Herpedex: All the Herps I Have Seen In The Wild: southern illinois

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Monday, 5 October 2015

Fall Herping in Southern Illinois

Rough Green Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Date:
October 2nd - 4th, 2015

Species Found:

Bronze Frog (Lithobates clamitans clamitans)
Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus)
Mole Salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum)
Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)
Eastern Newt (Notophthalamus viridescens louisianensis)
Northern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus)
Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)
Smallmouth Salamander (Ambystoma texanum)
Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris blanchardi)
Long Tail Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)
Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea)
Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)
Ground Skink (Scincella lateralis)
Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus)
Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortix)
Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor)
Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi)
Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)
Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga)
Bird Voiced Tree Frog (Hyla avivoca)
Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys aestivus)
Western Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis proximus)
Plain Bellied Water Snake (Nerodia erythrogaster)
Fowler's Toad (Bufo fowleri)

Background:

Noah, Tristan and I decided to go down to Southern Illinois to find some of the species that we had missed last year. We arrived at Johnson County, Illinois early on Saturday morning. We had packed all of our camping gear and were ready to spend the next 2 days out in the Pine Forest.

The Trip:

Noah knew a spot where he had found Mole Salamanders before. Tristan and I hadn't seen this species so we were eager to cross it off our lists. We hiked through the forest along a creek and finally came to a marsh with plenty of logs to flip. We immediately found plenty of Bronze Frogs, Criket Frogs and Southern Leopard Frogs but we didn't find our first salamander until about 45 minutes in. It was a small Mole Salamander that was under a thin log. It looked similar to the Smallmouth salamander but its head was a lot larger compared to the body. The Mole Salamander also had a nice belly pattern that I had not seen in any other salamander species.

Mole Salamander: PC Tristan Schramer

Next, we met our friend Matt, who knew a spot where he had found Marbled Salamanders before, a species that Noah, Tristan and I were yet to see. We walked into a similar looking marsh with lots of fallen logs and some rocks. The first herp found (other than the usual frogs) was a baby Ringneck Snake. We were used to seeing Ringnecks with 1-3 straight lines of spots own the belly, but this one had randomly scattered spots all over its ventral surface. I kept finding just frogs while Noah found a Longtail Salamander and a Smallmouth Salamander under a rock and a log respectively.

Neonate Ringneck Snake: PC Yatin Kalki

Longtail Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Smallmouth Salamander PC Yatin Kalki

Matt was surprised that we still hadn't found Marbled Salamanders because he was used to finding 3-4 under the first log that he turned. Finally, Tristan yelled that he found a Marbled and we all headed over. The Marbled was one of the most beautiful salamanders I had seen. It had a black body with bright white bars that ran across its back. This was a new species for the 3 of us.

Marbled Salamander: PC Tristan Schramer

I looked at what kind of log Tristan had found the Marbled under and went in search of similar logs. Sure enough, I found a large Mole Salamander under one such log. It was about triple the size of the first Mole Salamander but its belly patterns were about the same. I was walking towards a pile of wood when a bright green frog jumped in front of me. I realized that it was a Green Tree Frog, yet another species that Tristan and I had not seen yet. I caught it so we could get some photos of it.

Mole Salamander: PC Tristan Schramer

Green Tree Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

All of us except Tristan walked on to look for more herps while he photographed the salamanders and frog. We came to a spot where Matt said he had seen Cottonmouths before. Before he could even finish his sentence, Noah spotted a medium sized Cottonmouth coiled up and basking on a rock. We all photographed it and then I went on to flip a few of the rocks around where the Cottonmouth was sitting. This caused the snake to uncoil and move away from us. I found a Ground Skink, which dropped its tail as soon as I picked it up. Matt's 3 year old daughter was crying because Matt didn't want her to hold the Cottonmouth. He gave her the Ground Skink instead and she was happy. Matt found a baby Cottonmouth under a rock and I decided to go down closer to the water to see if I could find any more snakes. As soon as I got down to the bank I spotted the thick body of a snake just along the water's edge. It was a 3.5 foot Cottonmouth, the biggest I had ever seen. It opened its mouth and showed me its fangs as I approached it to get a better look. I was about a foot away from it when it stopped gaping at me and turned away. It slowly swam away to deeper water and then submerged itself completely, disappearing from my sight. A lot of people think that Cottonmouths, or any snakes in general, will chase you and are always out to get you. That is just not true. This large venomous snake gave me a few warnings by opening its mouth and then it swam away when I wouldn't leave. It did not want to confront me in any way.

Cottonmouth: PC Yatin Kalki

Cottonmouth: PC Tristan Schramer

Ground Skink: PC Yatin Kalki

I caught up with Noah, who had a Slimy Salamander and a Five-lined Skink that he had found under a single log. I took a few photos of the herps and moved to check some logs and rock on a hillside that looked promising. Under the first log that I turned, I found a baby Copperhead coiled up. I was overjoyed because we had been trying to find Copperheads for the last year. I yelled "Copperhead! Yeah!" and waited for everyone to come over. Noah, Matt, Matt's wife and daughter all came over to check out the little venomous snake. The tip of its tail was bright yellow, a feature that is only found in neonates. It still had not moved an inch, coiled up and facing away from us. We took some photos and then waited for Tristan to show up. When he finally came over, he asked what we were all looking at. Matt said "Oh just a Slimy Salamander" and Tristan went to take a look. When he saw the baby Copperhead he couldn't believe it. He immediately pulled out his camera and started shooting photos of the snake.

Five Lined Skink: PC Tristan Schramer

Slimy Salamander: PC Tristan Schramer

Copperhead: PC Tristan Schramer

Neonate Copperhead Tail: PC Tristan Schramer

Copperhead: PC Tristan Schramer

We were all waiting for Tristan to finish photographing the Copperhead when Matt spotted a small Tree Frog in a crack in a railroad tie. He got it out with a stick and Tristan identified it as a Bird Voiced Tree Frog. This was a new species for all of us and Matt seemed to be the most excited.

Tree Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

Next, we checked a spot where people had found Mud Snakes before. We found more Cottonmouths, Marbled Salamanders, Mole Salamanders, Newts, Ringneck Snakes and a single Spotted Salamander, but no Mud Snakes. Considering the number of species at that one spot, we should have skipped all the other spots and just started there. Up ahead, I found a Brown Snake moving through the grass near the swamp. Satisfied with the day's finds, we decided to head back and set up camp.

Cottonmouth: PC Tristan Schramer

The campsite near Snake Road was packed. We drove in to find a spot but all the spots seemed to b taken. We were driving out when a familiar looking man walked up to the car and asked us to share his campsite. He introduced himself as Justin Michels and he seemed to know who we were already. He said he recognized us from our herping photos on facebook. I had seen some of his posts on facebook but I had never met him before. I thought it was awful nice that he welcomed us into his camp. We set up our camp and shared some stories. Tristan mentioned that we were looking for Cave Salamanders and Justin said "I know where you can find them right now." It was past 10pm and Noah was already asleep but we woke him up and we all piled into the car. The place we went to was a portion of the bluff that was riddled with small holes that almost looked like shelves. Each of the holes had a few bright orange salamanders in it. The salamanders would raise their heads and then scurry back whenever we shined light into the holes. I had never seen anything like this so it took me a while to take in what I was seeing. There were at least 30 Cave Salamanders in the holes in that one section of the bluff. Tristan tried to get one of the salamanders out of the holes while I scaled the bluff looking for more cool stuff. I saw the black scales of a snake in a crevice about 12 feet off the ground. I thought it was a Black Kingsnake at first but when I climbed up to take a closer look, I saw that it was a venomous Cottonmouth. The snake looked at me and moved a little deeper into the crevice. I jumped down and joined everyone else as they photographed the cave salamanders. Tristan and Justin had manged to extract a Cave Salamander and a Longtail Salamander. Justin was explaining the difference between the two. Longtail salamanders had black bars while Cave Salamanders had black spots.

Cave Salamander: PC Tristan Schramer

Longtail Salamander: PC Tristan Schramer

After everyone was done photographing the salamanders, we decided to walk on the trail and see what we could find. Justin was really good at spotting the Tree Frogs on the shrubs and he pointed one out every 2 meters that we walked. He pointed out a Bird Voiced Tree Frog and it looked very different from the one we had found earlier that day. We then realized that the frog Matt had found in the morning was actually just a Gray Tree Frog, a species that we had seen a number of times in Kankakee. The Bird Voiced Tree Frog had a shorter snout and different colored legs than the Gray or Green Tree Frogs we had been seeing. We got some photos of a real Bird Voiced Tree Frog and a few more shots of the Green Tree Frogs, which seemed to be the most populous species in the area.

Green Tree Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

Gray Tree Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

Bird Voiced Tree Frog: PC Tristan Schramer

A little while later, Justin said "Rough Green Snake" and we all thought he was joking. But to everyone's delight, there was an adult Rough Green Snake sleeping coiled up in the leaves of a shrub. This was a new species for Noah, Tristan and me. The snake reminded me a lot of the Green Vine Snakes I had seen in the Western Ghats of India. It slept and moved in the exact same way. Once the snake had been disturbed by us, it just wouldn't sit still, so photographing it was pretty difficult. This was a magnificent snake and we wanted to make the most of the experience so Tristan and I stayed back to observe and photograph the snake while the others went back to get the car. I was holding our only flashlight on the snake while Tristan was shooting photos. Suddenly, I heard some rustling noises coming from the forest behind me. There had been some talk earlier about a Cougar being sighted in these parts so I was a little nervous. Then I remembered that Cougars are very stealthy and I wouldn't be able to hear a Cougar moving through the forest anyway...which begged the question: What was causing that noise? I turned around and walked into the forest to check it out. A few minutes later I saw an Armadillo digging through the leaf litter. I was going to try and catch it but then I remembered that Tristan was back with the snake in complete darkness. I got back and we finished photographing the snake just as the car pulled up. We headed back to camp, happy with the 3 new species we had just seen.

Rough Green Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

The next morning Justin had to get back home, but he gave us a few spots to check before he left. Once Justin had said goodbye, Noah, Tristan and I packed up all our stuff and headed to those spots hoping to find Kingsnake and Water Snake species. Unfortunately, the only new species we found at those spots was a Ribbon Snake. We had seen Ribbon Snakes before so it was only a new species for this trip.

Ribbon Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Finally, we made our way to Snake Road. A lot of our friends had given us various pointers on where to look around the actual road. We checked some of those particular spots and didn't find anything new.Matt and his family joined us on the Road and Tristan broke the bad news to him: the frog he had found the previous day hadn't been a Bird Voiced Tree Frog. We told Matt where we had found them last night and he said he would look there tonight. Then, we all went our own ways looking for snakes. Matt's wife, Shannon, found a baby Water Snake under a log in a marsh. We didn't know what species it was but it definitely wasn't a species we had seen before. Tristan sent a photo of it to herpetologist Tom Anton and it turned out that it was a Plain Bellied Water Snake, definitely a new species for us all. Tristan photographed it while I went up to the bluffs to look for snakes along it. I found another Ribbon Snake but that was about it. Tristan and Noah found another Cottonmouth on the road and soon it was time to head back to Champaign.

Plain Bellied Water Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

Ribbon Snake: PC Tristan Schramer

This trip was definitely more productive than last year's Southern Illinois trip. I got a total of 7 new species, putting my American Herp List at a grand total of 64.

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.