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Date / Conditions
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Summary
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January 17, 2010
Overcast
41°
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Finally the weather resembled that of a temperate
climate instead of that of the tundra! It was still a bit chilly, but
Brian W. and I had a bad case of cabin fever and we needed a cure. We
decided that we would scout out good snake habitat at a location in eastern
Missouri for future outings and maybe we would be lucky enough to find our
first herps of the year as a bonus. Lots of nice habitat was seen. While
walking through one of them, Brian stepped on a rock and disturbed it.
Underneath was our first herp of the year. It was a southern red-backed
salamander. After a couple of pictures, we moved on. We changed
locations and after a nice hike, we spotted a cricket frog jump into a small
creek. That was herp number two. We changed locations again and
searched a small spring. Here we found our third herp, a southern leopard
frog. It was nice to finally get out and see some herps. A total of 0 snakes. |
February 28, 2010
Scattered Clouds
47 °
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It was
supposed to be a nice day, so Brian W. and I got out to a location in Eastern
Missouri that we haven’t spent much time herping before. We were reminiscing about the snakes that had been found there several
years before while walking a trail
along a rocky, forested hillside. About that time, Brian spotted our
first snake of the year, an eastern garter snake. This was a surprise
to say the least. At the time the snake was found, the temperature was
about 40 degrees. We took our pictures and moved on. After not
having much luck, so we moved on. We starting looking for salamanders
near a low, wet area, but we were unable to turn anything up other than a
green frog, so we headed over to a spring that we had just discovered.
At this spring we found three cave salamanders. It was a nice way to
end the day. A total of 1 snake.
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March 06, 2010
Partly Cloudy
58°
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The weather
was looking great for potential snake activity today, so Brian W. and I were
out on what was our first reptile goal oriented herp trip. We headed
over to a familiar spot here in eastern Missouri. Not more than a few
minutes after leaving the car, I reagrivated an ankle injury. Last october
I severely sprained my ankle and I turned it again walking to our location.
I was thinking major swelling was about to occur, but I was able to walk,
so I just continued on. Soon the pain went away and we soon found a
cricket frog and a pickerel frog in short order. We finally reached
our destination and I saw a promising area near a rock outcropping.
Brian volunteered to check it out. He scanned the area carefully without
seeing anything. Suddenly that all changed. Brian called out that
he was looking right at a 1.5 foot timber rattlesnake. I got over to
discover why the snake was not immediatly seen. The snake sported a
mud coat from winter dormacy and it hid the snake perfectly in the leaf litter.
I still couldn’t believe we were looking at a rattlesnake! I knew they
were here, but I wasn’t expecting to see one so early in the year.
We were more than happy to say the least. After, getting some photos,
we left the snake and continued on. Not long after the rattlesnake,
I watched Brian flip a rock and come up with a hand full of small snakes.
He wasn’t even sure what all he had yet, so he named them off. That
flip produced one prairie ring-necked snake, one midland brown snake, and
a northern red-bellied snake. Three snake species under one rock is
not an everyday occurance. It was an interesting find. After
photos were taken, we moved on. We ended the day with three eastern
garter snakes. Also seen were an opposum, a red fox, and a river otter.
It was a great day of herping. A total of
7 snakes.
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March 07, 2010
Mostly Cloudy
70°
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After getting a timber rattlesnake yesterday, it was going
to be hard to top that. However, my dad and I wanted to see what we
could find anyway. We went to one of my favorite herping spots.
Within the first few minutes we found a northern water snake. After
a couple of pctures, we continued on. Some time went by without much
activity. I soon came to a rocky sun exposed area where I have seen
numerous garter snakes and ribbon snakes in the past. I spent about
2 minutes scanning the ground to see if there were any snakes. I didn’t
see any, so I bent down to flip a rock. As I was bending down, a ribbon
snake blasted right out from under the leaf litter next to the rock I was
going to flip. A few pictures were taken and we moved on. Minutes
later I flipped a neonate ring-necked snake. We came to an area where
I have seen numerous copperheads in the past. I peered into a crevice
to see an adult black rat snake and an adult copperhead. Unfortuantely,
they were in too deep to get pictures. We soon continued and before
ending the day, we saw a garter snake and another water snake. We moved
on to another one of my spots, but we were shutout finding any additional
herps. It was still a fun day regardless. The totals were 2 northern
water snakes, 1 eastern garter snake, 1 western ribbon snake, 1 prairie ring-necked
snake, 1 black rat snake, and 1 osage copperhead. A total of 7 snakes.
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