An Incredible Week of Ontario Herping (Part 1)
Although the title says "week", this was all really done within 5 days. The best 5 days of my life.
DAY ONE:
It all started the morning of June 1st on our way down to Ontario's Southernmost point of land, Pelee Island. We had decided to make a pit-stop in the Windsor area while waiting for the ferry. We wanted to search for a small Species at Risk (SAR) snake.. any ideas of which species that may be?!
If you said Butler's Gartersnake, you would be correct!
This beautiful female was found by my good friend Taylor Kennedy. And not only was she beautiful, she was gravid (pregnant)! Being an endangered snake in our province, we are always happy to see a snake that will, hopefully, go on to produce a new generation.
Identification tip: Butler's Gartersnakes have lateral (side) stripes on the third scale row and part of the second and fourth scale rows whereas the Eastern Gartersnakes lateral stripe only touches the second and third scale rows. In addition to this, Butler's have shorter heads and less of a visible neck than its relative.
A profile shot showing the lack of neck and the small head of the Butler's Gartersnake:
After observing the Butler's Gartersnake it was time to catch our ferry.
Sadly, no herps were found on the ferry.
BUT! once we got to the island we started seeing snakes immediately. We found several Dekay's Bronwnsakes and Eastern Gartersnakes.
Many of the Eastern Gartersnakes found were melanistic. A phenotype that is quite common on Pelee Island and other Lake Erie populations (approximately 1/3 of the population on the island is melanistic).
For those who don't know what melanistic means; melanism is when the dark pigment called melanin is excessively expressed in an animal causing the tissues to appear as solid black.
Here is one of the many Gartersnakes we found with melanism:
Something to note is that the melanistic Eastern Gartersnakes on the island are not entirely black. All of them have at least a white chin, as is better shown in the photo below.
In addition to this, other colour mutations have been found (not by me) such as an individual this year that seemed to be partially melanistic, showing both all black and coloured pigments in different sections of the body. Kevin Wood is the person who found this individual, and since I have not requested permission to share his image, you may look it up on his Instagram (kevinwood054) if you wish.
Shortly after all of the Brownsnakes and Garters we found our first endangered Salamander of the trip.
A Smallmouth Salamander!
Smallmouth Salamanders are endangered in the province and only occur on Pelee island in Ontario. In addition to the extremely limited range of this species, very few individuals remaining are true Smallmouth Salamanders. Most of the salamanders are hybridized, containing both Smallmouth and Blue-spotted Salamander genes, which poses concern that the pure forms will be bred out or out-competed by the hybrid population. Studies are being done on the Smallmouth Salamander populations by Trent University who have found and identified remaining pure individuals. I will not be sharing any details about this as I do not want to cross any lines or step on any toes, so to speak. If you wish to learn more about their studies, just punch in "smallmouth salamander trent university" on Google.
At this point we were making good time and still had a half day of sunlight ahead of us. We decided to delay setting up our tents until later since we were having such good luck. It was time to go look for the big snakes.
Our first stop to search was quick and almost too easy. We found two large male Eastern Foxsnakes within two minutes of stepping out of our car! Both snakes were over 4 feet in length. The larger male was old, scarred, and in rough shape but the other was younger and one of the healthiest Foxsnakes I have ever seen.
As fast as we got to that site, we were off again.
We had an appointment to observe a snake that neither Taylor nor I had ever seen before.
Quick backstory: Last year I had been on another trip to Pelee island in search of this animal, the most endangered snake in Ontario. We came up on the negative side finding only a single large adult dead on the road (DOR). Although an unfortunate event, it lead us to discover a location where we found many sheds from individuals of this species, meaning they frequent the area.
Using the information I had gained from my previous trip we went back to the location where I had seen the DOR and the shed skins. We searched the entire area with high hopes but my excitement started to fade when we had searched the entire area - or so I thought.
I had somehow lost Taylor and had checked everywhere I wanted to look so I started to go search for my friend. Walking in the direction I had last seen him I saw a piece of cover on the ground and decided to flip it, just in case. I leisurely flipped the cover, assuming that Taylor or Madison had already done so, but to my surprise there was a snake under it!
My mind started racing and I started thinking "no way... it couldn't be!". I quickly put my camera down so I could lift the cover up the whole way and there it was...
A Blue Racer!!!
My search for Taylor turned into me shouting his name and calling him over so that he could observe this incredible snake as well. Madison had already gone back to the car to read her book but came out to see the snake as well. Funnily enough and lucky for me, when Madison saw the piece of cover it was under she said she had already tried lifting it but it was too heavy fro her so she wasn't able to!
Now we had finally seen the snake we had dreamed of seeing in Ontario. With there being an estimated population of under 200 individual Blue Racers left in Ontario, this is not a common site.
Because they are so at risk I will not be sharing any information about the species, only my pictures.
If you wish to learn more about the species I am planning on doing species specific posts where I will talk about each Ontario Species, including the Blue Racer. However, you may (and should) also look at the species profile and other documents posted by the government about the species;
http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/species/speciesDetails_e.cfm?sid=271
Happy as all get out that we had accomplished our main goal for the trip it was now time to go to the winery for celebrations and then set up camp for the night.
DAY TWO:
Our second day on the island started with an early morning trip to check out a new location to look for more Blue Racers.
We ended up searching the area for hours, hiking through thick grasses and bushes only to come up with a few melanistic Eastern Gartersnakes.
Sweaty, tired, and a little disappointed we headed out and back to the area we had seen the Blue Racer the previous day. We started searching and quickly Taylor found a Blue Racer out and on the move! Excitingly, this was a different individual than the day before.
She was a little bit larger than the previous Racer and was a lot more defensive living up to the Racer reputation. She was deep in shed and not able to see very well (as you can tell from her opaque blue eyes) which is likely the cause of the defensive behaviour.
Moments after Taylor found the above Blue Racer I flipped another one! At first I thought it was the same one as the day before as it was under the same cover but we quickly learned that it was not! This snake was huge.. it was just over 5 foot 8 inches in length!! And it wasn't in shed like the other two we had seen.
After flipping the snake, it quickly took off and we were able to capture some photos of it in the surrounding habitat.
We were able to capture a few photographs before the snake took refuge in the grass.
Now at three Racers for the trip we decided it was time to see the last possible snake species on Pelee Island.
Although endangered, lake Erie Watersnakes are found along the shoreline basically everywhere on the island in what appears to be large numbers. This makes them an observation easily seen.
As the name hints, the Lake Erie Watersnake is found in Lake Erie. In Ontario, Pelee Island and the surrounding area are the only locations in which this snake inhabits. This, in addition to habitat loss from the building of cottages, road mortality, and persecution by humans are the reasons why the species is listed as endangered in the province.
On a brighter note, in some US sub populations the species seems to be making some recovery as food sources have become plentiful since the Round Goby was introduced. In the United States, studies have been done showing that the Lake Erie Watersnake population is increasing as they are feeding on the Round Goby. The same results may be possible for the population here on Pelee Island but this has not been confirmed.
The Round Goby is an invasive fish species that has all but taken over the lake. They pose a major threat to the biodiversity in Lake Erie and therefore these watersnakes play an important role in slowing the population growth of the Goby.
Here is a picture I took of a Lake Erie Watersnake eating a Round goby last year on Pelee island:
To switch gears for the end of this blog post I have a couple of last species to share with you that aren't snakes.
During our searching for Lake Erie Watersnake we came across a few turtle species. First of which was this female Painted Turtle:
Her face and skin were covered in sand from digging along the shore looking for a place to nest and lay her eggs!
We had officially reached turtle nesting season, and this was our first evidence of it.
Throughout the remainder of the day we searched canals along roadsides and found many more Midland Painted Turtles as well as Common Snapping Turtles and Blanding's Turtles. Unfortunately however, we did not capture any images of these species. Maybe next time.
With this, our trip to Pelee island came to a conclusion, but my "incredible week of herping" had just begun!
Stay Tuned for new species and more fun in Part Two.
Until next time,
Ryan Wolfe
DAY ONE:
It all started the morning of June 1st on our way down to Ontario's Southernmost point of land, Pelee Island. We had decided to make a pit-stop in the Windsor area while waiting for the ferry. We wanted to search for a small Species at Risk (SAR) snake.. any ideas of which species that may be?!
If you said Butler's Gartersnake, you would be correct!
 |
| Butler's Gartersnake (Thamnophis butleri) |
This beautiful female was found by my good friend Taylor Kennedy. And not only was she beautiful, she was gravid (pregnant)! Being an endangered snake in our province, we are always happy to see a snake that will, hopefully, go on to produce a new generation.
Identification tip: Butler's Gartersnakes have lateral (side) stripes on the third scale row and part of the second and fourth scale rows whereas the Eastern Gartersnakes lateral stripe only touches the second and third scale rows. In addition to this, Butler's have shorter heads and less of a visible neck than its relative.
A profile shot showing the lack of neck and the small head of the Butler's Gartersnake:
 |
| Butler's Gartersnake (Thamnophis butleri) |
Sadly, no herps were found on the ferry.
BUT! once we got to the island we started seeing snakes immediately. We found several Dekay's Bronwnsakes and Eastern Gartersnakes.
 |
| Dekay's Brownsnake (Storeria dekayii) |
 |
| Eastern Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis) |
Many of the Eastern Gartersnakes found were melanistic. A phenotype that is quite common on Pelee Island and other Lake Erie populations (approximately 1/3 of the population on the island is melanistic).
For those who don't know what melanistic means; melanism is when the dark pigment called melanin is excessively expressed in an animal causing the tissues to appear as solid black.
Here is one of the many Gartersnakes we found with melanism:
 |
| Eastern Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis) - melanistic |
Something to note is that the melanistic Eastern Gartersnakes on the island are not entirely black. All of them have at least a white chin, as is better shown in the photo below.
In addition to this, other colour mutations have been found (not by me) such as an individual this year that seemed to be partially melanistic, showing both all black and coloured pigments in different sections of the body. Kevin Wood is the person who found this individual, and since I have not requested permission to share his image, you may look it up on his Instagram (kevinwood054) if you wish.
Shortly after all of the Brownsnakes and Garters we found our first endangered Salamander of the trip.
A Smallmouth Salamander!
 |
| Smallmouth Salamander (Ambystoma texanum) |
Smallmouth Salamanders are endangered in the province and only occur on Pelee island in Ontario. In addition to the extremely limited range of this species, very few individuals remaining are true Smallmouth Salamanders. Most of the salamanders are hybridized, containing both Smallmouth and Blue-spotted Salamander genes, which poses concern that the pure forms will be bred out or out-competed by the hybrid population. Studies are being done on the Smallmouth Salamander populations by Trent University who have found and identified remaining pure individuals. I will not be sharing any details about this as I do not want to cross any lines or step on any toes, so to speak. If you wish to learn more about their studies, just punch in "smallmouth salamander trent university" on Google.
At this point we were making good time and still had a half day of sunlight ahead of us. We decided to delay setting up our tents until later since we were having such good luck. It was time to go look for the big snakes.
Our first stop to search was quick and almost too easy. We found two large male Eastern Foxsnakes within two minutes of stepping out of our car! Both snakes were over 4 feet in length. The larger male was old, scarred, and in rough shape but the other was younger and one of the healthiest Foxsnakes I have ever seen.
 |
| Eastern Foxsnake (Pantherophis gloydi) |
 |
| Eastern Foxsnake (Pantherophis gloydi) |
As fast as we got to that site, we were off again.
We had an appointment to observe a snake that neither Taylor nor I had ever seen before.
Quick backstory: Last year I had been on another trip to Pelee island in search of this animal, the most endangered snake in Ontario. We came up on the negative side finding only a single large adult dead on the road (DOR). Although an unfortunate event, it lead us to discover a location where we found many sheds from individuals of this species, meaning they frequent the area.
Using the information I had gained from my previous trip we went back to the location where I had seen the DOR and the shed skins. We searched the entire area with high hopes but my excitement started to fade when we had searched the entire area - or so I thought.
I had somehow lost Taylor and had checked everywhere I wanted to look so I started to go search for my friend. Walking in the direction I had last seen him I saw a piece of cover on the ground and decided to flip it, just in case. I leisurely flipped the cover, assuming that Taylor or Madison had already done so, but to my surprise there was a snake under it!
My mind started racing and I started thinking "no way... it couldn't be!". I quickly put my camera down so I could lift the cover up the whole way and there it was...
A Blue Racer!!!
 |
| Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii) |
My search for Taylor turned into me shouting his name and calling him over so that he could observe this incredible snake as well. Madison had already gone back to the car to read her book but came out to see the snake as well. Funnily enough and lucky for me, when Madison saw the piece of cover it was under she said she had already tried lifting it but it was too heavy fro her so she wasn't able to!
Now we had finally seen the snake we had dreamed of seeing in Ontario. With there being an estimated population of under 200 individual Blue Racers left in Ontario, this is not a common site.
Because they are so at risk I will not be sharing any information about the species, only my pictures.
If you wish to learn more about the species I am planning on doing species specific posts where I will talk about each Ontario Species, including the Blue Racer. However, you may (and should) also look at the species profile and other documents posted by the government about the species;
http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/species/speciesDetails_e.cfm?sid=271
Happy as all get out that we had accomplished our main goal for the trip it was now time to go to the winery for celebrations and then set up camp for the night.
DAY TWO:
Our second day on the island started with an early morning trip to check out a new location to look for more Blue Racers.
We ended up searching the area for hours, hiking through thick grasses and bushes only to come up with a few melanistic Eastern Gartersnakes.
Sweaty, tired, and a little disappointed we headed out and back to the area we had seen the Blue Racer the previous day. We started searching and quickly Taylor found a Blue Racer out and on the move! Excitingly, this was a different individual than the day before.
 |
| Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii) |
She was a little bit larger than the previous Racer and was a lot more defensive living up to the Racer reputation. She was deep in shed and not able to see very well (as you can tell from her opaque blue eyes) which is likely the cause of the defensive behaviour.
Moments after Taylor found the above Blue Racer I flipped another one! At first I thought it was the same one as the day before as it was under the same cover but we quickly learned that it was not! This snake was huge.. it was just over 5 foot 8 inches in length!! And it wasn't in shed like the other two we had seen.
After flipping the snake, it quickly took off and we were able to capture some photos of it in the surrounding habitat.
 |
| Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii) |
 |
| Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii) |
 |
| Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii) |
We were able to capture a few photographs before the snake took refuge in the grass.
 |
| Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii) |
 |
| Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii) |
Now at three Racers for the trip we decided it was time to see the last possible snake species on Pelee Island.
Although endangered, lake Erie Watersnakes are found along the shoreline basically everywhere on the island in what appears to be large numbers. This makes them an observation easily seen.
 |
| Lake Erie Watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon insularum) |
 |
| Lake Erie Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon insularum) |
As the name hints, the Lake Erie Watersnake is found in Lake Erie. In Ontario, Pelee Island and the surrounding area are the only locations in which this snake inhabits. This, in addition to habitat loss from the building of cottages, road mortality, and persecution by humans are the reasons why the species is listed as endangered in the province.
On a brighter note, in some US sub populations the species seems to be making some recovery as food sources have become plentiful since the Round Goby was introduced. In the United States, studies have been done showing that the Lake Erie Watersnake population is increasing as they are feeding on the Round Goby. The same results may be possible for the population here on Pelee Island but this has not been confirmed.
The Round Goby is an invasive fish species that has all but taken over the lake. They pose a major threat to the biodiversity in Lake Erie and therefore these watersnakes play an important role in slowing the population growth of the Goby.
Here is a picture I took of a Lake Erie Watersnake eating a Round goby last year on Pelee island:
 |
| Lake Erie Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon insularum) eating a Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) |
To switch gears for the end of this blog post I have a couple of last species to share with you that aren't snakes.
During our searching for Lake Erie Watersnake we came across a few turtle species. First of which was this female Painted Turtle:
 |
| Midland Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) |
Her face and skin were covered in sand from digging along the shore looking for a place to nest and lay her eggs!
We had officially reached turtle nesting season, and this was our first evidence of it.
Throughout the remainder of the day we searched canals along roadsides and found many more Midland Painted Turtles as well as Common Snapping Turtles and Blanding's Turtles. Unfortunately however, we did not capture any images of these species. Maybe next time.
With this, our trip to Pelee island came to a conclusion, but my "incredible week of herping" had just begun!
Stay Tuned for new species and more fun in Part Two.
Until next time,
Ryan Wolfe
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