5-7-12

Trip Details

Location: Buchanan and Linn Counties, Iowa

Weather: Clear skies, 74 degrees. Low Wind.

Time: 4:30 p.m.

Herpers: Jim Scharosch

Account by: Jim Scharosch

Photos by: Jim Scharosch

Another quick after work trip. Went to a spot I have been visiting for the last couple of years. Haven't seen a lot here, but there have been a number of juvenile fox snakes. I keep going back because I know sooner or later I will find an adult fox snake and milk snakes.

Early on this Easter Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) turned up.

I have been working with some new accessories for my camera, so all snakes are fair game for photos right now. This snake was sixteen inches long. I thought this log would be a nice spot to pose it, but after one picture it bailed off the log into the tall grass and was gone. That's explains the nice background and the terrible photo.

Another eastern garter, this time an in-hand shot.

Soon after, surprise, a juvenile Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina).

It was in shed, and wouldn't sit still, so another in-hand shot.

I turned all of the larger rocks where I would expect to find an adult fox snake with no luck. I moved on to check the last large rock and got a triple. First, another eastern garter snake.

Second, another juvenile fox snake.

Third, a Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum).

It was a young adult, just under two feet long. So now I have finally found a milk snake at this spot.

After photos and releases, on the way back to the car I stopped to turn a large rock I had missed. There was the adult fox snake I knew would eventually turn up.

It was a nice light color, and about twenty-eight inches long.

On my way home I decided to stop off at another quick spot, this one in Linn County. I turned up seven eastern garters, but didn't take any photos.

I found two Brown Snakes (Storeria dekayi) and took a couple of in-situ pics of the smaller one for the sake of diversity on this post. It was a tiny snake, maybe seven inches long.

One of the last rocks I turned held an easter garter snake and a Plains Garter Snake (Thamnophis radix).

I don't see all that many plains garters, so I took a couple of pics. It was a small one, around twelve inches long.

That was it for the day. A nice short trip that accomplished a few goals. Gotta like that.