As far north as I care to venture

[MAC]

so I went to the old family farm in the Mark Twain National Forest of SE Missouri (about 45 miles N of the Arkansas state line) where my grandfather was raised (he was an asshole BTW)

great grandma planted a bunch of flowers in the 1920's.

they grow there still

http://mac.cookingwithdiesel.net/images/missouri%20trip/flower_051504-01.JPG

http://mac.cookingwithdiesel.net/images/missouri%20trip/flower_051404-03.JPG

the fields where full of wild flowers too

http://mac.cookingwithdiesel.net/images/missouri%20trip/flower_051404-04.JPG

http://mac.cookingwithdiesel.net/images/missouri%20trip/flower_051404-06.JPG

I walked the creek a time or two looking for reptiles

http://mac.cookingwithdiesel.net/images/missouri%20trip/creek_02.JPG

The weather had just turned cool and it was cloudy in the morning but it cleared up nicely so I had a little luck (I should also mention that I've never seen so many ticks and despite dousing everything with bug spray I simply had to resolve myself to flick them off every 30 minutes or so. I am still covered with bites)

I found a little female eastern box turtle right off (she didn't like being found)

http://mac.cookingwithdiesel.net/images/missouri%20trip/box_turtle_f_01.JPG

then my dad saw this little snapping turtle floating in the creek (the nickle on his back gives you an idea of size)

http://mac.cookingwithdiesel.net/images/missouri%20trip/snapper_04.JPG

then I happened to find a nice looking black rat snake

http://mac.cookingwithdiesel.net/images/missouri%20trip/black_rat_02.JPG

then I found a box turtle who had been swept into the creek and was barely clinging to a muddy bank under a tree at the edge of a rather deep pool. I set him in the sun near some cover but he wasn't doing well. he blew bubbles when he breathed and his eyes where extremely swollen. (Keep in mind that box turtles enjoy shallow water and can often be found wading into flooded pasture.)

http://mac.cookingwithdiesel.net/images/missouri%20trip/drown_bturtle_03.JPG

then I found the largest 5 lined skink I'd ever seen but I couldn't catch him and the dinner I'd had at the local greasy spoon decided my colon should open for business. I HATE wiping with leaves...but such is life.

my uncle Jesse has a new dog too....best part of th etrip perhaps.
She's got ahorrible underbite, is obviously poorly bred, has only one eye and when she showed up she'd been shot. Jesse, being Jesse, decided that if she was in THAT bad of condition but could still whoop the tom cat's ass to get his supper she could stay.

http://mac.cookingwithdiesel.net/images/missouri%20trip/sammy_01.JPG

gas prices being what they are this trip cost me about $50 + burger king and sandwich stuff. (I will NEVER eat at that place in town again...now I know where the phrase "shit hole" comes from.)

[Cruise Director]

We supposedly have desert tortoises here. Guess I should go find one or two and post some pics of them.

As for that dog, my step mom had a dog that looked a lot like that, including the underbite. Unfortunately those teeth have a tendancy to rot faster than normal so they look really funny when half of them are gone.

Great pics and short of the shithole, I'm glad you had a good time.

[BigBothersom]

I went to Arkansas a few weeks ago. My wife was worried she might be molested by a hillbilly. I told her not to worry, since she wasn't related to any of them, she'd be safe.

[Koliedrus]

Carrot.

The snapping turtle I almost ran over liked carrots. I kept him in a box in an open basement that was cool and moist. Still, he broke out of the box and made it to local, small-town headlines.

He was gone before I could offer different types of food.

I wish him well.