10-23-16

Trip Details

Location: Benton county, Iowa

Weather: High of 68 degrees, mostly sunny

Time: 4:00 p.m.

Herpers: Laura and Jim Scharosch

Account by: Jim Scharosch

Photos by: Jim Scharosch (except where noted)

Photo by Laura Scharosch

Laura and I went to my spot in Benton county to see if anyone was hanging out this late in the season. It was a warm day after a stretch of a couple cold days so I was expecting we would see a couple of garter snakes and maybe some brown snakes.

We started off with a Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum) instead.

It was a very nice milk, I really like the ones with the heavy black outlines on the saddles. It was just under two feet long.

We found a garter or two, then Laura turned a rock and said, "nothing", then "oops, a milk snake!"

Not sure how she missed it on her first look. It was a big snake under a small rock. It was a bit over two feet long.

A bit further up the hill I found another milk, this one in an area I don't find milks very often.

Photo by Laura Scharosch

Photo by Laura Scharosch

I like when milks have some red coloration on the ventral side.

That was it for the day. My three previous mentioned that I was probably done for the year, but this coming Saturday is looking to be unseasonably warm...