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Snake Road 2014

We were so busy we never even sat on the couch at the cabin, or watched TV! It was herping at the cabin and tornado and hot tub the first night, HOURS of herping the second day, followed by the excitement at dinner, followed by hot tub, and then winery, hours of herping, a really great BBQ dinner, hot tub with stargazing, and then leisurely packing up to go home. It was about 400 miles from Rich's.

I learned: trekking poles are not just snake hooks in disguise! They are vital to getting up to the foot of the bluffs where the snakes are without breaking one's ass! I learned how to hunt for snakes in a bluff environment. I learned how to bandage our feet to prevent blisters on top of the blisters! Snake-proof boots are not so comfortable, without being broken in. I learned that a telephoto lens is not good for herps. I could take pics of the snakes, but from too far away. And there weren't any birds or anything else to get photos of.
 
Nanci said:
We were so busy we never even sat on the couch at the cabin, or watched TV! It was herping at the cabin and tornado and hot tub the first night, HOURS of herping the second day, followed by the excitement at dinner, followed by hot tub, and then winery, hours of herping, a really great BBQ dinner, hot tub with stargazing, and then leisurely packing up to go home. It was about 400 miles from Rich's.

I learned: trekking poles are not just snake hooks in disguise! They are vital to getting up to the foot of the bluffs where the snakes are without breaking one's ass! I learned how to hunt for snakes in a bluff environment. I learned how to bandage our feet to prevent blisters on top of the blisters! Snake-proof boots are not so comfortable, without being broken in. I learned that a telephoto lens is not good for herps. I could take pics of the snakes, but from too far away. And there weren't any birds or anything else to get photos of.
Click to expand...

Yes!!!!

The trekking Poles were Priceless! :) And yes, Snake-Proof Boots are NOT foot friendly!
 
Nanci said:
We were so busy we never even sat on the couch at the cabin, or watched TV! It was herping at the cabin and tornado and hot tub the first night, HOURS of herping the second day, followed by the excitement at dinner, followed by hot tub, and then winery, hours of herping, a really great BBQ dinner, hot tub with stargazing, and then leisurely packing up to go home. It was about 400 miles from Rich's.

I learned: trekking poles are not just snake hooks in disguise! They are vital to getting up to the foot of the bluffs where the snakes are without breaking one's ass! I learned how to hunt for snakes in a bluff environment. I learned how to bandage our feet to prevent blisters on top of the blisters! Snake-proof boots are not so comfortable, without being broken in. I learned that a telephoto lens is not good for herps. I could take pics of the snakes, but from too far away. And there weren't any birds or anything else to get photos of.
Click to expand...

Actually still sounds like a great time, dispite some of the cons.......Oooo, I hate blisters on the feet :cry:
When ya out in that kind of setting, who has time for TV on the couch anyway.

Walter
:crazy02:BOUT' CORNS !!
 
Oh I hate cottonmouths. I never want to go to snake road. So how did you pay for dinner? Did someone have to do dishes? Cabin was lovely. If I would have seen a cottonmouth, I would have spent the rest of the vacation in the lovely cabin.
 
We went there just to see the cottonmouths! They don't bother anybody. I think we saw nine all together. And two Ribbon Snakes. And one Dekays Brown Snake. And one Yellow Belly Watersnake- where are the pics, Rich?? And two species of salamander, and one species of newt. And a toad and a ton of frogs.

To pay for dinner we spoke to the manager who agreed to take a credit card number from me, without the physical card.
 
What a cool trip, thanks for sharing photos!
 
This was my favorite snake. I have never caught or handled a watersnake. Never tried, but it's been a goal, should the opportunity present itself. This Yellow Belly Watersnake (Union County, IL) allowed me to pick him up. There was a lot of musking but no biting.

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Nanci said:
This was my favorite snake. I have never caught or handled a watersnake. Never tried, but it's been a goal, should the opportunity present itself. This Yellow Belly Watersnake (Union County, IL) allowed me to pick him up. There was a lot of musking but no biting.
Click to expand...

Wow Nanci, you got some nads !!............LOL
Usually wild water snakes wanna eat you up when tried to be handled. Very cool you got your opportunity without being biten !!

Walter
:crazy02:BOUT' CORNS !!
 
Well I really wanted to handle one, and figured it might be a case of, like black racers and yellow rats, they are guaranteed to bite, but it isn't that bad if you're expecting it. I put my hand down flat on his head and grasped his body with my other hand, and picked him up, and immediately let his head go free. (They REALLY hate it if you grasp them behind the head in an attempt to prevent biting). He musked and rolled all over, but then settled down and enjoyed the warmth of my hands.
 
I am at 0% for picking them up without a bite. Doubt I'll ever try again.
 
Well I'm still on the lookout for a Florida native- so I'll try again. How bad could it be? :) I tell you what, that skink could bite _hard_!!! I really hate lizard bites.
 
Awesome photos. I like not having to wear snake boots, but I'm a little jealous of the Cotton-Mouths - they look awesome. Nice job on the Water Snake, as well. I try not to judge, but I have yet to meet a Water Snake that was happy to make friends. But they're charming in their own way. Love the Brown Snake, though. I've only found several, and they're awesome to see. The babies are SO tiny.

I'm about a week away from having good salamander weather, myself. I can't wait. I have yet to actually find one, but the black salamander (with white flecks) looks a lot like the Slimy Salamanders, which we have in small, isolated numbers in our state. Kinda' jealous of that find.

The others look like Red-Backs, which, as your photo shows, are freaking adorable as babies. I can usually find one pretty quickly, as they inhabit almost every rotten log or board you lift around here - I'm sure it's not all that different in Ohio. Still, they're fun to find.

Thanks for sharing, guys. My nerdiness for this stuff is high. So, please, share, share, share.
 
I believe that is a Northern Slimy Salamander, Michael. And the others, I believe, are Zigzag salamanders. We have an Illinois field guide, with county by county ranges, so it's easy to rule out similar species. The newt is a Central newt.
 
cottonmouths - is that what they are. They don't look particularly pleased to see you :D

you guys are so lucky over there the wealth of animals you get to see
 
The cottonmouths are the flattened, fat, gray and brown snakes. They pretty much didn't move at all, just opened their mouths in a threat display if we approached too closely. There was one in the road where we ate lunch, and we took a ton of photos of her. After a while she wouldn't even open her mouth any more. Very unafraid of humans. One also rattled its tail.

The last cottonmouth we saw was in the middle of the road, between two bodies of water. She let Rich and I take a bunch of photos of her, and then stayed put as a large group of about 8 people crowded around and photographed her. I guess cottonmouths figure they don't need to worry about people.
 
Nanci said:
I believe that is a Northern Slimy Salamander, Michael. And the others, I believe, are Zigzag salamanders. We have an Illinois field guide, with county by county ranges, so it's easy to rule out similar species. The newt is a Central newt.
Click to expand...
I -so- need to find a good field guide like that for when I'm out 'hunting' for salamanders. Preferrably, one that also has plants, so that I can actually write (accurately) about what habitats I come across.
 
We've found that there is usually a really, really nice book for each state published by a university press somewhere that is a comprehensive atlas of reptile and amphibian species that is great for figuring out that if you're in region X, the possible species are X, Y, and Z and what you actually have. They're not cheap, but they're wonderful. I just wish they were a little more portable (and given that the AR one is the size of many college textbooks, and the TN one is two volumes, I have this feeling it might take a wheeled cart to carry the FL one!)
 
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