As we went along, Phil made sure all of the finds were recorded, and the whole gang had time and opportunity to take some pictures. Subsequent boardline hops yielded more Racers, Ringnecks, and a Worm Snake or two, and several more Copperheads. One of the Copperheads was just stunning, with a head color unique an distinct from the light and dark crossbands of the body. I had once described one of Will's contortrix finds as 'the ugliest Copperhead I've ever seen', and I had to eat a little crow on this serpent, since I knew it was among the loveliest I had ever seen.

We had hopes of seeing Timber Rattlers on this trip, but we were just a little early, and the cooler than normal temperatures at night weren't helping either. Aside from the absent horridus, we  didn't have much to complain about, as we were turning up other species of snakes left and right.

We were getting into late afternoon and had run out of boardlines to check. It was time to grab a spot of lunch and head back into Louisville since we had a KHS meeting to attend that evening. We did have time to get in a little Queen Snake hunting, right in the middle of town. We stopped off at a small creek passing through a city park, and amidst fishermen, joggers and frisbee-flinging college kids, we found quite a few Queen Snakes in a short period of time. The Queenies were a new species for Jim, and was the Midland Water Snake that Jeff caught. Not too bad for in town!

Then it was time to head over to the nature center on the zoo grounds for the monthly meeting of the Kentucky Herpetological Society. Attendance was good, and from the member interactions during the business part of the meeting I pegged the KHS as an active and vibrant group. A lot of folks were participating in the meeting and having a good time, which was wonderful to see.

Then it was presentation time, and those attending got a triple whammy from their guest speakers, a little ripe from a day in the field and carrying a hint of snake musk. I did a presentation on the Snake Road in southern Illinois; Jim covered herping in Kansas by region, with lots of pictures. Jeff wrapped things up with a talk on a year in the life of a Minnesota herper, and I learned a thing or two about a region I'd previously dismissed as the inside of a freezer. There's lots of cool herpetofauna up that way, especially if you look for the right things in the right season.

left to right: Steve, Will, Mike, Jeff, Jim, Owl, Brian, Phil

I think we talked about three hours, and nobody fell asleep, so I guess we got the job done. We hung around and talked to folks for a while before everyone headed for home. Jeff, Jim and I had some decisions to make about where we headed next, and Will and Phil gave us some help with that. We thanked everyone for showing us around that day, and for their hospitality, and then headed back to our campground for one last night before moving on.