On our way up from Knoxville to the Evolution meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Premal Shah, Dylan Dittrich-Reed, and me decided to stop off at the Kankakee Sands Preserve in Newton County, Indiana, close to where I grew up. The target was a bullsnake and we were not disappointed.
For the first hour or so, we saw only racerunners and the occassional frog (northern leopard frogs, bullfrogs, and green frogs). We did find two bullsnake skins at one site but no snakes. Then at Conrad Station we hit gold and found three milksnakes and a bullsnake wihtin 10 minutes. The bullsnake was quite large measuring in at around 70". We also found four plains gartersnakes.
Totals:
Rana pipiens (Northern Leopard Frog) Several Rana clamitans melanota (Northern Green Frog) Several
Rana catesbeiana (American Bullfrog) Several
Aspidoscelis s. sexlineata (Six-lined Racerunner) 10+
Thamnophis radix (Plains Gartersnake) 4
Lampropeltis t. triangulum (Eastern Milksnake) 3
Pituophis catenifer sayi (Bullsnake) 1
Some photographs:
Lampropeltis t. triangulum (Eastern Milksnake)
Lampropeltis t. triangulum (Eastern Milksnake)
Lampropeltis t. triangulum (Eastern Milksnake)
Premal and Dylan holding the catch.
The catch biting back against Dylan.
Pituophis catenifer sayi (Bullsnake)
Pituophis catenifer sayi (Bullsnake)
Premal and Dylan holding the bullie.
Nearly 70 inches of snake.