Herpedex: All the Herps I Have Seen In The Wild: September 2015

Saturday 12 September 2015

Fall Herping at the Kankakee Sands 2

Slender Glass Lizard: PC Tristan Schramer

Date:
September 12th 2015

Species Found:

Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii)
Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum)
Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)
Fowler's Toad (Bufo fowleri)
Bull Snake (Pituophis catenifer sayi)
Six-lined Racerunner (Aspidosceles sexlineata)
Slender Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus)

Background:

Tristan and I had wanted to meet Zach, a herper our age from Indiana, for a long time. We had also wanted to meet experienced herpers John and George. We decided to all meet at the Kankakee Sands on a Saturday morning to look for herps.

The Trip:

We arrived to find that John had already found a hatchling Snapping Turtle on the way there. I had never seen a live Snapping Turtle so it was a first for me. However, since I hadn't found it in the field, I didn't count it towards my species list. We started on the same trail that we always start at and proceeded to look under the large boards and debris. We were finding a ton of Gray Tree Frogs but no snakes on that first section of the trail.

Hatchling Snapping Turtle: PC Yatin Kalki

Gray Tree Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

Gray Tree Frog: PC Yatin Kalki

I decided to search in the spot where we had seen 2 Blue Racers 2 weeks ago. I looked under a lot of debris but found only rodents, frogs and toads. While I was walking back to the road, I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye and glimpsed the shiny body of a Blue Racer. I tried to grab it but it shot into a dense clump of thorny bushes and I lost sight of it. I got back to the road and saw that Tristan and Zach were photographing a good sized Blue Racer. It was a lethargic old snake that Tristan had found under a black tarp. The 4 foot snake didn't look like it wanted to escape or even move very much. It just sat there coiled up, occasionally flicking its tongue.

Blue Racer: PC Tristan Schramer

Further up the trail, John found a small Milk Snake under some shingles in a pile of junk. This snake was only about 8 inches long but its attitude made up for its size. The snake was snapping at us non-stop and wouldn't sit still for a photo. I covered it up with my hands to calm it down but when I tried to take my hands away, it bit me on the tip of my finger. While the snake was hanging off my finger I noticed that it was in the process of shedding. Tristan peeled away the loose skin over the head and the old skin came off the whole body like a sock being rolled off. This exposed the bright red patterns of the young snake and we were able to get even better photos.

Milk Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Milk Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

After checking a few more spots and finding nothing new, we headed to a nearby trailer with some tin scattered around it. 2 weeks ago, I had found a Six-lined Racerunner under a piece of cloth. I checked that cloth and sure enough, there was a Racerunner the same size as the one I had found before. Zach and John were walking through the prairie grass and spotted some movement. Zach pulled a medium sized Bull Snake up out of the grass. It wasn't very big as Bullsnakes go, only about 3 foot, but it was a beautiful snake. While we were all standing around admiring the Bullsnake, John grabbed a Glass Lizard near his feet. Everytime we had come to the Kankakee Sands, we had seen Glass Lizards but we never managed to catch them. Glass Lizards had a reputation of breaking off their tails when they were threatened. Since 2/3 of their length was tail, it was nearly impossible to catch them. Somehow John had managed to catch it and I was very excited to see a Glass Lizard up close for the first time. At first glance it appeared like a snake but the head, tongue and movement were all very similar to that of a skink. Its tongue was blue and not forked. The lizard was only about 1 foot long but it had broken off its tail at some point and would have been about 1.5 foot.

Bullsnake: PC Yatin Kalki

Bullsnake: PC Tristan Schramer

Slender Glass Lizard: PC Yatin Kalki

After we finished photographing the animals, we released them in the same spots they had been found. The highlight of this trip was definitely the Glass Lizard. The fact that this species had eluded us for a whole year made it all the more awesome that we got to see it up close.

Friday 11 September 2015

Herping at the VRO, Again

Smooth Earth Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Date:
September 11th 2015

Species Found

Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)
Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae)
American Toad (Bufo americanus)

Background:

Since Tristan and I had been given access to the Vermilion River Observatory, we had been trying to go there whenever we got free time. We went on a Friday afternoon with Eli, a friend who had come herping with us once before.

The Trip:

We got there and proceeded to check the big pile of tin as usual. We found a few Ringneck snakes, a new species for Eli. Under a large piece of tin that Eli and I flipped together, we found another Ringneck snake and a Smooth Earth Snake. The Smooth Earth Snake was the 2nd one that had ever been found at the VRO and the third one that had been found in the county since 1991. We had found the first VRO Smooth Earth a few weeks ago, but this one was more brightly colored than the last.

Ringneck Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Smooth Earth Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Under some old computer parts, I found 2 small Garter Snakes. One was calm while the other one was snapping furiously. It finally calmed down and I took a few more photos.

Garter Snakes: PC Yatin Kalki

Garter Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

We then checked some ponds and found lots of tadpoles and a few American Toads. It started raining and we knew our chances of finding snakes under cover were slimming. We checked a few more spots with no luck and headed back.

Sunday 6 September 2015

Herping at Fraker Farm, Woodford Co., IL

The Landscape of Fraker Farm: PC Tristan Schramer

Date:
September 6th 2015

Species Found:

Eastern Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum)
Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
Fox Snake (Pantherophis vulpinus)

Background:

Tristan had found Matt Fraker on an Illinois bird forum and found out that he did snake surveys on his land in Woodford Co. pretty regularly. Matt was a veterinarian who owned a chunk of natural land where he had laid out tin pieces for snakes. Snakes are attracted to the warmth of the tin and often rest underneath. This makes finding them much easier. Matt invited us to check the tin along with him one evening, so we made the 40 minute drive with our friend Eli.

The Trip:

On the way there, we were surprised by how hilly and mountainous the land got as neared the farm. We met Matt Fraker, piled into his SUV and drove through the prairie to the first set of tin. Under the first piece that we flipped we didn't find any snakes but Tristan spotted a Tiger Salamander just as we were letting the tin down. I had never seen a Tiger Salamander before so it was a new species for me. I took some photos before we let it go back under the tin.

Tiger Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

The next few tins we flipped had a few Garter Snakes under them. Eli had never been herping before so he had no experience with snakes. He was excited to hold the snakes that we found, even if Matt, Tristan and I weren't enthused by regular old Garters.

Garter Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Garter Snakes: PC Yatin Kalki

Matt said that there was a spot where he usually found Fox Snakes under the tin, so we went there next. We found a few more Garters and a single juvenile Fox Snake. Each Fox Snake has a slightly different skull pattern on its head and Matt told us that he was able to tell different individuals apart from photos he took on snake surveys. I thought it was really cool that he was able to monitor individual snakes on his property. The Fox Snake was pretty calm and posed quite nicely for photos.

Fox Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Then, we checked a spot where Matt said that he usually found Milk Snakes but we couldn't find any. Still, it was a great trip and we promised Matt that we would be back soon. We realized that Fraker Farm would be a great place to bring people from the clubs that we were in, on field trips. It was a controlled environment with an amazing landscape where we could find harmless snakes.

Surveying Snakes: PC Tristan Schramer

Friday 4 September 2015

Queen Snakes of Vermilion County, Illinois

Queen Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Date:
September 4th 2015

Species Found:

Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata)
Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon)
Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans)

Background:

I had never seen a Queen Snake but Tristan had seen many over the last few years. We decided to go to a spot in Vermilion County to look for Queen Snakes. He had never seen Queen Snakes there but the habitat was perfect for them.

The Trip:

We drove out to Vermilion County one afternoon and made our way down to the water by walking under a bridge. We walked down a rocky slope and started wading the water. We were both prepared to get wet: me in my shorts and flipflops and Tristan in his old gym shoes. We had been in the water for 2 minutes when Tristan said that he had seen a snake jump off a rock and into the water. He was sure it had been a Queen Snake, so we probed around for it where he had seen it go down, but we couldn't find it. We walked on, flipping some rocks along the shore and also checking the clumps of vegetation in the water. It wasn't long before I found a baby Queen Snake under a flat rock on the shore. This was my first time seeing a Queen Snake so I inspected it thoroughly, observing minute details like the keels on its scales, the pattern on its ventral surface, and even the size of its pupil. Unlike the other water snake species I had seen, this one was very calm and mild tempered. Tristan came over and took a look at it. He said that it had more prominent stripes than the ones he had found in the Chicagoland.

Baby Queen Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Baby Queen Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Baby Queen Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Soon, Tristan found another baby Queen Snake which was a little bigger than the one that I had found. He then found an adult male Queen Snake under a rock that was half in the water. The adult was around 2 foot long and had duller patterns than the babies. It didn't even open its mouth to biter when Tristan picked it up. I concluded that Queen Snakes were just a very calm species.

Queen Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

We also found some Cricket Frogs and a baby Northern Water Snake on the way back but we didn't photograph them. I was just happy that I got to see a species that I had never seen before.