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

Showing posts with label ribbon snake. Show all posts

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.

Sunday, 5 October 2014

Fall Herping in Southern Illinois 2

Southern Black Racer: PC Yatin Kalki

Date:
October 4th 2014

Species Found:

Northern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus fuscus)
Upland Chorus Frog (Pseudacris f. ferarium)
Western Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma)
Northern Zigag Salamander (Plethodon dorsalis)
Western Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae elegans)
Long Tail Salamander (Eurycea l. longicauda)
Southern Black Racer (Coluber constrictor priapus)
Western Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus)
Midland Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon pluralis)
Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus)
Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi)
Bronze Frog (Rana c. clamitans)
Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus)

Background:

Noah and Tristan had always been talking about the trip we needed to make to Snake Road in the Fall. Snake Road is a stretch of road that lies between a swamp and a series of bluffs. Every Fall, several snake species migrate from the swamp, into the bluffs to hibernate. And every Spring, the snakes emerge from the bluffs and make their way to the water. For a few weeks in both seasons, the road is closed off to vehicles and herpers from all around come to witness the snake migration.

We were planning to reach Southern Illinois on Friday night, camp out in the forest and hit 3-4 herping spots as soon as the sun came up. This time, we had 2 more people with us. Megan was a senior and a part of the Wildlife Club. Austin was Noah's friend and also a senior. I didn't know this ahead of time, but we were actually going to some of the same spots I had visited the week before with my ESE class.

The Trip:

After spending a terribly cold night in a hammock somewhere in the forest at Garden of the Gods, we set off to our first herping spot just as the sun was rising. It was a water body where a feral population of Dusky Salamanders had been established, after they had been brought here as fishing bait. We started flipping rocks by the stream when Megan found a frog that she couldn't identify. I looked at the dark strip that went across its eyes and guessed that it was a Chorus Frog of some sort.

Upland Chorus Frog: PC Yatin Kalki

Upland Chorus Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

We took some pictures and released it. A few minutes later we met up with Tristan and he was kind of upset that we had released it without him being able to identify it or get high quality pictures. So, Megan and Tristan went back in search of the frog where we had released it. In the meantime, I was finding a ton of Cricket Frogs and Bronze Frogs. It was so cold out that most of the time the frogs didn't even try to move when I caught them.

Northern Cricket Frog: PC Yatin Kalki

Northern Cricket Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

Bronze Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

Tristan and Megan came back and it turned out they did manage to find that Chorus Frog and identified it as an Upland Chorus Frog. All 5 us continued flipping rocks by the stream, looking for the the Dusky Salamander. I saw a really flat rock without too much water around it and it looked promising. Sure enough, when I flipped it, I saw a small, shiny lizard-looking thing. It was the first salamander I had ever seen, but I knew exactly what it was. I called everyone over after I had picked it up and Tristan confirmed that it was a Northern Dusky. This was a first for everyone, including Tristan, so he wanted to get really good pictures of it. We were there for another hour as Tristan posed the salamander on various surfaces and took shots from various angles.

Northern Dusky Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Northern Dusky Salamander: PC Tristan Schramer

Next, we made our way to the infamous Snake Road. There, we employed our usual rock/log flipping tactic, which set us apart from the rest of the people, who were just walking up and down the road looking for moving snakes. I made the first find. A baby Cottonmouth under a log. It was probably less than a foot long but it was hard to tell because it was coiled up and it was against the law to handle or move a venomous snake.

Baby Western Cottonmouth: PC Yatin Kalki

Baby Western Cottonmouth: PC Tristan Schramer

Apparently I was having a really lucky day because I ended up finding 2 more baby Cottonmouths under logs while no one else had found anything interesting. About an hour later, Tristan found some Zigzag Salamanders. They were small and not very impressive looking but I may have thought that because I was expecting to see huge, vibrant snakes. Noah and Austin ended up finding a Longtail Salamander but they released it because they couldn't find any of us. They told me where they released it and fortunately I found it. It was a really cool looking salamander and it was a lot prettier than the Dusky and the Zigzags.

Northern Zigzag Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Northern Zigzag Salamander: PC Tristan Schramer

Longtail Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Longtail Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Longtail Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

While Tristan was photographing the Zigzags, he flipped a rock and found a tightly curled up Smooth Earth Snake. The snake was probably the most docile and shy snake I had ever seen. It buried its head under its body and tried to hide from us. When we started handling it, it warmed up to us real quick, literally. It was so cold out that the snake was enjoying the warmth form our hands and becoming more active. It had probably never seen a human in its life before, being a fossorial species, so it was calm and confident once it realized we weren't a threat.

Smooth Earth Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Smooth Earth Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Smooth Earth Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

I was really tired of scaling the cliffs and flipping heavy rocks so I decided to adopt the "lazy herper" method and walk up and down the trail. I saw a group of 3 people standing by a bluff, taking pictures so I walked over to check it out. They had a 4 ft Black Racer and I was really excited about this. Its large eyes and smiling face reminded me of the Oriental Rat Snake back home. It started to slither away and the other guys seemed to be done with it so I grabbed it to take my own pictures.

Southern Black Racer: PC Yatin Kalki

Me with the Black Racer: PC Noah Horsley

Southern Black Racer: PC Yatin Kalki

As I was making my way back to my group, I came across a 3 foot adult Cottonmouth crossing the path. It was a lot more intimidating than the puny babies we had seen and it gave me the whole open-mouthed threat display that gives it its name. Its golden eyes and pale white mouth made it look majestic and menacing at the same time. I knew for sure it was venomous from the triangular head and stocky body that is characteristic of all vipers.

Western Cottonmouth: PC Yatin Kalki

Western Cottonmouth: PC Yatin Kalki

Western Cottonmouth: PC Yatin Kalki

Western Cottonmouth: PC Yatin Kalki

We regrouped and decided to head out to the next spot. We were walking toward the car when we came across another group of people crowded around a small snake. It was a 1 ft Ribbon Snake. It was significantly more colorful than the Garters I had seen but looked very similar. After the group moved off, I posed the snake by covering it with my hands and managed to get some good pictures.

Western Ribbon Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Western Ribbon Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Western Ribbon Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Tristan found a Fence Lizard at some point. It was a new species for him but I had seen plenty of them the previous week on my field trip.

Eastern Fence Lizard: PC Tristan Schramer

We then went to the next spot and decided that we would only spend 15 minutes there because we had to go to a fourth spot and daylight was fading. This place was a dry stream near a children's playground. For just 15 minutes of herping, I was surprised we managed to get so much. We found a baby Northern Water Snake and a few Longtail Salamanders.

Midland Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Midland Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Midland Water Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

We went to the fourth spot but we didn't find anything we hadn't seen before. I did get a new species though, the Southern Leopard Frog.

Southern Leopard Frog: PC Yatin Kalki

Southern Leopard Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

This herping trip was probably the most productive one yet. I got 10 new species to add to my American Herp List or my Herpedex as I was now calling it (a Pokemon thing). My Herpedex now stood at 27 American Species.