5-01-10
Photo by Matt Ricklefs
Trip Details
Start Time: 11:00 a.m.
Weather: Sunny with wind gusts of 20 mph. High of 71 degrees.
Location: Jackson County, Iowa
Herpers: Jim Scharosch & Matt Ricklefs
Account by: Matt Ricklefs
Photos by: Jim Scharosch & Matt Ricklefs
Thought of the Day: Milk! It does a body good!
There had been some good storms in the eastern half of Iowa earlier in the week and now closer to the weekend it was starting to warm up. We decided to make one day out of what is usually two different herp outings.
When we arrived at our first location, it was still a little cool, but not bad. It was also pretty muddy. At one of our usual stops we found a fairly common species in the area, A Prairie Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus arnyi).
Photos by Matt Ricklefs
This was a nice one about nine and a half inches long. As Jim checked out more of the area, I took some time to get some pictures since it was cooperating fairly well. Then we moved to the main part of this herping area.
We were about one third the ways across the hillside and I told Jim it seemed like perfect conditions to find some Milks and noted I was surprised we had not found any yet. Soon after that we got our first Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum).
Photo by Jim Scharosch
Photo by Matt Ricklefs
This one was about fifteen inches. We took some time on the pics before moving on. It was a pretty good day overall, but we had not seen any Timbers yet. Our next find was another Milk about the same size.
Photos by Jim Scharosch
Soon after we had our third, this one was a little smaller.
First photo by Jim Scharosch, second photo by Matt Ricklefs
Our hypothesis on being a good day for Milks seemed correct. However, this was not a bad guess. Under the rocks were damp but not wet so it was a good combination. Before we left the area we also found an American Toad (Bufo americanus) that I got a picture of.
Photo by Matt Ricklefs
We were a little disappointed that we did not find a Timber here, but they need to disperse a little more into this area and perhaps had not done so quite yet. Our next location would be a little better for this as we knew we would be right up to the rocks they hibernate in. We headed out.
At our next spot we cautiously approached the rocks as in this area they are more out by rock outcrops than under rocks which is more common where we just were. As we approached I was a little ahead of Jim and got to call out "Timber!" Jim wanted to see it in situ, but it started to move and didn't have far to go before it would be out of reach so I snagged it quick. It was our first Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) of the day and as expected, it was holding tight to its rocky crevice.
Photo by Jim Scharosch
It was a nice sized one at a healthy three feet. It really did not want to sit still at all so finally we let it crawl back up to its resting place in the sun.
Photo by Matt Ricklefs
Photos by Jim Scharosch
This was to be the only Timber we found this day.
Obviously there is a reason the thought of the day is what it is. Yes, we did find a lot of Milks this day. As a matter of fact the final toll was sixteen. Three at our previous spot and thirteen at this second location. As mentioned before, the conditions were ideal and this second location has yielded a lot of Milks in the past in any regard. It was still amazing. The following photos are arranged in order and really need no caption other than to say we found varying sizes (but most between fourteen to twenty inches), a few we each found within a few minutes of each other and Jim did score a nice double (the in situ shot with two right after the rock flipping is fairly evident).
Milk #4 - Photo by Jim Scharosch
Milk #5 - Photos by Jim Scharosch
Milk #6 - First two photos by Jim Scharosch, third photo by Matt Ricklefs
Milk #7 - First two photos by Jim Scharosch, third photo by Matt Ricklefs
Milk #8 - Photos by Jim Scharosch
Milk #9 - Photos by Jim Scharosch
Milk #10 - Photos by Jim Scharosch
Milk #11 - First photo by Jim Scharosch, second photo by Matt Ricklefs
Milks #12 and 13 as found- Photo by Jim Scharosch
Milk #12 - Photos by Jim Scharosch
Milk #13 - Photos by Jim Scharosch
Milk #14 - First photo by Jim Scharosch, second photo by Matt Ricklefs
Milk #15 - First photo by Jim Scharosch, second photo by Matt Ricklefs
Milk #16 - First photo by Jim Scharosch, second photo by Matt Ricklefs
We left nothing on the table as we worked this area until we really had no sun left. It was a great day overall and we look forward to coming back a little later in the spring and/or fall. We have a Kansas trip coming up soon and we'll see how we do there.
Happy herpin' until next time true believers!
