After a long flight from Minnesota and an expensive cab ride from the airport, Jeff was waiting at the visitor's center. The group saddled up again and headed out to the first of a series of boardlines. The KHS has been involved in a number of herpetological surveys around the state, using corrugated metal roofing, wood, and other materials to not only attract snakes, but make them easier to find and record. The boardlines here in the state forest were a part of that effort, and we were tagging along with the Kentucky folks as they collected some data while 'flipping some tin'. A win-win situation for all of us.

Although it was overcast with a few drops of rain here and there, the day was starting to warm up a bit as we reached our first stop, a hillside over an open field. Sections of corrugated metal roofing (hereafter noted by its common name, 'tin') were placed on the hillside where the open field transitioned into a treeline. It wasn't long before we had uncovered a handful of Southern Black Racers. Five racers is indeed a handful, even if you have big hands... In the coolness of the morning, they were a lot more tractable and easy to pose for a few pictures. Jim also turned up an adult Black King Snake, a new species for him, Jeff and I. It was a handsome animal, with just a bit of speckling on the back, and a pretty alternating black and white pattern across the labials. The whole gang hunkered down for a moment to grab some pictures.

The next boardline was again in a transition situation, in a more forested area, and here we flipped our first Copperhead of the trip, a good-sized adult with very handsome markings. The nice thing about Copperheads is that you can generally take their picture and observe them without having to hook them or touch them in any way. Aside from tongue flicks, they often freeze in position - "nothing to see here, folks - just a pile of leaves. Move along now".

We also turned up a number of Ringnecks and a couple Smooth Earth Snakes, which may have been a little easier to photograph, thanks to the cooler temperature. The Ringnecks in this part of Kentucky have a lot of variation in ventral markings and color, along with size and color of the neck ring, so each one we found was examined with some interest.