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| Smooth Earth Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
Date:
August 28th 2015
Species Found:
- Eastern American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus americanus)
- Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)
- Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)
- Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum)
- Midland Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi wrightorum)
- Western Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae elegans)
- Red Back Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)
- Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus)
- Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi)
Background:
Tristan and I had been given permission to do herp surveys at the Vermilion River Observatory last Spring, so we decided to go back out there to see what we could find in the Fall. One Friday evening after classes, Sam, Tristan, I and a few non-herpers: Lewin and Elliot, went to the VRO to check the cover objects that we had set out last Spring.
The Trip:
The first thing we did was stop by a large pile of tin that we had checked last Spring. Working together, we started moving the huge sheets of tin, one at a time. A few layers deep, we found 3 Ringneck Snakes. Tristan could only grab 2 as the precision of his fingers was compromised by the gloves he was wearing. The third snake escaped deeper into the tin pile, bit we weren't disappointed as we knew that we would find it eventually. After about 10 minutes, we had gone through the whole
tin pile and we had 8 Ringneck Snakes. In the Spring we had found just one in this pile, so finding so many was a pleasant surprise. While we were putting the tin back into its original position, Lewin spotted a snake moving through the grass and immediately jumped and grabbed it by the tail. For someone who had never caught snakes before, his reflexes were surprisingly good. I helped him pull the snake out of the grass and it turned out to be an Eastern Garter Snake, a common species throughout the region.
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| Ringneck Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| Ringneck Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
We moved on to the spot where we had found a Blue Racer last time. Sam found a Milk Snake under a piece of wood, which came as a surprise because nobody expected to find that species in this region. Lewin found a Brown Snake under some wood there too but we didn't find that large Blue Racer from last time. We did however find some Blue Racer eggs under a piece of tin in the same area.
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| Milk Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| Milk Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
Next, we went to a patch of woods which had some debris lying around, perfect habitat for many a reptile and amphibian. There, we found a number of American Toads under objects as well as out in the open. In a collapsed shack, I found a Red Back Salamander under a paint can lid. Meanwhile, Tristan ran out of an old broken down trailer saying that there was a raccoon inside hissing at him. I heard the hissing but I didn't think it was a raccoon so I circled around the trailer and looked in through the window at the back. I saw a medium sized animal sitting up on the counter but it definitely was not a raccoon. At first I thought it was a small dog, then a cat, and then it dawned on me that I was looking at a bird. It was a young Turkey Vulture, with its white down feathers still intact. It was the same size as an adult but the colors were nothing like an adult's black plumage. I went into the trailer to get a better look at it and it continued hissing loudly, clicked its beak and jumped off the counter to hide under a table. I managed to get just one crappy photo with my phone before it disappeared from my sight.
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| Red Back Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki |
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| Turkey Vulture: PC Yatin Kalki |
We continued searching for snakes in the same area. I found another Ringneck but this one had a very different belly pattern from the others we had found. It had 3 rows of black spots instead of just one. Sam found a snake that he thought was another Brown Snake but when Tristan took a look at it, he identified it as a Smooth Earth Snake. We knew that this was definitely a new record for this site but we were unsure of its status in Vermilion County. Later, we found out that the last Smooth Earth documented in the county was back in 1991. We had found the first Vermilion County Smooth Earth in over 20 years!
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| Unusual Ringneck Belly Pattern: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| Smooth Earth Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| Smooth Earth Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
We then took some time to photograph the animals we had seen. A Ringneck we had found was in the process of shedding its skin and we got the whole process in a series of shots. After we had taken detailed photos of our finds, we decided to walk through the woods to see if we could find any other interesting stuff. We found a few Wood Frogs and a Cricket Frog but that was about it.
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| Ringneck Snake Shedding Skin: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| Ringneck Snake Shedding Skin: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| Ringneck Snake Shedding Skin: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| Wood Frog: PC Yatin Kalki |
We hadn't seen the Black Rat Snake that we were hoping to find at this site but we did make a lot of very cool finds. This will definitely not be our last trip to the VRO this Fall, so hopefully we find it some time in the future.
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