Today was a pretty awesome day - I saw 6 northern ringneck snakes and 3 smooth green snakes!
Despite only finding 4 snakes, today turned out to be a pretty awesome day! The first stop of the day was a new spot where I found an eastern worm snake and a northern ringneck snake. In the photos, the red thing under the worm snake's neck is British soldier lichen, which I always think is pretty interesting whenever I see it.
After just a few minutes at the second spot, I found a juvenile northern black racer which still had the brown blotchy pattern that racers are born with. This will eventually fade and be replaced with the solid black adult colorization. This was only the second racer I've seen that was still exhibiting its juvenile patternization. The first time was in 2021. Just a few days ago I was thinking about how I'd love to see one again! I also saw a gravid eastern garter snake at the second spot.
I was beginning to think I'd never get close enough to photograph a water snake ever again! The last few times I went out looking for them I wasn't able to get any photos. I saw two today and managed to get some photos of the first one.
I went on a quick snaking mission after work today and ended up seeing quite a few snakes! I saw 4 eastern copperheads, 2 northern water snakes, a few ribbon snakes, and an eastern garter snake. I didn't get to take very many photos but it wasn’t a bad day for about an hour and a half!
I went out today looking specifically for water snakes, and though I did see one, it was too clever to let me get close enough to get a good photo of it. However, I also saw two eastern copperheads and a number of eastern ribbon snakes and I did manage to get some photos of them.
I found more than 20 snakes today making it the best day of the year so far! I found more than 15 northern ringneck snakes (including 3 sets of 3 flipped together), 4 milk snakes, 3 garter snakes, 1 northern brown snake, and a smooth green snake! Over the past few years I have been to that spot many times before to look for smooth green snakes, but I never found one. I almost gave up on it, but I finally found one there today!
I was invited to check out a new timber rattlesnake spot today and it was pretty awesome! Quite honestly, I lost count of how many rattlesnakes we saw, but it was approximately 20. Unfortunately, it was quite hot and most of them were taking shelter under rock overhangs and behind vegetation, so it was difficult to see them in full glory. But at the very end we did see one coiled up nicely next to a rock (and another rattlesnake) so I was able to get some good photos. Sadly, it had snake fungal disease, but hopefully it will be able to shake it off. I also spotted a northern ringneck snake. Pretty cool spot!
The weather is warming up and the snakes are out in full force! I saw 3 eastern milk snakes, 2 hognose snakes, and 3 northern black racers today.
I thought about taking a day off to rest today but I decided I wanted to get outside after all, so I went to a couple closeby spots for a little bit. The first snake of the day was an eastern garter snake followed by a juvenile northern black racer. I saw the garter snake again on the way a little over an hour later when I passed by where I left it previously. It was coiled up in the leaves about 10 feet from where I left it, so I took a quick photo and moved on.
I went to another spot afterwards where I found a second northern black racer, which is the one pictured below. It was a really nice looking one and much bigger than the first. I may have seen this same racer on October 31st, 2021 when it was a bit smaller, though I didn't get photos of it that day to compare to. It was sitting in the exact same spot that day.
Not bad for a short trip on a cloudy and cool day!
Today was an incredible day! At the start of the day, I was still 3 species short of finding all 14 this year: the ringneck snake, milk snake, and smooth green snake. I managed to find all three today! Last year, it took me until April 28th to find all 14 species, so I beat my record by 8 days. Today I found 3 northern redbelly snakes, 2 ringneck snakes, a milk snake, and a stunningly beautiful smooth green snake.
The first species of the day was a redbelly snake and I went on to find 3 total. One of the things that fascinates me about them are the different color phases. Today I found a gray, a brown, and a chestnut phase.
The next species to be found was the ringneck snake. I managed to get some pretty decent photos of it which I’m happy about. Later on I would find a very small, but dead ringneck snake, which perhaps had slithered under the wrong rock and got attacked by ants. I also found a second adult ringneck snake as well. In past years, my first ringneck snake of the year were found on May 9th, 2021, April 17th, 2022, and April 16th, 2022.
The next new species of the year was the milk snake. It's hard to get an idea of its size by looking at my photos, but it was one of the smallest milk snakes I have found to date. In past years, my first milk snakes of the year were found on May 20th, 2021, May 7th, 2022, and April 16th, 2023.
Like last year, the last species I needed to find to complete my quest was the smooth green snake. I’m glad it turned out that way. It’s without a doubt my favorite snake, and in my opinion it’s the hardest species to find in CT. It was a beautiful bright green with a nice yellow venter. I only found one last year, and it’s been just shy of a year since then, so I was super happy to see this one today and finish my quest. In past years, my first smooth green snake of the year were found on August 1st, 2021, April 24th, 2022, and April 28th, 2023.
Quest complete!
After a lot of searching over the past month, I finally found a northern brown snake today. It was about 50 degrees, cloudy, and with rain on the way when I finished work, but I decided to go to my parent’s house to look for brown and ringneck snakes anyway. I haven't found any snakes there all year, despite a lot of effort, and considering the weather, I was not too hopeful. However, I managed to find this tiny little brown snake as I was getting close to the end. I've never found a brown snake in that area of their yard so I almost skipped it, but I'm glad I decided not to!
It's turning out to be an incredible weekend! Last night I found a worm snake and today I found both a hognose snake and a redbelly snake! It’s the first time I’ve ever found both of those species on the same day, though I had to drive halfway around the state to do so. Last year, I had a very difficult time finding hognose snakes, so I was worried about finding one this year. It’s a relief to have found one today after many failed attempts already this year. The redbelly snake was a baby from last year. Coiled up it was only about the size of a quarter.
I also saw 5 northern black racers today, 4 of which were youngsters that were only about 3 feet long (1 picture of each below). Two of them were found partially emerged from holes in the ground that I never would have noticed otherwise. Pretty interesting to say the least.
In past years, my first hognose snakes of the year were seen on June 27th, 2021, April 30th, 2022, and April 27th, 2023. My first redbelly snakes were on August 21st, 2021, May 7th, 2022, and April 15th, 2023.
I have 4 species left to find: the milk snake, northern brown snake, ringneck snake, and smooth green snake. Theoretically, the first three of those shouldn’t be too hard to find, but I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking for them already this year to no avail. The smooth green snake is the hardest species to find so I’m going to need a lot of luck for that one.
I decided to do a little worm snaking after work today and I'm glad I did! After about an hour of searching, I found this pretty good sized worm snake. Worm snakes are incredibly difficult to find and I've looked for them a number of times already this year with no luck, so I'm happy I found this one today! In past years, my first worm snakes of the year were found on July 10th, 2021, April 30th, 2022, and April 16th, 2023.
Today was a beautiful, warm, sunny day so I went for a quick snaking run after work. I was hoping to find either a milk, brown, or ringneck snake. Unfortunately, those species have eluded me again but I did see a copperhead and a beautiful northern black racer!
Tough weeekend! Yesterday was cloudy, cool and a bit breezy, and I couldn't find anything. With similar weather, I thought today was going to turn out the same way, but at the 3rd and final spot of the day I ended up finding a garter snake. Not what I was looking for, but better than being skunked for the entire weekend!
I found another new species for the season today, the eastern rat snake, which is one of the species I went out looking for. I also did a little milk snaking afterwards but, unfortunately, I didn't find one. I did find an eastern garter snake and a ribbon snake, though.
The rat snake puts me at 7 species out of 14, so I'm halfway there. For the record, I'm not attempting the beat my April 28th record from last year. That being said, if I somehow beat it anyway without really trying, that would be pretty cool! In the past 3 years, my first rat snakes of the year were found on April 18th, 2021, April 16th, 2022, and April 9th, 2023.
My second day of the 2024 snaking season was a great success just like the first. The first snake of the day was a garter snake with nice spotted pattern. A couple minutes later, I caught a glimpse of a ribbon snake, which is what I was specifically looking for. Unfortunately, I couldn't get any photos of it. However, after a bit of searching, I was able to find a second one, and I managed to get some photos of it. The ribbon snake is the 5th species of the year. In past years, my first ribbon snakes of the year were on April 24th, 2021, April 2nd, 2022, and March 21st, 2023, so I'm slightly ahead this year.
After leaving that spot, I wanted to see if I could find a rattlesnake since I thought there might be one sitting out on a warm, sunny day like today (high of 56 degrees). The first snake at the second spot was an enormous northern black racer coiled up and enjoying the weather. While that was cool to see, it probably got that big in part by feeding on rattlesnakes, unfortunately. A little while, I managed to find a tiny little timber rattlesnake with a single button on its tail! It was incredible to see and I got some decent photos of it, though I moved on quickly so I wouldn't spook it. I looked around for awhile longer hoping to find an adult, but unfortunately, I couldn't locate one. In past years, my first rattlesnakes of the year were on May 13th, 2021, April 30th, 2022 (which was also a very young one), and April 14th, 2023. 6 species down, 8 more to go!
Today was my best first day of any season yet! I found 4 species and a total of 6 snakes. The first snake of the day was a small northern black racer. Immediately afterwards, I found an eastern copperhead, though it was too far within the crevice of a rock to get any photos of it. Disappointed that I found a copperhead so early in the year without being able to get any shots of it, I moved on, and soon found another northern black racer that was sunning itself right next to a second copperhead! Afterwards, I went to a different location where I found a northern water snake followed by a beautiful, brightly colored easten garter snake.
I set three new personal records today for “earliest in the season”. In previous years, I found my first racer on April 4th, 2021, April 9th, 2022, and March 18th in 2023, so I beat my record by 2 days. My first copperheads were on April 9th, 2021, April 13th, 2022, and April 11th, 2023, so two March 16th copperheads is way ahead of the curve for me. And lastly, my first water snakes in past years were on April 18, 2021, April 9th, 2022, and April 9th again in 2023. I did not beat my record for garter snakes because I found a garter snake on January 1st, 2022 - a difficult record to beat.
Overall, it was an incredible day and a great way to kick off the 2024 snaking season.
