The Shawnee National Forest is famous for its twice-yearly snake migration. In spring, snakes (along with other reptiles and amphibians) migrate out of the forest's limestone bluffs and into LaRue Swamp. In the fall, the migration is reversed as the snakes come out of LaRue Swamp to spend the winter at the dry base of the limestone cliffs.

Running between the cliffs and the swamp is Snake Road, also called LaRue Road. LaRue Road runs between two very different ecosystems.

LaRue Swamp is on the west side of the road. The swamp is part of the Mississippi River basin, which lies at the Gulf of Mexico in the southern part of the United States. Here you will see species such as the cottonmouth snake (Agkistrodon piscivorus), the southern leopard frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus), and the bird-voiced tree frog (Hyla avivoca). These animals are common in Mississippi and Louisiana, but are not usually seen as far north as Illinois. LaRue Swamp is also an important stop for migrating waterfowl, such as ducks and geese.

The LaRue-Pine Hills are on the east side of the road. The LaRue-Pine Hills are famous for their majestic bluffs towering 46 meters (150 feet) straight into the air. They form the easternmost point of the Ozark Mountain ecosystem.

The limestone rock of the bluffs is more common to Missouri and Arkansas than the rest of Illinois. Scientists think the bluffs were at the bottom of a vast sea called the Illinois Basin. There were seashells and coral in the Illinois Basin. When the sea creatures died, they left behind skeletons made of calcium carbonate. Over millions of years, those skeletons became limestone rock.

Wind and erosion cut grooves and gullies into the soft limestone surface. These ridges and caves make an ideal habitat for snakes. They are protected from the weather, cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

To get to and from the bluffs, snakes must migrate across LaRue Road every spring and fall. If you're a snake, crossing the road is dangerous. In the cool early morning and evening hours, the black asphalt is relatively warm, and rather than crossing quickly, snakes and other cold-blooded creatures like to hang out. That is why so many snakes, frogs, toads and turtles get hit by cars. It is possible that up to 25 percent of all snakes will eventually become roadkill. According to biologist Rich Seigel, almost one in four of the snakes he collected for one of his studies had been killed by vehicular traffic. It is estimated that tens to hundreds of millions of snakes have been killed by automobiles in the United States.

In 1972, the Forest Service made the decision to close LaRue Road for three weeks in the spring and three weeks in the fall in order for the snakes to migrate safely. However, Scott Ballard, a District Heritage biologist and herpetologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, found that the snake migration took a lot longer than anyone first thought. Based on information in his master's thesis, the Forest Service extended the road closure. Now the Snake Road is closed from March 15th to May 15th in the spring and from September 1st to October 30th in the fall.

"There was a lot of resistance from the locals at first," Ballard explained. "It used to be sport around here to see how many snakes you could run over with your car." As time passed, area residents changed their minds. "Most people now are supportive of the road closure," said Chad Deaton, district wildlife biologist with the Mississippi Bluffs Ranger District of the Shawnee National Forest. "It helps that it doesn't interfere with duck hunting season. Duck hunting is a very popular activity around here."

Snake enthusiasts and herpetoculturists also support closing the Snake Road to let the snakes migrate across it. (Herpetologists study snakes and other reptiles, while herpetoculturists keep reptiles and other snakes as pets or for a hobby.)

Cars are prohibited, but people are welcome to walk the four kilometer (2.5 mile) Snake Road. Ballard and Deaton said walking across Snake Road isn't like entering Indiana Jones' Well of Souls.

"Contrary to popular belief, you won't see a great river of snakes washing across the road," Ballard said. "If you see 20 snakes while you're out here, that's a good day."

Snakes play an important role in nature's ecosystem and can be good for humans. "Many people's first reaction to seeing a snake is to kill it," Ballard said, "but a single snake can eat nine pounds — an entire pillowcase's worth of mice — in one year. Herons and egrets also eat frogs and small snakes. Without snakes, these birds would be deprived of a food source, and we would be overrun by rodents. It's something to think about before we run off to find a hoe or a club to end a snake's life."

There are three kinds of venomous snakes in the LaRue-Pine Hills: the cottonmouth, the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), and the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). These snakes eat small animals such as fish, frogs, and mice. They will bite people only if they are provoked or disturbed.

Collecting snakes on the Snake Road is against the law. To enforce the law, Scott Ballard works as an undercover conservation law investigator.

Questions For Biologists On The Snake Road

Q: How did you become interested in snakes?

A: Scott Ballard explained, "As a kid I was very allergic to dogs and cats. My mother gave me a pet snake when I was 10. After that I was hooked."

Q: Have you ever been bitten by a snake?

A: "Many times," Ballard said, "but I've never been bitten by a venomous snake. I've gotten very close to snakes without meaning to and haven't been bitten. Once I was looking for a rattlesnake species. I'd lain down, turned my head and found one five inches from my eyes. She just looked at me and I looked at her, and I slowly got up and moved away."

Q: What should someone do if they suddenly come upon a snake in the woods?

A: "They should stop and slowly take a step or two away from the snake," Chad Deaton said. Scott Ballard added, "Snakes are not mean. Snakes don't go out of their way to bite you. They only bite people when they are surprised or feel threatened."

Q: How many snakes are saved every year because of closing the Snake Road?

A: Ballard and Deaton said they aren't sure, but they see fewer snakes dead on the road. That's a good sign. It suggests more snakes are safely crossing the Snake Road every year.