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Reptiles of Blood River | Kentucky Life | KET

4,544 views · Published 12 August 2013 · 8:52 · Indexed 2 October 2026

Channel: KET - Kentucky Educational Television · 2013 · Pets & Animals

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State herpetologist John MacGregor of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is doing a reptile and amphibian survey at Blood River, and the information will be used to help the nature preserve manage the land. 

We left no log, board, or rock unturned in our search for reptiles like snakes, lizards and turtles, as well as amphibians like frogs, salamanders, and newts.

This 193-acre preserve south of Murray in Calloway County contains a high quality, globally rare ecosystem—the coastal plain forested acid seep, which is simply a seasonally wet basin fed by acid groundwater. The potential for rare species living here is high.

What kinds of reptiles and amphibians can you find here? Among the species we saw on our visit were a coal skink (a mid-sized lizard), a marble salamander, a spotted dusky salamander, an Earth snake, and a ringed snake.

If you're out at night, the Western mud snake might catch your attention. It's a standout with red or pink belly bars accenting its glistening black skin. A non-venomous snake, it lives on salamanders, frogs, and fish. Also making its home here is the nocturnal three-lined salamander, a whopper at nearly 8 inches long. Its tan yellow body has three dark stripes—one down its back, and two down its sides.

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