Walking the Helen Williams Barborow Interpretive Trail

Author: Ty Smith
County: Smyth 
Survey Time: 11:30 am - 12:30 pm 
Basic Weather: Clear, Temps in the 80’s
Party Members: Ty Smith & Lindsey Hottinger

We walked this trail to see some good herps that were not salamanders. We walked out just far enough to see a big lake, but most of the herps were seen prior. We did no flipping or dip netting. We found the following species: 

Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans) {2}
Just a couple on the edge of the ponds. 

Pickerel Frog (Lithobates palustris) {6}
Several juveniles in the grass near a smaller pond. No adults were seen.

Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) {12}
Several individuals give me the notion that this population is C. p. picta x C. p. marginata due to location and several individuals’ scutation appearing as either subspecies or in between. They were mostly basking on logs or Alder limbs, but several were swimming. 

Cumberland Slider (Trachemys scripta troostii) {6}
Normally I obscure locations for animals that are considered protected to this level, but in this instance, there are a number of records from this location, it is highly populated (making potential poaching very difficult as local law enforcement is keeping an eye out) and if I said “Saltville”, there is only one large water system in the area. None were basking, all were swimming.