Last year I made my first trip to Snake Road. I found a bunch of "easy lifers" like a Ribbon Snake, Cricket Frogs, Cave Salamanders, Yellowbelly Water Snakes, etc. This year I made the trip again, hoping to find some of the trickier "lifers" as well as get reacquainted with Snake Road's more common residents.

The trip went something like this:

THURSDAY
I arrived Thursday at around noon. The temperatures were in the low 80's. I checked out some artificial cover along the way, and found my first snake of the trip - a freshly shed Western Ribbon Snake.


Shortly afterwards I found this Yellowbelly Water Snake underneath a tire.


A ventral shot.


I then figured it was time to get to my destination.


When pulling into the parking lot, I got the feeling that maybe there were already some other herpers on the road.


Cricket Frogs could be encountered in decent numbers in puddles in the parking lot, as well as in other areas along Snake Road where there was shallow standing water.


Eventually I made it onto Snake Road.


This is the kind of thing that a lot of first-timers want to see. I saw a total of 10 Cottonmouths on day 1.


Sometimes when you approach them, they do this.


Hey, what are those people down the road looking at?


Answer: Big millipede.


This is always a fine sight to see.


Everybody likes Rough Green Snakes.


Some Yellowbelly Water Snakes have coppery coloration on their neck and chin.


Did you know that they bite?


A swamp-side view.


Longtail Salamanders were not hard to find if you looked in likely places.


This Cottonmouth seemed to be actively foraging along the bluff.


Sometimes when the first emerge from the swamp they have a light duckweed coating.


Plains Leopard Frog.


I thought it was cool to see this little Ringneck doing a road crossing.


Fence Lizards aren't terribly common in the area and they are quite skittish.


My hike had come to a conclusion and as I drove back on the levee on the banks of the Muddy River, I spotted a large snake up ahead in the distance crossing the road. As the car approached, the snake made an abrupt U-turn and headed off the road and back down the bank. But I caught that thing - my first "lifer" of the trip - a Diamondback Water Snake.


It was a great way to end the day.


FRIDAY
It was in the low 80's again and looked like it would stay that way for the next few days. There is a profusion of fruitfly-sized bugs that swarm the faces of Snake Road visitors. They don't bite, I think they are attracted to sweat. But they sure are annoying.

The first snake of the day was this young Eastern Garter seen crossing the road.


The bank of the Muddy River.


Central Newt (lifer).


When viewed from above baby Cottonmouths can look an awful lot like Copperheads.


Cottonmouth courtship in the bluffs.


Striped snake skin.


This pool of water between the road and the bluffs is where a lot of herps have been seen over the years.


Like this Yellowbelly Water Snake.


A sweet-looking Ribbon Snake with a dorsal stripe that was almost red in color.


The first Cottonmouth of the day looked like it had been feeding well. I saw 15 in total on Friday.


A young Cottonmouth basking in direct contact with an adult.


This was the smallest water snake (a Yellowbelly) I'd seen so far on Snake Road. Thanks Matt.O and psyon for the ID!


That night I did some roadhunting and found this Shawnee King.


This young Yellowbelly was out too.


The third DOR Rat Snake I've seen in the last two days. I hope to see a live one before the weekend is over.


SATURDAY (TODAY)
By 10:00AM there were quite a few visitors on Snake Road.


I decided to focus my morning efforts on finding amphibians. The first one found was a "lifer" - Bird-voiced Treefrog.


I then thought I'd check in on some Cave Salamanders.



A funky-looking Fowler's Toad.


Tiny Treefrog.


Adam & Eve Orchids.


A number of the herp "usual suspects" were present, including:

Rough Green Snakes.


Southern Leopard Frogs.


Western Ribbon Snakes.


Yellowbelly Water Snakes.


Some harder-to-find herps turned up as well. A tiny Worm Snake.


Mississippi Green Water Snake.


An ultra-rare white stripe morph of Western Cottonmouth.


Aquatic turtles are very wary and difficult to get good photos of, but this "empty shell" was easy to get a shot of.


A Pickerel (I think).


Even if you're not finding stuff, climbing and exploring the limestone bluffs is pretty fun.


I found this huge Yellowbelly Water Snake while searching in the bluffs.


My friends from the Greater Cincinnati Herp Society showed up.


I sure was glad to finally see one of these guys alive and well (Black Rat Snake).


The highlight of the day was this Red Milksnake.



I returned in the evening for one last look at Snake Road.


Copperhead.


A large and ill-tempered Eastern Garter Snake.


A young Yellowbelly Water Snake found on the levee.


It was a herping weekend that was hard to beat!

Tim

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