Shawn's visit

Our friend Shawn flew down to visit us this past weekend, and we fit in quite a bit in just a couple days. We all ate enough food to ensure that no one would lose any weight. We also did the beach thing, living out our "use it while you've got it" philosophy. We spent one evening out herping on Eglin. Of course I hate herping, but Shawn and Sarah talked me into it. Our friend Brandon came with us, and we started out the night by helping him track down some radio-tagged Florida Bog Frogs (Rana okaloosae) and Bronze Frogs (Rana clamitans).

By necessity, we stocked up on some pre-herping junk food.



In addition to the bog and bronze frogs, Shawn got to see and interact with some other fun species.


Southern Toad (Bufo terrestris) Do toads turn into princesses?


Banded Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata)


A highlight for me was that Shawn found and handled this Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus), which was the first of three that we were to find that night.


I took Shawn out spearfishing on his last day here. I figured correctly that he would like it. Not only did he like it, he also did quite well, shooting the sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus) in the front right, a spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber) that is mostly hidden by the fish in front, and an impressive mangrove snapper (Lutjanus griseus) caught later that was never photographed. I shot the Jack crevalle (Caranx hippos) on the front left, even though I'd been told by many people (none of which had actually tried it for themselves) that they taste like crap, and that they have soft, bloody meat. I'm usually open to trying a lot of things at least once to form my own opinion. Interestingly, the meat was quite firm, not unusually bloody, and rather like the meat of tuna. So, if you think fresh tuna tastes like crap, don't eat Jack crevalle.