As tradition demanded there was a very long drive down to Illinois for the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. This started out getting picked up in Toronto and driving down (in shifts) with 3 others to meet a wonderful caravan of like-minded herpers for a weekend of camping, herptiles and well the usual shenanigans. We started off with a trip to the Walmart in Anna for cheap food and booze. Every set up tents in record time and after a good dose of coffee later we were back on the road... this time the "Snake Road" which is actually closed down for the snake migration each year and is a protected area.
The rain brought out many neat amphibians our first day. We didn't have to much success with snakes but the Western Earth Snake was quite a nice surprise.
What started as a tiring trip became an exhausting one. Lack of sleep added up but the troop was determined so we kept searching for our most desirable species. We continued to find salamanders, frogs, skinks, lizards, turtles... And AT LAST!! After two previous trips to the road seeing many a cool herp, I finally saw my holy grail of snake road... a mud snake.
This gorgeous adult female mud snake was a lovely end to an amazing trip and made it a priceless experience even though the reunion with great friends is rewarding enough.
The trip ended as any thanksgiving usually goes... by eating birds until you feel like the one who got stuffed. In Illinois we just changed this a bit by eating a whole lot of all you can eat fried chicken instead of roasted turkey. Then proceeded to enjoy a campfire to the wee hours of the morning at which point we drive all the way back to Ontario. Yes there was almost as much driving as there was herping but we made the most of the short time we had there.
