Chicago Nature Blog: Calling all queen snakes...

Jeffrey Peffers and I spent a good deal of time yesterday in search of the elusive queen snake. Our search encompassed three counties - Cook, DuPage, and Will - and we ultimately visited four sites, each with its own set of obstacles (mosquitoes, sheer cliff, loud, unruly people, and then heat (which led to exhaustion and dehydration). This was my second outing this year so far in which my primary target, the queen snake, has eluded me. Yet, I feel that we're getting closer. I'm getting a better lay of the land where they can still be found. They do not occur near me, and so finding them requires a planned weekend day. Therefore, it has been a slow process but I think I should be able to document one/some by the end of the summer.

We were completely at the mercy of mosquitoes at the first site in our search, but the habitat was very good. At our second site, the river that appeared close to the preserve parking lot on Google maps actually was down a very sheer, overgrown cliff. Should have considered the topography factor in my research. Since I value my life and the life of my nephew, we skipped the treacherous endeavor and headed to the third location. There was a lot of evidence that queen snakes have been and are found here. The site was a little too "manicured" for my taste; river backwaters lacked emergent vegetation, white paved paths meandered every which way and brought all kinds of people to the site. There was a group of fishermen that were not helping their own cause by yelling, shouting, and overall being rambunctious. We saw young Lithobates (probably bullfrogs) here, but not much else. Finally, we ended up at the site where I searched for queen snakes in April.

While at the first site, Jeffrey and I were making our way along the point bar of the stream (in the "loop" section of a stream where sand and gravel accumulate) when I noticed a limp snake on the cut bank opposite of where we were standing (the cut bank is where the river turns into the bank and causes erosion). I traversed across a fallen tree over the stream to get to the other side and, lying on my belly, reached down and grabbed the snake, which I thought was dead. When I got to my feet I realized it was not dead yet but was barely alive - an adult Northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon). The animal had been subjected to a beating of some kind and whether it was caused by human or natural predator, I'm not sure. It moved its head and flicked its tongue a couple times, but otherwise was lifeless. It was clear as I held it that it had suffered devastating internal damage. I only hope it was a natural situation and not the result of some idiot who stomped it to near death only to kick it off the bank. I placed it back onto the bank, knowing it wouldn't survive long.