Northern Brown Snake at Fort Ancient

Rick and I took advantage of the sunny skies and crisp temperatures on Sunday and headed up to Fort Ancient for a little birding. We walked the meadow near the visitor's center and then took the Mound Trail. The birds were wonderful...lots of yellow-rumped warblers, eastern bluebirds, cedar waxwings, downies, chickadees, and titmice, to name a few. At one point, while we were sitting down listening for brown creepers, a beautiful red-shouldered hawk swept across the gorge, landing on a branch on the other side briefly before taking off again. On our way back, as we neared the little bridge that leads back to the trailhead, Rick looked down just in time to avoid stepping on a Northern Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi dekayi)...

A Northern Brown Snake (Storia dekayi dekayi) suns himself in the leaf litter along the trail. He was very cold and barely moving. Kudos to Rick and his iPhone! It's a great camera in a pinch. I decided not to bring my camera on this trip because I just wanted to relax and enjoy the birds. That'll teach me to slack off. I'm glad Rick was able to pick up the slack for me and capture this wonderful image with his cell phone!

Can a snake be any more camouflaged? He looked like a stick among the leaves. Glad Rick spotted him! 

In Ohio, Northern Brown Snakes and Midland Brown Snakes share territory. According to the books, both snakes look similar and have two rows of dark spots running down their backs. Midland Brown Snakes have a line that connects the spots and creates a ladder pattern. Since I don't see any "rungs" going across from the spots, I'm deducing this is a Northern Brown Snake.

Brown snakes are not large. This guy was probably full grown. He was about 12-13 inches long. 

Brown snakes don't bite. They are gentle. This guy didn't musk either. He was very docile, probably because he was cold. I picked him up so we could see his belly. Brown snakes have plain, light-colored bellies, usually a light pinkish tan or beige. 

I did a little reading in my favorite reptile book, Amphibians & Reptiles of Indiana, by Sherman A. Minton, Jr., and learned brown snakes are "most often found abroad during the mild days of Indian summer in October and early November." (Minton, pg 283) No wonder we found this fellow. He was right on schedule!

Black Rat Snake in our side yard...

Saturday afternoon Matty and I were walking in the side yard when we both saw a Black Rat snake alongside the rock path. He froze as soon as he saw us, and we watched him for a while. When I realized he was in frozen mode, I ran in to get the camera, hoping he would stay put for a few more minutes. He was in the same place when I returned, so I took a few photos. Eventually he figured out we weren't going to try to eat him or pick him up, so he slowly slithered away under a large bush...

A Black Rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta) in our side yard. I'm glad this fellow is living here. I hope he comes out and says hi more often.

...as you can tell, our Black Rat snake isn't all that black! He has a beautiful pattern with copper, brown and yellow showing through. Unfortunately, this pattern sometimes gets him killed when uninformed homeowners confuse him with a venomous snake. The round pupil on the Black Rat snake lets you know he is nonvenomous. Venomous snakes have elliptical pupils. Having a Black Rat snake living close by is beneficial...

...someone is full and happy. I wonder what he ate...mouse, vole, chipmunk? If you look at the left, you can see the scales are close together, but in the middle prey has stretched out the skin, which separates the scales. 

...freezing in place is a good defense when you are camouflaged as well as our snake is. He blended in so perfectly, it would have been easy to walk right past him. Black Rat snakes are the largest snakes found in Ohio, and they are often found in suburban neighborhoods. You might have one in your yard and not even know it.

...with his head tipped up a little, you can see the rostral groove in his upper lip, which is the small hole the tongue protrudes through. In the next photo...you can see the tongue!

Snakes flick their tongues in and out of their mouths through the rostral groove without every having to open their mouths.

To learn more about the rostral groove and how snakes use their tongues and the Jacobson's Organ to smell, click here.

The pattern on a Black Rat snake, when visible, is distinct. The dark spots on the dorsal side lay across his back like saddles. 

Black Rat Snake slithering from Kelly Riccetti on Vimeo. 

This video shows how beautiful and graceful a Black Rat snake is when it moves.

I wonder if this is the baby Black Rat snake we found in our basement last autumn and released into our back yard? He's not fully grown, so he might be...

p.s. This post is for my niece, Maria, my son, Matty, and my neighbor, Chet...all of whom love snakes. 

Surprise! A baby Black Rat Snake in the house...

A week or so ago, Rick went into the downstairs bathroom and jumped when he almost stepped on a plastic snake. "That Kelly and Matty," he said to himself, immediately assuming we put the snake there to scare him, but when he went to pick it up, it moved! Then he really jumped! It is strange to find a snake in your house, and if you're not used to them, it can be a bit unnerving. When Rick yelled up that there was a snake in his office (it had quickly slithered out of the bathroom and into his office), and could I please come down and get it, I was excited. "REALLY?" I yelled down to him. We've never had a snake in our house before, and I couldn't wait to find out what kind it was. I was happy to see it was a very sweet and cooperative young Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta). Funny thing about Black Rat Snakes, when they are young, they aren't black. They are grey with black designs called "saddles" on their backs and splotches on their sides...

This is the baby Black Rat Snake Rick found in our downstairs bathroom. He looks nothing like he will as an adult when his dorsal coloring will be mostly black (although the pattern still exists, it's just hard to see), and his ventral coloring will be white. As a baby, he has a gray background with dark saddles on top and splotches on the side. This baby was very docile. he didn't try to strike, and he didn't musk either. I held him loosely and he was content to climb from one hand to the next. (Rick took this photo with his iPhone, and the snake was constantly moving!)

Our little encounter with the baby Black Rat Snake reminded me that last year I photographed "Steve," the famous adult Black Rat Snake from Shawnee State Park's nature center, but I never got around to posting the photos...

Rostral groove
Steve was very cooperative. When I would lay on the ground with my camera, Steve would crawl toward me, which let me focus the lens on his face. I wanted to capture the "rostral groove," which is the small notch in a snake's upper lip. Snakes flick their tongues in and out of their mouths through this groove without ever having to open their mouths...

Steve, an adult Black Rat Snake, flicks his tongue in and out of his mouth through the rostral groove.  

Jacobson's Organ
Once the tongue is pulled back into the snake's mouth, it is retracted into a protective sheath. A snake's tongue is vital to its survival because it functions as a sense organ of smell allowing the snake to seek out and find prey, so it's only natural it would be protected this way. When the tongue is flicked out, chemical particles in the air (scent molecules) adhere to the moisture on the tongue. Once retracted into the sheath, the forked tips of the tongue remain exposed and settle into two pockets in the roof of the mouth called the "Jacobson's Organ." Here the scent molecules are transferred to receptors in the nerve-laden lining of the Jacobson's Organ where they are interpreted and then relayed as messages to the brain. All this sounds time consuming, but just like when we touch something hot, the brain recognizes the stimuli almost instantly.  If the tongue or any part of the Jacobson's organ is damaged, it's difficult for the snake to survive. (For a detailed explanation of this process, click here and here.) In a way, the snake's tongue works in stereo. If more chemical particles are on the right fork, the snake turns right, etc.

Pencil sketch of Steve, the Black Rat Snake, with the rostral groove labeled.

Pencil sketch of the inside of an Eastern Hognose snake's mouth with Jacobson's organ labeled. I loved seeing the gaping maul of this snake. It's the only time I've been able to photograph the inside of a snake's mouth and actually see the tongue's protective sheath and the pockets for the Jacobson's Organ (where the forked tongue rests when retracted). 

Steve, the Black Rat Snake, crawling on the ground. Black Rat Snakes love woods, and they love to climb in trees. They are also big. I'm posting this photo just for Joni, my mom, who's not keen on snakes. "Hey, mom! Remember that huge Black Rat snake that came our way when I was about two years old?" I don't remember the snake. I've only been told stories, but I imagine he looked something like this!

This photo helps demonstrate how big Black Rat Snakes can get. They are the largest snakes in Ohio and can reach six-eight feet in length.  Again, this is Steve. He is being held by a young snake lover. To further drive the point home, the boy's twin is holding the other half of the snake. I never measured Steve, but he was at least six feet (if not more). 

A partial pencil sketch of Steve, the Black Rat Snake. Steve was old. Over the years, he has  converted more "snake-a-phobes" (ophidiophobics) to "snake-a-philes" than any other snake at the nature center. This summer was sad, because Steve was no longer there. He died of a tumor this winter. He lived a very long life, and had an impact on many humans. Children (and adults) would walk into the nature center petrified of snakes, but after seeing and holding Steve, they fell in love with him and many were no longer afraid. Lots of kids (and adults) lamented Steve's death this summer when Matty and I were there for our week of volunteering.

p.s. Does that snake have cataracts?
I thought I'd pop this tidbit in quickly since a few of the photos show the snake's "blue" eyes. Last year when Matty and I were there, Steve's eyes turned cloudy and blue, and many of the visitors at the nature center asked me if the snake had cataracts. It looks like he does, but really its just a sign the snake is about to shed its skin. Snakes don't have eyelids. They have special scales called eye caps. These eye caps are shed along with the skin.



Baby Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta) from Kelly Riccetti on Vimeo.
A quick video Rick took of our little Black Rat Snake while I released him in the backyard.

An Eastern Fox Snake at Magee Marsh...

I was walking along the boardwalk at Magee Marsh when out of the corner of my eye I saw movement to the left in a tree, but when I looked directly at the tree, I saw nothing but dark circles of dappled sunlight. "Hmmm...I know I saw something moving..." went through my mind, until suddenly the "dark circles of dappled sunlight" started sliding into the hollow of the tree. "Wow! Is that a Fox Snake?" I said out loud, and several people looked over...a few scurried away with a shriek when they saw the snake silently sinking into the dead tree, but a few others stayed to watch. "Yes, it is a Fox Snake!" said one older gentleman with a grin on his face. "I've wanted to see one of those for a long time," he continued. "I've wanted to see one for a long time too!" I said. "He looks just like the photos in the books! I've never seen one in the wild--life snake!" :-)

An Eastern Fox Snake (Elaphe gloydi) climbs silently in a dead tree along the boardwalk of Magee Marsh near Cleveland, Ohio. 

Eastern Fox Snakes are not common in Ohio. They are listed as "Species of Concern" by the Ohio Division of Wildlife and can only be found around Lake Erie and Lake Huron in the United States and Canada (Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, click here). I always assumed I'd never see one in the wild because I don't make it up to Lake Erie that often, but in the back of my mind, I was hoping to see one. Just like the Blanding Turtle I saw at Magee (here), I knew there was a chance I'd find an Eastern Fox Snake at Magee too.

The camouflaging colors of an Eastern Fox Snake help it blend into a dead tree. Unfortunately, the same colors sometimes fool people into thinking they are looking at a Copperhead or a Massasauga, both of which are venomous, but the Eastern Fox Snake is nonvenomous and completely harmless to humans. Unfortunately, over the years many have been killed out of fear and mistaken identity! I didn't get to hear it, but the Eastern Fox Snake can vibrate its tail when it's frightened, which often causes people to confuse it with a Timber Rattlesnake. (Source, Ohio DNR, here.)

Eastern Fox Snakes can get pretty big, and this snake was no slouch! I don't know if this snake was over the full-grown height of five feet because a lot of his body was curled in the hollow of the tree. He moved quickly, sinking down into the hole and out of sight much too soon... 

Some Eastern Fox Snakes have a reddish or copper-colored head, and our guy is a prime example. This coppery color is another reason Fox Snakes are often killed after being mistakenly identified as a venomous Copperhead Snake. Copperheads are one of the three venomous snakes found in Ohio, but are mostly found in southeast Ohio...far away from this fellow! 

This snake was beautiful. He had a light brown to yellowish background that matched the dead tree's color perfectly, and the round splotches of dark brown to black color were striking. His reddish head just topped it all off!

I saw this fellow back in May when I was at the Biggest Week in American Birding festival. I spent a lot of time on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh looking for birds, but there's more that just birds living in the Black Swamp. Frogs, turtles, snakes, muscrats, moths, butterflies, the list goes on and on.  So if you have a chance this summer head up to Magee Marsh and the Black Swamp Bird Observatory.

Natural Treasures of Ohio sweepstakes
Magee Marsh is one of the sites on the Nature Conservancy's Natural Treasures of Ohio sweepstakes (May 22 - August 8). You can enter to win a Honda Insight Hybrid after visiting Magee Marsh! Click here for details on how to win the car.

The first snake of spring...a Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata)!

Matty and his friend, Kedar, were exploring the stream that flows out of Pine Hill Lakes in Warren county, when they came across the first snake of spring...a Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata)! In autumn we gage the change of seasons by watching for our first Dark-eyed Junco, but in spring, we watch for our first snake. Last year, I won, spotting an Eastern Garter Snake on April 22 (click here for that post). This year, Matty won...

Matty holds his first snake of the season, a Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata). This is the earliest we've ever seen a Queen Snake out and about in the water. (These photos aren't bad! Kedar took them using Matty's iPhone. Matty definitely has a little me in him. He knew I'd want a few photos for the blog..)

Queen Snakes are aquatic and nonvenomous. Matty and Kedar found this snake by flipping rocks in the stream. Queen snakes are dark brown or olive on top with a yellow or honey-colored stripe along their sides. Underneath, they have a pair of dark stripes on their belly. The belly stripes are diagnostic and make it easy to distinguish them from garter snakes.

This little Queen Snake was very friendly and didn't even musk on Matty.

...a one-second video of Matty holding "Regina" the Queen Snake (it was one of those you think you're going to take a photo, but the video was left on videos). I wish they had taken an actual video. I love watching the snake's movement.

An Eastern Hognose Snake with all his antics...

Eastern Hognose Snakes (Heterodon platyrhinos) are the drama kings and queens of the snake world----they are blustery and filled with air (literally), put on a great act, and work very hard to convince you they’re dangerous…

Yikes! If that doesn't convince you there's danger lurking in the grass, I don't know what will, but it's all an act. Eastern Hognose snakes are harmless to humans. If you look in that gaping maw (and how can you not?) you'll see there are no fangs to deliver venom. There are teeth in the back (rear fangs), but they are mainly used to puncture inflated toads (their favorite food) and hold them in place (toads will sometimes inflate their bodies when captured to try to keep from being swallowed, but a hognose takes care of that minor problem in short order!).

When I was looking at the above photo, it dawned on me that I saw no tongue. Where on earth was it? Then I noticed the sheath on the bottom jaw...ahhh haaaa! A snake's tongue is encased in a sheath in the lower jaw when it is retracted. Since a snake's tongue is so integral to its survival, it only makes sense it would have evolved with a sheath to protect the tongue from injury.

When alarmed, an Eastern Hognose Snake will flatten out its head and neck to form a cobra-like hood. Here you can see he's just starting to produce the flaring hood, which is one of his tricks to try to convince you he's venomous and dangerous. Venomous snakes have triangular-shaped heads, while non-venoums snakes have more oval-shaped heads, but if you look at his eye you can see it's all a ruse. He has oval-shaped pupils, which means he is non-venomous. Venomous snakes have elliptical-shaped pupils.

...here you can see the fully formed cobra-like hood. It's pretty convincing!

...from behind the look is just as dramatic...

...and from straight on...ack! That is one dangerous-looking snake. His head screams triangle and his little triangular-shaped snout (the hognose namesake) only adds to his fierceness. Of course, once again, his round pupils give away the fact that he's nonvenomous and harmless...

...and if all that blustering doesn't scare you away, the hognose then does the next best thing. He plays dead, flipping over on his back and lolling out his tongue!

...yes, he actually lolls out his tongue, which is a clever touch because he really does look quite dead! If you want an encore performance, just flip him over. He will immediately flop onto his back again...and loll out that tongue as well!

Matty and I watched this grand performance on 6/29/2011 at Shawnee State Park in Ohio when we were volunteering with Jenny Richards, the park's amazing naturalist. You learn and get to see so much when you volunteer in the parks!

Note: The hognose snake has another method of defense. It will inflate its body with air by expanding its lung like a balloon (most snakes have only one functioning lung that extends most of the length of its body). It then lets the air out emitting a loud hissing sound. I couldn't capture this with the camera... This behavior accounts for many of its common names of "puff adder, blow snake, and hissing viper" (common name source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources A-Z Species Guide).

The beauty of a Garter Snake's scales...

Yesterday before Matty, Rick and I headed over to my parent's house for Easter dinner (yum--very good, Joni), we went to the Little Miami for a hike. We wanted to see how high the river had climbed, and I wanted to revisit a stand of Jack-in-the-Pulpits to make sure they weren't under water. At one point, Matty saw a Garter Snake slithering through the grass, and when I looked down I found this beauty curled up in the leaves by my feet. At first I photographed him with the long lens, but he was so comfortable with my presence I switched to the short lens! At times I was less than a foot away...it was very cool to say the least.

A close-up of an Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) shows his beautiful scales.

...this guy definitely has a round pupil, so you know he's nonvenomous.

...an Eastern Garter Snake's pattern is easy to identify. It has three light stripes with a dark background. I just read in "Ohio's Reptiles" (a free guide written by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife) that a Garter Snake's name "derives from the longitudinal stripes on the body which resemble the design on once-stylish sock garters." Who knew?

...the beautiful and colorful keeled scales of a Garter Snake. Some snakes have smooth scales, while others have "keeled" scales. A keeled scale has a longitudinal ridge on it.

Curled and coiled in the leaf litter, there is no denying his beauty.

A snake's scales are made of keratin, just like our hair and nails. They are formed out of the skin. The skin between the scales is soft and stretchy, which comes in very handy when a snake swallows a mouse or frog! You can see this in the photo above...the scales on the left side of the photo are compact and overlapping, while the scales in the middle have a space between them. Those black and white areas are the skin...stretched to accommodate his latest meal. As a snake grows, he doesn't grow more scales...they just get larger.

Sessile Trillium and a hidden Garter Snake

Sessile Trillium (Trillium sessile) is blooming all along the Little Miami River. To really appreciate its beautiful blossom, get down on your knees and have a look. The veining in the dark maroon petals are the star of the show, but its structure is just as interesting. If you look "sessile" up in Webster's dictionary, you'll find: "attached directly by the base; not raised upon a stalk or peduncle," which perfectly describes this little early spring maroon-colored trillium...

A fully opened blossom of Trillium sessile sits directly atop the leaves. It couldn't have come with a more descriptive name!

...even before a Sessile Trillium bloom opens, the maroon veining in the three outer sepals is striking.

Surprise...an Eastern Garter Snake! When you're sprawled on the ground in the early spring communing with the flowers, don't forget other things like to sprawl (or coil) on the ground too. Thank goodness I LOVE snakes, otherwise, I would have been in for quite a fright. This fellow was coiled up about 4 feet from me. He blended in to the leaves so well I didn't see him until I was almost on top of him. It was cold...and he didn't even bother to move...

The first thing I do when I spot a snake is look at its eye. If the pupil is round, like the pupil on this Eastern Garter Snake, it is non-venomous and safe. If the pupil is elliptical, back away. It is venomous and can do some damage!

...the outer sepals will soon give way to the blossom within.

Sessile Trillium is also called Toadshade Trillium. I can totally imagine a toad finding shelter under the broad leaves...

..sets of three. The geometry of a trillium is part of its mystique.

...bright yellow pollen glows against the maroon petals.

...the sun backlights a petal of Trillium sessile, emphasizing the veining through the translucent petal.

Green Snake...

Volunteering at Shawnee State Park in Southeastern Ohio

...continued from the Oreo post.

Green Snake is another favorite at the nature center. Overtly friendly and super active, he loved to climb up arms and fingers like he would a tree with tiny branches. Green Snake was graceful and smooth, and definitely the most "cartoonish" in his movements of all the snakes at the nature center. He could glide like butter across a hot pan as he expertly wound himself around fingers, hair, camera straps, and anything else in his way. He would stop and look at you now and then, hovering midair before smoothly and suddenly dipping down to wrap himself around something new.

Green Snake hovers in the air while his tail entwines around this small boy's fingers.

...again, Green Snake seems to defy gravity.

Kids liked the name "Green Snake," but because he was a Green Snake kids would often try to to come up with something unique. Matty and I heard lots of attempts at new names...Mr. Green Jeans, String Bean, Slinky, Snots (gross, I know, but after all, he was green...and little boys were the ones coming up with the ideas...), throughout the entire week nothing new seemed to stick, so Green Snake is still Green Snake.

Green Snakes are native to Ohio, although they are a bit rare. I'd love to stumble across one, and my chances might be going up. I just read an article in the Dayton Daily News that reports 11 Smooth Green Snakes were found on the Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Big news considering it's the first time the snakes have been found in our area since 1871! Click here for a a link to the article.

I think Jenny said Green Snake was a Rough Green Snake. They are found in the southern-most parts of Ohio. There's no denying his beauty. Sleek and streamlined, his neon green skin was almost surreal. He was fun to watch and could eat crickets like nobody's business. Within seconds of popping a few in his cage, he would seek out and devour them.