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| The Landscape of Fraker Farm: PC Tristan Schramer |
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.
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| Tiger Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki |
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| 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.
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| Garter Snake: PC Yatin Kalki |
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| Garter Snake: PC Yatin Kalki |
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| 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.
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| Fox Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| 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.
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| Surveying Snakes: PC Tristan Schramer |
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