First snake of the season

[whistlepig]

With things warming up, I've been out searching the past couple of weeks for any signs of our legless friends with no luck. Finally, yesterday I was able to find this guy/gal enjoying the sun on a hillside.

http://i.imgur.com/xJylOcI.jpg


In addition, I have a goal of seeing either or both of a prairie and/or speckled kingsnake, both of which are considered "locally abundant" in my area (though I've never seen one). Anybody have any tips on where to find them? For reference, I have easy access to both heavily wooded and grassland areas, both hilly or flat. Thanks.

[jay's reptiles]

very cool dude. i went herping last weekend. i caught 3 dekays brown snake, 4 pacific ringneck snake, 7 common garter snakes, 3 plains garter snakes, 4 five lined skink.

[whistlepig]

very cool dude. i went herping last weekend. i caught 3 dekays brown snake, 4 pacific ringneck snake, 7 common garter snakes, 3 plains garter snakes, 4 five lined skink.

Dang! You obviously are much better at this than I. This 1 snake was the result of hours of searching under every log and piece of cover I could find. Teach me master, haha.

[jay's reptiles]

Dang! You obviously are much better at this than I. This 1 snake was the result of hours of searching under every log and piece of cover I could find. Teach me master, haha.
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what i do is, i lay about 7 pieces of tin down in my field and.... BAM you have snakes lol. i also try to sneak onto abandon land with a house that have been run down and doesn't have anyone living in it. great place for snakes.

[GyGbeetle]

I went out for a hike, and all I got was some bugs flying around my face :( And I live in Arizona, where the herps are supposed to be in abundance.

[whistlepig]

what i do is, i lay about 7 pieces of tin down in my field and.... BAM you have snakes lol.

Excellent. I just put out some tin in a field next to my house yesterday. We'll see if it produces anything in the future.

I went out for a hike, and all I got was some bugs flying around my face And I live in Arizona, where the herps are supposed to be in abundance.

I hear you. Similar experience until yesterday. The whole time I was thinking, "come on, if the bugs are out, surely the snakes have got to be around too". haha.

[FWK]

Handsome Midlands Rat Snake (Pantherophis spiloides) you have there, nice find. I'm assuming the location is Illinois, correct me if I'm wrong. Prairie Kings have their name for a reason, their preferred habitat is prairie grasslands. The best place to find them is along the edge of a field, where it borders a forest or other habitat. Any sort of cover in the edge habitat can produce Prairie Kings, tin, boards, rocks, logs, etc. Speckled Kings are partial to water, particularly swampy areas. Look for edge habitat between a swampy area and a wooded area, Speckled Kingsnake heaven.

[whistlepig]

Handsome Midlands Rat Snake (Pantherophis spiloides) you have there, nice find. I'm assuming the location is Illinois, correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks, and you are correct, Illinois (southern part of the state)

Prairie Kings have their name for a reason, their preferred habitat is prairie grasslands. The best place to find them is along the edge of a field, where it borders a forest or other habitat. Any sort of cover in the edge habitat can produce Prairie Kings, tin, boards, rocks, logs, etc.

Some of the tin I just laid down is in the habitat you describe here, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Speckled Kings are partial to water, particularly swampy areas. Look for edge habitat between a swampy area and a wooded area, Speckled Kingsnake heaven.

I have some area's in mind that meet this criteria as well. One is a swampy/wet area where a small stream has a braided channel that runs through a forested area, so mostly covered by canopy. The second is more of an pen area with shallow water with grasses at the edge and then forest further away from the edge. Would one of these be a better area to search than the other? Appreciate the advice!

[FWK]

I have some area's in mind that meet this criteria as well. One is a swampy/wet area where a small stream has a braided channel that runs through a forested area, so mostly covered by canopy. The second is more of an pen area with shallow water with grasses at the edge and then forest further away from the edge. Would one of these be a better area to search than the other? Appreciate the advice!

Both sound promising to me.

[SWDK]

Nice find!

[dannybgoode]

Quite jealous of the wild reptiles you guys have. Here in north England I have seen some tiny lizards once. That's it!

I keep trying to find a grass snake (Natrix natrix) but it has this far eluded me.

A little further south you may if your lucky stumble across an adder.

Other than that (oh and the slow worm-type of legless lizard) that's it in the UK.

[whistlepig]

Quite jealous of the wild reptiles you guys have. Here in north England I have seen some tiny lizards once. That's it!

I keep trying to find a grass snake (Natrix natrix) but it has this far eluded me.

A little further south you may if your lucky stumble across an adder.

Other than that (oh and the slow worm-type of legless lizard) that's it in the UK.

It's all about trade-offs. As someone who hates hot weather, come June I would gladly give up seeing any herps to live somewhere where I don't have to start sweating the moment I open my door. haha.

[Bandit]

It's all about trade-offs. As someone who hates hot weather, come June I would gladly give up seeing any herps to live somewhere where I don't have to start sweating the moment I open my door. haha.You'd hate southern Louisiana then lol. I was sweating this past December. I don't mind though, I actually really enjoy hot weather, which is fitting because it means I can herp year-round. And nice find!

[whistlepig]

You'd hate southern Louisiana then lol. I was sweating this past December.

Yep, that sounds awful! Give my -20 over 90 any day :). It does give you a lot more opportunity to see herps. I'm ok with looking at pictures, lol.

[Bandit]

Yep, that sounds awful! Give my -20 over 90 any day :). It does give you a lot more opportunity to see herps. I'm ok with looking at pictures, lol.Herping aside, I still love the heat. If I could have it to where it never got below 65, that would be fantastic. I love a good sunny, humid 85 degree day lol.

[whistlepig]

Herping aside, I still love the heat. If I could have it to where it never got below 65, that would be fantastic. I love a good sunny, humid 85 degree day lol.

I'm pretty sure that either makes you my evil twin, or I'm your evil twin, haha.

Back to the topic of snakes, I still can't seem to find any. Maybe it's still too early, but I did find these guys while looking. Not snakes, but rather than start a new thread, I'll just put them here.

http://i.imgur.com/w84vL4q.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/cs6bwQu.jpg

[whistlepig]

I think I've just found my first prairie kingsnake! Can someone confirm? I also thought it could be a fox snake. I couldn't make out the patterns very well as she looks pretty dull, but I think I can see the stripe on it's eye. Either would be a cool find for me, but a prairie kingsnake was one of my goals this summer.

http://i.imgur.com/7bZZd43.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/q4wiF5R.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/wkfG2Il.jpg

[FWK]

Absolutely a Prairie Kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster, fomerly Lampropeltis c. calligaster). The dorsal pattern often fades considerably with age. Very nice find, congrats on the lifer!

[whistlepig]

Awesome! Thanks for the confirmation. Pretty excited.

[whistlepig]

Things are really starting to come alive around here finally. Few more things I found today.

Five-lined skinks (I think).

http://i.imgur.com/oEm2tVy.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LomxxUl.jpg

Blue racer (Dr. Coil's relative?)

http://i.imgur.com/SPR8Rze.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rQBQguM.jpg

Brown snake? I'm guessing on this one.

http://i.imgur.com/GmC6l96.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/b7kCtOX.jpg

[FWK]

Correct again, Dekay's Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi). More nice finds, that Racer is a looker.

[Tiny Boidae]

Great finds. That racer is gorgeous! It kinda reminded me of these at first :D :D

http://vancouvercandy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Sharks.jpg

[whistlepig]

I agree that the racer's are beautiful (of course I'm bias). Thanks again for the ID confirmation FWK. Love the gummies, the color is pretty close! sharks or whales?

[REM955]

Gummi Sharks

[Crazyhermitcrab]

Hes gorgeous. Haven't found any yet...

[whistlepig]

Been awhile since I've found anything, but some of my employee's found this guy and brought him in knowing that I like snakes. It's a rough green snake.

http://i.imgur.com/6E8a0Ci.jpg

[dannybgoode]

Always jealous of people with proper herping on their doorstep. I got excited yesterday by an unusual coloured ladybird!