Sometimes the nicests destinations are quite a journey

This weekend involved one of the longest drives I have ever trekked to go camping. I was either on the road driving or trying to sleep while other drove the 20 or so hours from Ottawa to Southern Illinois. We arrived at Pine Hills Campground very early in the morning.

Car issues caused us to miss half of our first day of herping,  however determined as we always are we searched nearby our campsite while we waited. Two amphibian species were discovered within 5 minutes of our campsite.

Walking in a small runoff ditch just bordering our campsite we found a Northern Cricket Frog. This was hopeful and after a few (maybe a bit of an underestimation) pictures we moved down to lower on this runoff ditch to where it meets up with a small creek. 

Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans)

 The small creek was very low in terms of water level but had a lot of large flat stones and some smaller gravel. Flipping the two largest flat rocks we could find led to the discovery of two adult long tailed salamanders.

Long Tailed Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)

Long Tailed Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)

Long Tailed Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)

Long Tailed Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)

 Car issues fixed we headed to Snake Road with new enthusiasm. Reports from fellow herpetologists on the road didn't sound to great since very little had been seen due to cold weather.  Our determination and the fact we had traveled so far meant that we looked anyways.

Along the cliff face we searched every small crack we could find for small bright salamanders that would be crawling over the moss if it was a night of warm rain. After a decent search we finally found one hiding in a very small crack.

Members of our group who had been to the road for many years before me showed us the famous cottonmouth dens where they had reported snakes in the 400's before. Today we saw very few and they were further back in the den.

Searching more on the ridge I hiking on and on loosing the rest of my group. I found another cottonmouth in a flat rock out-cropping. Deeper into the den was a lighter snake with dark bands. Yes my first Timber Rattlesnake. I couldn't contain myself and within seconds I was radioing my fellow herpers to report the sighting and blowing a whistle so they could find me on the hill.  They complained about the long uphill trek but were silenced by the discovery of three timbers and three cottonmouths sharing a den.

Radio communication did come in handy multiple times over the weekend and a large group of 22 of us were bound to find many things while off on our own. A groups report of a copperhead sent us running and we caught up to a juvenile surrounded by at least 20 people taking pictures of it.

Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)

Juvenile copperhead showing green tail

Escaping from the crowds we headed further down the road and found a central newt and a zigzag salamander under logs. Central newts are a sub-species (if you believe in those things) of the Eastern newt that I have seen many times in Ontario.

Central Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens louisianensis)

The idea of sub species was hotly debated over the weekend and brought up multiple times within the crowd.  In order to count a new sighting... I'm gonna say this ones valid.

We overhear a radio call "Red milksnake further down the road" and well to put it mildly booked it following this guy we didn't know to a large bluff where the juvenile milksnake had been climbing the cliff face.

Red Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum)

Red Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum)

 Our friend Steve Pike whose car unfortunately broke down was out picking it up and nearly missed his target snake for the weekend. Luckily he got back in time and the snake was still around.

Luckily we all got nice pictures of this little one

Zigzag salamanders look very similar to a common Ontario species so finding one was a bit confusing at first but range maps came in handy showing that red-backed salamanders don't actually make it into southern Illinois.

Zigzag salamander (Plethodon ventralis)

How can you look into those eyes and not say "awwwe"

 Our last herp for the day was another lifer for me since I restarted my life list two years ago. Two ground skinks were seen in the leaf litter around the bottom of the large bluff. One was missing it's tail showing that it had a close escape from a predator this year.

Ground Skink (Scincella lateralis)

Growing back the tail lost to a predator