Over the last few days I located the sleeping box turtles and rattlesnakes.  The turtles remain tucked away under a warm blanket of leaf litter and the snakes are still hidden deep in their underground lairs.

When tracking Zoe the female Timber rattlesnake I noticed an area of pressed down leaves just in front of the hole she uses to move in and out of her hibernacula.  It is possible that over the last week–with the daytime temperatures in the high 60’s–that she may have moved outside to bask in the record temperatures.

I used a Whites metal detector to detect the transmitters attached to both of the sleeping box turtles in the hopes that I will be able to use it to locate the missing Mr. Bones.  It worked very well and I hope to try it out very soon.  That’s Mr. Bones pictured below.