Every year, spring and fall, a strange phenomenon takes place along LaRue
Road on the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. For two months
during each of those seasons this stretch of road is a small-scale Serengeti
Plain, that East African locale where enormous migrations of zebras and
wildebeests take place. Only the creatures migrating here aren’t equines or
bovines. Nor for the most part do they even walk. They slither.
And though hundreds of snakes–some 35 species of them–comprise the bulk
of the migration, they aren’t the only animals to make the twice-annual trip.
About 15 species of salamanders, newts, frogs, skinks, toads and lizards also
summer in the 2,000 acres of swampland in Winters Pond and the adjoining
Scatters, and hibernate in caves that are temperature-controlled by nature in
the 350-foot-high limestone bluff.
Even turtles–aquatic types such as spiny softshells, red-eared sliders and
snapping turtles, and the semi-aquatic box turtles–are seen on the road
during the migration, though these animals burrow in for the winter rather
than climb the bluff, noted Shawnee wildlife biologist Steve Widowski.
“The migration is a pretty impressive thing,” he said. “You’ll see more
reptiles and amphibians here in one small location than anywhere else I know
of, plus the scenery is pretty.”
Widowski said it once was possible to visit the area on “just the right
day,” when weather and light conditions had alerted the animals to get on the
move, and the road–Snake Road, as locals call it–would seem like a heaving
mass of snake spaghetti. But those days are gone, he said, because of
overcollecting by reptile enthusiasts and the death toll from autos that once
killed hundreds of animals every year.
“So many were disappearing that in 1972 one of our district rangers, Joe
Newcomb, decided to close the 2 1/2-mile stretch of road where most of the
animals were coming across,” he said. “The Forest Service has since installed
permanent gates at each end.” Hikers and non-motorized vehicles can travel the
road during the migration, but there are stiff penalties for coming through by
car (convenient alternate routes are available), and no collecting is allowed.
“We don’t know how many animals we’re protecting,” Widowski said. “But we
do know that it’s rare to find one dead on the road now.”
In spring the road is closed from March 15 to May 15, and in fall between
Sept. 1 and Oct. 30. The best time to watch the migration in fall is at the
end of a warm, sunny day when the temperatures begin to drop. The shorter days
and cooler weather clue the animals that it’s time to hunt for winter
quarters, although on warm days well into fall snakes sometimes can still be
seen sunning on the rocks.
We have visited the Shawnee–270,000 acres of flatland prairie, rolling
blue-green hills and sandstone bluffs that span the nubby fingertips of
southern Illinois–on many occasions. And though we haven’t seen it in spring
(when, we’re told, the animals are equally visible), we have never been
disappointed during the fall migration.
A parking lot at the north end of LaRue Road has been built for hikers.
Snake hooks are allowed, as the critters can be picked up and examined or
photographed–though if you don’t know your snakes, leave them alone, as some
are venomous. However, rangers will not permit anyone carrying a pillowcase or
“snake bag” to enter the road.
It’s a lovely place, and an interesting hike even when the way isn’t
slithering with reptiles. In fall, leaves carpet the gravel road, which runs
under a canopy of hardwoods. The enveloping summer green becomes a technicolor
tunnel by the time the snakes begin migrating. To the west are the pond and
swamp, thick with spindly trees and droopy vines, leading to the Mississippi
River and the low blue hills of Missouri. To the east are the shelf-like
bluffs, huge and gray, pocked with niches and crevices, and overhung thickly
with shrubs. The snakes’ presence simply enhances the scenario.
As you walk, your footsteps softened by the fallen leaves, you hear soft
rustles here and there–snakes, often the same color as the leaves, are in a
hurry to make the bluff. Of the venomous varieties, we’ve seen copperheads,
timber rattlers and cottonmouths.
I find all the snakes beautiful and fascinating. But my husband thinks I
get too friendly with them and insists, if I must pick up a snake, that it be
a non-venomous type. Mostly we just stop to watch them. On our first visit,
according to my field notes, we sighted a juvenile and an adult yellowbelly
snake, a six-inch mud snake, several western ribbon snakes, half a dozen of
the threatened green water snakes and an earth snake–all non-venomous–as
well as several water moccasins or cottonmouths. We also saw a scattering of
newts and ground skinks, zigzag and long-tailed salamanders, and numerous
green cricket frogs. And this was on a cool, gray day.
A couple of years ago while walking the road, we met Dr. Ron Brandon, who
teaches zoology at Southern Illinois University. He had brought 14 students
from his herpetology class for the migration.
“I’ve been teaching herpetology for more than 30 years, and I haven’t yet
missed a snake migration at Shawnee,” he said. “Automobiles used to be the
animals’ worst enemy, but since the road has been closed the populations are
staying about the same year to year.” He considers Shawnee the best place to
observe a migration because species are numerous and the reptiles are
concentrated.
During another migration we met Scott Ballard, a natural heritage biologist
for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. His master’s degree thesis,
a survey of herpetofauna (reptiles) on the Shawnee, is only the third such
study ever done.
“I’ve spent three or four days a week here, spring, summer and fall, for a
couple of years,” he told us. “The herps are always visible.” Ballard
encourages people to come and look, “but don’t do more than catch and
release.” Even that can be detrimental to animals en route to hibernation, as
they must conserve energy for the approaching winter, and any interference in
the process can be stressful, he believes. So, most of all, he advocates just
watching, which is also exciting, particularly when half a dozen snakes can be
seen wriggling across the road.
“These woods are alive with reptiles,” he said. “And during the
migration–well, it’s nothing short of phenomenal.”
IF YOU GO
GETTING THERE
Shawnee National Forest is at the very tip of southern Illinois. The snake
migration takes place southwest of Carbondale, about 360 miles from Chicago.
To get to the snake migration from Carbondale, take Illinois Highway 13/149
about 15 miles west to Illinois Highway 3, then drive south about 17 miles to
LaRue Road #345 and turn left (east). The road is about 3/4 miles north of the
town of Wolf Lake (if you reach the town you’ve gone too far). Continue half a
mile east on LaRue Road to the gate. The road beyond that point is closed for
the migration each fall from Sept. 1 through Oct. 30 and again in the spring
from March 15 through May 15.
There is no entrance fee for visitors.
INFORMATION
For more current information on how the snakes are “running”or to receive a
map or list of animals seen at the migration, call Steve Widowski at the
Vienna District office of the Shawnee National Forest at 618-658-2111. Or
write Vienna Ranger District, PO Box 37, Route 45 North, Vienna, IL 62995. The
Web site is www.fs.fed.us/r9/shawnee.
P.S.
