Fall Herping at the Kankakee Sands 2

Slender Glass Lizard: PC Tristan Schramer

Date:
September 12th 2015

Species Found:

1. Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii)
2. Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum)
3. Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)
4. Fowler's Toad (Bufo fowleri)
5. Bull Snake (Pituophis catenifer sayi)
6. Six-lined Racerunner (Aspidosceles sexlineata)
7. 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 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

Slender Glass Lizard: PC Yatin Kalki

Slender Glass Lizard: PC Yatin Kalki

Slender Glass Lizard: PC Yatin Kalki

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.