An Incredible Week of Ontario Herping (Part 2)
Again, it has been far too long since my last post. Especially considering this is a continuation of it. I apologize to those of you who were expecting it sooner. I guess sometimes life gets busy and you lose track of time!
Anyhow, in the last post I left you off ending my trip to Pelee Island where we saw an incredible array of species. With a special highlight being the 3 Blue Racers! If you haven't read the first part I strongly encourage you to go back and read it before this one (here is the link: https://herpingontario.blogspot.ca/2017/10/an-incredible-week-of-ontario-herping.html).
So now we are off the island, fueling up the car for the 3 hour drive home.
Taylor and I get to talking and start discussing places we will be passing on the drive home. And before you know it, we of course have a herp detour planned. We set off to the county of Middle Essex in search for an endangered turtle.
A week or so before this, I had previously seen over 13 adult Spiny Softshell Turtles along a single bank of the river where we were headed, hoping to see them again. And, although there weren't as many, we did end up seeing a few!
After the quick stop to see the Turtles we tried looking for Queensnakes nearby but to no avail - that being said we didn't look for them longer than 10 minutes. We decided to rather go look for them in Brant County and meet up with one of our good friends, Sterling, since he was working on the Queensnake project in Ontario collecting blood samples.
At the site Taylor, Sterling, and I found our first Queensnake of the day. Unfortunately it was DOR (Dead On the Road). This was only the 4th ever DOR Queensnake reported in Ontario and was the the first time Taylor got a look at the species in the province. Even though it was heartbreaking, we collected the specimen and Sterling was able to take it and send it off for genetics testing.
Seeing this snake also gave us hope to see another live specimen. Taylor and Sterling went wading in the water and I was hiking the shoreline in our search for the aquatic serpents. I didn't join them in the water because I didn't want to get my boots soaked since I didn't have a second pair of shoes with me. And I'm glad I didn't go in. because not far up the stream I saw a flash of snake dart off the side of the bank. I knew it was a Queensnake. So, naturally, I lept into the stream and grabbed the snake. And of course, I got my boots, and pants, and just about everything, absolutely soaked.
But hey it was worth it to see this beautiful female Queensnake.
Now I know you are not supposed to capture these animals. However, this wasn't just for my pleasure. We caught this individual so that Sterling, with the required permits, could take a blood sample.
As soon as the sample was taken, the snake was released right there where I found it and it sat still for only a moment before taking off into its watery home.
The next day I drove back up north, stopping along the way to see dozens of Ontario's only lizard species, the Five-lined Skink!
And the next day after this, something truly magical happened...
But you'll have to wait to find out what it was. I'll try to create and publish the final part to this herping week series before Christmas.
Until then,
Ryan Wolfe
Anyhow, in the last post I left you off ending my trip to Pelee Island where we saw an incredible array of species. With a special highlight being the 3 Blue Racers! If you haven't read the first part I strongly encourage you to go back and read it before this one (here is the link: https://herpingontario.blogspot.ca/2017/10/an-incredible-week-of-ontario-herping.html).
So now we are off the island, fueling up the car for the 3 hour drive home.
Taylor and I get to talking and start discussing places we will be passing on the drive home. And before you know it, we of course have a herp detour planned. We set off to the county of Middle Essex in search for an endangered turtle.
A week or so before this, I had previously seen over 13 adult Spiny Softshell Turtles along a single bank of the river where we were headed, hoping to see them again. And, although there weren't as many, we did end up seeing a few!
 |
| Spiny Softshell Turtle - Middle Essex County |
 |
| Spiny Softshell Turtle - Middle Essex County |
 |
| Spiny Softshell Turtle - Middle Essex County |
At the site Taylor, Sterling, and I found our first Queensnake of the day. Unfortunately it was DOR (Dead On the Road). This was only the 4th ever DOR Queensnake reported in Ontario and was the the first time Taylor got a look at the species in the province. Even though it was heartbreaking, we collected the specimen and Sterling was able to take it and send it off for genetics testing.
Seeing this snake also gave us hope to see another live specimen. Taylor and Sterling went wading in the water and I was hiking the shoreline in our search for the aquatic serpents. I didn't join them in the water because I didn't want to get my boots soaked since I didn't have a second pair of shoes with me. And I'm glad I didn't go in. because not far up the stream I saw a flash of snake dart off the side of the bank. I knew it was a Queensnake. So, naturally, I lept into the stream and grabbed the snake. And of course, I got my boots, and pants, and just about everything, absolutely soaked.
But hey it was worth it to see this beautiful female Queensnake.
 |
| Queensnake - Brant County. |
Now I know you are not supposed to capture these animals. However, this wasn't just for my pleasure. We caught this individual so that Sterling, with the required permits, could take a blood sample.
As soon as the sample was taken, the snake was released right there where I found it and it sat still for only a moment before taking off into its watery home.
The next day I drove back up north, stopping along the way to see dozens of Ontario's only lizard species, the Five-lined Skink!
 |
| Five-lined Skink |
And the next day after this, something truly magical happened...
But you'll have to wait to find out what it was. I'll try to create and publish the final part to this herping week series before Christmas.
Until then,
Ryan Wolfe
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