Last Thursday, April 30th, our herp class went on an awesome trip to the quarry at Hueston Woods. It had been raining off and on that day. I was walking in the water, listening to my buddy Max telling me how amazing of a time he was having when I decided to make my way to the side of the stream and over to a group of rocks. Feeling a bit down about not finding anything yet, I decided to eagerly turn over some of the medium sized rocks. To my surprise I found this small queen snake (Regina septemvittata) coiled underneath one. I quickly reached down and grabbed it because I really didn't want to let it get away. This queen snake was really thin and once I was holding it, it constantly tried to squirm away. It took us a while to get it to pose for a picture, but we finally managed. Queen snakes are usually 15-24 in. long and have a yellow stripe along the lower side of their body and four brown stripes on their belly. They like small, stony creeks and rivers and are likely to be discovered beneath rocks or debris at the edge of water (like where I found this one). They feed largely on soft-shelled crayfish and have a large range (from Michigan all the way to Northwestern Florida).
Cliff Griffen - Miami University
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