Being able to experience the life in Texas for the first time was a blessing. April 23, 2017 was a beautiful morning at Big Thicket National Preserve. The morning started out by being woken up to a northern cardinal singing outside the window and a nice cool breeze being blown in from the open window. As we packed our lunches for the day everyone loaded up their waders, backpacks, water bottles, fish seines and the backpack electro shocker and got ready for an interesting day out in the water.
Our first sampling area was a small stretch of the Big Sandy Creek that bordered a short hiking trail. As we pulled into the parking lot and unloaded the van our senses were on high alert as the first thing that we spotted was a snake skin that had recently been molted and a vast array of different large insects. As we started walking towards our site we immediately started to see new things from wild hog tracks where they were tearing up the ground to a little skink running on the ground and hiding under leaves. Once we arrived at the area it was time to put on the waders and get to work. As a group of 8 we split into two smaller groups of 4 each and started get our hands dirty.
We started seining downstream and were able to catch some cool fish right away. As we continued to sein we caught what I thought was our most interesting catch of the day. In the picture below shows the cool bull frog tadpole that was in the process of growing its back legs. 
As we continued to sein that same creek we were able to pull up another cool specimen that is special to the southern states which is the warmouth as shown below. 
After we finished identifying all of the fish species we collected at this sight we decided to head to the next location. While moving to the next location we got to see more wildlife and tons of new birds. My personal favorite that we got to see was the scissor-tailed flycatcher which we were later able to get a picture of it at a different sight. 
As we arrived at the next bend in the Big Sand Creek our hopes were high for catching more new species. Again, we split into two groups and started sampling. One group took the sein and went on the right side of the bridge while the second group of four including myself went on the left side. This time though our group decided to give the backpack shocker a try and see if we could catch some different species than the other group would not be able to.
We struggled right away to get any fish to come to the surface do to the conductivity of the water and how dirty it was. The picture attached here shows the four of us wading through the water with the shocker and dip nets to catch the floating fish. 
We struggled to get fish to feel the shock but we were able to get this nice spotted bass.
As we continued to sein we caught a lot of colorful fish that were in their breeding colors.
The next location we went to had snakes written all over it. As we unloaded the seins and walked to the creek bottom I had a gut feeling that we were about to have a snake encounter. The cypress knees were cool to see but were a little difficult to sein around since they were another obstacle to go around. At this creek, the shocker worked perfectly. We were able to catch a really colorful long-eared sunfish that got all of us really excited. 
As we continued we started to catch more fish were having really good luck with the shocker. As we continued to work our way up stream we caught a strong musty smell. Not being from that area of the US we didn’t think anything of it but within a couple of minutes we learned really quick what was causing that smell. We proceeded to cross the little back water stream when down from the bank came a cottonmouth snake that made all of us get out of the water as fast as we could. Just when I thought I was safe from getting out of the water, I turned around and had another 3-foot snake slither about 4 inches from my foot without a care in the world. Until this moment, I don’t think I have ever screamed so loud as I am not a fan of snakes at all. Right after this happened we all agreed that it was time to call it a day and leave the area.
Despite the snake encounters, Texas was a great place that withholds a lot ton of biodiversity that gets any biologist major student excited. After this day we moved to multiple different locations and got to see a bunch of new things such as carnivorous pitcher plants and a ton of new bird species. When we moved to Port Aransas we were able to go visit the Aransas Wildlife refuge and see a baby alligator along with a 10-foot alligator that was out sunbathing. As we kept exploring we were able to see a couple wild hogs that were out feeding in the open. Exploring Texas was the highlight of my school year and being able to see all the biodiversity and different landscapes was something that I will never forget.