Snake Road!

[Dakota314]

We went to Missouri over spring break, and on the way back stopped at Snake Road, IL. For those who are not aware what this is, it is a road on the south tip of IL that is closed to motor vehicles 2 times a year due to huge numbers of reptile and amphibian migrations.

We saw TONS of dragonflies.

There were also a lot of frogs and toads.

And who can forget about the beetles

Continued on the comments...

 

[Dakota314]

We only saw one lizard, and he didn't want to hang around for pictures.

We saw an eggshell, but no babies

We were flipping over rocks and logs (which is legal, as long as you put them back where you found them) but didn't find any snakes or salamanders. I was REALLY hoping to find a salamander, but none

We climbed in the car to head home, and went no further than 20 yards, when we almost hit a snake in the road! We jumped out, and it coiled up right away. I'm pretty sure it is a cottonmouth? I didn't really get any good pictures of it's mouth open.

Eventually it gave up the charade and slithered into the bushes on the side of the road.

Overall, it was a really neat trip. The road was beautiful, and even though we spent 2 hours on the road and didn't find any snakes or salamanders, it was a nice day and a great walk.

We are going back again next year, and hopefully we can spend the whole day searching instead of just a couple hours. You should all go, it was great. Thanks for looking!

 

[Buzzard]

Really nice pictures - thanks for sharing - the ones of the Leopard Frog and Gray Treefrog are really nice - the cold spell has set us back here for field herping in South AL...

 

[Dakota314]

Thanks! That stinks. I never get to go herping. There isn't much to find up here except for frogs, turtles, and the occasional salamander. Being in Missouri was the first time I've ever seen a wild lizard. It was really cool.
Hope the weather warms up for you soon!

 

[MotleyMedusa7]

Looks like fun~great pics!

 

[diamondlil]

Great photos, thanks for sharing!

 

[toxiclight]

Awesome pics...thanks for sharing

 

[Spurticus]

Nice shots of the Cottonmouth !Heading down to Edisto Island in a few weeks, and I plan on doing
some searching while down there. Around the Ace Basin and the
National Park area. Have seen lots of Banded Watersnakes, and
Yellow Rat snakes, but I haven't seen any Eastern Diamondbacks,
Cottonmouths or Copperheads down there in the 4-5 years that I've
been walking the trails there. Seen enough Gators to make up for
the lack of snakes though !

:laugh:

 

[Dakota314]

Thanks everyone!

Nice shots of the Cottonmouth !Heading down to Edisto Island in a few weeks, and I plan on doing
some searching while down there. Around the Ace Basin and the
National Park area. Have seen lots of Banded Watersnakes, and
Yellow Rat snakes, but I haven't seen any Eastern Diamondbacks,
Cottonmouths or Copperheads down there in the 4-5 years that I've
been walking the trails there. Seen enough Gators to make up for
the lack of snakes though !

:laugh:

Thanks! I consider myself pretty lucky to have my first wild snake find be a cottonmouth. I really wanted to see a yellow rat snake while we were down there. I think they are beautiful snakes.

 

[Jasonx]

you're so lucky, if i were to go herping in WV, all i would get was a ton of copperheads and a lot of rattle snakes, oh and at least two hundred frogs.

 

[Spurticus]

Thanks everyone!



Thanks! I consider myself pretty lucky to have my first wild snake find be a cottonmouth. I really wanted to see a yellow rat snake while we were down there. I think they are beautiful snakes.

Seen a LOT of those when I head down to the coastal areas of SC. They
are in the area I live as well, but spottings of them are extremely rare. The
ones here in SC however are the result of centuries of interbeeding of
rat snake in general (Corns and Black Rats), the color of Yellow Rats in
the SC low country are more Greenish / Olive color. The True Yellow
rat snakes get more Yellow as you go over into Northern GA and down
into Florida.

 

[Spurticus]

you're so lucky, if i were to go herping in WV, all i would get was a ton of copperheads and a lot of rattle snakes, oh and at least two hundred frogs.

I've lived in Columbia SC for ten years now. Grew up in the Upstate SC
around Greenville. I've always been fascinated with snakes since I was a
young kid, and would find and catch Green Snakes, Garters and Black Rat
snakes all the time. My parents made me get rid of them as soon as the
found out I had them (even in boxes outside the house). I saw lots of
Copperheads and some Pigmy Rattlesnakes in that area as well. .... When
I moved to Columbia, (no in my late 50s) I started looking for Garter snakes,
and Copperheads, Green snakes etc.... and in ten years here, I've yet to
find a single Gartersnake or Green snake, or Rattlesnake. Didn't see a
Copperhead until last summer, then saw 3 within a span of 10-12 days.
Mostly see Black Racers, Black Rats and Brown Snakes on land, and have
run into some Banded, and Brown Watersnakes around the rivers here.

 

[Dakota314]

you're so lucky, if i were to go herping in WV, all i would get was a ton of copperheads and a lot of rattle snakes, oh and at least two hundred frogs.

The frogs were starting to get on my nerves. Every couple of steps, about 5 would jump out of the way. I was afraid I was going to step on one. If you ever get a chance, you should definitly head down to snake road.

Seen a LOT of those when I head down to the coastal areas of SC. They
are in the area I live as well, but spottings of them are extremely rare. The
ones here in SC however are the result of centuries of interbeeding of
rat snake in general (Corns and Black Rats), the color of Yellow Rats in
the SC low country are more Greenish / Olive color. The True Yellow
rat snakes get more Yellow as you go over into Northern GA and down
into Florida.

Ooohhh, I might have to head over to the east coast. I heard salamanders are plentiful down there as well.