Michigan Herp Trips
Herping Trip Reports from Across the Country
May 19, 2008: Indian Springs Metropark
I was able to meet up with Jason Folt this morning at a well known spot in Oakland County, MI. The site has served as a research area for Dr. Kingsbury and several students from the Indiana-Purdue University who have worked with Massasaugas and telemetry over the past few years. The site was equal driving distance for Jason and I, so we decided it was a good place to meet up. The weather was cold and windy and hopes of seeing a rattlesnake or a Blanding's turtle; our two targets, seemed slim. But the sun was shining here and there so we set off around 10:30 to begin our search. Our first finds of the morning were several Red-backed Salamanders under a section of logs.
Northern Red-backed Salamanders - Plethodon cinereus cinereus
Seeing signs like this were certainly a great reminder of the notorious snake that inhabits the grounds within the park. Rattlesnakes a very protected in the park and naturalists monitor the areas where they are found carefully, so it's smart just to bring in a camera and a bag for field guides, as I found out the hard way last year.
We checked a few locations next to some fens without seeing much, but then we came to a grassy hillside near a fen which looked good. After a few minutes of checking the hillside, we spotted the park's famous inhabitant. The snake was right where it should have been, warming itself in the sun on a cool morning.
Eastern Massasauga as Found
The snake was a large gravid female, and the largest I've seen in 2008. She was roughly between 30-32 inches in length and was absolutely gorgeous.
Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake - Sistrurus catenatus catenatus
Eye Level with Michigan's Venomous Snake
We continued on and passed some really cool looking habitat, here's an idea of what we were trekking through.
Shallow Marsh at Indian Springs
We finally came to the end of the trail at Timberland Lake. The surrounding areas were fen habitat and looked really good for Massasaugas and other stuff. Jason noticed this pitcher plant just off of the path which I found to be really cool.
Pitcher Plant
Timberland Lake
Not too far from where we saw the pitcher plants, we spotted this little garter sunning itself.
Eastern Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
After not seeing much else around the lake, we headed to another pond in the park which I knew had blanding's turtles because I had seen them the previous year. We were walking around the edge of the pond when Jason yelled, "There's a Blanding's!" Sure enough, in the long reeds near the edge of the pond was a nice sized Blanding's Turtle. It was only the second one Jason had ever seen and they're one of my favorite turtles, so it was cool for the both of us to find one.
Blanding's Turtle as Found
Jason Photographing the Blanding's
Where do you think you're going mister?
Blanding's Turtle - Emydoidea blandingii
Species Observed:
- Northern Green Frog
- Northern Red-backed Salamander
- Eastern Garter Snake
- Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake
- Eastern Painted Turtle
- Blanding's Turtle