Upon waking up on Sunday morning, Tiffany still wasn't feeling 100%, so Sofia and I left her to rest.  I drove toward the area I'd found the night before, just outside one of the Big Thicket Unit's boundaries.
 
On the way in, I immediately started finding fresh roadkill from the night before, such as Bullfrogs, and more recent hits, like this Broad-banded Watersnake:

 
and this gut-wrenching little Turtle:

 
Chicken turtle, maybe?  Any help with the ID would be great.
 
As depressed as I was by the carnage on the road, my spirits were soon lifted when I saw this guy in the distance:

 

 

 
Did a happy dance, took some pics, and quickly moved him off the road.
 
I found a nice quiet spot where Sofia and I could hike around for a bit, and I found a small, dried up snake.  As I was trying to decipher it's identification, I caught an unmistakable glimmer coming from under a log.  I rushed up to it and was quick enough to scoop up this beautiful fellow:

Log is in the background.
 

 

Louisiana Milksnake
 
Yet another happy dance was performed.  Sofia thinks I'm the funniest guy in the world, I think, because she kept cracking up every time her Daddy would break out in a spontaneous, ophidian-induced dance routine.
 
Back in the car, we began our drive back.  Not 100 yards ahead, this unfortunate sight was presented unto me:
 

 
 
We had just driven through there not 30 minutes prior!!!
 
Moving on, I saw ANOTHER milksnake darting across the road and into the leaf litter on the other side.  It was gone long before I even considered hitting the brakes.  On the way out, I found 2 DOR 4 foot+ Texas Ratsnakes.
 
Back at the hotel, I took a nice long rest and prepped the family for the ride back down to Anahuac.  Tiff, who was by this time feeling better, wanted to see wild gators and by God I was determined to find one.
 
As stated in a previous post, conditions at Anahuac were unusually dry.  As you can see, the marsh that this boardwalk is supposed to walk you across is bone dry:

 
I think this worked to our favor, though, because the only moisture was in the lush canals:

 
Soon, we saw that the gators were concentrated in these, and we managed to scare up 9 in just under an hour:

 

 
As if on cue, this guy was basking near the exit to the preserve:

 
I decided to take a post-sunset look at the area where I'd found the milksnake earlier and here's what we found:
 
1 DOR Speckled King on the way in.   Would've been a lifer...
 

Bullfrog
 

Freaky spider with young
 

 

Glossy Crayfish Snake
 
Also seen were a AOR Rough Earth Snake, 2 DOR watersnakes, and yet another heartbreaker:

DOR Prairie Kingsnake.
 
The next day was herp-free.  It was a family beach day, then the drive back home.
 
All in all, the trip was an amazing adventure but I can't get over the carnage on the roads.  I even saw a DOR Rottweiler on Sunday night!  It's amazing to me that any wild populations still manage to thrive in proximity to these Texas roads!

Congratulations, Diego!  I hope you realize how really well you are doing in amassing that impressive list of lifers, some of which have managed to elude me - a life-long Texas resident - over the years.  

Quote from monklet on May 7^th, 2010, 10:21pm:

 
Thanks.  Long days is right!  I am still exhausted, as I've been working 12-18 hour days since I got back.  Well worth it, though.  Can't wait to go back.
 
Quote from Tom Lott on May 8^th, 2010, 6:06pm:

 
Thanks, Tom.  Trust me, I understand how incredibly lucky I've been in this state.  May I ask which species have eluded you?
 
Quote from G. Keown on May 8^th, 2010, 7:41pm:

 
Thanks, Boss.  Let me know if you want any pics and county info for the site.

Great stuff, Diego. Love those milksnakes. Sounds like you're in a good area...

Wow Diego - impressive stuff there!
 
As Tom said, I'm also a lifelong Texas resident, and have not found some of those species.  A calligaster is high on my list of need to find animals - never seen a live one in the wild, and I supposedly live in or very near their range!  I may have seen a DOR a time or two, but as you know, some DOR's are very difficult to identify.  
 
Yep, LOTS of DOR's in the Texas "sanctuary" - I have seen a multitude of DOR meahllmorum lately, and a heartbreaking 6.5 foot bullsnake.
 
Wanna see TX corals?  We have lots of those here, in Nueces County...

Nice to see someones having luck in Texas!   I need to pull myself away from the west one of these days and do some East Texas herping.  I would like to find a mud snake and one of dem crayfish snakes. Cool copperhead too!