When searching for the Queen in Indiana, one is likely to turn up lots of other interesting herps.  In the creek bed, various species of salamanders are quite common.  Along with the previously mentioned Longtailed Salamander, the water's edge is also home to the Southern Two-Lined Salamander (Eurycea cirrigera).  The members of the Eurycea genus are known as the Brook Salamanders, and the Two-Lined certainly live up to their name here, almost always found under wet stones on the edge of the water.  Brook Salamanders go through an aquatic larval stage, and these larvae can ususally be found in the shallows under stones with a little searching.  

Another common salamander species usually found a bit further from the water is the Eastern Zig Zag Salamander (Plethodon dorsalis dorsalis), a creature of the damp leaf litter,and often found under rotting logs and tree bark.  In the hot, dry summer months, the Zig Zags may move down closer to the water in order to stay moist.  Another species commonly encountered in the leaf litter is the Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus).  Slimys are misnamed - I think they should be called Sticky Salamanders.  If their slimy secretions are allowed to dry on your skin, it won't wash off - it has to be scrubbed off!  I always enjoy seeing them, but I rarely handle them anymore for that reason.

Pickerel Frog

Where there's water, there's frogs, so you can count on finding a few even on the poorest of days.  In the creek bed, Southern Leopard Frogs (Rana sphenocephala) are common, as is the Green Frog (Rana clamitans melanota).  Green Frogs seem to be quite common, and I've yet to see any Bullfrogs (Rana catesbiana) here. Blanchard's Cricket frogs (Acris crepitans blanchardi) are also present, even some distance from water.  Spring 2001 found us in Queen Country just as the American toads were breeding, and we saw a number of males calling from shallow water, and heard many more.

Ringneck Snake

Also present in numbers are the smaller species of snakes; the aforementioned Brown Snake and the Northern Ringnecked Snake (Diadophis punctatus edwardsii) are easily found under flat stones, and the Eastern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus sauritus) is also present.  The Brown Snake's close relative, the RedBelly Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata) are also found here.  Like the Ringnecks, the Brown and Redbelly Snakes are fossorial, spending much of their time underground, or in the leaf litter, or under objects. and yet I've found them out in the open on a number of occasions.

I'll leave you with a parting thought - the Queen may be drab and dull, but her kingdom is sure interesting!  Why they're called Queen Snakes is research for a winter's day!