Spring Herping in Ford County, Illinois

Plains Leopard Frog: PC Tristan Schramer 

Date:
May 3rd and 5th 2015

Species Found:

1. Plains Leopard Frog (Lithobates blairi)
2. Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon)
3. Plains Garter Snake (Thamnophis radix)
4. Eastern American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus americanus)
5. Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi)
6. Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)
7. American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)

The Trip:

While Tristan was doing some research about Kirtland's Snakes in Illinois, he came across a post by a guy named Conner who had found dozens of these rare snakes in a small lake in a suburban area. We reached out to Conner and he was more than happy to show us where he had found them. On the 3rd we met Conner in Ford county along with another accomplished herper named Mike. On that day we didn't find any Kirtland's Snakes but we did see why they occurred in that habitat. The lake was bordered by soft soil riddled with crayfish burrows and large rocks on top - perfect Kirtland's Snake habitat. While we were there, we caught a Plains Leopard Frog and saw a few Northern Water Snakes which we didn't manage to catch. I had seen my first Plains Leopard Frog the previous day at Mercer, but we hadn't caught that one. This time, I could really examine it and see what made it different from other Leopard Frog Species. The Plains had a shorter snout, circular spots on the back and stripe interruptions near the thighs.

Kirtland's Snake Habitat:PC Tristan Schramer

Plains Leopard Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

Plains Leopard Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

Conner was really eager to have us in his neck of the woods so he offered to drive us up some other time to look again. On the 5th, we took him up on his offer. Conner and his twin brother Culton me and Tristan up and took us to the lake once again. And once again we stuck out at finding Kirtland's Snakes. To salvage what we could of the day, Conner took us to a few more snake spots he knew around his house. The first place we went to was a pile of debris beside a railroad track. Conner had found Plains Garter Snakes here and I had seen PLENTY of those before, passing by them almost everyday on campus, but I was curious to see how these snakes differed from the ones I was used to. Under an old tire Tristan found a small Plains Garter Snake with a big attitude. The snake immediately bit him on the hand and musked everywhere. This was so unlike the members of the species I had encountered before. I had caught close to 100 individual Plains Garter Snakes on campus and not a single one had ever even opened its mouth to bite. I thought that this bitey Garter was just an outlier until we found the next snake under a piece of tin. This one was bigger than the previous one and it all the same things, plus it pooped all over Tristan's hand. I came to the conclusion that either something has really pissed these snakes off, or the campus Garters are all softies. Sadly, we didn't get any photos of those angry Garters.

The next place Conner took us was a field by a lake where he had found Eastern Garters and Fox Snakes. We were welcomed by the happy trills of Eastern American Toads calling for mates. The majority of the calls were coming from this little puddle that had been made by a tractor's tires. We counted 6 calling toads just from the car. We got out to get a better look and surprisingly a good number of the toads kept calling. It was really cool to see the toads calling literally 2 inches away from us.

American Toad: PC Tristan Schramer

American Toad: PC Tristan Schramer

We walked through the field and found a few Cricket Frogs hopping around. Some had streaks of bright green and others of rust.

Cricket Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

Cricket Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

At the corner of the field, there was a pile of shingles - a great place to find snakes. Sure enough, a few layers in we found a large 3 foot Eastern Garter Snake. "That's the biggest damn Garter I've ever seen!" exclaimed Conner as he proceeded to examine the large female. Less than 10 seconds later, I pulled an even LARGER Eastern Garter from a few layers deeper. This one looked about 3 and a half foot long, which surprised us all because the biggest Garter we had seen before these 2 was a little over 2 foot long. This snake musked, pooped and tried to bite me. The musk of the Eastern Garter was a lot stronger and more offensive than that of the Plains Garter. We found a family of mice a little deeper in the shingle pile but that was about it.

Eastern Garter Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Me holding both Eastern Garters: PC Tristan Schramer

Eastern Garters: PC Tristan Schramer

After we released the big Garters, we decided to call it a day. I didn't see any new or rare species on this trip but I did see a different side to the species I was used to seeing.

Spring Herping in Mercer County, Illinois

Fox Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Date:
May 2nd 2015

Species Found:

1. Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)
2. Western Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis proximus)
3. Six-lined Racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata)
4. Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon sipedon)
5. American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)
6. Northern Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans clamitans)
7. Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens)
8. Plains Leopard Frog (Lithobates blairi)
9. Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi)
10. Western Fox Snake (Pantherophis vulpinus)
11. 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

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

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

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

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

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.