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)

Snake Road 2014

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.