Illinois Road Closed for Snake Traffic
Posted on: Thursday, 23 October 2003, 06:00 CDT
Twice a year, during migration season, a government-owned road here closes to vehicle traffic in order to protect reptiles and amphibians.
As one endangered water snake made its way across Road No. 345, slowly slithering to its winter den from the swamp where it spent the summer, state herpetologist Scott Ballard extolled the program's benefits.
"Had a car come by just then, that would have been one fewer female green snake," Ballard said as he stepped over the foot-long juvenile and continued his walk along the leaf-covered road.
According to Ballard, the relatively warm climate of far southern Illinois beckons species usually found in the deep South like the salmon-and-black colored mud snake and green tree frog - tiny creatures that hop across the road every few minutes.
The U.S. Forest Service first started closing 345, otherwise known as LaRue Road, for a few weeks in the spring and fall nearly 30 years ago.
It's been closed since Sept. 1 this year, and is scheduled to reopen on Halloween. The road is also closed every March 15 to May 15.
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