2016 Wisconsin, Texas, MO, IL
Posted: March 7th, 2017, 11:31 pm
After hours and hours of research on places to herp in 2017, I figured it was time to take a break this winter and do a 2016 post.
2016 would turn out to be a big year for me. I had my first child (Going to do my best to add another herper to the list) and made trips to Texas and the Ozarks.
Season started slow in WI with an Eastern Garter looking for a meal of Green Frogs by a pond here in SE WI.
7995 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
After the first spring rains, it was time to go check a vernal pond for Spotted and Blue Spotted Salamanders. The spot did not disappoint! Sometimes, as many as 15 Spotted Salamanders can be flipped under one log.
8021 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8036 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8047 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8068 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
In late March, it was finally time to go on our annual big herping adventure (with Jake Pammer, Ben Scott, and John Burris). We started this group in 2015 with an awesome trip to Kansas. This year the plan was to go all over Texas. So, we packed all our gear and started our 17 hour drive to Houston.
We made our first stop in Arkansas to take a break from the driving. This Cypress Swamp area was a great first stop and did not disappoint.
Broad-Banded Watersnake
8135 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Plainbelly Watersnake
8138 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Western Rat Snake
8143 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
These Southern Black Racers must have just come out of hibernation and wanted to soak up the rays in a tree. We saw 6 basking in one low tree.
8155 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8157 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8180 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
We were hoping to get a Mud Snake on our stop but struck out. So, we continued on and rolled into Houston late that night.
Big shout out to John Williams for giving me some pointers on how to herp the Houston area, because we had a great morning/afternoon. We couldn’t stay long because we had to make it all the way down to Brownsville by the end of the night for the real targets of the trip. I know taxonomy has changed on many of the snakes I am posting. But, I will use some of the older taxonomy to give a better idea of the areas we searched.
We started our morning with Jake flipping this Southern Copperhead
8184 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8199 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Also, a Rough Earth Snake
8202 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
A little later, we drove to the outskirts of town to what looked like a great flip site on google earth. But, it seemed like the area was mostly cleaned up. Right when we were about to leave, Ben Scott surprised us with this pretty little Louisiana Milksnake that he flipped under a toilet seat.
8213 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Our last stop in the Houston area had one purpose, finding a Buttermilk Racer. This is a snake I always wanted to see as a kid. I flipped a couch that looked great, but had nothing under it. So, I decided to take a break and search closer to water to see if any nerodia were out and about. After walking back to the flipping area, I see John Burris flipping the same couch I had flipped a few minutes earlier. Sure enough, he yells Buttermilk and the chase was on. Luckily, we were able to secure the target and had the exact look of the Buttermilk I grew up wanting to find.
8216 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8224 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
I promised Jake that we would spend some of the afternoon looking for some fossils along the coast. With the main target of Houston found, we searched an area near Texas City (I didn’t think a town could be dirtier than Homestead Florida) and struck out on any cool fossils. But, we did manage to find, I’m assuming, a Santeria site with a bunch of headless Roosters (photos got deleated with a corrupted sd card on my phone ) .
After that lovely sight, we decided to make our way down to Brownsville. We did a short stop at a coastal marsh area to see if anything was moving for cruising. We were quickly greeted by this American Alligator enjoying the last of the evening sun.
8251 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Marsh Brown Snakes seemed to be the only snakes that wanted to cross the road that evening
8256 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
But, right before leaving, we found this Graham’s Crayfish Snake crossing the road.
8261 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Finally, we made it to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Obviously, our main targets were Texas Indigos and Speckled Racers. The habitat around that area is very unique. I loved seeing how dry scrub turned into lush tropical plant habitat.
We saw loads of different lizards (I don’t have a good telephoto lens to shoot them) and plenty of Gulf Coast Ribbon Snakes at the start of the hike.
8313 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
The largest Green Anoles I have ever seen.
8280 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
And I really liked the Gulf Coast Toads
8307 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
After hours of searching John Burris spotted the target!
Speckled Racer
8284 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8288 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8294 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
After the photos we decided to head out and check out possible flip sites around the town. Flipping an old tire produced this Texas Patchnose Snake. The darn thing wouldn’t sit still for better pics.
8314 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
We decided to get out of the car and hike around for a bit hoping to find a WDB or Indigo and Jake got distracted photographing a hawk or something. We impatiently waited for him to be done and gave him an ear full about how we need to cover as much ground as possible. So, we all got back in the car and everyone pretty much got over the top excited about what we saw stretched out 50 yards ahead on the road. I guess Jake's hawk photo session timed this one perfectly.
Texas Indigo
8357 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
He was around 7’ and had some wicked scars. I always hoped my first Indigo would be a monster.
8343 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
A nice addition to the day was our lifer Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.
8372 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
The next day we left Brownsville, probably should have stayed another day, and headed to the Barrier Islands with hopes to find Milks and Kings. We were not able to find much to flip, but did manage to turn up a couple of Coachwhips.
Western Coachwhip #1
8401 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Jake sporting a hat you can only wear in Texas (John Burris in the background)
8402 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Western Coachwhip #2
8408 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8414 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8416 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
One thing that pissed me off in Texas, some of the State Natural Areas didn’t open to the public until April. I wish they would have mentioned this online when I was doing my research. Therefore, even though it was too early for most of the good stuff, we decided to take a shot at West Texas. It was a lot of hiking and driving but we did turn up a few cool species.
Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes
8436 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8464 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8476 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Greater Texas Earless Lizard
8444 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Arid-Land Ribbon Snake
8452 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
And my absolute favorite find, a young Trans-Pecos Copperhead!
8428 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
We had one day left, so we decided to go for the Broad-Banded Copperhead. This would have completed all the copperheads for me and should have been an easy find with all the stuff we flipped. Alas, we struck out on the Broad-Banded but managed to get some other cool finds.
Texas Brown Snake
8482 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Texas Patchnose Snake
8502 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Texas Alligator Lizard
8509 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Well, it was time for the long drive home. I will definitely plan an early summer trip to West Texas in the future. We did one last stop on the way home to a MO Glade and I was able to flip my lifer Western Worm Snake. But, the damage people have done to that glade makes me sick. There were half crushed Ringnecks that were still alive under some of the rocks.
Western Worm Snake
8517 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
After 8,000 miles of driving we were back home, and it didn’t take long for Wisconsin to start producing.
Bullsnakes
8550 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8557 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8574 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8587 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Blue Racers
8535 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9238 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Prairie Ringneck Snakes
8603 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
A quick trip down near Chicago to get my lifer Chicago Garter Snake
8630 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
And, a Common Snapping Turtle
8642 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
I had to take a quick trip to a favorite Eastern Fox Snake spot.
8653 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8656 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
I started herping with Garret Adamek and had a great spring hiking with him here in WI. Here are a couple of Timber Rattlesnakes from our first outing.
8668 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8699 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8705 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Ugly Eastern Fox Snake from SW WI
8730 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Smooth Softshell Turtles
8712 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Eastern Milksnake
8748 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Prairie Ringneck basking
8733 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Overall, a pretty good first in state trip. After some talking during the drive, we found out that we both herp the same area for Eastern Hognose in SE WI.
Eastern Hognose that Garret was kind enough to watch until I got to the location
8762 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8764 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Basking Common Snapping Turtle
8809 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Blanding’s Turtle with a couple of Midland Painted Turtles
8814 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Garret spotted this sweet looking Eastern Hognose
8796 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Smooth Green Snake
9207 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Huge Snapping Turtle
8839 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Pickerel Frog
8820 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Breeding Central Newts
8777 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
In past years, I spent a lot of time finding Timbers and Bullsnakes. But, this year it was time to find some of the more difficult/Endangered/Special Concern species.
(Wisconsin Endangered) Northern Ribbon Snake
8922 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
(Wisconsin Endangered) Queen Snake
8869 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
(Wisconsin Endangered) Western Slender Glass Lizard
9587 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
(Species of Special Concern) Butler’s Garter Snake
8944 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
(Species of Special Concern) Plains Garter Snake
9022 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
(Species of Special Concern) Lined Snake
8614 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
These are other cool finds of the summer.
Eastern Hognose Snakes
9174 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9417 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9429 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9454 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9461 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Smooth Green Snakes (even the gray ones)
9057 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9089 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9104 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Northern Redbelly Snakes
9132 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9472 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Eastern Garter Snakes
8611 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8916 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9324 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9536 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Midland Brown Snake
8988 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Eastern Milk Snakes
8984 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9227 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Blue Racers (IL)
9381 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9604 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Lifer Plains Hognose Snakes (IL)
9357 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9632 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Eastern Musk Turtles
9303 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9310 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Ornate Box Turtle (IL)
9392 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Momma Timbers with their young
9574 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9547 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9537 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9528 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
I had some extra vacation time so the team decided to meet up again for a Snake Road/Ozarks 4 day trip. Here are the highlights.
Had to take at least one picture of a Western Cottonmouth
9667 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Southern Black Racer (MO)
9685 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
The target of the trip, Western Pygmy Rattlesnake (MO)
9688 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9701 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Red Milk Snake
9726 wht by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9728 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Prairie Kingsnakes (IL)
9734 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9755 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
And my last snake of the year was a big find!
Kirtland’s Snake
9778 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9781 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Thanks for reading all the way to the end! It was a great year and I was happy to meet so many fellow herpers along the way. Big shout out to Jake Pammer, John Burris, Ben Scott, Garet Adamek, John Edwards, Robert Balogh, Chad Mitchell, Matt Wishard, and Peter Paplanus for an awesome year. I hope to herp with all of you again soon.
Hopefully this one will be herping with me soon!
20170222_142907 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
2016 would turn out to be a big year for me. I had my first child (Going to do my best to add another herper to the list) and made trips to Texas and the Ozarks.
Season started slow in WI with an Eastern Garter looking for a meal of Green Frogs by a pond here in SE WI.
7995 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
After the first spring rains, it was time to go check a vernal pond for Spotted and Blue Spotted Salamanders. The spot did not disappoint! Sometimes, as many as 15 Spotted Salamanders can be flipped under one log.
8021 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8036 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8047 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8068 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
In late March, it was finally time to go on our annual big herping adventure (with Jake Pammer, Ben Scott, and John Burris). We started this group in 2015 with an awesome trip to Kansas. This year the plan was to go all over Texas. So, we packed all our gear and started our 17 hour drive to Houston.
We made our first stop in Arkansas to take a break from the driving. This Cypress Swamp area was a great first stop and did not disappoint.
Broad-Banded Watersnake
8135 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Plainbelly Watersnake
8138 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Western Rat Snake
8143 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
These Southern Black Racers must have just come out of hibernation and wanted to soak up the rays in a tree. We saw 6 basking in one low tree.
8155 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8157 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8180 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
We were hoping to get a Mud Snake on our stop but struck out. So, we continued on and rolled into Houston late that night.
Big shout out to John Williams for giving me some pointers on how to herp the Houston area, because we had a great morning/afternoon. We couldn’t stay long because we had to make it all the way down to Brownsville by the end of the night for the real targets of the trip. I know taxonomy has changed on many of the snakes I am posting. But, I will use some of the older taxonomy to give a better idea of the areas we searched.
We started our morning with Jake flipping this Southern Copperhead
8184 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8199 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Also, a Rough Earth Snake
8202 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
A little later, we drove to the outskirts of town to what looked like a great flip site on google earth. But, it seemed like the area was mostly cleaned up. Right when we were about to leave, Ben Scott surprised us with this pretty little Louisiana Milksnake that he flipped under a toilet seat.
8213 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Our last stop in the Houston area had one purpose, finding a Buttermilk Racer. This is a snake I always wanted to see as a kid. I flipped a couch that looked great, but had nothing under it. So, I decided to take a break and search closer to water to see if any nerodia were out and about. After walking back to the flipping area, I see John Burris flipping the same couch I had flipped a few minutes earlier. Sure enough, he yells Buttermilk and the chase was on. Luckily, we were able to secure the target and had the exact look of the Buttermilk I grew up wanting to find.
8216 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8224 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
I promised Jake that we would spend some of the afternoon looking for some fossils along the coast. With the main target of Houston found, we searched an area near Texas City (I didn’t think a town could be dirtier than Homestead Florida) and struck out on any cool fossils. But, we did manage to find, I’m assuming, a Santeria site with a bunch of headless Roosters (photos got deleated with a corrupted sd card on my phone ) .
After that lovely sight, we decided to make our way down to Brownsville. We did a short stop at a coastal marsh area to see if anything was moving for cruising. We were quickly greeted by this American Alligator enjoying the last of the evening sun.
8251 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Marsh Brown Snakes seemed to be the only snakes that wanted to cross the road that evening
8256 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
But, right before leaving, we found this Graham’s Crayfish Snake crossing the road.
8261 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Finally, we made it to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Obviously, our main targets were Texas Indigos and Speckled Racers. The habitat around that area is very unique. I loved seeing how dry scrub turned into lush tropical plant habitat.
We saw loads of different lizards (I don’t have a good telephoto lens to shoot them) and plenty of Gulf Coast Ribbon Snakes at the start of the hike.
8313 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
The largest Green Anoles I have ever seen.
8280 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
And I really liked the Gulf Coast Toads
8307 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
After hours of searching John Burris spotted the target!
Speckled Racer
8284 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8288 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8294 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
After the photos we decided to head out and check out possible flip sites around the town. Flipping an old tire produced this Texas Patchnose Snake. The darn thing wouldn’t sit still for better pics.
8314 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
We decided to get out of the car and hike around for a bit hoping to find a WDB or Indigo and Jake got distracted photographing a hawk or something. We impatiently waited for him to be done and gave him an ear full about how we need to cover as much ground as possible. So, we all got back in the car and everyone pretty much got over the top excited about what we saw stretched out 50 yards ahead on the road. I guess Jake's hawk photo session timed this one perfectly.
Texas Indigo
8357 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
He was around 7’ and had some wicked scars. I always hoped my first Indigo would be a monster.
8343 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
A nice addition to the day was our lifer Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.
8372 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
The next day we left Brownsville, probably should have stayed another day, and headed to the Barrier Islands with hopes to find Milks and Kings. We were not able to find much to flip, but did manage to turn up a couple of Coachwhips.
Western Coachwhip #1
8401 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Jake sporting a hat you can only wear in Texas (John Burris in the background)
8402 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Western Coachwhip #2
8408 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8414 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8416 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
One thing that pissed me off in Texas, some of the State Natural Areas didn’t open to the public until April. I wish they would have mentioned this online when I was doing my research. Therefore, even though it was too early for most of the good stuff, we decided to take a shot at West Texas. It was a lot of hiking and driving but we did turn up a few cool species.
Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes
8436 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8464 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8476 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Greater Texas Earless Lizard
8444 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Arid-Land Ribbon Snake
8452 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
And my absolute favorite find, a young Trans-Pecos Copperhead!
8428 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
We had one day left, so we decided to go for the Broad-Banded Copperhead. This would have completed all the copperheads for me and should have been an easy find with all the stuff we flipped. Alas, we struck out on the Broad-Banded but managed to get some other cool finds.
Texas Brown Snake
8482 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Texas Patchnose Snake
8502 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Texas Alligator Lizard
8509 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Well, it was time for the long drive home. I will definitely plan an early summer trip to West Texas in the future. We did one last stop on the way home to a MO Glade and I was able to flip my lifer Western Worm Snake. But, the damage people have done to that glade makes me sick. There were half crushed Ringnecks that were still alive under some of the rocks.
Western Worm Snake
8517 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
After 8,000 miles of driving we were back home, and it didn’t take long for Wisconsin to start producing.
Bullsnakes
8550 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8557 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8574 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8587 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Blue Racers
8535 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9238 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Prairie Ringneck Snakes
8603 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
A quick trip down near Chicago to get my lifer Chicago Garter Snake
8630 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
And, a Common Snapping Turtle
8642 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
I had to take a quick trip to a favorite Eastern Fox Snake spot.
8653 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8656 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
I started herping with Garret Adamek and had a great spring hiking with him here in WI. Here are a couple of Timber Rattlesnakes from our first outing.
8668 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8699 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8705 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Ugly Eastern Fox Snake from SW WI
8730 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Smooth Softshell Turtles
8712 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Eastern Milksnake
8748 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Prairie Ringneck basking
8733 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Overall, a pretty good first in state trip. After some talking during the drive, we found out that we both herp the same area for Eastern Hognose in SE WI.
Eastern Hognose that Garret was kind enough to watch until I got to the location
8762 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8764 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Basking Common Snapping Turtle
8809 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Blanding’s Turtle with a couple of Midland Painted Turtles
8814 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Garret spotted this sweet looking Eastern Hognose
8796 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Smooth Green Snake
9207 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Huge Snapping Turtle
8839 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Pickerel Frog
8820 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Breeding Central Newts
8777 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
In past years, I spent a lot of time finding Timbers and Bullsnakes. But, this year it was time to find some of the more difficult/Endangered/Special Concern species.
(Wisconsin Endangered) Northern Ribbon Snake
8922 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
(Wisconsin Endangered) Queen Snake
8869 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
(Wisconsin Endangered) Western Slender Glass Lizard
9587 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
(Species of Special Concern) Butler’s Garter Snake
8944 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
(Species of Special Concern) Plains Garter Snake
9022 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
(Species of Special Concern) Lined Snake
8614 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
These are other cool finds of the summer.
Eastern Hognose Snakes
9174 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9417 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9429 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9454 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9461 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Smooth Green Snakes (even the gray ones)
9057 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9089 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9104 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Northern Redbelly Snakes
9132 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9472 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Eastern Garter Snakes
8611 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
8916 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9324 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9536 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Midland Brown Snake
8988 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Eastern Milk Snakes
8984 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9227 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Blue Racers (IL)
9381 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9604 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Lifer Plains Hognose Snakes (IL)
9357 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9632 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Eastern Musk Turtles
9303 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9310 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Ornate Box Turtle (IL)
9392 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Momma Timbers with their young
9574 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9547 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9537 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9528 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
I had some extra vacation time so the team decided to meet up again for a Snake Road/Ozarks 4 day trip. Here are the highlights.
Had to take at least one picture of a Western Cottonmouth
9667 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Southern Black Racer (MO)
9685 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
The target of the trip, Western Pygmy Rattlesnake (MO)
9688 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9701 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Red Milk Snake
9726 wht by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9728 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Prairie Kingsnakes (IL)
9734 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9755 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
And my last snake of the year was a big find!
Kirtland’s Snake
9778 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
9781 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr
Thanks for reading all the way to the end! It was a great year and I was happy to meet so many fellow herpers along the way. Big shout out to Jake Pammer, John Burris, Ben Scott, Garet Adamek, John Edwards, Robert Balogh, Chad Mitchell, Matt Wishard, and Peter Paplanus for an awesome year. I hope to herp with all of you again soon.
Hopefully this one will be herping with me soon!
20170222_142907 by Stuart Willicombe, on Flickr