There is a Road...

There is a road down in Southern Illinois that closes each year to vehicle traffic so that wildlife (and specifically reptiles) can cross from the swampland to hibernacula up in the rocky cliffs. This road is a frequented spot for herpers across North America and a place I have visited fairly often on the Thanksgiving weekend. The border guard this year actually asked me "What about your family?!". Luckily my family is indulgent of my crazy hobby and we celebrate with a turkey dinner on a different weekend.

We drove throughout the night to get to southern Illinois from Ontario and didn't even try to get any sleep before heading out for a walk down the road. With the rain that had hit overnight and the continued spitting throughout the day we had a great day for amphibians. Our first sightings were Green Tree Frogs (Hyla cinerea). 

Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea)

Soon after as we walked further down the road we started finding Northern Slimy Salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus), Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) and Zigzag Salamanders (Plethodon dorsalis).

Northern Slimy Salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus)

Zigzag Salamander (Plethodon dorsalis)

 We even found a little tiny newt beside a fully grown one. It was very neat to see the size difference.

Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens)

Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens)

After finding a salamander we were just standing around chatting in a circle and a lovely Copperhead just went straight in between us!!  It was quite surreal and surprising. They are so well camouflaged and we were all standing still but we caught the movement out of the corner of our eyes when it was actually beside us. A very pleasant surprise indeed!

Eastern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)

Eastern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)

Eastern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)

Eastern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)

One of my favorite finds of the day wasn't something uncommon but just a beautiful freshly shed Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus). The iridescence on this snake was breathtakingly beautiful. I am still working on my photography skills so I couldn't really capture quite how stunning it was so you'll just have to trust me. But hopefully these photos give you a little bit of a sense.

Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)

Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)

Normally this species will hide their heads under their body or tail so I was very happy that this one obliged me with a nice pose. They typically are noctural and will eat slugs, earthworms and salamanders among other things.

Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)

Northern Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) were one of the most common species we found on the road. They were actually coming straight out of the swamp and crossing the road in front of us. Sometimes they even dragged a bunch of wet vegetation with them! I am very grateful that this road gets closed to vehicle traffic for all the creatures that live there because we saw over 10 of them right on the road! It was a great day for them to move.

Northern Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

Northern Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

Northern Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

Northern Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

 At one point we looked up and saw a Gray Ratsnake (Pantherophis spiloides) coming out of a hole in the cliff just like you saw all the snakes doing in Indiana Jones.

 Other cracks had lonely little toads peeking out of them.

 On almost every single one of these trips I manage to see a Timber Rattlesnake, BUT they are always deep in the cracks and I have NEVER seen their face or gotten a decent photo of one. This year changed that. It was still in a crack but at least not very deep and it was definitely looking straight out at me as I took a picture.

Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)

 We also got to see a few Western Ribbonsnakes along the road over the course of the weekend.

Western Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis proximus)

We went out looking for more thing after dark and found Long-tailed Salamanders (Eurycea longicauda) and Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga).

Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga)

A Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus) was also just hanging out in a small puddle of water.

Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus)

 On our last night in Illinois we had another great night for Green Tree Frogs and even found a gorgeous Rough Greensnake (Opheodrys aestivus)

Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea)

Rough Greensnake (Opheodrys aestivus)

 You can hike up to the top of the cliff face and get a lovely view over the swampland below. The difference in feeling being in the swamp vs up on the cliffs is a bit indescribable but the sunset is beautiful to see from both spots. Down below you see the light slowly fading and creating light trails between the trees that tower above you. Up above you see the entire landscape stretching out below you and even the towering tees look small in the distance as they change colour with the glow of setting sun.

The Mississippi River is a natural barrier to species movement and a lot of different species occur  across the border in Missouri. We took a morning to go exploring in a different area that I had never been to before and it was amazing!

The holy grail we were looking for in this unique place was a Plains Hognose (Heterodon nasicus gloydi) and we managed to spot one curled up basking just at the edge of a clump of grass. They blend in so well it would be easy to miss. We also saw Six-lined Racerunners but they were far to fast for me to get a photograph of!

Plains Hognose (Heterodon nasicus gloydi)

After our traditional all you can eat friend chicken dinner that makes me feel like I need to be rolled out of there and get my heart checked. We checked out a spot at night for Salamanders and  had a lot of luck! Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum) are obviously banded with white and black

Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)

Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)

This species lives in damp woodlands and requires seasonally flooded areas to breed. Unlike other Ambystomid salamanders they don't deposit egg masses in the spring within vernal pools. You can see these are actually present in the fall and deposited under moist logs in seasonally flooded areas. This gives Marbled Salamander hatchings a bit of a head start in the spring.

Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)

 Mole Salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum) are derpy looking. I don't know what else to say about these guys. I love them. They are stocky and have a much larger head than you would picture them having. They look derpy and they make me smile. 

 Mole Salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum)

 Mole Salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum)

 Small-mouthed Salamander (Ambystoma texanum) are also unproportioned, but don't really look as derpy because of it. They have a characteristically small head for their body size and of course are aptly named for their small mouth. 

Small-mouthed Salamander (Ambystoma texanum)

 Our last day down in Illinois we went to a cyperes swamp area surrounded by deciduous forest. There are lovely walking trails and a boardwalk that takes you a bit out into the swamp.

While we were in the swamp we saw a Cottonmouth swimming in the water. It left a trail right through the duckweed so you could tell exactly where it came from. There were a lot of basking sliders along the river but it was a fairly warm day and they spooked before we could get anywhere close to them.

As we walked around we found a few cool things including:
Common Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)
Crane-fly Orchid (Tipularia discolor)
Northern Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)
Plain-bellied Watersnake (Nerodia erythrogaster) 

Plain-bellied Watersnake (Nerodia erythrogaster)

Thanksgiving Herpetologist Style

Yet again I have had the chance to visit a wonderful place where reptiles and amphibians are abundant and so are the herpetologists! A large group of fellow Canadians ventured to Illinois for our thanksgiving long weekend.

The purpose of this trip is simple- Have a great time camping, make new connections and see as many reptiles and amphibians as we can in one weekend!

This year was perfect weather for our trip. The first day was raining lightly which didn't discourage our group. Within a few minutes at our first stop I had flipped my first marbled salamander.

Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)

As the marbled was a lifer for me I was ecstatic about this but about 2m away from me we also discovered an adult and juvenile cottonmouth. Cottonmouths were the most common snake we found on the trip. Many of the juveniles were quite brightly patterned while the older snakes appeared much more uniform dark in colouration. 

Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

The rain brought out frogs and salamanders in huge numbers. I found many lifers including smallmouth, marbled and mole salamanders. These are all species I missed out on last year because it was to cold and dry on the weekend we went. Warm-ish and wet is perfect for these!

Smallmouth Salamander (Ambystoma texanum)

Mole Salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum)

A few reptiles were out and about despite the rain. I finally got to see an Eastern Box Turtle that hadn't been frightened into it's shell for hours on end. One downside to going in large groups is that many people want to touch animals which ruins my chances of getting natural photos. Box turtles are especially tricky since they will hole up inside their closed shell for an extremely long time if they are disturbed to much or picked up. But.. everyone was great this year and there we a lot of things to be seen!

Eastern Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis sauritus)

Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)

Nightfall found us watching our step carefully as frogs and salamanders were at our feet frequently. In one place we discovered over 100 cave salamanders mixed in with long tailed salamanders and newts.  This was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. A single dull cliff face with many small cracks was speckled with these long elegant orange creatures.

Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga)

Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens)

My favorite toad, the Fowler's toad, made an appearance that weekend which is always very exiting but even more so where the new species of frogs I had the chance to see! Juvenile Bird-voiced treefrogs and green treefrogs also loved the misty wet night and we found many through the forest. They showed up with their bright green skin standing out very nicely against the brown/yellow leaf litter. Not many were found on any vegetation.

Bird-voiced Treefrog (Hyla avivoca)

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

The next day was bright and warm- a perfect day to look for reptiles. We saw many things that day but for me the highlights were a Mississippi Green Watersnake, Smooth Earthsnake, Rough Greensnake and a Slimy Salamander.

Smooth Earthsnake (Virginia valeriae)

Most of these wonderful creatures we just found with luck as they crossed the paths infront of us. But others were much trickier to find and took hours of searching before we were rewarded.

Rough Greensnake (Opheodrys aestivus)

Rough Greensnake (Opheodrys aestivus)

As the gorgeous Mississippi Green reminded us all- Snakes like to be left alone and this aggressive posture is a warning that it is ready to bite. Even if you just want to move a leaf out of the photo they don't have any sympathy.  But none the less this was probably my biggest highlight of the weekend. This snake was big, sleek and posed wonderful for photographs.

Mississippi Green Watersnake (Nerodia cyclopion)

Mississippi Green Watersnake (Nerodia cyclopion)

Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus)

The only things that could have made this trip better would have been a mud snake or a timber rattlesnake but, that is asking a bit much since it was already an absolutely amazing weekend.

Western Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis proximus)

PS: Fun fact > Western Ribbonsnakes have two dots on the top of their heads (which allows you to tell them apart from Eastern Ribbonsnakes) but this can appear like a heart because they look to be fused.