THE REPTILES OF OHIO 61 



Abdomen yellowish, boldly marked with four alternating rows of dark blotches. 



Juveniles paler than the adults and with the dorsal blotches narrowly edged 

 with black or deep brown, an arrangement which occasionally persists in adult 

 specimens. 



Specimens examined, 140; specimens preserved, 63; specimens studied, 39. 



Range. — Southern Minnesota, eastern Nebraska and eastern Missouri to 

 northern Michigan, Ontario and western New York. 



The fox snake has been taken in Ohio only in Lucas, Wood, Ottawa, San- 

 dusky and Erie Counties, and is thus restricted to the vicinity of the marshes 

 along the southwestern shore of Lake Erie (Map 13). To the east of this 

 area the lake plain becomes a narrow strip which has its northern edge bounded 

 by low cliffs along the lake. It is possible that in the few and relatively 

 small marshes within this strip the fox snake may be found, but repeated 

 search in the Mentor Marsh, Lake County, was unsuccessful. In Michigan it 

 occurs in the area bordering Lake Erie (Ruthven, Thompson and Gaige, 1928, 



Map 13. Ohio locality records and general 

 range of the Fox Snake, Elaphe vitlpina. 



