A Lesser Angle-winged Katydid. in the parking area of one of the places that I visted in southern Illinois.

A Map Turtle basking on the back of a Red-ear Slider.

Another juvenile Black Kingsnake - it was a good trip for Kingsnakes, with a total of five being found.

Snake Road.

A Mississippi Green Water Snake on Snake Road.

A young Cottonmouth illustrating how this snake received its common name.

As Cottonmouths age, they tend to lose their pattern and become uniformly dark, like this one.

Small White Morning Glory.

On my last full day, I visited this habitat in Missouri.

Smooth Earth Snakes mainly live underground and are most often found hiding beneath rocks and logs.

My second "lifer" of the trip was this Prairie Lizard.

Black and Yellow Garden Spider.

My third and final "lifer" was this young Speckled Kingsnake.

There are plenty of Soybean fields in the area, so it makes sense that I'd come across a Soybean Looper Moth.

Slimy Salamanders were common in this area.

Striped Bark Scorpion.

My final find of the trip was this "junkyard" Eastern Garter Snake.

Click here to see photos from 2020