NEW JERSEY

Pine Barrens

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Scattered throughout the Pine Barrens are shallow bogs sprinkled with sundews and pitcher plants, purple orchids, and the occasional snake.

	Northern Water Snake Nerodia sipedon sipedon

Pitcher Plants

Sundews

Arethusa Orchid

And scattered beneath the upland pines are blooms of mountain laurel, and the occasional snake.

Mountain Laurel

Eastern Worm Snake Carphophis amoenus

Eastern Ribbon Snake

Thamnophis sauritis sauritis

Eastern Hognose Snake Heterodon platyrhinos

I've been herping the Pine Barrens for years, returning to the same supposedly good spots without any results, then all of a sudden I get lucky.   Herpers with much more local experience than me all say the same thing, it seems to be hit and miss.  Unlike other places, where a good site is often consistently productive, in the Pines you can score big one week, then ages pass before you find something again at the same spot.

For example, this Hognose Snake was found at a site I must have hit 20 times before without results. It rolled over and played dead the moment I disturbed it.

Another place in particular has always looked just right to me, but for years I never saw a snake there until finally I found a Racer under a board. Flipped a piece of plywood, and before it could speed away I gently pinned it with my foot. Got a second one in hand on another visit, also hiding under the same board.

	Photo courtesy of Anthony Chodan
Northern Black Racer Coluber constrictor constrictor

The Racers seemed to break the ice, because on the next visit with some herping buddies they found this handsome Milk Snake just two boards over.

Eastern Milk Snake Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum

Milk Snakes are common throughout New Jersey, but some of those found in the Pine Barrens are considered to be a rare variation, the Coastal Plains Milk Snake. Compared to Eastern Milks they tend to be redder, more banded than blotched, and the head has a different pattern. Their taxonomy is hotly debated, with current field guides describing it as an intergrade between the Eastern Milk Snake (L. t. triangulum) and Scarlet Kingsnake (L. t. elapsoides), but some herpers still regard them as an entirely separate subspecies (L. t. temporalis).

Either way, Coastal Plains have a distinctive look, and although I can’t claim to have found any yet, I’d like to think these Milk Snakes from the Pines show some “temporalis” influence.

While Milk Snakes are a treat, when I moved to New Jersey I was really excited by the prospect of finding their cousins, Eastern Kingsnakes. Living in Miami, I used to encounter Florida kings, but chain kings have always been among my favorites. Now I was living in their territory, and I eagerly looked forward to adding a New Jersey Eastern to my life list. Who knew it would take so long?

Repeated trips to the Pine Barrens turned up several spots with just the right habitat. I was sure there must be Kingsnakes about, but every time I searched, nothing. There were a few teases --- a fresh shed here, a roadkill there --- but the real thing continued to prove stubbornly elusive.

My frustration was shared by my friend Danny who had been looking for kings in New Jersey as long as I had. At the beginning of each season we’d say, “This is the year,” and at the end of each season we’d say, “Damn . . . skunked again.” And then, in one week, the drought was over.

We were at a spot I had checked out time and again, once more expecting nothing, when our herping buddy Dave calls out, “Hey guys, come here. Quickly.” Danny and I run, hoping what it might be. We catch up to Dave, who points to the ground, and finally, at last, we are thrilled by the sight of our first NJ Kingsnake!

Eastern Kingsnake Lampropeltis getula getula

Best of all, it’s not over. At another site I’ve hit many times without success, Dave pulls a repeat performance . . . our second king of the day!

A week later Danny and I return, hoping to keep the streak alive, and we’re rewarded with a third.

Another target that was a long time coming. I had seen Timber Rattlesnakes up in the mountains, and plenty of Canebrakes (a lowland variation) down south, but Pine Barrens horridus are something special. They’re an isolated population, very vulnerable, scarce and seldom seen. After many years, I still hadn’t found one.

On the same day we discovered the Kingsnakes, Danny and I are hiking in search of Timbers. We find a fresh shed, our hopes go up, but an hour of walking produces nothing further, so it’s back to the car. That’s when we run into Dave, who is just starting out, so we decide to turn around and join him for a second look.

We’re chatting and comparing notes, when maybe five minutes in, not far from where the shed had been, Dave stops in mid-sentence and calmly says, “There’s one.”

Timber Rattlesnake

Crotalus horridus

Danny and I are not so calm, cheering and celebrating our first Pine Barrens Rattlesnake! It’s a gravid female, gorgeous and bright, obviously a snake that recently crawled out of its old skin. We admire the bold pattern, almost a cross between northern Timbers and southern Canebrakes, the reason some herpers call these “Pinebrakes.”

And as if that wasn’t enough, a little while later Dave spots another gravid female.

Two Rattlesnakes in one day, followed that afternoon by a pair of Kingsnakes and a Pine Snake, made this the best day I ever had in the Pine Barrens. But the real bonus came three months later. I went back to check up on the two Timbers, and as I walked the area where they were last seen, my eye caught sight of something small and coiled and very cute . . . babies!

It was so satisfying to see that the females had succeeded in producing another generation, and I felt a certain personal pride in being able to say, “Hey guys, I know your mother.” Hope I remain acquainted with the family for many years to come.

NEW JERSEY

Pine Barrens

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