Herpetofauna - One Life's List

Western Ribbon Snake
Thamnophis proximus proximus

Iroquois Conservation Area, Iroquois Co., IL. July 23, 1996.
 


 

Rick Milas and I found this snake up in the sand country of Iroquois county, and it represents a county record.  There are two easy field marks for proximus - the orange vertebral strips, and the two large white marks on the parietal scales (paired on top of head, posterior).

This snake primarily occurs west of the Mississippi, but it also follows river systems into Illinois and Wisconsin, and the sand country around Lake Michigan.  We find them in Union County down in southern Illinois, and the Eastern Ribbons occur in Johnson County, the next county over.  They don't appear to interbreed.

The bottom photo is a proximus from Union Co. in southern Illinois.

 

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