Carolina Herping...

I live in Spartanburg, South Carolina and was wondering if anyone has any herping tips to share.

My step-father owns 5.5 acres of land here. Most of this land is wooded. All kinds of trees, and plenty old rotted stumps and logs. On the backside of the property is a steep and rocky decline leading toward a small stream below. The climb down is difficult, but with plenty of footholds in the rock. There is also a very old abandoned wood shed on the property. This shed has three distinct room, each filled floor to ceiling with scraps of old wood. (This abandoned shed has not been entered in at least 20 years.)

My step-father's home is located in a small clearing of land. Each year his pet cat stalks and kills several small snakes in the basement. (The last one was two weeks ago -- a small 13" hatchling Black Rat Snake.) He also sees several other snakes in and around his long forest-lined driveway.

And so my question...

Where or how is a good place to start searching for the creatures? And would anyone local like to tag along sometime?

Thanks,
Chris Bianco
(864) 706-7399
cjbianco@charter.net