Fall Herping at Allerton

Midland Brown Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Date:
October 11th 2014

Species Found

1. Midland Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi wrightorum)
2. Western Fox Snake (Pantherophis vulpinus)

Background:

My NRES 102 class took a field trip to Allerton National Park to learn more about conservation related field work. They had segments planned out on mammals, birds and fish, but no segment on herps. Tristan was in this class with me so we decided to do a little herping on our own.

The Trip:

We were doing a radio telemetry exercise where we were using a receiver to track down a transmitter hidden somewhere in the woods. The signal was really strong and we were searching on the ground around us for the transmitter when I saw the thin body of a small snake making its way through the leaves. I quickly grabbed it and showed it to Tristan. He identified it as a Midland Brown Snake, an extremely common species throughout America. This snake was only about a foot long and it wasn't very feisty.

Midland Brown Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Midland Brown Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

It was really cold that day so I was surprised to find a snake out and about. I really didn't think I'd find anything else but as we were listening to a professor talk about the soil, Tristan spotted a baby Fox Snake sitting in some tall grass. He picked it up and it didn't even try to resist. That was probably because it was so cold and the snake was sluggish. The Fox Snake was a pretty good looking snake and what made this particular one more interesting was that we weren't even trying to find it. Fox Snakes are constrictors that eat mostly just mammals. This small snake must have been looking for a mouse burrow or something because baby mice would be its main source of food. I posed it by covering it with my hands and Tristan and I took some good photos.

Western Fox Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Western Fox Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Western Fox Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Later on when we were taking tree measurements, one of the other guys yelled that there was a snake near him. I headed over and it was another little Midland Brown. When I picked it up, it bit me but its teeth weren't large enough to break my skin. This snake was really feisty. It coiled up and struck at me, open-mouthed. It took a good 5 minutes for it to calm down. It was kind of comical to see such a small, harmless snake behaving so aggressively so I took some videos and pictures.

Midland Brown Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Midland Brown Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Midland Brown Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Going into this, we expected to get some new salamanders and frogs, definitely not snakes. Ironically, we didn't get a single amphibian and got 2 snake species, both of which were new for me. My Herpedex total was now 29 species.