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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Milksnake: PC Yatin Kalki |
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| Milksnake: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| 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.
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| Bullsnake: PC Yatin Kalki |
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| Bullsnake: PC Yatin Kalki |
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| 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.
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| Blue Racer: PC Yatin Kalki |
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| Blue Racer: PC Yatin Kalki |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Bullsnake Striking At Me: PC Doug Mills |
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| Me with the 5 foot Bullsnake: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| Bullsnake: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| 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.
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| Blue Racer: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| 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.
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| Juvenile Milksnake: PC Tristan Schramer |
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| 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 :)
This is cool! I have been to the Kankakee area many times, and have only found one large garter snake and two DORs, A bull and I believe a ribbon snake. Probably heading back in June.
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