Camping Trip - Tips Please!

[kimbosaur]

Next week, some friends and I plan to head up to the Bruce Peninsula (about four hours from Toronto) to go camping. The last time we went, it was all about relaxing (swimming, barbecuing etc.) but this time I really want a chance to experience some of the wildlife.

With a little bit of research, I found out that this is one of the best places to go herping in Ontario. Although I doubt I will find anything (...seriously doubt it), I'd really appreciate some tips! I have no idea where to start, so by tips I really mean any help at all will be welcomed. I don't plan on bringing anything back - just hope to see some critters...snakes especially!.

Here's the site: Wildlife of the Bruce Peninsula - Animals of the Bruce Peninsula (http://www.thebrucepeninsula.com/wildlife.html). It would be amazing if anybody who's been there could share their experience too.

[guidofatherof5]

Flipping rocks, fallen trees, boards and debris usually produces some nice finds.
Remember to replace everything the way you found it.
It's usually someone's home;)

[kimbosaur]

Remember to replace everything the way you found it.
It's usually someone's home;)

Promise to keep that in mind! :)

[jitami]

Looks like a neat area! You'll likely have more luck at dusk and dawn with most animals, but be careful, too. Watch every step, do put those rocks/logs back after flipping them, and just enjoy your surroundings. Hubby came back with black bear teeth marks in his cooler after camping in the Sierras this weekend... use the provided vaults or hang your food :)

[katach]

I usually find them at dusk at the edges of fields and under boards and rocks. Good luck!! Don't forget to take pictures!

[kimbosaur]

Hubby came back with black bear teeth marks in his cooler after camping in the Sierras this weekend... use the provided vaults or hang your food :)

:eek: I would love to see a black bear, but that's just too close for comfort. I think we kept the food in the car last time.


Don't forget to take pictures!

I will if I find anything! :)

[jitami]

Yeah, they were sitting around after building a campfire before making dinner and heard something over by his jeep. They shined flashlights that direction and caught a small cinnamon colored black bear jumping out of the jeep. It dropped the soft sided cooler on the way down, but left some cool holes/teeth marks. They chased it with flashlights, air horns, yelling & making a bunch of noise... and then hung their food where it couldn't be reached. Not sure how well they slept that night, but it didn't get any food... which is really more important for the bear than the humans. Sadly we have a few bear that recognize coolers and hubby knew better.

[d_virginiana]

If you're near a lake or stream, check out that area. Full of snake food. In the middle of the day you can probably find them chilling out under rocks around the water, and near dusk, you might see them come out to lay on warm rocks ad hunt. Not necessarily garter snakes, but odds are you'll find SOME snakes around water.

Also a nice place for frog/salamander hunting :)

[infernalis]

Early AM just as the sun comes up, prime basking for wild snakes.

[kimbosaur]

K so far there's:

- Dusk or Dawn
- Check around water
- Flip rocks, logs, boards etc.
- Put everything back

I'll probably go in the early PM rather than morning. It would be extremely difficult to convince anybody to wake up at sunrise to search for snakes with me. I'll have better luck convincing them for the evening.


They shined flashlights that direction and caught a small cinnamon colored black bear jumping out of the jeep. It dropped the soft sided cooler on the way down, but left some cool holes/teeth marks. They chased it with flashlights, air horns, yelling & making a bunch of noise... and then hung their food where it couldn't be reached.

I would have been very tempted to just stop and take a picture...then get somebody ELSE to chase it away. :p



Also a nice place for frog/salamander hunting :)

Frogs are about the only things I ever find. I did find a salamander/lizard ONCE, but it was flat, shriveled up, and hanging from our front door frame by the tail. No idea where that came from.

[Kantar]

Most snakes I find are the ones I hear first. So keep your ears peeled because chances are you will hear them first before seeing them. Keep a light step too so they don't run off early.

If a moose is charging you, just do what this guy does
Moose Charges Man - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLZdsoL-mLY)

Good luck!

[RedSidedSPR]

True. Very true.

I hear a snake usually before I see it.

[kimbosaur]

If a moose is charging you, just do what this guy does
Moose Charges Man - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLZdsoL-mLY)


Lmaooooooooooo. I will keep that in mind.

[RedSidedSPR]

That was freakin' hilarious!

[Stefan-A]

If a moose is charging you, just do what this guy does
Moose Charges Man - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLZdsoL-mLY)

Good luck!
Good luck indeed. And make sure you don't try that on an adult bull.

[ConcinusMan]

That's funny because after watching that, in the "up next" part, there was a video of a guy who tried to do just that. Didn't work out so well.

[Kantar]

its because he wasn't holding the stick of power :D

[kimbosaur]

So uhhh, my plan totally FAILED. We got rained out both nights. The only sunny days were the day we got there and the day we left. Should have gone on the first day! The only snake sighting happened when we were hiking and I was lagging behind so I missed it!

Sooo...I found a whopping total of two frogs and two salamander things. LOL. Not sure if these are even worth sharing:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SZJMNb9IEtI/TlrsAU9tiHI/AAAAAAAAAA0/OWiuJScSYXg/s512/314343_10150288992207970_500782969_7675602_7439737 _n.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-G2PR2QuVB0o/TlrsAwEy9mI/AAAAAAAAAA4/n9smmsBkK1k/s640/300830_10150288992367970_500782969_7675603_605446_ n.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QTCK9aR1h6U/Tlrr2uu6mrI/AAAAAAAAAAs/pwFR9y0cwQQ/s640/IMG_6593.JPG
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EF-o_9OPHrA/Tlrr3dUYVYI/AAAAAAAAAAw/5O1XdNHMeFI/s640/IMG_6594%252520%2525281%252529.JPG

I should also let you know that I couldn't catch the frog on my own...so I waited until this little girl caught two and once she put them down on a rock, I stole one. Shameless. :rolleyes:

[RedSidedSPR]

Well... the salamander is cool...:rolleyes:

[katach]

Bummer on no snakes, but the frogs and salamanders are cute!

[jitami]

Definitely worth sharing! Adorable little guys! Hope you had a great trip despite the rain :)

[kimbosaur]

Thanks, it was fun regardless!

When I first found the salamander, I thought it was a baby snake! I picked it up quick and when I took a peek, I was pretty disappointed to see legs! They do have pretty cute faces though.

We also somehow forgot one of the coolers outside overnight despite the numerous warnings and the fact that everybody was paranoid of bears. We woke up and were like "Who cooked the shrimp last night??" The raccoons ate the entire box of shrimp, yet left ALL of our hamburgers. Makes me kind of suspicious of what's in those burgers.

[kimbosaur]

Here's a picture of the view. Really beautiful!

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/317540_10150288996207970_500782969_7675640_6103932 _n.jpg

[ConcinusMan]

Nice pic. Not too unlike some places along the WA or OR coast.

[guidofatherof5]

We don't have anything like that here in Iowa.:mad:

[ConcinusMan]

And we don't have a yard full of garter snakes spending the winter right under our house, so shuddup! :p

Hadn't seen a garter snake one, anywhere near my house in years. The other day I was walking to the store, and two blocks from my house I found a very small northwestern. Flattened on the road, and baked to a crisp. That's as close to a garter snake in my neighborhood I'm going to find.:(

[RedSidedSPR]

and we don't have a yard full of garter snakes spending the winter right under our house, so shuddup! :p(

lol!!!

[ConcinusMan]

Meant with a light heart, I hope you know. Just razzin you Steve.

[RedSidedSPR]

I know, but I was thinking the EXACT same thing when he said that. Then you said it.

That place is nice though.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Flipping rocks, fallen trees, boards and debris usually produces some nice finds.
Remember to replace everything the way you found it.
It's usually someone's home;)

Wow I have always done that or just look in or around as much as I can for the cool spots. Sometimes you dont even have to flip anything.But yes if you do flip things try to do it slow to . thats what I do so that I dont spook them .

Looks like a neat area! You'll likely have more luck at dusk and dawn with most animals, but be careful, too. Watch every step, do put those rocks/logs back after flipping them, and just enjoy your surroundings. Hubby came back with black bear teeth marks in his cooler after camping in the Sierras this weekend... use the provided vaults or hang your food :)

I high lighted the part in red because one time when I was camping we didnt see anything like a bear but it was funny. this was before i met my hubby but I went camping with some friends and we were in tents that would zip and there were windows in the tent but the flaps were down and we woke up and heard something in the food stuff and it freaks us out and we didnt know if we wanted to look cause we were afraid of what we would see but we knew we had to. We opened the window and found that 12 cows got into our food stuff.(which was put away) and they were still hanging outside of our tent. It was funny cause my friends dog had never seen cows in her life but seem to know what she was doing(cocker). She hearded them up and took them away from our campsite. We all just sat there and watched . It was so funny.
So you NEVER know what can be there waiting....lol

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Awesome pics. Thank you for sharing.

[kimbosaur]

So I've visited a few different local parks since this trip with no luck at all. The only thing I found was a HUMONGOUS slug underneath a piece of bark, a bunch of giant worms, and just about twenty thousand potato bugs. Next I hope to visit the Toronto Islands. If I still can't find anything here, I will voluntarily deem myself unfit for this "herping" business.

This is why I say "if I still can't find anything here":

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/53/126100611_f465010b1a.jpg
"Please do not run them over, scare, kidnap or molest them!"

It was apparently posted on one of the trails at one point.
Wish me luck! :D

[RedSidedSPR]

Luck be wished!:D

[kimbosaur]

We opened the window and found that 12 cows got into our food stuff.(which was put away) and they were still hanging outside of our tent.

Where the heck did you go camping? Lol! I would be so amused if that happened to me.

[ConcinusMan]

They can get to be a challenge to find this time of year. Even at places I know of where the population is dense, it just gets too dry this time of year and I don't find many.

[RedSidedSPR]

The snakes here hate summer. HOT and DRY. so fall isn't out of the question.

[kimbosaur]

Luck be wished!:D

Thx :)


They can get to be a challenge to find this time of year. Even at places I know of where the population is dense, it just gets too dry this time of year and I don't find many.

I've actually noticed it's getting a lot more damp (here) lately. Maybe this will help?

[ConcinusMan]

Or not. It's just that time of year when they are fully dispersed and hard to find. Rain might help, or not.

[kimbosaur]

Neat - I found a field guide online:

http://www.toronto.ca/parks/pdf/island/explorers_guide.pdf

Here's what it says about garters:

"In spring, walkers often come across harmless garter snakes sunning on the boardwalk. Less frequently, one may find the rare black (or melanistic) form of garter snake."

Guess I am going at the wrong time of year. Oh well, there are still other things to do there so I'll keep my eye out regardless. I think the people around me are getting very sick of these snake-searching expeditions.

[ConcinusMan]

yeah I agree spring is much better. Just go to Manitoba and try to find garters at the dens. You won't find any this time of year and snake encounters in the surrounding area will be few and far between. Come fall and spring though... well, what a difference.