A number of Slimy Salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus) were present under railroad ties and other debris.  Any one who has handled a Slimy knows that they should be called Sticky Salamanders; their slimy skin secretion dries rapidly on human skin.  It also mixes well with dirt and debris, making an epoxy of sorts that is difficult to remove once it dries.  Should you find yourself without any alcohol wipes or steel wool, you might as well resign yourself to a long sticky day ahead of you.

Checking out a cluster of ties close to a small pond, I came across a very bedraggled Shawnee Kingsnake.  The Kingsnakes down in southern Illinois are a kind of intergrade between the Speckled King (holbrooki) and the Black King (niger).  Sort of a Patterned Speckled King, for the most part.  Shawnee Kings, I call 'em.  They're beautiful snakes, for the most part.

This particular Shawnee King was in pretty bad shape.  It was thin, opaque, and sporting a large collection of water blisters on the ventrals and on the dorsum.  The mouth appeared to have a number of blisters as well and was somewhat swollen on one side.

I figured that I might have encountered this snake as it emerged from hibernation somewhere under that clump of ties.  If that was the case, its hibernaculum was probably in a constant state of damp, that low and that close to water.  Not the choicest site, but good enough to get the snake through the winter.  Who knows, a few meals and a shed or two and this critter might start returning to health.  This was another species the guys were hoping to see - I hoped we could find a better specimen as we went along.

We were turning up a regular assortment of Marbled and Slimy Salamanders, Fivelined Skinks and Fence Lizards.   Every few minutes produced another nice find.  Then Jeff found a something I hadn't seen down here before - a Smallmouth Salamander (Ambystoma texanum).  These were a common find back home in Champaign but this was the first one I'd seen down in southern Illinois.

One of the guys turned up a Western Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae elegans).  These are fairly common snakes and we usually find one or two on any given trip.  This one was opaque, giving the nondescript little brown snake a grayish cast.  I reckoned that such a plain little serpent deserved the elegant title of Earth Snake.