PDONTnAMBY
Member
Y'all, I know we've got some spring sally keepers 'round these parts, and many more who appreciate them (whether on herping trips or from the comfort of their computer monitors). The question is: which spring sally is best spring sally? That can be in terms of captive care (though I doubt many of us have had the luxury of keeping multiple ssp), how much you like herping for them, how interesting you find their behavior, or just how gosh-durn pretty you find them.
So which is it? G. p. porphyriticus, the northern spring, with its wide range, wild color variability, potentially monstrous size, and subtle reticulated patterning? G. p. duryi, the Kentucky spring, with its pleasant salmon coloration and large, sparse polka-dots? G. p. dunni, the Carolina spring, with its reserved coloration and bold dorsal bars disintegrating into mellower lateral webbing? Or G. p. danielsi, the Blue Ridge spring, with its shock coral-to-scarlet dorsum, scattered black flecks, and Sam Elliott-esque salt-and-pepper mustache? (Sorry to all the geezers from Ohio, but I'm not gonna include your beloved Hocking Hills cf. inagnoscus--mostly because I'm salty about never having found one during my four years in Columbus )
So which is it? G. p. porphyriticus, the northern spring, with its wide range, wild color variability, potentially monstrous size, and subtle reticulated patterning? G. p. duryi, the Kentucky spring, with its pleasant salmon coloration and large, sparse polka-dots? G. p. dunni, the Carolina spring, with its reserved coloration and bold dorsal bars disintegrating into mellower lateral webbing? Or G. p. danielsi, the Blue Ridge spring, with its shock coral-to-scarlet dorsum, scattered black flecks, and Sam Elliott-esque salt-and-pepper mustache? (Sorry to all the geezers from Ohio, but I'm not gonna include your beloved Hocking Hills cf. inagnoscus--mostly because I'm salty about never having found one during my four years in Columbus )