Ontario's Herpetofauna

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! 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 touc...

Following the adventures of finding garter snakes and some turtles the previous day, I set out for Norfolk County on Saturday April 15th to Norfolk County. I was hoping to find some early Hognose Snakes and possibly some Smooth Greensnakes or Eastern Foxsnakes. Unfortunately I came up empty handed in that regard but still managed to find a few herps. I turned up a few Eastern Gartersnakes in Norfolk and my first of the year Green Frog in Brant County on the way home. This Green Frog was exceptionally large but was very cold and lethargic so I decided it was best to take one in situ from a fair distance away in order to ensure it did not waste energy trying to "escape" from me. Green Frog - Brant County Determined, I set out again that evening to find more species to progress along in my Ontario herp challenge. This time I was searching for a specific species that I knew I would find. They had been calling for the past two days and I knew exactly where to go to fi...