More than 175 people turned out for Saturday and Sunday’s Kansas Herpetological Society spring field trip in Chase County, finding more than 1,112 individual animals for the annual count.
The group, which consisted of scientists, teachers, naturalists and members of the public, camped and flocked to Bloody Creek Ranch in Chase County and scoured four square miles of hills, ridges and mounds in the Flint Hills to look for reptiles. The goal was to count the number and type of species in the area, which hadn’t been surveyed before. Dan Murrow, of the Kansas Herpetological Society, said the group holds one event in the spring and one in the fall at different areas around the state.
Joseph Collins said Saturday’s group, which included more than 100 people, was one of the largest gatherings for a count in the society’s history.
The purpose of the count is simple.
“It’s to get an idea of which ones are here,” Collins said.
On Saturday, the group gathered at the campsite at Bloody Creek Ranch, received their instructions, and then fanned out to look for reptiles. The group looked in woody areas and under flat rocks. By the end of the weekend, they found 1,112 individual animals, which represented 39 different species. Among the animals found were 119 Great Plains skinks, 84 eastern collared lizards, 70 flathead snakes, 33 common kingsnakes, 39 massasaugas, one Kansas rattlesnake and three copperheads.
“Notable finds included three new records for Chase County,” a press release stated. “A slider (a basking turtle) and a Graham’s crayfish snake. None had previously been officially reported from the county.”
Around 2 p.m. Saturday, the group of searchers gathered back at the campsite, many toting their finds. Among the searchers was Tag Oldham, 12, from Oswego, who has been coming to the field trips for a couple of years. Tag smiled as he held up his milk snake. He said he and his family saw massasauga rattlesnakes, collared lizards, leopard frogs and Great Plains skinks.
Most animals were noted and immediately released back into the wild where captured. Some were retained for study by herpetologists with Kansas Scientific Collecting Permits for research.
The next field trip is Oct. 2 to 4 in Ness County at Goodman State Fishing Lake. The group’s annual meeting is scheduled from Nov. 6 to 8 at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe. For more information about the fall field trip or annual meeting, go to http://www.cnah.org/khs.
madpoet (anonymous) says...
What is a Kansas rattlesnake? Never heard of it and I had to learn ALL the Kansas snakes for Advanced Biology in high school.
April 28, 2009 at 9:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )