Fox Snake!

Went out to Banner on this beautiful evening (which was supposed to be the end of the world as we know it) to look for some snakes. It is getting pretty heavy in poison ivy now. But I have this one spot I always check, an old piece of carpet along the bike trail that has yielded a number of snakes over the years. This year it has only yielded a little Northern Water Snake and today's juvenile Fox Snake. He was a fiesty little fellow but he managed to let me get a few good shots in. Here they are...

This is the carpet I was telling you about. I always check this thing...most of the time there's nothing there, but you just never know! Today was a prime example of that.

Water Snake on a cool day!

Before heading home today I stopped by Fort Des Moines County Park and took a quick stroll by the pond. Sometimes on cooler days like these the water snakes will sun themselves in the taller grass right along the water's edge so they can make a quick dive into the water if needed. That is exactly where I found this beautiful 37 inch Northern Water Snake. Here are some of the best pics...

Another trip out to Banner...

I spent an incredibly difficult day working outside when I wanted to be herping the whole time. I was on a farm in Truro, IA and was outdoors all day, but I had little time to herp. So, even though I was exhausted, I took a drive out to Banner when I got home, as the sun was setting. I found a couple snakes DOR (Dead On Road)...which bummed me out...one of them was a really large Eastern Garter Snake. The other was a baby Northern Water Snake. Both probably the underserved recipients of someone purposefully running them over in their vehicle.

But I also found a juvenile Eastern Garter snake alive, hunkering down for the night under a piece of plastic I flipped. Here's the pics...

Recent Herping Trips

Here is a video from one of our most recent herping excursions...

Here are some pictures from that same trip:

My most recent herping trip was today (May 14, 2009). I had a little success. No video but here are the best pictures I shot:

Nice Surprise!

On Friday, May 1st, we were at a local softball field at Fort Des Moines County Park getting in some practice. Afterwards we took a walk around one edge of the lake. Of course, I was on the prowl for any snake I could find.

I came across these two Northern Water Snakes sunning in the grass. They couldn't have been more than three feet apart and they were actually about ten feet or more from the shore. They were in a pile of rocks off shore.

Each snake was well over 40 inches long. The one in the photo with the dark belly was the longest (and the meanest). It was a nice find on a really pretty day!

Another trip to Banner

Our area has been undergoing some Flooding. I wasn't sure if I could get to Banner or not but I was able to get there, even though the park itself is closed the roads around the park are not.

So I walked around to see if I could see any herps and have some alone time with God as well. Well it wasn't too long and I came across this Painted Turtle crossing the bike path.

This was a female and I wasn't actually sure if she was gravid or not. During June the female painted turtles are looking for nice sandy soil to lay their eggs. But because of all the flooding in the area she just may be a little displaced because of that.

This shot of her plastron reveals why they are called Painted Turtles. She had a beautiful design on her shell. The carapace is usually a dark, olive green color.

I let her go from the end of the parking lot that had flooded. She swam away after a few moments, happy to be released.



Here's a shot of some of the flood damage to the bike path. It is washing out some of the areas.


This bridge usually hovers over 60 feet above this river. But the currents had actually run over the bridge. Luckily there was no washout around the bridge. It is pretty amazing damage we have been receiving because of all the flooding.


Down the trail a little further, there was some big puddles of water on the edge of the bike trail and I saw a water snake but wasn't able to catch him. Then I saw two more Northern Water Snakes and I was successful catching them.


It isn't easy dealing with two very fiesty water snakes and trying to take pictures of them all at the same time, they don't tend to be the most cooperative subjects on planet earth. I don't know why it is, but water snakes are just plain, angry snakes.


After a bit, these two calmed down a little. They still were not happy being photographed at all.



Take a look at the underbelly of these snakes. It is absolutely brilliant. Their dull, brown-gray banding on top doesn't compare at all to the beautiful markings on their underbelly. They may be angry but they sure are pretty.


On my way out I got pretty close to this Northern Leopard Frog. He was very cooperative, unlike his snake counterparts. There were gadzillions of these frogs all along the trail due to the flooding.

I had a nice journey out, and a nice talk with God too. It was a good herping day!

Banner Again

I went out to Banner for a stroll and some snake hunting and had a good time. I came across a few interesting things. Here are the pictures...


Here is a Northern Water Snake swimming across this small pond. As I got to take a shot or two of this one, you will see in the picture below that there was another one close by to me.


This is the other Northern Water Snake that was swimming in the same pond.


Around from that pond I caught this beautiful Blue Racer. From Florida, where I'm from, we had Black Racers that look a lot like this but were black and not bluish-gray.
Another interesting distinguishment between the racers of Iowa and the racers of Florida is the disposition of the snakes. Floridian Black Racers are very aggressive and have a very bitey nature (not unlike the water snake). But the racers in Iowa (at least the ones I have come across) are skittish creatures and they will ball up hiding their heads, not having too much tendency to bite.

I left this gentle Blue Racer right next to where I caught him. He stayed coiled up on the top of the rock (hiding his head). When I walked back by this spot about 15 minutes later, he was gone.

This was a sad discovery next to the road...a Fox Snake that had been run over by a car. The sad fact is many drivers will intentionally swerve to run over a snake like this. This was a pretty snake...too bad he didn't make it through this spring.

Stroll off the trail at Banner

Went for a walk this morning at Banner. I got off the trail and went and did some "flipping." I was able to find some things I have never found before. I'll just give you the pictures and then descriptions.


For me, this is every snake-hunters dream. A big piece of thrown-out carpet in the woods. Snakes love this kind of stuff. By the way, there was nothing there today, but just last week, I caught a 3.5 foot Fox Snake under this very piece of carpet. So you never know.

When I flipped this log, there were a couple of surprises waiting for me. This little Eastern Garter Snake was one of the things there. He was pretty funny. Because it is cool, he was really sluggish and slow. But he did open his mouth at me but he couldn't do much more than that.

Then under the same log was this little Small Mouth Salamander. This was very cool for me, because I have never caught a salamander in all my life...not once. So this was a special find for me. the crazy thing is I ended up finding five total this morning. Very cool.

Here's a shot of the other four Small Mouth Salamanders I found. They are the coolest creatures. The sleak black look of their bodies is just really nifty. I think salamanders are very cool creatures.

Now, this little guy is a Plains Leopard Frog. He was under another log I flipped and was only about maybe two inches in length. But he, like all the other finds of the morning wasn't really moving very fast at all.

This is a Neonate Northern Water Snake. He was curled up under a rock. He, too, was slow and sluggish on this cold morning. I really thought his coloration was beautiful.

All in all, this was a good little walk this morning. In my opinion, there's no better way to get exercise than to do a little herping while you're at it!