Barber County, Kansas

Janeen Walters and I made a trip to southern Kansas this week-end.  Instead of hunting Easter eggs, we searched for amphibians and reptiles at the Kansas Herpetological Society spring field trip to Barber County, Kansas.  The participants were very knowledgeable and helpful, calling me over whenever they found an interesting creature so I could see and photograph it.  I saw six snake species, two turtles, and one lizard on the trip, along with other new insects, birds, and various venomous creatures.   Southern Kansas is in the grip of a severe drought so that kept the number of species lower than expected.

This is a juvenile Eastern Collared Lizard found under a rock in the Red Hills of Kansas.

Here is a very aggravated Western Massasauga rattlesnake, not appreciating the attention he is getting by the photographers.

This Snapping Turtle was pulled out of a farm pond by one of the ladies on the trip.

Here is a Giant Centipede that was at least five inches in length.