fall report from west central Mo (same as main forum)

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
User avatar
Brandon D
Posts: 203
Joined: April 27th, 2011, 3:50 pm
Location: Belton, Mo
Contact:

fall report from west central Mo (same as main forum)

Post by Brandon D »

The end of august I road cruised this juvenile black rat snake with my dad in cass co mo, It was very refreshing to find, being the only time I road cruised this year.
insitu
Image

Image

Fall is one of my favorite seasons, It started out very nice in September, I made a trip to eastern Kansas and found a few syspila, other things found but not photo’d were a few prairie ring necks, a copperhead shed, and some skinks. It was refreshing to get back to Kansas; I hadn’t hunted there for many years, looking forward to visiting a lot of my old spots next spring. I had forgotten how unpredictable the fall season could be.
Here are the two syspila I found
This juvenile male was found first
Image

2 rocks over I found this beautiful female
insitu
Image

Image

Image

There were lots of these plants scattered about
Image

I also found these hatched L.t.syspila eggs
Image

In Mo. I made several after work trips to various locations around the Kansas City area. Things were going good till it got dry, and dryer, and drought conditions set in. But I still was able to find some good things before it got too dry.
I found this T.s.parietalis outside my back patio; I quickly noticed she was stuck,
Image

Image

It took sometime but I got her free, she was bitey until she realized I was helping her. I blocked the whole with a brick to prevent any future situations.
Image

Here are a few things I found in Jackson co. Mo

young prairie king and adult ringnecks in situ
Image

Seen a lot of ornate box turtles
under rocks
Image

and on the prowl
Image

of course lots of five lined skinks
Image

not so many worm or ring necks though
Image

Image

this toad was also from Jackson co
Image

Here’s an adult racer in situ
Image

Image

I found several L.g.holbrooki this fall
Here’s the first one in situ
Image

Image
Here’s another adult
Image

and here’s a hatchling
Image

Just like in the spring I was only able to find one syspila in Jackson co. I blame the weather, it was sooo dry this fall and unfortunately I only have enough time and money to hunt around the kc vicinity, but here’s the female I found
insitu
Image

Image

Image

I did make it up to one of my favorite spots in Platte co mo. I had gotten skunked there this spring on the milks anyway and was hoping this visit would be different.
Image
The first thing I found were these two A.c.phaeogasters
insitu
Image

Image

I then found this interesting syspila, due to the heavy rock she was under I had no time to snap an insitu photo
Image

Image

I also found this young racer
insitu
Image

Image
young racers were the most common snakes that I encountered this fall with around 20 or more of them found

This worm snake in situ shot shows how dry it was, at this time things were still moving, I think mainly to soak up the warmth before the cold nights and mornings we were having at the time.
Image

I then turned this syspila up I had found her 2 years ago almost to the day I wanted to collect her then, all I had was my cell phone to take pics of that day, I was against collecting at that time, for the most part I still don’t collect anything, even though I was against collecting I was very tempted to do so with this individual, but released her. I knew as soon as I flipped her it was the same snake from 2 years ago, this time I had my camera, again the thought of collecting her weighed heavy on my mind, I decided to release her again though, probably would have collected her if I hadn’t found her 2 years ago, I did collect her on camera though and will always have her on film. Usually I don’t see many syspila more than once, for me it’s only happened probably 3 times, so she is a very special snake to me, I hope I will see her again sometime.
here she is 2 years ago
Image

Image

Here she is insitu this fall
Image

Image

Image

Image

here she is going back under her rock
Image
I did find it interesting that all the adult milk snakes I found this fall were female, I seem to recollect this pattern from years past, and all the milks were either in shed or had just shed , I also found a few milk sheds this fall.

I had the opportunity to meet up with Kcmatt for a quick hunt, He introduced me to some other areas I was not aware of at an area we both hunt, He found this yoy holbrooki
Image
After he pulled his camera out I felt a lil embarrassed to pull mine out but wanted a shot of it anyways lol. We also saw a young obsoleta crossing the road that would have made a great insitu shot but it noticed our presence and started to slither away, unfortunately at that time I got stuck on my phone with my fiancé, and I missed the opportunity to photograph it. That was pretty much all we found. I did do a few more flipping in the area and found these hatched eggs
Image
I was thinking either obsoleta or syspila? any thoughts they were smooth and were in the right habitat for those two.
I did find a dor C.c.flaviventris before leaving
Image
That was about it, we got only about 20% of the normal precipitation for this fall, Hopefully we will get a nice wet spring again next year.
I found this gray tree frog at a job site in greenwood mo.
insitu
Image

Image
Yes I did pick it up and move it from its location, because the siding had to go on the wall, we had stacked some of our siding by the chimney that night and the tree frog must have found it cozy, I hope it didn’t die from me moving him :roll: lol
I did find a few more spots some in bates co mo.
Image
Image
not much was found here, but I did find some hatched syspila eggs, and thought I saw a bullsnake head backing down a burrow but it could have been anything.
The other spot I found was in Cass co mo. I am pretty excited about this spot, I can’t wait to hit in the spring
Image
It’s just littered with huge flat rocks
Image

Image

Other than that I did get a chance to photo some things up at my dad’s pond
Like this leopard frog
Image

This yellow belly water snake
Image

and this catfish
Image
Well thats pretty much my fall report from west central mo, was hoping and praying for more moisture but just didn't get it, untill now and of course were supposed to get snow tonight lol, Hope yall enjoyed and thanks for looking, can't wait to see some more "actuall" posts :beer:

Image
User avatar
justinm
Posts: 3423
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 5:26 am
Location: Illinois
Contact:

Re: fall report from west central Mo (same as main forum)

Post by justinm »

You're in a great area, it's beautiful there. Tons of nice herps, what's not to like.
Wildernessman
Posts: 25
Joined: October 21st, 2011, 10:11 am

Re: fall report from west central Mo (same as main forum)

Post by Wildernessman »

Nice thread Brandon. How often do you herp? What type of camera set up do you use? I really enjoyed your photos man thanks!
User avatar
Brandon D
Posts: 203
Joined: April 27th, 2011, 3:50 pm
Location: Belton, Mo
Contact:

Re: fall report from west central Mo (same as main forum)

Post by Brandon D »

Justin yepp I love my area, I still want to get to the east side of the state sometime and into ill. I know that area rivals west mo pretty good a few things more common out that way like platyrhinos, thanks

Wildernessman, I usually am only able to herp about an hour to two on average after work, I work 7 days a week, sometime 6 and dont have a lot of free time, the free time I do get goes to my daughter and fiance, so unfortunatley I dont get out as much as I would like, but this fall I really tried to get out whenever I could, on average I probably hunted 1 to two days a week. My camera which is retired now from me dropping it on rocks to many times was just a cheep 100 $ casio exilim that only had 8.1 megapixels Its time for me to replace and upgrade. Thanks for your comments
User avatar
justinm
Posts: 3423
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 5:26 am
Location: Illinois
Contact:

Re: fall report from west central Mo (same as main forum)

Post by justinm »

Look to the Olympus Stylus Tough Series. They take decent pics go underwater, and are nearly indestructable.
User avatar
Brandon D
Posts: 203
Joined: April 27th, 2011, 3:50 pm
Location: Belton, Mo
Contact:

Re: fall report from west central Mo (same as main forum)

Post by Brandon D »

justinm wrote:Look to the Olympus Stylus Tough Series. They take decent pics go underwater, and are nearly indestructable.
thanks Justin I was trying to get some pointers in the photo forum but I didnt get any bites, got a bite on a gps but that was it, I was thinking about investing in a cannon
User avatar
Mike Pingleton
Posts: 1471
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:45 am
Location: One of the boys from Illinois
Contact:

Re: fall report from west central Mo (same as main forum)

Post by Mike Pingleton »

Brandon D wrote:
justinm wrote:Look to the Olympus Stylus Tough Series. They take decent pics go underwater, and are nearly indestructable.
thanks Justin I was trying to get some pointers in the photo forum but I didnt get any bites, got a bite on a gps but that was it, I was thinking about investing in a cannon
I have a Canon D10, which is another hard-case camera that you can use underwater. Very good all-purpose point-n-shoot, perfect for clumsy guys like me :thumb:

-Mike
Post Reply