Reptiles & Amphibians
| Eastern Milk Snake -- Lampropeltis triangulum | ||
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| The Eastern Milk snake is a medium sized snake that is 24 to 36 inches in length, but quite often maintains a slender build. It ranges throughout much of the northeastern United States from Maine southward in the Appalachians, and westward to parts of Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa. The Eastern Milk Snake lives in a variety of local habitats such as fields, woodlands, rocky hillsides and river bottoms, and hides under objects such as logs, boards and stones. These snakes are surprisingly secretive for their color and size and are rarely seen even where they are common. Milk snakes feed primarily upon mice and other small rodents, as well as smaller snakes. They should be considered an asset, worthy of protection on anyone's property. I found this snake at White Pines Forest State Park on September 12, 2011. It was on the wooden steps of a foot bridge going over the Pine Creek. At first it threatened to bite me, but as soon as I picked up the snake it calmed down. |
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| Northern Water Snake -- Nerodia sipedon | ||
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| Like most other water snakes, the Northern Water snake readily bites when handled. Mates in May and gives birth to 20-50 young in late July or August. Diet consists mainly of fish and amphibians. Predators include other snakes and large shore birds. Many are killed by people who mistake them for cottonmouths (even hundreds of miles north of the range of cottonmouths) or copperheads. I found this baby snake at White Pines Forest State Park on September 12, 2011. It was on the concrete ford that spans the creek. It kept trying to bite me, but it was ineffective. |
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| Common Garter Snake -- Thamnophis sirtalis | ||
 The habitat of the garter snake ranges from forests, fields, and prairies to streams, wetlands, meadows, marshes, and ponds, and it is often found near water. It is a semi-aquatic animal like most snakes. It is found at altitudes from sea level to mountain locations. Diet includes fish, amphibians, young birds, and a variety of invertebrates. Eaten by a wide variety of predatory vertebrates; people needlessly kill many. I took this photo on a warm afternoon on October 24, 2011, at Dick Young Forest Preserve. The snake bit me, but the bite is painless. |
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| Midland Brown Snake -- Storeria dekayi wrightorum | ||
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| The Midland Brown snake is a subspecies of the Brown snake. They never bite when captured. Their only real defense is the musk glands which they freely exercise when first captured. These common but secretive little snakes are often encountered hiding under stones, logs, old boards, and other such debris, where they feed extensively on snails, slugs, worms, and soft-bodied insects. These snakes do not lay eggs. When the young are born in the summer, there is no parental care involved. I photographed this snake at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on October 3, 2011. It was crossing Cowles Bog Trail. |
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| Dekay's Brown Snake -- Storeria dekayi | ||
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| Dekay's Brown snake is a very small snake with an overall light brown or gray color. It is abundant where there is much surface cover and an abundant supply of food. Mates in April and May and gives birth to 5-25 young from late July through early September. Eats mainly earthworms and slugs, and is preyed upon by snakes, birds, mammals, and even large toads and spiders. Large numbers are killed on roads separating cultivated fields from forested rocky bluffs each spring and autumn as they move to and from hibernacula. They are common throughout most of the state. I found this snake crossing the path at Big Rock Forest Preserve on October 12, 2011. |
