A Journey Northward

The "Kankakee Sands" are a famous location for Midwestern herpers, hosting a variety of unique species and habitats quite unlike any others in the region. Prairie remnants and restorations, an increasingly rare habitat type, form the dominant habitat. This was a region I had always wanted to visit, but knew very little about and it was normally quite a drive to get there. Due to my relocation for college, it was now only an hour drive from campus. So on Saturday April 18, I got in the truck and headed North, armed with my camera and some tips from friends who had herped the region before. Though the region had the potential for many lifers, I decided not to set my hopes too high and set a goal of finding a Western Fox Snake (a lifer for me) before the day was over.


As I began the drive North, the landscape changed, becoming increasingly flat. Tippecanoe county was already much flatter than my native Southern Indiana, but the farther North I went it became even more so.  This is due to the late Wisconsin Glaciation event. Prior to around 20,000 years ago, roughly half of Indiana was covered in glaciers (pictured below), which had drastic effects on the landscape. Glaciers steamrolled the hills, leaving the landscape uniformly flat. They also carried with them vast amounts of soil and nutrients, which were deposited as the glaciers retreated. This resulted in Northern Indiana having some of the finest growing soils in the world (which contributed to the loss of prairies mentioned earlier, through the conversion of land to agriculture). 

http://igs.indiana.edu/images/allenCounty/surficialgeology3.jpg

Anyway, when I finally arrived I parked and started to walk back to an old abandoned railroad. This railroad provided lots of cover to flip, mostly in the form of old railroad ties. As I was walking through a field to get there, I noticed many large sand mounds. One had a small burrow in the middle, so I stopped to take a closer look-and I am extremely glad I did.
    Bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in-situ LIFER

Honestly, I stood still for a minute or two, nearly stunned by what I saw. Here I was less than 5 minutes into my herping journey, and I had already found what many consider to be the jewel of Kankakee, and it was even the first snake of the day! The snake remained motionless as I took a few "in-situ" shots, seemingly relying on its camouflage, or hoping I hadn't seen it. Once I picked it up, it began the typical bullsnake behavior I have always heard about-hissing and striking. Bullsnakes have a specialized hole in their lower jaw that produces a hissing sound when air is passed through.
In the video below, the snake can be seen inhaling to produce the hiss. The result is a very impressive defensive display.

(Note: It is important to clarify that this is defensive behavior exhibited by the snake once being provoked by me. Prior to this, the snake attempted to flee, and resorted to "aggressive" behavior only because this failed)

I put the snake onto the sand mound to reflect the habitat of this snake in my photographs, and got some decent shots.
    Bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer sayi)

As I circled the sand mound to get a better angle, another much longer snake started to flee into the grass...expecting another Bullsnake (perhaps a large female, as it is nearing mating season for snakes) I grabbed it, and was very surprised and pleased to find my lifer...
                   
                     Western Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina)

I'm a sucker for co-species shots, so I took the opportunity to get some. It was also interesting to compare differing defensive strategies of the fox, who attempted to hide its head, and the more confrontational bull.
    Bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer sayi) left and Western Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina) right

After I released the bull, I took some field guide style shots of the fox.

   Western Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina)

At this point, I was elated. Barely 10 minutes into my excursion I had found both species I really wanted to. I could have left then and been happy-but of course, I didn't, despite the fact I had little chance of topping this.

As I made my way to the railroad tracks things were fairly slow, which was surprising given the start I had. I eventually turned up a cute little juvenile fox, which posed nicely for a few pictures.

    Western Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina)

At this point, things started to pick up a bit. A Chicago Garter  Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis semifasciatus) actually found me while I was photographing the little fox. Before I knew it they were everywhere, and I nearly stepped on one. The final count was 8 garters, but I only photographed one.
    Chicago Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis semifasciatus)

Avoiding stepping on garters on the way, I went on a little farther down and managed to flip another adult fox snake, right near its (presumed) hibernaculum, coiled in a hole in the log.

    Western Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina)

 

 

At this point, I figured my luck had ran out, so I headed home. It was an amazing day in Kanakee, and I can't wait to return!

Tiger Trouble

Ever since I relocated to Northern Indiana for college, I always had one species of salamander on my mind-the Eastern Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum). Although tigers can be found in Southern Indiana, populations are scattered and disjunct, making them hard to find. The species is much more widespread and numerous in the Northern half of the state.

All winter, I looked forward to spring with anticipation and the expectation that I would find many tigrinum, similarly to how easily I could find Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) in my native Southern Indiana. I spent hours researching and eventually came up with a few good vernal pools I could check in spring, some of which had confirmed tiger presence. Unfortunately, once spring rolled around, my efforts seemed to be largely fruitless. 

I had found a Smallmouth Salamander (Ambystoma texanum) 

 And even a couple Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum)

....which were both really nice (especially the Spotteds, as they are not commonly seen in NW IN), but not the tiger I desired.

 The entire month of March I failed at finding tigers using my usual Ambystomatid diurnal search methods despite being at several confirmed pools. However, in my various searches I finally located a vernal I was able to visit at night. With the rain forecasted later in the week, I knew they wouldn't be in the water much longer, so I decided to make a trip to a couple vernal pools on Wednesday night, April 1st, before Thursday's rains triggered the "reverse" migration of the salamanders back into their fossorial homes.

First, I checked out a small vernal in a densely forested area, where previously I had seen peepers, chorus frogs, and Ambystomatid egg masses which I strongly suspected belonged to the Polyploid Ambystoma complex.

Sadly, it seemed the salamanders had already moved out of this pond, as I found no trace of any adults.  However, both species of small treefrog (Psuedacris) were quite abundant.

    Spring Peeper (Psuedacris crucifer)

Western Chorus Frog (Psuedacris triseriata) (photo from previous visit when there was still ice on the pond) 

After that, I continued on to the main large pond, which I suspected was perfect for tigrinum. Unlike most vernal pools I have searched, this pond was very large and had large copious amounts of vegetation.

Photo from a previous visit. The log yielded the two Spotted Salamanders pictured above. This picture only represents maybe 1/4 of the entire wetland.

When I arrived, I found nothing but completely ridiculous amounts of peepers assaulting my eardrums. I'm no stranger to visiting wetlands at night and hearing loud frog calls, but now I truly understand what people mean when they describe peeper choruses as "ear ringing".

Spring Peepers (Psuedacris crucifer) in amplexus 

I went on along the perimeter of the pond, dodging frogs as I scanned the water for any signs of salamanders.  I noticed a large Snapping Turtle in the middle of the pond, but it was too far out for pictures. Luckily I saw two more later closer to shore.

Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina serpentina)

Snapping turtles seem to have a fondness for ephemeral wetlands. I couldn't help but wonder if they were there for the same reason I was...with a more nefarious purpose. Snappers are voracious predators and adult salamanders and frogs would be found easily in large numbers during the breeding season, making a good, reliable prey source.

Anyway, I left the snappers be and continued on along the perimeter.  I eventually found egg masses of every salamander species I either knew or suspected used the pond, besides smallmouth salamanders. I also managed to hear the chuckles of Northern Leopard Frogs (Rana pipiens) and possibly Wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) although the huge density and volume of the peepers make me unsure about the latter.

Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) Eggs with Fairy Shrimp

Ambystoma Polyploid  (Ambystoma sp.) Eggs

And lastly, I found eggs of my target.
Eastern Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) Eggs

As you can see, these tiger eggs were far more developed than those of the other species, representing their tendency to be the earliest breeders in the pond.

About 5 feet from the eggs, I saw a glimpse of a tail disappearing beneath a dense mat of reeds. Even though I saw it for less than a second, I knew the purple-black tail with yellow mottling had to be a tiger. I frantically dip netted the area, but it was of course long gone. Frustrated but hopeful, I continued on.

Five minutes later I was feeling disheartened, but then at last I saw the very distinctive head and body of a tiger resting on the bottom of the pool in open water. Thinking this would be an easy catch, I crept up-but much to my dismay, the salamander reacted much quicker than I expected and swam into a nearby clump of vegetation. I had my eyes glued on it, so I was able to make out the tip of the tail in the reeds. I weighed my options-try to guide it back into open water to catch it in the net? This seemed too risky. I eventually opted for plunging my bare hand straight to where the salamander was and grabbing as much vegetation and muck as I could to reduce the chance of escape. As I brought a handful of pond sludge up I was disappointed-I only felt reeds and muck in my hands, and not the squirming body of a caudate. I tossed the muck in my net to sort through to be sure, and sure enough, I had succeeded!

Eastern Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum)

This animal was extremely squirmy and resistant to pose, but with a little effort I managed to get some usable shots.  

And of course, I had to get a selfie with it.

Indeed a very beautiful salamander, perhaps the most magnificent of the Ambystomatids. Excited, satisfied and tired, I packed up and headed home.