Carpets and Cover Boards

I held my vision firmly on the horizon as we jostled along, trying to keep my eyes from rolling back in their sockets.  My stomach began doing little somersaults.  “Oh lord,” I thought; I was beginning to seriously question my decision to go herping.  The day was going to be hot, and I had been feeling ill for a week.  Add in my propensity for car sickness and you have one very unhappy camper.  “Kingsnakes,” I reminded myself, “you might see kingsnakes.”  Dr. Carl Brune, a professor at Ohio University and one of the most dedicated and experienced herpers I have ever met, had agreed to take me along herping with him (you can check out some of his awesome stuff HERE).  The last thing I wanted to do was cancel.  

After a few rushed stops to the restroom, we finally arrived in Gallia County.  Carl had been herping this location for years, and had worked out an efficient routine.  He parked his big four-wheel drive pickup on the roadside and the two of us grabbed backpacks and snake hooks from the truck’s bed.  Our first stop took us to a man-made field—a power line clearing.  The field had been neatly stripped of trees; a straight corridor cut through the forested hillside almost like it had been waxed.  “This edge habitat is important for finding snakes,” he explained, “It draws in both forest and field species to the boards.”  

As we hiked into the waist-high brush, the metal monster of a power line towering overhead, we came to our first cover board.  The piece of plywood was a little more than a square meter and sat flush with the ground.  Its grayish surface would have been easy to miss in the tangles of understory that surrounded us.  As Carl inserted the hook of his snake stick beneath the board, I angled myself for a clear view of what might lay below.  He lifted the board.  Dirt, a few bugs, no snakes.  We scanned the earth for a few more seconds just to be sure.  The board returned to its square patch of dirt with a thud.  On to the next one.

This next board was identical to the first.  As Carl lifted, a little black snake was revealed below.  Before the little guy could move I had grabbed hold of him.  It was a baby eastern black king snake!  He was a yearling by the look of him, and the first of this species I had ever seen.  I was ecstatic, completely forgetting my previous sickness.  Carl had explained to me that, where they occur, kingsnakes can actually be quite common.  I had hoped this meant my chances of an encounter were good, but I hadn't really expected to find one.  I posed the snake for photographs before checking the few remaining boards and heading back to the vehicle.

The remainder of the day (which would end up totaling nearly 11 hours of searching) continued in this fashion.  Stop along the road, hike a short distance, check cover boards.  Over the years, Carl had collected and placed cover boards throughout the reserve.  It boggled my mind how he was able to remember not only where all of the boards were located, but also what he had found under each of them during past visits.  Herping with cover boards is a kind of art.  It takes an understanding of the materials and a knowledge of what the animals prefer.

Metal sheets and roofing panels are most effective in early spring.  They provide warm, dry cover in the months that are predominantly wet and cool.  Reptiles emerging from hibernation can be found on or below the metal’s heated surface.  As summer takes hold and temperatures rise, metal quickly becomes too hot.  Herps may continue to utilize the metal’s conductive properties, but are often forced to seek cooler hides to prevent overheating.  

Wood, carpet, and plastic become safer options in the heat of summer.  Dumped carpet is often found in piled heaps, providing variation in moisture and temperature levels.  This allows snakes to be picky; they can often be found deep within the carpet’s folded interior.  Carl describes wood cover boards as “half-way between metal and carpet.”  Wood usually heats up more than carpet, but not as much as a metal tin.  It holds more moisture than metal, but doesn't tend to get musty or moldy like carpet.  It is cheap and light, making for an ideal herping tool.  

Ideal for people doesn't always mean preferable to snakes, however.  It is difficult to predict what will turn up under any variety of cover.  Some snakes, copperheads and ratsnakes, don't like the tight confines of metal, carpet, or wood.  Plastic pool liners, old hunks of plastic tables, and any assortment of discarded junk with enough space below it can provide the perfect place for these snakes to take refuge.  

Over time, most objects begin to break down as they are subject to the elements and forces of decay.  Cover that was once profitable may degrade beyond use.  Interestingly, there is a constant inflow of usable replacements in the form of illegal dumping.  It may not be flashy or elegant, but a trash pile can provide reptiles with ample hiding places.  As we drove, Carl made a point to check each dump pile we came across.  Below one piece of newly found rubbish we discovered snake eggs.  At another we collected a large pool cover to be transplanted to better snake habitat nearby.  Under an old tombstone we discovered two black widow spiders!  "I question the karma behind flipping graves," Carl chuckled. 

Herping in the heat of July and August can be tricky business.  It is often too dry for snakes to be active, pushing them underground and away from the eager eyes of snake hunters. “When it rains, it pours,” Carl told me.  “When we find some snakes, we usually find a lot.  This has been a wet summer.  Moisture keeps the snakes active and increases our chances of finding them beneath cover.”  I was happy that we had found just one little kingsnake, so when we flipped a well-used piece of carpet, my jaw dropped at the sight of a 2 1/2 foot adult king.  Luck was on our side.  “If you had told me we would have found just two snakes by now I wouldn't have guessed they would be kings,” Carl said.

Only a handful of southern Ohio counties boast eastern black kingsnake (Lampropeltis nigra) populations.  These field dwelling snakes are extremely secretive and rarely encountered out in the open.  They are sleek, smooth snakes, entirely black except for a white checkerboard belly and dabs of white painted on the sides and face.  They are heavy bodied, growing to more than four feet in length.  Perhaps the most amazing feature of the black kingsnake is its diet.  These snakes are called kings for a reason: they eat other snakes, including venomous species.  There are many famous images of kingsnakes constricting and consuming copperheads (HERE).  Kings are not actually immune to the venom, though they are so resistant to it that a bite causes little damage.  Despite this ferocity, kingsnakes are exceptionally gentle when handled by humans.  The individuals we found musked, but never tried to bite or coil defensively (though they did rattle their tails).

As the sunlight began to yellow and the shadows lengthened, we found our third and final black kingsnake beneath a slab of carpet.  It too was around 2 1/2 feet in length (the average size Carl finds).  Not far away, we also discovered a black racer (Coluber constrictor) which darted out of my hands before I could get a proper grip.  Under one of our final cover boards, we discovered an eastern milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum).  I was thrilled to have found the other Lampropeltis (kingsnake) species native to Ohio; it made for a kind of set.  The milk was similar in size to the kings we had found but strikingly patterned with brown blotches against a creamy background.  Looking at this colorful snake, it was hard to imagine it as a close relative of the glossy black serpents we had just seen.  

The day had been long but worthwhile.  We had hiked nearly six miles, driven through two counties, and been stung by a dozen wasps.  I was eager for a shower and a nap.  Carl recounted tails of his herping adventures over the years as I tried to mentally note each of the species and locations he had found.  I was grateful for the successful trip and eager to get back out in the field with him soon.