Spring and Summer finds 2016: Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois

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ChadHarrison
Posts: 139
Joined: June 29th, 2012, 1:45 pm
Location: Illinois

Spring and Summer finds 2016: Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois

Post by ChadHarrison »

Picking back up after a lovely outing full of Timber Rattlesnakes and a Western Pigmy, I didn't get out much back home in Illinois, as a rocket-run Kansas trip was in the works.

Last year I had missed out on the three special anurans. I live smack dab in the middle, so everything cool is a 2 hour drive or more. So when dealing with herps that only appear on the surface in very specific conditions and time windows, it can be difficult to get the timing right. So this year I had made it a point to knock these frogs out. At this point, I'd already photographed the Illinois Chorus Frog and the Northern Crawfish frog, all I had left was the Eastern Spadefoot. Throughout their range, these frogs may not be very special to some, but its a great find in Illinois

Eastern Spadefoot
ImageEastern Spadefoot by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

A friend came down to visit and really wanted to come back to the famous Snake Road. She really wanted to see a Lesser Siren and a Timber Rattlesnake. We ended up getting both, but this lovely Black King Snake came as a nice surprise.

Black King Snake
ImageEastern Black King Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

As the Kansas trip came closer and closer, I grew antsy. An outing to a new area for me in Western Illinois produced this gorgeous steel blue Timber Rattlesnakes. I didn't capture the blue very well in my photos, but I assure you it was there. I'd never seen anything like it.

Timber Rattlesnake
ImageTimber Rattlesnake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Finally, it was time to get after it. Kyle Irwin and I met Justin Elden at his home on a Thursday evening in May, and off to Kansas we went. After a seven and a half hour drive, we arrived in Great Bend, KS at almost 4am. Got about 4-5 hours of sleep and got after it. Our big goal for that morning was a Western Massasauga. Kyle and I hiked some grassy areas while Justin cruised. We came up with nothing. We call Justin to come pick us up so we can all cruise and head north to the next spot, and he shows up with this big beautiful Bullsnake.

Bullsnake
ImageBullsnake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

On the way to the next spot we cruised a Yellow-Bellied Racer, a Texas Horned Lizard, some more Bullsnakes, and dozens of Plains Garter Snakes. We arrive at the spot. Our goal here is to hike/flip a Prairie Rattlesnake and some of the famous KS Central Plains Milks.

We come up with nothing but some Great Plains Narrowmouths, a Tantilla nigriceps, and this Great Plains Ratsnake. Emoryi are always a treat, as I come from Illinois. Next to the Coachwhip, a GPR is considered the second rarest snake in the state.

Great Plains Rat Snake
ImageGreat Plains Rat Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Upon leaving this spot having seen no basking viridis, we hypothesize that they must've long since moved away from the hibernacula by now. We're about to turn onto our main road to the next series of spots when I spot this young Prairie Rattlesnake on the side of the road.

Prairie Rattlesnake
ImagePrairie Rattlesnake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Our next few hours are spent stopping at road cuts, and looking for board lines and tin. We find a really gnarly GPR at a road cut, but don't bother to photograph him. The next stop was a small board line that produced our first of what would be 22 Milks over the next couple days.

Central Plains Milk Snake
ImageCentral Plains Milk Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

We head into our nearest city to gas up, but more importantly for some good food and celebratory afternoon brews. I call up Chad Whitney and let him know how we've done so far. The Kansas Snake Man was not pleased to hear that we were sitting on our butts during prime cruising time. So we finished up our meal, busted ass out of there, and high-tailed it to our road. On the way to our road, we got the usual bullsnakes, plains garters, and a dead speckled king. This road was supposed to be a hot-spot for Massasaugas, which were what I wanted to see the most. Sure enough, it didn't take more than a few minutes of cruising before we had it. Very seldom do I jump up and down like a toddler when I get stoked about herps, but this was one of those times. I have a special place in my heart for Massasaugas of all varieties.

Western Massasauga Rattlesnake
ImageWestern Massasauga Rattlesnake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

We got our shots, called it a night, and headed back to our hotel. Evening and night cruising was out of the question as it was still pretty chilly this time of year. The next day was our milk day. We headed straight for a HUGE open area to flip rocks all morning. It was really remarkable. I herp glades in MO a lot. This was like the ideal glade. Rolling hills as far as the eye could see, generously seasoned with the most perfect large, flat rocks.

First up was this neat little Cenral Plains Narrowmouth
ImageGreat Plains Narrow Mouth Toad by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

I really wish I would have spent more time with this Speckled King Snake we found. Or any of the dozen we ended up seeing. The holbrooki in Kansas are just insane. This snake specifically was breathtaking, and I got nothing but terrible shots of it, so they don't do it justice.

Speckled King Snake
ImageSpeckled King Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Next in line was this gorgeous little Central Plains Milk
ImageCentral Plains Milk Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

This Texas Horned Lizard was a nice treat. We saw him out on the crawl. Silly animals, these lizards are.
ImageTexas Horned Lizard by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Collared Lizards were very, VERY abundant here. I'm talking almost every single rock harbored a Crotaphytus. Insane.
ImageEastern Collared Lizard by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Seen but not photographed at this location: Lined Snakes, Plains Black Headed Snakes, Great Plains Skinks

After this location, we met up with Chad Whitney and his beautiful dog Ruby. Chad showed took us to flip some tin, boards, rocks, etc. You know the drill.

Our first tin site produced several milks, including this interesting individual
ImageCentral Plains Milk Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Also seen here was a big, healthy Great Plains Rat, a few Speckled Kings, and this Red-Sided Garter Snake
ImageCrazy red Garter Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

The next spot produced a couple Great Plains Rats, but one of them was an insane snake. My dad is an oldschool herp guy. And he always tells me the same story about this green emoryi he and Steve Karsen found in Iron County, Missouri. He said it was green. I've seen several emoryi, and I could just never wrap my mind around a green emoryi; I just assumed he was telling fish stories. Until we flipped a big ass board that was hiding a GREEN emoryi! I couldn't believe my old man was telling the truth! Green emoryi. Never thought I'd see the day. But, of course, my camera didn't quite capture how green this snake was. Either Justin or Kyle took photos that really show off the green.

Great Plains Rat Snake
ImageGreat Plains Rat Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Back to rock-flippin'! Our first flip on this hillside was a pretty, young Ornate Box Turtle
ImageOrnate Box Turtle by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

This next Central Plains Milk was really something else. It was about as big as they come, but the colors were really special. Pumpkin orange that faded laterally to a lighter, pastel orange, and finished yellow. It was a snake that impressed even the milk-man himself!
ImageCentral Plains Milk Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

We ended up flipping many more milks here, as well as some speckled kings, and another great plains rat snake. After this, we followed Chad to some more tin, some more boards, and more rocks. Producing another ten or so milk snakes, even after hours when the lot of us were shivering in the cool night air. Brought our milk total to right at 20. We said our goodbyes, and went back to home base for the obligatory Mexican feast and a good nights rest.

The following morning we headed back east. After a couple hours in the car, closing in on the Missouri border, Kyle and I started seeing some really incredible habitat right off the interstate. I said to Kyle "you want to pull over and flip if we see more of that at the next exit?" Kyle was all over it. So we made a quick pit stop, left sleepy Justin in the car, and hiked up the steep hill to flip a few rocks. We didn't spend more than 20 minutes there and flipped two milks. One that looked exactly like a typical Central Plains Milk, and then this individual. We got a kick out of this snake because it looked just like the Red Milks we find back home. A good way to end the trip.

Central Plains X Red Milk Snake
ImageCentral Plains X Red Milk Snake Intergrade by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Back home the herping slowed way, way down. Nothing but copperheads and rat snakes. Though, James Mick and I flipped this amazing little Red Milk. However, in typical Illinois fashion, the humidity fogged up my lens and ruined all my shots.

Red Milk Snake
ImageRed Milk Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Took a hike on a gloomy day and saw a few of these pretty ladies tucked in the grass

Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes
ImageEastern Massasauga Rattlesnake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr
ImageEastern Massasauga Rattlesnake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

The first weekend of June, Peter Paplanus and I decided we had been cooped up for too long. But it was too hot down south, so we made the long journey north to my favorite spot for Plains Hognose snakes. Our buddy Jim was meeting us, along with Sean Childers and family. It was bound to be a great day. We ended up seeing 3 Plains Hognose, a couple Ornate Box Turtles, a racer, and a big nasty garter snake. Though, sadly, we didn't manage to put an end to Peter's Bullsnake curse.

Plains Hognose Snake
ImagePlains Hognose Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Eventually the group split up. Sean and company went home, while Pete and I followed Jim up into Northeastern Iowa to have a look at his habitat restoration project area, which you can read more about on their website www.herpjournal.com.

As we're rolling up to the area, Jim slows down as we pass an outcrop near the road and says they'd found a timber there before. I gave it a quick look and said "you mean like that one right there?" Sure enough, there was a nice gravid female rooking right there next to the road. Super cool. The lighting was super harsh, so none of my photos turned out. We saw one more timber, heard another, and moved along to the better hillside. Here we saw some beautiful orange Timbers.

Peter sat down to call his wife, and after a minute or so called me over and said "There's a timber here right in front of me, Chad. You're gonna like this one."

Pete was right. I did like this one.
ImageTimber Rattlesnake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Shortly thereafter, Jim had spotted another just 10 yards down the hill
ImageTimber Rattlesnake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

After seeing 5-6 more timbers, we finished the day with this sub-adult
ImageTimber Rattlesnake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

All in all, we encountered 11 timbers that day. A new personal best for me. However, the most special thing about the day was without a doubt getting to see these snakes in areas they'd never used before thanks to the habitat restoration efforts by Jim and friends. They had just started the project this winter before the snakes emerged, and already we got to see the snakes benefitting from it first hand. Awesome experience.

Feeling a bit badly for promising Peter a bullsnake and not delivering, I brought him up to Sean's hood to show him some Chi-raq snakes; most of which were lifers for him. We started off nicely with this goofy Eastern hognose.
ImageEastern Hognose by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

At this same spot, we must have seen 6 six-seven foot bullsnake sheds all in one teeny tiny area in a powerline cut. Before I could finish exclaiming that I had just found the biggest bullsnake shed I've ever seen, I would find a bigger one. Yet, none of the owners were found. It took a lot of work, but eventually we did get peter his lifer Bullsnake. It was an ugly juvenile with a missing eye.

We flipped this Smooth Green Snake under a small board. Always a welcome sight.
ImageSmooth Green Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

We were having a tough time, and not finding much. It hadn't rained there in a week, and had been pretty hot. So our lack of snakes made sense. We arrive at a very famous spot in the area and I said "I've found plenty of bulls here. And this is where a lot of the Eastern Milks I've seen have come from." To which Edward retorts "It's probably too dry for milks." And he was right. But I have a hidden board that is wholly overlooked by a majority of the people that frequent this spot, and I knew it wouldn't let me down. Sure enough, hiding under this board was a healthy Eastern Milk Snake.

Eastern Milk Snake
ImageEastern Milk Snake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Last week Ron Kernan and I encountered this lovely Copperhead mutt
ImageCopperhead Intergrade by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

With this most recent excursion, we had Western Pigmies in mind. A large group of us met up and visited a spot known by the lot of us to have a very thick population of pigmies and timbers. We got started early, but didn't see our first pigmy until about 11am. It was a tiny little emaciated neonate. Shortly thereafter, we found a big healthy individual in shed. My lifer from earlier this year was a neonate. So I was happy to see a big one. On the way back to the car, we pass back through a quarry that we've already hit when Matt starts shouting. He walked up this BEAUTIFUL adult Western Pigmy Rattlesnake.

Here it is in-situ:
ImageWestern Pigmy Rattlesnake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

Western Pigmy Rattlesnake
ImageWestern Pigmy Rattlesnake by Chad Harrison, on Flickr

That's all for now, folks. I'll see you in the fall. Thanks for reading!

- Chad
User avatar
Jeff
Posts: 620
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 6:01 am
Location: Louisiana

Re: Spring and Summer finds 2016: Kansas, Missouri, and Illi

Post by Jeff »

That's all for now, folks.
Thank heaven! Snakegasm!

Jeff
ChadHarrison
Posts: 139
Joined: June 29th, 2012, 1:45 pm
Location: Illinois

Re: Spring and Summer finds 2016: Kansas, Missouri, and Illi

Post by ChadHarrison »

Jeff wrote:
That's all for now, folks.
Thank heaven! Snakegasm!

Jeff
Ha! Thanks, Jeff.
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dwakefield
Posts: 122
Joined: February 18th, 2015, 11:11 am
Location: Deerfield Beach, Florida
Contact:

Re: Spring and Summer finds 2016: Kansas, Missouri, and Illi

Post by dwakefield »

Those are some awesome finds, Chad! Especially that interesting little Speckled King, quite the specimen. Also really love your wide angle, habitat shots.
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Jeff
Posts: 620
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 6:01 am
Location: Louisiana

Re: Spring and Summer finds 2016: Kansas, Missouri, and Illi

Post by Jeff »

You mentioned Steve Karsen. I contracted him on a project close to 20 years ago that had him crawling through the steamy, bug-infested swamp margins around New Orleans. He was untiring in his efforts, and this while he had a family and was earning a Masters Degree.

Once again, I really enjoyed the views of a part of the country that I have rarely invaded, as well as species that I have yet to see (now there's some optimism), or haven't seen in decades (Bullsnakes in Montana in the early 1980s).

Jeff
ChadHarrison
Posts: 139
Joined: June 29th, 2012, 1:45 pm
Location: Illinois

Re: Spring and Summer finds 2016: Kansas, Missouri, and Illi

Post by ChadHarrison »

Jeff wrote:You mentioned Steve Karsen. I contracted him on a project close to 20 years ago that had him crawling through the steamy, bug-infested swamp margins around New Orleans. He was untiring in his efforts, and this while he had a family and was earning a Masters Degree.

Once again, I really enjoyed the views of a part of the country that I have rarely invaded, as well as species that I have yet to see (now there's some optimism), or haven't seen in decades (Bullsnakes in Montana in the early 1980s).

Jeff
Steve is quite the character. I've only met him a couple times in my adult life; but he and my father were an inseparable duo in the 80's and 90's in Southern Illinois. Steve moved to South Korea shortly after I was born, but has returned home for short periods of time here and there. The man is a wealth of knowledge, and still as untiring and dedicated as you remember; a machine, you could say! If you're not already familiar with his discovery of Karsenia koreana, knowing Steve as you do, I'm sure you'll get a kick out of this article.

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/rele ... orea.shtml
NACairns
Posts: 372
Joined: December 30th, 2013, 7:27 am

Re: Spring and Summer finds 2016: Kansas, Missouri, and Illi

Post by NACairns »

Beautiful post from a beautiful part of the world, you did really well on milk's. Loved the photos. Can't wait to get back to Kansas one of these days.
Thanks for sharing.
Nick
ChadHarrison
Posts: 139
Joined: June 29th, 2012, 1:45 pm
Location: Illinois

Re: Spring and Summer finds 2016: Kansas, Missouri, and Illi

Post by ChadHarrison »

Thanks all, for the kind words!
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