Weather: Sunny. Around 76 degrees. Medium wind.

Location: Linn Co. Iowa

Herpers: Matt Ricklefs

Account and photos by: Matt Ricklefs

Thought of the Day: CINCO DE SNAKES!!

I had some time to get out quickly after work. I had just gotten back from Kansas, and Jim was about to leave for Missouri. I have much of my time in May spoken for, for non-herp stuff so I was trying to get out every chance I got. I went to an area not far away and checked a few things. In a field I found a rather dark and pretty Racer (Coluber constrictor).

In this area they are highly variable and can show characteristics of both the Blue Racer and the Eastern Yellowbelly Racer. I will defer actually defining species and genetics to others as there are many views on this. This was a welcome find. I always like racers, but I especially like to find them around here as they are not as commonly found. This one was about fifteen inches long.

My next stop was my “milk snake spot” and it did not disappoint. I found one Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum) that was about seventeen inches.

I took some pictures and let it on its way. I decided to look around a little more as usually I hit this area and head out. I had forgotten there was one other area that may still pay off. This area has gone through many changes and fairly recently has “re-settled” from human disturbance. My “new” spot did pay off. I found two more Milk Snakes.

The first milk.

The second milk.

One was about fourteen inches and the other was about eleven inches. The smallest was difficult to get to pose, so I only got a few fair shots of it.

I tried one more spot, but only found a juvenile Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) about seven inches long.

I still got a few pictures since I had some other things to report. Ironically, this got me my fifth snake of the day even though I did not put the significance together until later. A nice way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!!

Not bad for a quick trip out.

Spring is here, albeit a little late.

Happy Herpin'