In the hills of southern Illinois, inside the Shawnee National Forest, there is a rocky little road that herpetologists call Snake Road. The area around it, called LaRue-Pine Hills, is home to at least 56 kinds of reptiles and amphibians. Every spring they come out of their winter dens in the bluffs and cross the road to reach the swamps on the other side. Every fall they cross back. For decades, that meant a lot of them got run over. In the 1970s, the U.S. Forest Service started closing the road for three weeks a year.
This lesson is part of Certified Junior Herpetologist. Enrollment is self-paced, with no deadline to finish (about 30 hours).
