We had a terrific field day last week – thanks to the more than 100 people who came out to explore our Platte River Prairies with us.
There were two neat wildlife discoveries during the day. The first came when Master Naturalist Mike Schrad caught a grasshopper mouse in a live trap while preparing for his session on small mammals. Later, Chris Aubushon was looking for insects under old manure piles and instead found a western hognose snake! I figured we probably had both hognose snakes and grasshopper mice on our property, but had never actually found either one, so it was nice to get both on the same day!
I didn’t get a photograph of the grasshopper mouse, but I did (with the help of Mike Schrad) get a few good ones of the western hognose. Here’s one:
A western hognose snake caught at the Platte River Prairies.
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If you missed the field day this year, we hope to see you next summer!
The Prairie Ecologist 