4-11-04
Weather: Mostly sunny.
Moderate wind. About 52 degrees.
Location: Jefferson County, Missouri
Herpers: Jeff LeClere, Jim Scharosch & Matt Ricklefs
Quote of the day: “The Lone Prairie”
It was Easter. We had planned to stop and meet another herper in central Missouri, but the weather was much cooler than we had hoped for, and with the long drive home, which was even longer for Jeff, we decided to high-tail it home. We did manage to stop at one area on the side of the road that looked pretty good. It had some old buildings, some junk and a small pond. It paid off.
We stopped and Jeff got out and pick up a Prairie King Snake (Lampropeltis c. calligaster).
Just like that. It was in some grass with its tail just sticking out. It did poop all over him when he grabbed it though. This one was about three feet long and was ready to shed. It was not in bad shape and we did get it to pose nicely.
That was it for our trip. We went the rest of the way home with no further finds.As this is the end of our trip, this is a good spot for special thanks. Jim and I would like to say thanks to both Jeff and Mike. Jeff has been a long time friend and Mike is a new friend that we wish to build a continued friendship with. We had a great time. We are indebted to Mike for taking us to such cool spots. Jeff has also shared sites with us and both have a lot of knowledge to share and we can only hope that we add to their knowledge in some way. We met Jeff when he was younger and had a passion for herps to rival ours. Since then, he has not only maintained this passion, but has continued to learn and has developed a high level of knowledge of herpetology. It’s great to find and associate with herpers with whom we share the same passion, ethics and sense of humor. This makes for great field trips, and we hope for many more.
Happy Herping!!
