I took my nephew and two of his friends on their first snake hunt last weekend. Looking at the pictures afterwards, i was struck by how similar my friends and i must have looked on our trips nearly 50 years ago.
Our trip was to a spot on the Licking River in north-central Kentucky. There's a spillway just north of the bridge, and the stream is often several feet shallower than it was this weekend. That leaves hundreds of flat rocks at water's edge, and water snakes are often abundant.
Although our search sites were radically reduced by the higher water, it wasn't long before i turned a baby Queen Snake (Regina septemvitttata).
And then the boys began finding babies on their own. In a little more than half an hour they found one baby Northern Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon), half a dozen more baby Queen Snakes, and a baby Eastern Garter Snake. I'd found dozens of the first two species on past trips to this site, but had never seen a Garter Snake there. Temps were low 70s around noontime, btw, and in 40s overnight.
The happy hunters, left to right: My nephew Bobby and his friends Kegan and Brandan. They're sixth graders. Their catches were observed and released.
It's worth noting this is one of those rare situations where a great collecting site still exists half a decade after it was first enjoyed. Sadly, it seems, that's seldom the case. There's a spot in the boys' hometown that boasted a clear freshwater spring; the stream running from it was often occupied by a dozen or more box turtles at some times of year. It's now under 50 feet of fill dirt topped by a church and apartments. We drove past that spot on the way home and i was reminded to appreciate our special river spot even more. Maybe I've created some future herpetologists: they wanted to know more, and as soon as i finish posting this I'm off to Amazon to order Bobby a Peterson Field Guide.
peace
terry
