Iowa Reptiles

Arizona Herps!

2011-06-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

We took a mission trip to Arizona and while we were there I also was always on the prowl for local herp species. Here are a few of the ones we found...

Pictured above are two different Horned Lizards, a six-lined skink, a collard lizard and a gopher snake. It was great to see species that I don't normally get to see or hold!

Another Brown

2011-06-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Today I went to an area I had been before that had a strong population of T. Radix but I only found this one Storeria Dekayi. The park service has made this section I field herp in more pleasing to the human eye so they cleaned it up...thus destroying T. Radix habitat. That bums me out honestly. And I am not a tree hugger, but to make something asthetically pleasing to humans that is a very minimally used back section of a park is not good stewardship of the land. And it is sad how little thought for herp species is given by most Park Services. I also came across a really brightly colored catepillar of some sort. Don't know what it was though. Here are a few pics...

Storeria Dekayi

2011-06-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Went for a walk with my wife on a very hot and humid evening and took along the camera as I always do. I came across this Brown Snake and took a couple shots. Here are the pics...

Memorial Day Radix...

2011-05-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

Went on a little trip with my family in tow to some of my usual haunts. Didn't see much but was able to photograph this one gravid female ready to shed. Here are the pics...

Omaha Field Trip

2011-05-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

I got a call from one of my friends who is a much more avid herper than I. He wanted to know if I would join him going over to Omaha to look for Plains Garter Snakes. There are some varieties in patterns over there that can only be found there. I really don't normally go looking just for Garter Snakes but I thought it was a neat opportunity. We actually went looking in a neighborhood development. That was another oddity for me. But Garter Snakes are highly adaptable species (kind of like the Cockroach). They can adapt to and capitalize upon almost any environment.

Before we went on our hunt we stopped by a friend of my friend who has a real love for Plains Garter Snakes. He has a basement set up that is pretty incredible, honestly. But most striking to me was his pet snapping turtle named, "Tank." Tank has free roam of their home and he is the most docile snapping turtle you will ever come across. He loves to have his neck scratched and his front paws rubbed. His owner even gives him kisses on his beak. I was astounded.

We ended up with 82 captured snakes and we saw a total of 91 snakes. It was really incredible. I was beat by the end of the day but it was a real blast. Here are all the pics...

This was one of the prizes that we came for. It is the black and white variation that you can only find in this area of the United States. We found two females with the same pattern.

Fox Snake!

2011-05-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Went out to Banner on this beautiful evening (which was supposed to be the end of the world as we know it) to look for some snakes. It is getting pretty heavy in poison ivy now. But I have this one spot I always check, an old piece of carpet along the bike trail that has yielded a number of snakes over the years. This year it has only yielded a little Northern Water Snake and today's juvenile Fox Snake. He was a fiesty little fellow but he managed to let me get a few good shots in. Here they are...

This is the carpet I was telling you about. I always check this thing...most of the time there's nothing there, but you just never know! Today was a prime example of that.

A couple frogs...

2011-05-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

The other day was absolutely gorgeous so I left the office and went to a nearby wooded area for a stroll to see if I could spot any herps. I came across a couple different kinds of frogs. A Northern Leopard Frog and a Cricket Frog. The Cricket Frog is very small but it is adult size. Here are some of the pics...

A large Eastern Garter Snake...

2011-05-07T16:29:00.000-07:00

Went out on this fine May day and went to a couple of our normal haunts with my son Jacob. After flipping a piece of plywood, we found this 35 inch Eastern Garter Snake. He was really beautiful. My son is the one who grabbed him, and this Garter musked him big time. It was a little humorous, honestly. We walked a fence row and didn't find any thing else, but did see a bunch of milipedes under a log that were very interesting. Here are the pics...

Short trip out today...

2011-05-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

I went out on a short trip today to see if I could see anything. Only came across a couple of creatures of note...a small Northern Leopard Frog and an Eastern Garter Snake. Here are a few shots from the day...

Water Snake on a cool day!

2011-05-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

Before heading home today I stopped by Fort Des Moines County Park and took a quick stroll by the pond. Sometimes on cooler days like these the water snakes will sun themselves in the taller grass right along the water's edge so they can make a quick dive into the water if needed. That is exactly where I found this beautiful 37 inch Northern Water Snake. Here are some of the best pics...

Bull!

2011-05-01T16:39:00.000-07:00

Took my son out to Jordan Creek and on our way back I spotted this snake coming out into the road. I had to go down to the next exit and swing back to get him. He was a beautiful Bull Snake. 62 inches long. I don't normally move snakes from their habitat but he in in the middle of a major thoroughfare and would have most likely been run over. So I took him to a beautiful spot not too terribly far from where we got him that is far from roadways and it is just the kind of habitat he will love...sandy prairie! Here are the pics:

Another trip out to Banner...

2011-04-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

I spent an incredibly difficult day working outside when I wanted to be herping the whole time. I was on a farm in Truro, IA and was outdoors all day, but I had little time to herp. So, even though I was exhausted, I took a drive out to Banner when I got home, as the sun was setting. I found a couple snakes DOR (Dead On Road)...which bummed me out...one of them was a really large Eastern Garter Snake. The other was a baby Northern Water Snake. Both probably the underserved recipients of someone purposefully running them over in their vehicle.

But I also found a juvenile Eastern Garter snake alive, hunkering down for the night under a piece of plastic I flipped. Here's the pics...

Back at it!

2011-04-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

I didn't post at all in 2010. I don't know why really. I maintain another blog and had even limited my posts on that last year. But that doesn't mean I didn't do any herping.

I recently purchased the DVD Herpers! and was excited to see some of the focus on field herping. That's what I do and love. I don't proclaim to be an expert. I am just someone that loves to go out in the field and look for reptiles.

I have been out a few times this Spring already. I have caught a few snakes. I went out with my family this evening and did a little road cruising at night. I am going to put the pics of the snakes (from a few days back) and the pics from tonight here for you. I intend to do quite a bit more posting this Spring. In June I am taking a Mission Trip to Show Low, AZ and I am very excited about doing some herping out there. Here's my latest:

Plains Leopard Frog

2009-05-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

There are three types of leopard frog distributed throughout Iowa (the Southern Leopard Frog, the Northern Leopard Frog and the Plains Leopard Frog). There is another species very similar that often is labeled as a leopard frog, the Pickerel Frog.

Today I caught a little Plains Leopard Frog a good distance from the water, which is why I was able to catch him. Here are the best of the pictures I took (after I was able to get him to calm down).

Another Herp Trip

2009-05-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

Today, May 16th, was a cooler day. The high only reached 60 degrees. So in the early evening I asked my sons and their friend who was staying over if they wanted to go on a snake hunt. They were all game. I had seen a new spot recently and wanted to check it out so off we went. We mostly came across brown snakes and garters but we also saw some cool spiders. Here are the pics...

This next Eastern Garter was a beauty! She was over 30 inches long and had a real deep copper color. She was real docile as well because of how cool it was. The person holding it at the end is Noel, this was his official FIRST find on his own. He was a little hesitant but he overcame it and caught the biggest snake of the day!

Recent Herping Trips

2009-05-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a video from one of our most recent herping excursions...

Here are some pictures from that same trip:

My most recent herping trip was today (May 14, 2009). I had a little success. No video but here are the best pictures I shot:

Nice Surprise!

2009-05-03T05:16:00.000-07:00

On Friday, May 1st, we were at a local softball field at Fort Des Moines County Park getting in some practice. Afterwards we took a walk around one edge of the lake. Of course, I was on the prowl for any snake I could find.

I came across these two Northern Water Snakes sunning in the grass. They couldn't have been more than three feet apart and they were actually about ten feet or more from the shore. They were in a pile of rocks off shore.

Each snake was well over 40 inches long. The one in the photo with the dark belly was the longest (and the meanest). It was a nice find on a really pretty day!

First Herping Trip of 2009 was a bust!

2009-03-05T13:35:00.000-08:00

The cold days are limiting reptile finds...

2008-10-01T19:02:00.000-07:00

The other day I drove out to Banner. They still have a lot of the roads closed because the water is still very close to the road. But I drove around the signs anyway. I came upon a very cool find. A Smooth Softshell Turtle. It was awesome. Here are some pics I took of him...

This was an upclose shot of him. He is a rather handsome fellow. I love the snout-nose on these guys. They really are very cool creatures.

His shell was very rubbery to the touch. And the turtle actually has some limited control on movement of the plastron (especially the rear section). The coloration was a deep olive green helping him to blend into any watery environment perfectly.

Their design is perfect for fast movement through the water. They are like bullets in the water.

They can also make short, very fast spurts on land. His neck is extraordinarily long. And after a while he began to show quite a bit of displeasure from being handled. Take a look at this shot I took as he was trying to bite my face off...

Field Shots near Brown's Woods State Park

2008-07-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

Me and my son went to a place just outside of Brown's Woods Park. Actually it was a soccer field that had been recently flooded from all of our recent flooding. We had been told about a story that appeared in the paper where people were cleaning up flood debris out of this soccer field and it was littered with snakes. So we thought we should go and check this out.

We walked the outskirts of the field and only encountered a whole lot of frogs. Here's a couple of smaller American Toads we found along that walk.

From there we encountered this very fiesty Brown Snake when we flipped a trash can over.

Near the entrance of the soccer field we saw a couple of pieces of plywood in the grass. When we flipped them, we found this beautiful Fox Snake. He was around 24 inches long and had quite a fiesty spirit at first, but after a while, like most fox snakes, he calmed right down and was handled rather easily and freely.

Under the same plywood was several Eastern Garter Snakes. This one was real skittish and kept trying to hide his head under his body (something I haven't seen so much in garter snakes, but more so in racers).

All in all, we had a real good trip looking for snakes, it was just incredible hot outside. Now is a very good time of year to do "flipping" for snakes because of their tendency to lay low during the summer heat. Most snakes are more active at night during this time of year in Iowa because of the heat.

A Missouri Turtle

2008-06-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

Typically, when you think Missouri turtle you might think "Box Turtle," but I ran into one that is not in Iowa at a park we went to in Missouri today. She was in the middle of laying eggs. Check out these shots...

This is a Cooter Turtle. She was laying her eggs in some dirt right next to a roadway.

She was undeterred by our shooting photos. We didn't want to bother her too much though. So we took a few shots and then left her be.

In the same park, we also saw a hole that had been dug up where eggs had been ransacked by some foraging animal like a raccoon. I can only assume they were also Cooter Turtle eggs.

While we were there we saw a six lined skink as well. I almost caught him but he was a little too quick on the draw for me.

Some Field Shots from Earlham, Iowa

2008-06-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

A week back I was in Earlham, Iowa at a camp overnight...and of course, while I was there I did some herping. Here are some of the shots:

This is a Cope's Gray Tree Frog. There was quite a bit of calling going on between these creatures and they were very loud.

Here's another one in a small pool-like area at the end of a slide. There were lots of these frogs around this area. As I said, they were very loud.

With all the calling going on, love was in the air! One interesting attribute of the Cope's Gray Tree Frog is that they can change colors in a matter of seconds. The colors of this frog vary from bright green to gray to brown. It's pretty cool!

Here is a shot of an American Toad. These guys are plentiful in this area. They are another species that varies quite a bit in color patterns.

For another shot, look at this American Toad. He is almost black compared to the other toad I had shot. Same area, just a large variety in coloration among these toads.

Here's a little Eastern Garter Snake. You can see from his eyes that he is ready to shed. I found him by flipping an old piece of tin. Actually he was sharing the same space as the black American Toad.

This is a baby American Toad. He was so tiny. Look at the next shot...

It took me about 30 shots to get him to stay still long enough in my palm to get a shot like this. He was a really cool little toad.

These next two shots aren't herp species but they are interesting shots nonetheless...

This is an Iowa Pleistocene Snail. It is actually an endangered species in Iowa (I had no idea!), I think snails are really interesting creatures. They also make up the diet of many different herp species in Iowa!

This is some kind of a field mouse. Not sure honestly what it's actual name would be. He never tried to bite me. He had a shorter tail. The field I caught him in had been freshly mowed so it was kind of easy for me to catch him.

The final snake I caught was this Brown Snake. He too was in that freshly mowed field where the mouse was.

All in all I had a good visit to the camp in Earlham. Thought I would share these nice shots with you.

Flooded Banner

2008-06-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

I went out to Banner again today to see if I could spot any herps. I saw a few interesting things.

As you can see, the flooding displaced a lot of fish and many have met a similar fate as this one because they are in oxygen-starved pools.

One thing the flooding has done is create an absolute abundance of frogs. Look at this Bull Frog just hanging out in the murky water.

Here's another Bull Frog. This picture doesn't do him justice. He was absolutely huge. If I could have caught him, I would have but he wouldn't let me get any closer to him.

I also caught another Painted Turtle crossing the road again. He wasn't as timid as the last one I caught.

Look at this American Toad I found just sitting in the road. He was really nifty. He let me get several good shots of him and then I scooted him off the road so he would be safe.

I know this isn't a herp, but it is still incredibly cool. This is a female Wolf Spider carrying an egg sac. I saw her when I did a little flipping. She stayed still long enough for me to take several decent shots. Pretty cool find, in my opinion.

Another trip to Banner

2008-06-11T08:47:00.001-07:00

Our area has been undergoing some Flooding. I wasn't sure if I could get to Banner or not but I was able to get there, even though the park itself is closed the roads around the park are not.

So I walked around to see if I could see any herps and have some alone time with God as well. Well it wasn't too long and I came across this Painted Turtle crossing the bike path.

This was a female and I wasn't actually sure if she was gravid or not. During June the female painted turtles are looking for nice sandy soil to lay their eggs. But because of all the flooding in the area she just may be a little displaced because of that.

This shot of her plastron reveals why they are called Painted Turtles. She had a beautiful design on her shell. The carapace is usually a dark, olive green color.

I let her go from the end of the parking lot that had flooded. She swam away after a few moments, happy to be released.

Here's a shot of some of the flood damage to the bike path. It is washing out some of the areas.

This bridge usually hovers over 60 feet above this river. But the currents had actually run over the bridge. Luckily there was no washout around the bridge. It is pretty amazing damage we have been receiving because of all the flooding.

Down the trail a little further, there was some big puddles of water on the edge of the bike trail and I saw a water snake but wasn't able to catch him. Then I saw two more Northern Water Snakes and I was successful catching them.

It isn't easy dealing with two very fiesty water snakes and trying to take pictures of them all at the same time, they don't tend to be the most cooperative subjects on planet earth. I don't know why it is, but water snakes are just plain, angry snakes.

After a bit, these two calmed down a little. They still were not happy being photographed at all.

Take a look at the underbelly of these snakes. It is absolutely brilliant. Their dull, brown-gray banding on top doesn't compare at all to the beautiful markings on their underbelly. They may be angry but they sure are pretty.

On my way out I got pretty close to this Northern Leopard Frog. He was very cooperative, unlike his snake counterparts. There were gadzillions of these frogs all along the trail due to the flooding.

I had a nice journey out, and a nice talk with God too. It was a good herping day!

New Snake!

2008-05-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to try a new location other than my usual trip to Banner and it paid off! I found a spot where some debris had been dumped near a bike trail, so I decided to do some flipping. What I found was four Ring Neck Snakes. These guys were really cool. I haven't caught a Ringneck in Iowa yet (I had caught Ringnecks down in Florida as a boy though) so this was pretty cool. Here's the shots of the snakes...

Here's the worst holding container on planet earth (a lemonade glass!) but it's all I had. They were very cool-looking little creatures.

Here's the underside view of the four ringnecks. They were all very wiry and worked up. I wanted to try to get a few good shots. Most of them blurred up on me. But this wasn't too bad. You can see the color patter on their bellies ranging from a banana yellow to an almost apple red.

This one was beautiful. He had recently shed. Two of them were in opaque phase and their eyes had greyed over which means they are going to shed soon. But this guy was alert and stayed still long enough for me to get a good shot of him.

All in all, ring neck snakes are very cool. They also don't get much bigger than what you see here...maybe eight inches in length.