Jim allowed that he'd really like to see a Worm Snake, and a few minutes later I was able to oblige him wih a juvenile Midwest Worm Snake, Carphophis amoenus helenae, under a roadside rock.  Every once in a while things work out that way!  A good find, the only Worm Snake of the day as it turned out.

Now the sun was overhead and the temperature was starting to climb.  It could turn out to be a great day, if the sun remained out.  April is a volatile, hit-or-miss month for herping down here.  Each spring here is different as to when serpents start coming down from their hibernaculums.  Wherever the snakes were, the trilliums were in all their spring glory, along with bluebells and marsh-pinks and other spring flowers.  Off to one side the remnants of a small family cemetery, headstones slowly eroding among the ferns and flowers...Jim got some great shots of a pair of Tufted Titmice, the male passing a seed to the female with his beak.  Very cool.  The birds down here aren't always so timid.

Snake on the roadside!  A young Yellowbellied Water Snake, Nerodia erythrogaster flavigaster.  This one appeared to be heading towards the swamp.  Yellowbellies are the most common Nerodia here.  Jeff is very interested in all of the plainbellied water snake species; the guys spent some time examining and filming the little water snake, who obligingly expelled copious amounts of foul-smelling musk.  I think it was Jim who remarked that the funk reminded him of TsingTao beer.  Of course, I replied rather matter-of-factly.  TsingTao means 'malodorous serpent' in Chinese. Didn't ya'll know that?  I'm guessing that the next time I have a TsingTao I'll be thinking about Nerodia erythrogaster flavigaster (I really don't know what TsingTao means, but it goes good with moo shu pork or General Tso's Chicken).

We made some forays along the small rills that carry rain and spring water away from the bluffs, finding a number of salamanders - Slimies, Longtails, ZigZags and a single Spottie.  An open hillside yielded an adult Southern Black Racer (Coluber constrictor priapus) and a few Fence Lizards.  The Blanchard's Cricket Frogs were out and about, including a few of the nice green ones that we see occasionally. 

Our next big find was a Western Ribbon Snake, Thamnophis proximus proximus.  It was a fair-sized female, and pretty, of course - it's difficult to find a drab proximus down here in southern Illinois.  This one had a well-healed but deep gash about mid-body.  A lot of wild serpents have injuries or carry scars; it's a rough world out there, with plenty of other creatures interested in eating you.

This was the largest Ribbon Snake of the day; we turned up a few more, all very small specimens.  The Western Ribbon is very common here; one county to the east it is replaced by the Eastern Ribbon Snake, Thamnophis sauritus sauritus.  I've yet to see any indication that they occur in the same locations down here in southern Illinois.