Diamond-backed Watersnake (Nerodia rhombifer rhombifer)
This was a very nice area! It was actually quite flooded from all of the recent rains, so only two of the roads were open.
Before too long, we realized it was going to be snake after snake after snake! We were stopping every few feet it seemed! Most of these were garter snakes and were off the road before I could catch them, the water snakes were a little more cooperative:
I was lookig ahead and thought I saw some dirt move, it of course wasn't dirt!
Western Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus)
We continued looking:
We kept an eye on the water as well and noticed this beaver:
I was texting my friend and he said to look for kings along the shore and I was telling Nikki about this and I pointed along the shore and grabbed this:
Speckled Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula holbrooki)
I was finally able to catch a garter:
Plains Gartersnake (Thamnophis radix)
There were more than just snakes:
Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii)
We were getting hungry so we went into town to get some food. we weren't quite sure what we wanted to do, we still hadn't got any large water snakes, they were all smaller ones and we also really wanted to see a Prairie King and possibly a Crayfish Snake. We decided to go back to the wetland and try that for a while.
Woodhouse's Toad (Anaxyrus woodhousii woodhousii)
And finally!
It was starting to get dark and we were close to the time we had determined to cruise until before changing locations. We decided to head out of the wetland. Nikki really wanted to find a Prairie King and we were kind of bummed about not finding one, when I saw a brownish orange glow in the headlights! I jumped out and sure enough!
Prairie Kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster calligaster)
We basked in the glory for a little while and then headed to the other road we planned on cruising. It was closed less than a mile in and we were seeing nothing, so we went back to the motel and went to bed.
We got up early and headed out towards the Colorado border, didn't find much other than this:
Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata ornata)
We found a few DOR Bullsnakes on the way home, but not much else. It was a very nice trip and there was a lot of fun had!
Here is the video version!
Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think!
Josh