May 2024 (pt. 6) emma, aiden and i herp our way through missouri 1. western/red milksnake integrades. probably one of the coolest looking locales of milk i got to see this year 2. the huge rock they were flipped under. i picked this cut on something of a desperate, sporadic whim after a slow morning/afternoon of otherwise failed flipping. i actually opted not to flip this particular rock in favor of other more “milky” looking ones—but emma requested i come over and give it a try 3. the insitu. i was so flabbergasted. my first ever double milk flip. 2 huge, out of shed adult milks. any my first from the state of missouri 4. it’s incredible how different these animals looked for being on the same cut, under the same rock. just mind blowing. this one, my fav of the two, had a wicked looking desaturated—yet very much out of shed—halloween color scheme going for him with those blacks, pale oranges, and the coolest dang head pattern i’ve personally got to see on a milk. one of my fav snakes of the year 5. western/red milk intergrade. emma went on to flip this third very much in-shed milk just under a rock in the dirt 6. there differing variants of desaturated, odd intergrades, milky beauty—all thanks to emma :) 7. the cut. it was a very long, hilly hike in. ended up also seeing a large copperhead and a handful of garters and ring necks (not pictured here) 8. beautiful speckled kingsnake flipped by aiden at a nearby roadside cut 9. baby birds! robins maybe? 10. dusky cruising 11. last ditch flip efforts for the evening in hopes of more milk—but no such success 12. DOR eastern hognose :( #herping #snakes #animals