6-5-17

Trip Details

Location: Linn County, Iowa

Weather: 75 degrees, clear skies

Time: 7:00 pm

Herpers: Laura and Jim Scharosch

Account by: Jim Scharosch

Photos by: Jim Scharosch

Laura and I went out to check a survey site in Linn county. We saw a handful of common garter snakes but nothing else. We stopped off at another site that I had only been to a few times. I had yet to find anything here, but we were bored and wanted to spend a little more time outside on a beautiful evening.

We flipped a board and a bunch of garters scattered. One caught my eye and I snagged it. It was a Plains Garter Snake (Thamnophis radix).

We don't see a ton of these guys around Linn county so I grabbed a couple of photos. I didn't notice that it was in the process of pooping in this photo, which was the only photo I got of the otherwise uncooperative snake.

We also found this Fox Snake (Pantherophis vulpinis).

It was an adult snake, just under three feet long.

I rarely stop to photograph Brown Snakes (Storeria dekayi) because we see so many of them.

I'm not sure why this one caught my eye.

That was it, not a big snake night, but it was nice to get out and I always like to see fox snakes. It as also nice to find stuff at a site where I hadn't seen anything previously, and finding plains garters there is a cool bonus.