NJ's Top 3 Snakes - One Amazing Day!
I have been a "field herper" for more than 10 years now, both as a hobby and professionally (I'm a herpetologist by training & work for zoos & museums) and have been lucky enough to see wild reptiles in many parts of the world including the relatively few species we have here native to New Jersey. But a couple of weeks ago, I had what could possibly be the most amazing herp day ever as a friend and I headed out to the NJ Pine Barrens looking for the "top 3" snakes to photograph. These are species which are found in a very limited range in NJ and are under alot of pressure so are individually considered rare finds. Well, you can imagine my joy when I found all three species, the fact that they were all obviously gravid females was very gratifying as well. Some highlights:
Freshly shed female Timber rattlesnake (I found her shed before her) a NJ "Pinebrake" phase rattler to boot.
Later we found a visibly gravid female basking not far away, 2 in one day...wow. One of them is a previously unknown individual (some folks around here keep vidual ID's on this population)
A true, "Jersey Chain King" aka the Eastern Chain Kingsnake. The local population is known for a high "chain/band" count. This was my first time finding this species in NJ-relatively common elsewhere over their range but not here of course.
The highly prized Nj Northern pinesnake, in this part of its range the indivuals are obviously known for their high black and white contrast and large size.
All snakes were completely oogled and fawned over, photographed and released with lots of hope for successful births. I hope some of the poachers that frequent the barrens aren't as lucky as we are in finding these beauties.
Enjoy.
I have been a "field herper" for more than 10 years now, both as a hobby and professionally (I'm a herpetologist by training & work for zoos & museums) and have been lucky enough to see wild reptiles in many parts of the world including the relatively few species we have here native to New Jersey. But a couple of weeks ago, I had what could possibly be the most amazing herp day ever as a friend and I headed out to the NJ Pine Barrens looking for the "top 3" snakes to photograph. These are species which are found in a very limited range in NJ and are under alot of pressure so are individually considered rare finds. Well, you can imagine my joy when I found all three species, the fact that they were all obviously gravid females was very gratifying as well. Some highlights:
Freshly shed female Timber rattlesnake (I found her shed before her) a NJ "Pinebrake" phase rattler to boot.
Later we found a visibly gravid female basking not far away, 2 in one day...wow. One of them is a previously unknown individual (some folks around here keep vidual ID's on this population)
A true, "Jersey Chain King" aka the Eastern Chain Kingsnake. The local population is known for a high "chain/band" count. This was my first time finding this species in NJ-relatively common elsewhere over their range but not here of course.
The highly prized Nj Northern pinesnake, in this part of its range the indivuals are obviously known for their high black and white contrast and large size.
All snakes were completely oogled and fawned over, photographed and released with lots of hope for successful births. I hope some of the poachers that frequent the barrens aren't as lucky as we are in finding these beauties.
Enjoy.