Way to go, Wayne! Good to hear from you. Although we have had 3 days reaching 70 here near Denver, I have yet to see a snake. My journals remind me that I have not seen one til 2nd week in April for last 5 yrs. Re: Eastern yellow bellied racer- are they lime green on top? I think I saw my first such racer last spring- Had he not lingered in the cat tails after racing by me, I would not have known what he was! Mary Ann

Like I said Mitchell. Just let me know when you want to come up and I'll be your guide. I know a place in Indiana near Champaign for Fox Snakes and Smooth Greens. Dave

A good day Wayne! Snakes are very difficult to find now since it is so dry and hot. Observed an interesting encounter recently. Was walking through some short grass in a marshy area when a small bullfrog hopped away in a straight line away from me when a dark coil appeared with a lot of commotion. Turned out to be a large racer who had grabbed the frog by a back leg. It then crawled within 3 feet of me with its head several inches high and the frog only caught by its toes. The frog was about three times the snakes girth so it was quite a battle for a few minutes. The racer somehow managed to swallow the frog backwards which took several minutes. No camera or camcorder but still worth the long time it all took. A very interesting scale pattern on the racer after having swallowed such a huge meal.

Hello folks. I have been somewhat dormant these past few weeks due to moving and getting settled in back in Hays. Despite all of the school work and my busy schedule, my roomate (Mike Rochford, a herp grad student here at FHSU) and I have been able to herp quite a bit. I will start with late July. A few researchers from Ohio State University came to Kansas to collect venom samples from Massasauga rattlesnakes. So we set out to aid them in thier search. Here the totals: 15 + Massasaugas 2 Prairie Rattlesnakes 3 Great Plains Rat Snakes 2 Texas Brown Snakes 1 Texas Longnose Snake 2 Kansas Glossy Snakes (I know there were more in the other cars, but I cannot recall the totals) Glossy and Longnose Snakes have a limited range in Kansas. They are always a good find and both are protected in Kansas. Over the past few weeks, Mike and I have been able to roadcruise Ellis County...Totals: TMTC Western Slender Glass Lizards TMTC Prairie Rattlesnakes 5 Great Plains Rat Snakes 1 Speckled King Snake 1 Eastern Hognose- We are at the furthest west of their range. They are somewhat uncommon here in western Kansas, although they seem to be fairly common in some places. The Easterns we have here are incredible looking. Here is an example of a western Ks eastern hog: http://webcat.fhsu.edu/ksfauna/herps/index.asp?page=species&species_id=393-995&dots=yes&tributaries=yes&isAnura=&map=ks 1 Bullsnake TMTC Lined Snakes TMTC Ringnecks TMTC Western Coachwhips TMTC Woodhouse Toads Herps are really moving out here. We had to go to the Red Hills region of southwestern Kansas last weekend for a night, so we herped...Totals: 1 Prairie Kingsnake 1 huge Coachwhip 1 Massasauga 1 Black Rat Snake TMTC Woodhouse Toad TMTC Plains Leopard Frogs 1 G.P. Narrow-mouthed Toad 1 Great Plains Toad 1 Common Garter Snake 1 Western Slender Glass Lizard Now so far we were disappointed with the night's totals. We had to make the three hour drive back to Hays and it was about midnight, so we set out. Along the way we ran into a massive storm and we enjoyed a lightshow the entire way home. I was hoping we would get some active rain that would set the Tiger Salamanders in motion, but we had no such luck. At about 1:30 in the morning, we saw a small white snake in the road, it was very...glossy...and about a foot long. I turned the truck around and we went back to find a Kansas Glossy Snake crawling across the road. This was a great find because Kansas Glossy Snakes have not been recorded from that far north in Kiowa County. It was a great specimen. A little while later we crossed into Edwards County and after a few minutes, we spotted a DOR. We went back to find an adult Dipodemys (Kangaroo Rat) sitting in the middle of the road. We agreed that this was not the DOR that we had seen, so we went back further to find an adult Texas Longnose Snake DOR. This was a somewhat significant find because it was a county record and a slight range extension in that part of Kansas. We have had some great luck out here, but we still have yet to find a Western Hognose or an adult Eastern. Watch for a large post soon that will be complete with pictures. (And I mean LARGE)... chad