Herping in Bangalore, India

Indian Wolf Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Date:
May 24th and 25th 2015

Species Found:

1. Spotted Leaf Toed Gecko (Hemidactylus maculatus)
2. Indian Wolf Snake (Lycodon aulicus)
3. Indian Rat Snake (Ptyas mucosa)
4. Spectacled Cobra (Naja naja)
5. Checkered Keelback Water Snake (Xenochropis piscator)
6. Asian Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)

The Trip:

I looked for reptiles and amphibians in the areas surrounding my house and found all the species I had found before, in addition to the 6 species listed above.

Less than a kilometer away from my house, there is a large tract of land that is used to house and raise cows, locally called a goshala. The cows live on a small portion of the land while a large area is used to grow hay, and an even larger area is left untouched from where wild grasses are harvested periodically. All of these areas provide great habitat for herpetofauna, especially snakes. Previously, I had visited the cow sheds and the hay fields but the "wild" area was new to me, so I had no idea what to expect.

One morning I was looking around under rocks and in hay piles near the hay fields in the goshala, finding my usual assortment of the lizards, frogs and toads. Soon, 2 locals noticed me and walked over. They asked if I was looking for snakes and I said yes. They said that they knew where to find snakes and asked me to follow them. We walked on a narrow trail and the hay fields gave way to wild, native grass and scrub vegetation. I felt that it would be impossible to find snakes in such dense undergrowth but they seemed to know what they were doing so I followed. While we were walking I learned that these guys liked to see snakes but were afraidd to get too close. We agreed that they would find the snakes and I would catch them. Soon, we came across a shallow but expansive pool of water on our left at the end of a 15 foot slope. The slope was dense with thorny Acacia trees whose branches hung above the water. One of the locals pointed at a tree branch and said "snake". I saw a 6 foot Rat Snake sprawled across the thorny branches above the water. We moved a little closer and the snake started to move down from the tree. I knew that if I wanted to catch this snake I would have to act fast, so I slid down the slope toward the water while the snake reached the gound. Unforunately, my shirt and the skin on my arm got caught in the thorns of an Acacia branch and I was stuck. Meanwhile, the snake slithered into a burrow by the roots of a tree, never to be seen again. I took out my knife and cut the thorns away from me and made my way back up to the trail. I was disappointed that the snake had got away but I knew I would find more. The locals told me that they had to leave but that I should keep looking in the same area as they had seen a variety of snakes there. I too decided to try again another time.

The next day, I came back and started to walk on the same trail. Soon I noticed a snake resting on the trail about 10 meters ahead. I slowly crept forward to get a better look at the snake. There was dense knee-high grass on either side of the trail so I knew that catching this snake would be impossible. I got close enough to see that it was a Spectacled Cobra, basking in the sun, just minding its own business. Its hood was obviously closed but I could tell the species by the coloration and shape of the head. I tried to pull out my phone to take a photo of the snake but the movement of my hand alerted the snake and it quickly disappeared into the grass. I walked on and checked for Rat Snakes in the trees above the water but there were none. I kept walking until I found some rock piles, an awesome place to find reptiles. I started moving some rocks around when I saw a large brown gecko dart into a crevice. I had never seen this species of gecko around here before so I started moving the rocks around where it had gone in. on the underside of one of the rocks that I lifted, I found a small, brightly colored gecko, probably a juvenile of the same species. I quickly caught the gecko and put it in a box so I could photograph it later. I kept on probing for the adult, when I suddenly saw the smooth scales of a snake. I knew that it could either be a harmless Wolf Snake or a deadly Krait so I used a stick to move the rocks that were above it. When I saw the brown body with single white bands I knew it was a Wolf Snake. I used my hands to pick it up and it promptly bit me twice, but I wasn't worried. I put it in a bag to photograph. I kept looking for the adult gecko but it was gone. I found out later that the gecko was a Hemidactylus maculatus, a species usually found at the foothills of the Western Ghats. I took photos of both reptiles and released them where I found them.

Juvenile Spotted Leaf Toed Gecko: PC Yatin Kalki

Juvenile Spotted Leaf Toed Gecko: PC Yatin Kalki

Juvenile Spotted Leaf Toed Gecko: PC Yatin Kalki

Juvenile Spotted Leaf Toed Gecko: PC Yatin Kalki

Indian Wolf Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Indian Wolf Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Indian Wolf Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Later that day, a friend told me that there was a Checkered Keelback Water Snake in a pond in his backyard, so I went over to take a look. Checkered Keelbacks are non-venomous but aggressive snakes. I knew I was going to get bitten more than once. The snake was in the water but I could see its body coiled around some lotus leaves. I quickly reached in and grabbed the snake. The moment it's head came out of the water, it promptly bit my wrist and held on. I wasn't fazed so I untangled the snake from the leaves and brought it onto the grass. It was a young female Checkered Keelback, called so because of the pattern on its back. The snake bit me 4 more times before it calmed down and became completely docile. I got some photos and then showed my friend's parents how to hold the snake. I then released ot back into the same pond. I explained that snakes are aggressive for a very short period and that with gentle handling they are quick to calm down. They were keen to learn more and asked me a lot of questions, which was a pleasant surprise. Usually, people are close minded and think the worst when it comes to snakes.

Checkered Keelback Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Checkered Keelback Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Checkered Keelback Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Checkered Keelback Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

That night while I was walking around around with some friends, I saw a bright yellow Asian Toad beside the road. I recognized it as a male in breeding colors, a trait that I had failed to observe in the 8 years that I had been living in Bangalore. Once a year, male Asian Toads become bright yellow to attract females. I put my hand on the toad's back and he made a high pitched chirping noise, confirming my suspicions. Only male toads can vocalize and if a male accidentally mounts another male, the one on the bottom will vocalize to let the other one know that he is not a female. My hand on the toad's back triggered the very same behavior.

Male Asian Toad in Breeding Colors: PC Yatin Kalki

Finding species that I haven't seen before is always a pleasure. Finding them so close to home is even better. Observing a new trait in a familiar species can also be just as interesting.

Herping in Sangamon County, Illinois

Graham's Crayfish Snake and Northern Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Date:
May 13th 2015

Species Found:

1. Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon)
2. Graham's Crayfish Snake (Regina grahamii)

The Trip:

Tom Anton, a herpetologist in Illinois, had told us about the paper he was working on that documented the prevalence of Graham's Crayfish Snakes in Illinois. Regina grahamii is listed as a 'Threatened' Species in Illinois but Tom believes it should be listed as 'Endangered' because numbers have really declined and now it is one of the rarest snakes in Illinois. He gave us a few locations and wanted us to check whether Regina grahamii were present there. One morning, Doug, Tristan and I headed to Sangamon County to look for Graham's Crayfish Snakes. The amount of effort spent searching for grahamii was also relevant to his paper and we had to document all other species we found as well.

Our first location was a lake shore right next to a boat dock. We concentrated on the rocks around the edges and soon Doug found a hatchling Northern Water Snake that was only about 6 inches long and pretty skinny looking. We thought that was interesting until Tristan walked up on a big mating ball of Northern Water Snakes that had at least 6 individuals. They started to disperse as soon as they saw us but we caught one to photograph for the record. Tristan found another one tangled in an old fishing net and he cut it free with some scissors a local fisherman had. I was walking the bank and saw a large, fat female Northern Water Snake. The snakes were now alerted to our presence so she took off deep into the water as soon as she saw me. I walked a little longer, seeing the occasional Northern Water Snake jump into the water, and then turned around to walk back. To my surprise, there were 3 male Northern Water Snakes crawling up onto the exact same rock the large female had jumped off of. I concluded that they had picked up the scent of the female and were hoping to mate with her, too bad they had just missed her. We didn't see any grahamii at this spot so we decided to move on. We tallied up a total of 12 distinct individual Northern Water Snakes seen here.

Northern Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Northern Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Northern Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

The next spot was also a rocky shoreline, and it had a few more fishermen than the last. We saw a few more Northern Water Snakes on the rocks and in the water and we photographed one for the record. A curious fisherman asked why we were catching snakes. Doug explained that we were looking for Graham's Crayfish Snakes and described what they looked like. "Oh, somebody caught a snake that looked just like that last week at The Place [name changed]. The Place has got all kinds of snakes." said the fisherman. This sounded like a pretty good lead, but you always have to be skeptical when dealing with locals, as there is a fair amount of ignorance in the world when it comes to snakes. Further down the bank, we spotted a bunch of water snakes basking on the rocks. Our strategy of walking along the shoreline and catching snakes wasn't proving very successful. We only caught 1 in 10 snakes and the snakes that we did manage to catch were either injured or stupidly slow. We decided to change our technique, and walk perpendicular to the shoreline and sneak up on the snakes from behind. This proved to work a little better. First, Tristan jumped on a large female Northern Water Snake and carried the angry, snapping snake further inland to photograph. I tried my luck and jumped on 3 males. Limited by my 2 hands, I grabbed the tails of 2 of them while the third one got away. Both the snakes that I had put their heads into crevices between the rocks and started pushing deeper. I called for Tristan to help me pull these snakes out but he was still busy with his large female. We waited for Doug to show up so that he could take Tristan's snake and Tristan could help me with my 2. While I was waiting with the tails in my hands, I spotted another large female coiled up under a rock close to my feet. Once Doug showed up, I got Tristan to grab the large female, which was about the same size as the first one he had caught. After he had delivered the snake to Doug, he tried to help me move the rocks around the snakes that had dug into the crevices. The males were just too deep in there so we decided to let them go rather than risk hurting them. Still, we had caught 2 out of 5 snakes which was better than our previous capture rate. We went back inland to photograph our large female Northern Water Snakes.

Northern Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Northern Water Snakes: PC Yatin Kalki

While we were busy photographing the Water Snakes, Doug called us over because he saw a snake that wasn't a Northern Water Snake. He had already got a few photos of it from far away but he didn't want to attempt to capture it, in case it escaped. Tristan saw it and immediately jumped to try and grab it but it went underwater and we lost it. We tried moving all the rocks around where it went down and we found a heavy plastic bag. To everyone's surprise, there was another large female Northern Water Snake inside, about the same size as the 2 we had. We took it inland to photograph. When Tristan inspected Doug's photo, he exclaimed "That was a grahamii!" None of us had ever seen a Graham's Crayfish Snake before today, mostly because it is one of the rarest snakes in Illinois, so we were pretty disappointed that it had escaped.

We moved to the next spot, a nature park where someone had seen Graham's Crayfish Snakes basking on the low branches of trees. We spent about an hour walking through there but all we found was a Water Snake basking on the branch over the water. We decided that it was time to check out that lead that the fisherman had given us so we drove to The Place and started looking around. Tristan and I walked out of the car and in less than a minute we walked up on a snake hiding under a rock. A single coil was sticking out from under the rock and it didn't have the characteristic pattern of a Northern Water Snake. We had high hopes. To make sure this snake didn't get away, we decided that Tristan would grab the coil and I would flip the rock and secure the snake. We did just that and we both screamed "grahamii!" as soon as the snake was visible. Doug was still in the car getting ready to come out and look with us. He was ecstatic when he saw the snake in our hands. It had been a long-time goal of Tristan's to get good photos of a Graham's Crayfish Snake so he started setting up his flashes and camera. Meanwhile, I took a photo of the snake and sent it to Chris Phillips, the herpetologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey. I then bagged the snake and decided to look for more. Tristan was now on the phone with Tom Anton, who I guessed would have been the most excited of all about our find, considering he had been looking for this species for a good chunk of his life.

Graham's Crayfish Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Graham's Crayfish Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Doug called me and I went over. 2 meters in front of him, he had another grahamii sitting on a rock near the water, this time a juvenile. He told me to be there for backup, he wanted to attempt to catch this snake. I went around the side, ready to jump on the snake in case it decided to make a run for it while Doug calculated the best way to approach the snake without it seeing him. He sneaked up on it from behind a larger rock and put his hand on top of it. He had caught his first grahamii. Doug sat down to get his own photos while I moved on, looking for more snakes.While I walked along the bank, the following things happened. A large Northern Water Snake slid into the water right in front of me, a medium sized male grahamii was periscoping from under a rock but it too went underwater as soon as it saw me, and a large female grahamii jumped into the water from under a rock before I could even get a good look at it. While photographing the first grahamii, Tristan heard the sound of scales on rocks and pulled another grahamii out from under a rock. This place was crawling with grahamii! Good thing we listened to that fisherman.

Graham's Crayfish Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Graham's Crayfish Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Graham's Crayfish Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Graham's Crayfish Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Graham's Crayfish Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

We got a good amount of photos and started to tally up the total number of snakes seen. We counted 6 Graham's Crayfish Snakes and 37 Northern Water Snakes. Now, we have good evidence that this place is prime habitat for Regina grahamii. It can be protected as a safe haven for this Threatened Species.

Spring Herping in Kankakee, Illinois

Bullsnake: PC Yatin Kalki

Date:
May 9th 2015

Species Found:

1. Eastern Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)
2. Fowler's Toad (Bufo fowleri)
3. Eastern American Toad (Anaryxus americanus americanus)
4. Western Slender Glass Lizard (Ophiosaurus attenuatus attenuatus)
5. Bull Snake (Pituophis catenifer sayi)
6. Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum)
7. Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii)
8. Six-lined Racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata)

The Trip:

Doug, Tristan, Sam and I drove to Kankakee, where we met Matt, his wife Shannon and their 2 year old daughter. We were going to hit all the spots we hit last Fall and look for the snakes that make Kankakee famous. The first section we saw had a ton of really good boards and cover objects but the rain from the previous night had made the ground wet and unsuitable for snakes.

Snake Habitat: PC Tristan Schramer

The first animal found was a Fowler's Toad found by Doug. We had seen plenty of these the last time we had come too. Next, Tristan found a Gray Tree Frog, another species we had seen a lot of last Fall. A little while later, Doug yelled that he had found a Glass Lizard. We all headed over but he had lost it in the thick grass. Even in the Fall, the Glass Lizard managed to escape, consequently I had never actually seen one up close. Soon, Matt found a Racerunner, yet another species we had encountered many times before.

Six Lined Racerunner: PC Yatin Kalki

We carried on, finding more Fowler's Toads and the odd American Toad, but still no snakes. But that all changed when we hit the next section. Tristan called for help flipping a pile of roof shingles. Matt and I headed over. I started working on the edges while Matt and Tristan went straight for the center. Matt grabbed a large chunk and lifted it off to find a pretty Milksnake pop out. Tristan grabbed it and yelled "Doug! Milk!" Apparently Doug had never seen a Milksnake before, so it was his goal to see one on this trip. Everyone came over and started taking pictures of the timid little snake.

Milksnake: PC Yatin Kalki

Milksnake: PC Tristan Schramer

Milksnake: PC Tristan Schramer

Sam came in for a quick look but continued looking under objects for more snakes. Soon, I heard Sam yelling and I ran over. He had a 4 foot Bullsnake by the tail! I helped him wrangle the snake into a more secure position and we carried it back to where everyone was still photographing the Milksnake. This was Sam's first Bullsnake so he was pretty thrilled. The only Bullsnake I had seen before this, was the small juvenile we had found here in the Fall. That was no match for this encounter. Little did I know that we'd soon be seeing a lot more on the Bullsnake front. Now people were taking turns photographing both snakes.

Bullsnake: PC Yatin Kalki

Bullsnake: PC Yatin Kalki

Bullsnake: PC Tristan Schramer

When Matt was done getting his photos, he pressed on in the same direction that I was headed. It turned out his luck was a lot better than mine because he came back with good sized Blue Racer, while I came back empty handed. We now had 3 of the most iconic snakes of Kankakee right in front of us. I felt kind of bad that I hadn't found anything yet but it was still amazing to see these 3 beautiful snakes all in one place.

Blue Racer: PC Yatin Kalki

Blue Racer: PC Yatin Kalki

Blue Racer: PC Tristan Schramer

While Tristan was holding the Blue Racer, it somehow got from his shoulder onto the branch of  a tree. The snake climbed high up into the tree and we knew that it would be impossible to get it down. On that note, we released the other 2 snakes and pressed on. The next stretch had a large sand prairie with piles of debris along the edges. I immediately went for the debris and started looking under everything. But my luck just wasn't very good today, all I found was a White Footed Mouse.

White Footed Mouse: PC Yatin Kalki

Meanwhile on the other side of the prairie, Matt, Sam and Tristan had each found another Milksnake. One was a juvenile and its patterns were a lot more red than the adult's.

Juvenile Milksnake: PC Tristan Schramer

On our way back, Doug and Tristan spotted a few more Glass Lizards in the same place the first one had been seen. Even when we teamed up to try and catch one, it was near impossible. We decided to move to our next spot, a field with plenty of tin and boards to look under. We got there and started searching. Doug, Sam, Tristan and I took one side of the field while Matt and Shannon took the other. Soon, Matt walked over with 2 medium sized Bullsnakes in his blood streaked hands. Apparently he had gotten the worst of a Bullsnake's temper. He told us how he had found both under the same piece of tin. I inspected the snakes and sure enough there was one male and one female. I observed the Bullsnakes for a while and could only think about how I hadn't found anything today. I decided that it was time to turn my luck around so I headed for a pile of metal in the shade of a few trees. It was late enough in the day that the metal in the shade would be the right temperature compared to the metal in the sun, which would be too hot. I flipped a few pieces of tin to find nothing. I then looked under this long metal box but nothing was under it. As I was placing the heavy box back, I heard the faint sound of scales rubbing against metal. The bottom of the box was very rusty and the metal was thin so I took another piece of metal and started tearing through the rusty metal. Soon, I exposed the edge of a Bullsnake's coil! I touched the scales and a loud hiss came out of the box. I kept tearing away at the metal until the snake finally decided to move. I grabbed its tail and slowly pulled it out of the box. It was a 5 footer! This was the biggest snake I had seen in America. I carried this hissing and striking snake across the field towards everyone else. They were all pretty amazed at its size. "That's the biggest Bullsnake I ever saw" said Matt. After the snake had calmed down, everyone took photos of it. I let it slither across the field, observing how its stocky body moved so gracefully. When we were ready to release the snakes, I went back to the metal box and folded the rusty metal back into place. I then let the 5 foot Bullsnake slither back into its shelter.

Bullsnake Striking At Me: PC Doug Mills

Me with the 5 foot Bullsnake: PC Tristan Schramer

Bullsnake: PC Tristan Schramer

Bullsnake: PC Tristan Schramer

On the other side of the field, there were a few more boards to look under. We found a small Blue Racer and a Milksnake.

Blue Racer: PC Tristan Schramer

Milksnake: PC Tristan Schramer

Next, we went to a spot where we had found a Hognosed Snake last Fall. It was a dump yard with plenty of debris to look under. This time, we were surprised to find that a lot of the junk had been cleared away, meaning that our chances of finding snakes had been lowered. I found a juvenile Milksnake under an old jacket and someone found a Racerunner but that was about it for this place.

Juvenile Milksnake: PC Tristan Schramer

Six Lined Racerunner: PC Tristan Schramer

I went home feeling satisfied. I had seen a wide variety of snakes today and each was amazing in its own way. Hopefully next time, we actually catch a Glass Lizard :)

Herping at the Vermilion River Observatory

Blue Racer: PC Yatin Kalki

Date:
May 8th 2015

Species Found:

1. Eastern American Toad (Anaryxus americanus americanus)
2. Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)
3. Smallmouth Salamander (Ambystoma texanum)
4. Northern Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans clamitans)
5. Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)
6. Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii)
7. Red Back Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)

Background:

Tristan and I had recently become board members of the Wildlife Society - Illinois Student Chapter. I was the Vice President and Tristan was the Undergraduate Representative. This meant that we frequently met one of the advisers for the club, Steve Buck, the Natural Areas Coordinator for the Vermilion River Observatory. He told us that he had a large area of land that was owned by the ECE department but was mostly natural forest area. He said that he had seen snakes on the property but nobody had actually done any surveys. He wanted us to come out to the site with him and document the species we found.

The Trip:

Steve drove us to the VRO, about 30 minutes off campus. He opened the gate and gave us a copy of the key so that we could come back without him. We walked past piles of debris like tin and wooden boards, perfect snake habitat. Since we were on a schedule, we didn't flip any of it. The first herp we found was a small American Toad hopping through the grass. I picked it up and Tristan recorded its GPS coordinates. Steve showed us some pond and vernal pools that he had seen salamanders and frogs breeding in. We saw a few Green Frogs but didn't attempt to catch them. We then passed by a big pile of tin sitting out in the sun by the side of the road. This looked too good not to flip so we started moving the large tin layers. About 5 layers deep, I spotted a small Ringneck Snake curled up at the corner of the tin. I picked it up and showed Steve. He said that Ringneck Snakes had never been found in this area so it was a new record.

Pile of Tin: PC Tristan Schramer

Ringneck Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Ringneck Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Ringneck Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

At the very bottom of the tin pile, we found a Smallmouth Salamanderresting in the moist dirt. These had been well recorded in this area so we just left it alone. We let the Ringneck Snake go after getting some photos. Near the tin pile, there was some more debris that we decided to look under. Tristan found an Eastern Garter Snake under a rusty toolbox but that was about it. After that, we went to an old shed where Steve said that he had frequently seen a resident Black Rat Snake. Neither Tristan nor I had seen a Black Rat Snake so we were quite excited at the prospect of seeing one. We checked inside the shed but didn't find any snakes. Right outside the shed was a pile of debris. We started moving some of that and I saw the tail of a medium sized snake with some patterning on it. I immediately thought Black Rat Snake and pulled it out by the tail. I was surprised to find that it was actually a Blue Racer and the "pattern' I had seen was actually scale damage. It was not a healthy snake, with scale rot in multiple spots and a moderate case of mouth rot. We thought that it might even have Snake Fungal Disease so we took some pictures of the damage to send to herpetologists.

Catching a Blue Racer: PC Tristan Schramer

Blue Racer: PC Tristan Schramer

Blue Racer: PC Yatin Kalki

Blue Racer: PC Yatin Kalki

Blue Racer: PC Yatin Kalki

Blue Racer: PC Yatin Kalki

We then visited a cabin that had another shed next to it, where Steve had seen Five-Lined Skinks. I had seen plenty of these in Southern Illinois and Indiana but Tristan had never seen a Skink before. We tried looking for them but couldn't find any. We did, however, find another Ringneck under a piece of bark. Next, Steve took us to a spot where he had seen Redback and Slimy Salamanders. We found the Redbacks fairly easily but didn't find any Slimys. Steve gave us the keys to the cabin and said that we were welcome to stay there overnight when we were doing research. I really look forward to coming back here in the Fall and doing some intense snake surveys.