Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Let's set the table a little. Yesterday was miserable, 60*F, windy, and cloudy all day. This morning was more of the same, but this afternoon the sun came out and the temps started to rise a little. I went to mow the lawn and some pathways on our 20 acre hobby farm. I also took a little time to flip a few things and only saw a brown snake. At a pond I saw a large (@four ft.) water snake, very heavy, slide into the water. Also seen were several treefrog tadpoles and some green frogs.

Didn't seem like a very good day for herping. After dinner though, I thought I might go for one more walk, just on a hunch. It was about 7:00 pm. The sun was still shining on all my little snake traps (boards, etc.) I headed straight for my favorite spot because I sometimes see a Butler's garter under this piece of tarpaper near an old rock pile. But as I approached I saw something sticking out from under the tarpaper. It was a milk snake. It was poking its head in the cracks bt. the stones the paper was on top of. The milk ended up being a gravid female which pooped on me. After looking her over, seeing she was normal for this area, I turned her loose.

Now for the second part. Excited about the find, I decided to check all my other little traps: cardboard, plywood, rocks, etc. to see what else was out. I wanted to find my first smooth green snake of the year, but to no avail. There were lots of other snakes, however: several brown snakes, four Eastern garters under one rock, three Easterns under another, and another milk snake. The sun had been warming the rocks all afternoon and these snakes were catching the last warmth of the day, except for the milk. It was under an large piece of plywood in the middle of a field. The darn thing, a subadult male, tried to bite me, a rarity for a milk.

I was really happy seeing two milks in the same day on my own property. I kept the male for pics and he's really pretty.

I don't have any pics, yet, of today's milks, but I do have some of two milk snakes I found over by Lake Huron.

This is the hibernaculum site where I used to find lots of milks before the city bulldozed it. I found the subadult male here.

This is the rock pile of debris from construction that I found the female in front of.

This is the young male.

This is the female.

This is a close-up of the female. Hope ya' like.

TC.

Sounds like a great day.

I haven't found a smooth green snake this year yet either. I plan on changing that though because I'm going to spend some time at the Spread Eagle Barrens next week.
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Tim

Good luck next week and let us know how you do

TC

You're really lucky to have so many different species on your property. I went out to the "tubes" yesterday looking for woods. I crashed around in that tangle for 2 hours and didn't find a thing, lol. I know they're there so I'm going to keep trying. Talk to you soon,

Andrew

I know you'll find them woodies eventually. You have one of the key ingredients for a good herper = persistence. Remember, they become quite terrestrial during summer, but probably go back in the water when it gets cold at night, like the last couple. I think the females have probably laid their eggs already, but watch for them in the open fields near water anyway. (Just a little info, in case it helps.) Later,

Terry

Thanks a lot for the advice, that will help. I'll probably go out again sometime this week, I'm not exactly sure what day. I'll let you know though and we can hook up if you want. Talk to you soon,

Andrew

I'll be gone most of the rest of the week on vacation, but I hope you get your pics. Maybe next weekend

Terry