 |
| Queen Snake: PC Yatin Kalki |
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.
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.
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.
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 Tristan Schramer |
 |
| Baby Queen Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
 |
| Baby Queen Snake: PC Yatin Kalki |
 |
| Queen Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
 |
| Queen Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
 |
| Queen Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
 |
| Queen Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
 |
| Queen Snake: PC Tristan Schramer |
No comments:
Post a Comment