Herpedex: All the Herps I Have Seen In The Wild: northern water snake

Showing posts with label northern water snake. Show all posts

Friday, 4 September 2015

Queen Snakes of Vermilion County, Illinois

Queen Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Date:
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.

Baby Queen Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Baby Queen Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Baby Queen Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

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.

Queen Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

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.

Saturday, 29 August 2015

Fall Herping at the Kankakee Sands 1

Ornate Box Turtle: PC Tristan Schramer

Date:
August 29th 2015

Species Found:

Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis trianglum triangulum)
Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor)
Fowler's Toad (Bufo fowleri)
Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii)
Western Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata)
Bull Snake (Pituophis catenefer sayi)
Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
Midland Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi wrightorum)
Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata)
Western Slender Glass Lizard (Ophiosaurus a. attenuatus)
Six-Lined Racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata)
Western Fox Snake (Pantherophis vulpinus)
Northern Water Snake (Nerodia s. sipedon)

Background:
A herper from North Carolina named Thomas was in Illinois and wanted to see the herpetofauna of the state. A group of us met him at the Kankakee Sands to show him some snakes. Tristan and I had been to this spot a few times before and knew the area pretty well. We met some old friends: Conner, Culton, Matt and a few of Matt's coworkers, who would also look for herps with us.

The Trip:

By the time we pulled up, the herping had already begun and they had found a large Eastern Milk Snake under a wooden board. After introductions, most of us went to look for more snakes while others stayed to photograph the Milk Snake. In the next stretch, we found plenty of Gray Treefrogs and a few Fowler's Toads. Tristan found a Chorus Frog, a species that was pretty rare in these parts.

Eastern Milk Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Gray Treefrog: PC Tristan Schramer

Western Chorus Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

Conner and one of Matt's coworkers each found Blue Racers under boards. Conner caught his while the other escaped into some thorny bushes. It was a beautiful specimen about 4 foot in length.

Blue Racer: PC Tristan Schramer

The next snake found was a 4.5 foot Bull Snake by Thomas. It was his first Bull Snake so he was pretty excited. Some others found a few Garter Snakes and a Brown Snake, species that were extremely common elsewhere but pretty rare in the Kankakee Sands.

While we were walking through the sand prairie, I saw the tail of a Glass Lizard zip between some bushes. I tried to locate the animal but it was long gone. While everyone was searching the area for the Glass Lizard, Matt found an Ornate Box Turtle. This was the highlight of the trip because Ornate Box Turtles are extremely hard to find and are even listed as a Threatened Species in Illinois. Tristan had seen every Kankakee Sands species except for the Ornate Box Turtle so when he found out, he was ecstatic.

Ornate Box Turtle: PC Tristan Schramer

Tristan and a few others stopped to photograph the turtle while I pressed on with a few others. We didn't find much else so we decided to move to another spot: a trailer nearby that had some tin and boards near it. There we found another Milk Snake and a Racerunner. Some of the other guys had never seen a Racerunner before but I had seen plenty.

Eastern Milk Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Six-lined Racerunner: PC Tristan Schramer

Next we went to another spot: some disused railway tracks that were know to harbor Fox Snakes. On the way from the car to the tracks, I saw several dead Leopard Frogs and hatchling Snapping Turtles on the road. I had never seen a live Snapping Turtle so I looked in the area but didn't find anything. We got to the tracks and started flipping old ties, rocks and logs. I lifted a rock that was half buried in the ground and found 3 hatching Fox Snakes. Each was a little over 6 inches long and they had very calm temperaments. While everyone was passing around and inspecting the snakes, I lifted the another rock next to the previous one and found 2 more baby Fox Snakes. I had found a nest of baby Fox Snakes!

Hatchling Fox Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Meanwhile, Thomas found a Northern Water Snake under a log. It was an average sized male and had the average temperament of a water snake: nasty. Matt and his coworkers found a 2 more Northern Water Snakes and 3 more baby Fox Snakes in a rock pile. We photographed the snakes and released them. Soon, Matt yelled for someone to help him. He had a huge Northern Water Snake by the tail but the majority of its body was tangled in a clump of plants. I ran over and located the snake's head. With one motion, I grabbed its neck before it could bite me, which it was desperately trying to do. I pulled it out of the plants and handed the snake to Matt. It was a 4.5 foot female.
On the way back, someone saw another Garter Snake disappear into a hole under the rails. We tried to locate it but we couldn't.

Northern Water Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Trips to Kankakee are always fun but this one was even better because we got to see the Ornate Box Turtle, a beautiful rare species that nobody in our group had seen before.

Wednesday, 13 May 2015

Herping in Sangamon County, Illinois

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

Date:
May 13th 2015

Species Found:

Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon)
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

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.

Saturday, 2 May 2015

Spring Herping in Mercer County, Illinois

Fox Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Date:
May 2nd 2015

Species Found:

Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)
Western Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis proximus)
Six-lined Racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata)
Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon)
American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)
Northern Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans clamitans)
Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens)
Plains Leopard Frog (Lithobates blairi)
Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi)
Western Fox Snake (Pantherophis vulpinus)
Dwarf American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus charlsmithi)

Background:
Tom Anton, the herpetologist for the Chicago region wanted us to help him fill in the missing reptile and amphibian records for Mercer County. The county was right in between 2 other counties that had full lists of species so we knew which species we needed to find. Tom and Joey had taken a trip to Mercer the week before and got a few records: Painted Turtles and Ribbon Snakes. Having 4 more people there would greatly increase their chances of finding herps so they asked us to come along.

The Trip:

Doug, Sam, Tristan and I reached Mercer around 8:30 am, after a 3 hour drive. Our first location was a grassy hillside that was right along the river. We got out of the car and started searching even before Tom and Joey showed up. In about half an hour we had found 2 Eastern Garter Snakes. Doug and Tristan caught one in the grass and Sam found the other one under a log. These Garter Snakes had a lot of red coloration on their sides so they were different than any Garter Snake I had seen before. When Tom showed up he was really surprised about our reddish Garters. He said that they looked exactly like the ones found on the other side of the river, in Iowa. Thamnophis sirtalis siralis was a new subspecies for me. I had only seen the Chicago Garter Snake before this.

Eastern Garter Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Red Coloration of Eastern Garter Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Eastern Garter Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

The next location we went to was a junkyard nearby. It had piles of garden waste and the odd piece of tarp or rubber. As soon as we got there Sam caught a Six-lined Racerunner and someone else caught a Western Ribbon Snake. I had seen both of these species before but they were cool nonetheless. Then some lady from the town came up to us and started asking us about what we were doing. She seemed kind of angry but Tom dealt with her and she went away. I saw a nice pile of debris that was out in the sun next to a tree, perfect snake habitat. As I got towards it, I saw a colorful Ribbon Snake disappear under an old tangled fire-hose. I tried to catch it but I couldn't find it again. Either way, we had other Ribbon Snakes to photograph.

Six-lined Racerunner: PC Tristan Schramer

Western Ribbon Snake: PC Joey

Next, we went to some large ponds that were a short walk through the forest. The moment we got to the water's edge we started to see frogs jumping into the water. I saw some Bullfrogs, Green Frogs, Leopard Frogs and Cricket Frogs but I didn't get photos of any of them. Tom spotted a Plains Leopard Frog, a new species for both me and Tristan. Only Joey managed to get a good photo as we never caught it. We caught a Northern Leopard Frog in a field, which Tristan photographed.

Plains Leopard Frog: PC Joey

Northern Leopard Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

Tristan found a juvenile Northern Water Snake under a log and also found a Ribbon Snake that was drinking water.

Juvenile Northern Water Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Western Ribbon Snake drinking water: PC Tristan Schramer

Western Ribbon Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

We moved away from that pond and up a steep bank that overlooked the river. We saw a Northern Water Snake sitting at the edge of the cliff. Joey skillfully caught it by laying down on the ground and sneaking up on it. I found a juvenile Fox Snake under a log and everyone took turns photographing it.

Northern Water Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Juvenile Fox Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Everybody photographing the Fox Snake: PC Joey

We headed back to the road and decided to check one more spot before lunch. It was the floodplain on the other side of the road. Again, we walked through the forest and got to the water. We had flipped a good number of logs and found nothing. I was starting to think this location was a bust, when I flipped a large, hollow log. As soon as I picked up the log, a good sized Northern Water Snake shot out from under it. On impulse, I grabbed it by the tail and lifted it up. It was squirming and writhing, throwing bites left and right. I managed to hold onto it for 30 seconds before I got bit. Once I got bit the first time, I figured it was okay to free handle it so I did, and got bitten 4 more times. I was showing everyone where I had found the snake when I saw the fat body of a female Northern Water Snake sticking out from the very same log. THEY WERE A MATING PAIR! I carefully pulled the female out from the log and laid it on the ground. She was much calmer than the male and refused to bite even with all the handling. We took our photos and let them get back to their fun in the hollow log.

Male Northern Water Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Totally Worth It: PC Tristan Schramer

Female Northern Water Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Me with the Female Northern Water Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

On the way out, Tristan found a little juvenile Northern Water Snake under some debris. It was the smallest Water Snake I had ever seen, but just as feisty as the rest. We also found another Garter Snake under a plastic bag.

Juvenile Northern Water Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Me releasing a Garter Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

After lunch we drove to another location. It was far off the road and much more pristine than the other locations. It was a fishing area, with a large water body and an even larger floodplain. As soon as we got there, we saw a medium sized Northern Water Snake in the water. It swam away before we could catch it. We spread out and managed to find a few more Northern Water Snakes. Joey caught a Garter Snake and Tristan spotted a Ribbon Snake which got away. At an abandoned shed, I caught a large Garter Snake which was under a water pipe. While Tristan and I were recording the Garter Snake's coordinates, Tom, Joey and Sam yelled for us. We ran back to find Tom holding a large angry snake. It was a 3 foot adult Fox Snake. Apparently they had been walking and heard a buzzing coming from under some dried plants. Sam investigated it and found that it was the Fox Snake vibrating its tail. This was my 3rd Fox Snake but my first adult. This snake was even feistier than the Water Snakes, refusing to calm down even after many minutes of handling. When we put it on the ground, it coiled up and raised its head in the air, vibrating its tail and hissing loudly. We took a few photos and let it go before it could get even angrier.

Tom with the Fox Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Me with the Fox Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Joey with the Fox Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Fox Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

The daylight was fading and we had one more location to hit, so we decided to move on. On the way back to the cars, Sam spotted another Northern Water Snake in a rock pile. We pulled it out and found that it had just eaten a large frog, evident from the bulge in its body. This snake didn't throw a bite or even squirm. It must have been sluggish after just eating. We took a photo and let it go.

Northern Water Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

At the car, we were welcomed by a yellow dog. It was loose with no ID, but very friendly. We played with it for a while before we left for our next location.

Random Dog: PC Joey

Random Dog: PC Tristan Schramer

At the next location we didn't find anything except Cricket Frogs so we decided to call it a day and head back. This trip was probably one of the most enjoyable yet. I got to see a lot of cool snakes and the company of everyone was an added bonus. Working with an experienced herpetologist like Tom was a great experience and I learned a lot. As far as my Herp List went, I got 1 new species, the Plains Leopard Frog, and one new subspecies, the Eastern Garter Snake. My list now stood at 53 American Herp Species.