TONIGHT AT THE LAKE - AN AFTER-DARK ANIMAL ADVENTURE

Who doesn't love a good wander in the wilderness late at night?

Perhaps I got a little bored tonight and wanted to go on an adventure. Whatever it was, the result was a great time with my eldest daughter, Pinkie Pepper. With it beginning to be cooler in the evenings, we were not sure how many reptiles and amphibians would be out tonight, but we went anyway. With a flashlight, camera, and a few other things, we set out on our adventure.

FROGS GALORE

Immediately upon arriving at our destination, we found frogs galore. There were many frogs to be seen, and they were three main species. Most of them were Bullfrogs and Leopard Frogs, with a little Cricket Frog here and there.

We saw them in the water, on the shore, on top of the rocks, and even peeking out from underneath rocks. Also, there were a lot of tiny little flying insects on the surface of the water, and even covering the frogs sometimes.

BULLFROGS

LEOPARD FROGS

CRICKET FROG

SNAKES TOO

Once we saw that amphibians like the frogs were out, we hoped that perhaps we would be able to see a reptile like a snake as well. Before too long, I spotted this beautiful reddish colored Northern Water Snake. Eventually, it wound up in the water.

OTHER CREATURES

It is always so relaxing just to be able to take a stroll and check out some wildlife. It is a bonus to get some one on one time with one of my children. Pinkie-Pepper and I got a chance to do some good talking tonight. We also saw some really cool things together and made some memories.

The little minnows down here like to jump all over the place. If you shine a flashlight by the water at night, some will even jump on shore sometimes. We also got to see out first wild Arkansas gar together. The first one was about eighteen inches, while the second one was closer to three feet long. Often we see their carcasses on the shoreline, but tonight we were able to see some alive in the wild! Unfortunately, the sightings were brief and no photos were taken.

There were plenty of spiders around, and a freshly molted crawfish too. It was good to not only be able to head out and see all of these things, but to make it back home safe too! I'm not sure what you do after dark, but we had fun doing this tonight!