is closing in. The road has what I will call "seaweed" all over it which is odd. It is very close to where we went with Ben and Laura slept in the car.

Dave..thanks for the comments. Glad you are not homesick for the ticks. They are a nuisance. As I have mentioned before we do our best to do everything we can to keep them from getting in the house but some always slip through. And I can't say where I found one on me when I got home. Bob the pants I have now have too many holes in them. Time to take onehands advice and buy a new pair to keep the ticks out.

Guy

 

[bobpbx]

Sea weed?

 

[Teegate]

Sea weed?

Yea...when the long thin seed dropping from the trees hit the ground and pile up and it rains and the water washes it into a clump on the road it looks like seaweed. That is all over that road. This usually occurs on less traveled roads and roads that are closing in and disappearing.

Guy

 

[woodjin]

I once knew a piney in New Gretna who took me out his garage and said "walk up to that thing" it was a cat carrier. As I walked up a loud hiss came back at me. It was a pine snake in there. That hiss really is something. I think he let it go a short time later.

Jeff