Michigan Herp Trips

For several weeks now, some friends of mine from work have been bugging me to take them out herping after all the stories that they've heard. The girls had never really seen snakes up close in the wild. So after a few weeks of planning, I finally took them out on Saturday morning to herp one of my local spots. The weather was perfect and it looked like the morning would be successful.

Searching a Fen for Rattlesnakes (Photo by Rachel Maddix)

The girls followed me through some pretty muddy terrain which was thick with brush to look for rattlesnakes. Although the weather was perfect, we didn't spot any out sunning themselves in open patches of the fen. But before too long, we did find our first snakes of the day. There's a particular section of rocks that is pretty reliable for flipping snakes in the morning hours, sure enough there were a few little serpents underneath. These two eastern garter snakes were the girls' first wild snakes found in the field.

The First Finds of the Morning

Eastern Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis

Eastern Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis

We saw several more Garter Snakes and Butler's Garter Snakes out on the move, but were unable to capture any for photographs. What amazed me was that some wildflowers were still in bloom, like these Spring Beauties.

Spring Beauties

We decided to go check a pond in the front of the area which has a lot of turtle species. The girls were hoping we could see a snapping turtle, so it was worth a look because I've seen some large snappers in the pond.

Looking for Basking Turtles (Photo by Rachel Maddix)

We saw what looked like a few basking turtles up a long a bank near the reeds, we decided to go check it out. Along the way, I spotted this absolutely huge American Bullfrog hanging out in the reeds.

American Bullfrog - Rana catesbieana

After gawking at the size of the frog and grabbing a few photos, we continued up the bank to where we had seen the basking turtle through the binoculars. When I saw the turtle, I stopped dead in my tracks because it was one of my favorites, a Blanding's Turtle. We tried to get closer to her, but she bolted as soon as we tried to get closer. I did get a shot or two of her, but not as good as I could have. Still, anytime I get to see a Blanding's Turtle I'm very satisfied.

Blanding's Turtle - Emydoidea blandingii

Not too long after, as we were finishing our circle around the pond, I noticed a peculiar mudpile sticking out of the water near shore. Then the mudpile moved, and I knew right away that it was a Common Snapping Turtle. I waded in and grabbed him, it was a decent sized turtle with a 10-11 inch carapace.

Trying to handle the Snapper Properly

Me with the Common Snapping Turtle

The snapper wasn't as aggressive as other snappers I've dealt with, but he was anxious to get back to his pond which made him very diffcult to photograph.

Photographing the Snapper (Photo by Rachel Maddix)

Common Snapping Turtle - Chelydra serpentina serpentina

On the move...

Farewell for now Mr. Snapper

The girls enjoyed our outing, and mentioned they would like to go again. It was cool to see that they had gotten out and done something new and enjoyed it, I was glad to be able to introduuce them to herping. Later than night, I went back out to nmy same spot to see if I could find any Gray Tree Frogs calling. Only a few were calling and when I would get close to where the calls were coming from, they would fall silent. That made it really hard to find. At around 11:30 PM, I was following the sound of a call which led me into a bordering edge of fen. What happened next was the biggest surprise of the year thus far herping in Michigan. I heard a buzzing and looked down to my left to see an Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake coiled in some brush. It was the first night encouter I've had with a Massasauga, and I must admit that it was very unnerving. Even though they are my favorite species, almost stepping on one in the dark at 11:30 PM was enough to give me a bit of a chill. The snake was a recently shed female which was about 14-15 inches in length, not a real big snake, but absolutely gorgeous. It was an individual I haven't seen before and I could tell because of the lack of the gray blotches underneath lateral eye stripe that most rattlesnakes have, it was an experience I will not soon forget.

Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake - Sistrurus catenatus catenatus

Nighttime Massasauga Rattlesnake

Lesson of the day, don't walk through fens at night unless you intend to step on rattlesnake. Only joking, it was a great experience with my favorite herp of all, the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake.

Species Oberved:

• Northern Green Frog
• American Bullfrog
• Eastern Garter Snake
• Butler's Garter Snake
• Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake
• Eastern Painted Turtle
• Blanding's Turtle
• Common Snapping Turtle

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