A night with Tropical Storm Debby

All in all a spectacular night. Rained for the entire night. Periods of light rain then periods of driving rain. Driving rains dominated the night until about 22:00, and then light rains prevailed.

So the rains finally came, and within hours areas that during the drought had seemed seriously herp-depleted (and perhaps in what were pre-drought actual numbers they are) were transformed into seething masses of reptiles and amphibians.

It was wonderful to again hear the voices of frogs, toads, and treefrogs, voices long silenced by enduring drought, emanating boisterously from newly replenished waterways and roadside ditches and to see the anuran-eating snakes that are so dependent on the amphibians.

Although the seasonally expected (and hoped for) rains continued in some areas of north Florida, many nearby areas continued to suffer the effects of the long drought. Even where rain fell in reasonable amounts the levels of surface water were lowered quickly by the sponging effects of a substrate too long dry. There remains much catching up to do.

And now that the normal rainy season is behind us and dry weather is again prevailing we are again wondering about the true effects of the long prevailing drought? Has a degree of normalcy actually returned to our seasonal weather patterns or were the two rain events of this year nothing more than lucky quirks?

More photos under the jump...

Author, photographer, and columnist Richard Bartlett is one of the most prolific writers on herpetological subjects in the 20th century. With hundreds of books and articles to their credit, Richard and his wife Pat have spent over four decades documenting reptiles both in the field and in captivity. For a list of their current titles, please visit their page in our bookstore.