'Snake Road' in Shawnee National Forest closing earlier this year amid warmer weather
Southern Illinois' "Snake Road" is closing earlier than usual this year, according to officials with the Sawnee National Forest.
The reason? Warmer weather.
Officially, the road is classified as Forest Service Road No. 345, and it closes twice pear year to "help ensure safe crossing for several species of snakes and amphibians" for migration.
Usually, the closure happens March 15. This year, it's starting on Wednesday (March 12) amid warmer temperatures.
Forest Service Road No. 345 is dubbed "Snake Road" − a 2.5-mile stretch in Union County, Illinois, that runs north to south along the base of towering limestone bluffs, a man-made obstacle between the swampy floodplain of the Big Muddy River and the ancient bedrock. The Big Muddy is itself part of the Mississippi River flood plain, flowing in a channel anciently cut by the bigger river before humans tamed it for navigation.
The road is there because the USDA Forest Service, which manages the area, is tasked with balancing conservation with access to public lands.
Every spring, snakes and amphibians — some of which are considered endangered or threatened species in Illinois and the United States — slither and crawl their way from their winter home in the bluffs to the summer habitat of LaRue Swamp.
The annual migrations attract people from across the country eager to witness the rich diversity of reptile and amphibian species along this single stretch of road. About 66 percent of the amphibians and 59 percent of the reptiles known to occur in Illinois are found there.
The move back to the swamp sets the creatures up for a spring and summer of feeding in the biologically rich wetlands, storing the fat that will sustain them from roughly November to March.. Because many of the snakes, especially venomous species such as cottonmouths, copperheads and timber rattlers, release scent trails, Ballard said they are able to follow them back and forth.
In the early 1970s the Forest Service began closing Snake Road for three weeks in spring and fall to protect the migrating creatures, Sue Hirsch, a public affairs specialist at Shawnee National Forest, told the Courier & Press in 2017.
Vehicles account for 25 percent of the man-made causes of death for snakes in the area, Ballard said.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Snake Road in Illinois' Shawnee National Forest closed
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