Our Turtle Haul!

For our second field trip, we trapped turtles from a small residential pond ... and we caught nearly enough turtles to go around! (posted by Allison Welch)

Better late than never!

A couple weeks ago our class went out to Francis Marion Forrest, in South Carolina, to search for amphibians. After some failed attempts, we finally came across a VERY dirty body of water. Here is what we found...isn't he cute?

After consulting our field guides, we identified him as Ambystoma talpoideum (the mole salamander). In these pictures, you can clearly see the shape of his tail and his external gills.

Enjoy!- hope you find him as cute as I did! --Kim Alford

Chelydra serpentina- Life of the Party!

On thursday, our class headed to James Island in order to see what 'bounty' our turtle traps had yielded us. We were elated to find about 16 turtles, but the most exciting catch of all was Chelydra serpentina; the 32 inch snapping turtle who came close nipping a classmate's finger. These turtles have a reputation for being aggressive and with good reason! It took a total of 3 students and Dr. Welch to get this turtle out of the trap and into the water without incident. The turtle was easily identifiable. Aside from its repulsive complexion, it had an extremely long tail, 3 distinct keels on the carapace, a large head, and saw teeth on its uper side. The sense of urgency to release the turtle was confirmed when it snapped into the arm of a nearby yellow belly slider. In retaliation the slider bit into the turtles eye. Both injuries were minor and all turtles were rereleased after observation. (Posted by Gabi Oken)

Kenyan Flat Backed Toad

This past year I had the amazing opportunity to work in western Kenya as a medical consultant for a clinic in a little village outside of Kakamega. I lived with the Tekesi family in a mud house--this is my little sister, Levini. It was the end of the wet season when I was there, and as a result, thousands of termites were buzzing around, looking for new places to colonize. The Luhya tribe eat termites--and it wasn't uncommon to see someone run through a swarm and snatch up a handful and eat them alive. From personal experience, they don't really have a taste, but are a little crunchy. In addition to people, many other animals gather to eat the insects, including herp species like the Flat-Backed toad (Amietophrynus maculatus). Since Kliniki ya Shikokho (Shikokho Clinic) was only a ten minute walk from home, I would often leave later in the day as the sun was beginning to go down. As dusk approached, Flat-Backed toads would gather along the sides of the warm, red dirt roads to catch a termite meal or at least eat the termites' dropped wings. Morphologically and historically related to Bufo americanus, these small (~3-4 in.) toads have similar shrill calls to their Bufonidae relatives. These slow-moving toads were particularly easy to catch, mid-hop--and the above picture is a little "terrarium" I made so the girls could observe (i.e. point and scream at) the Flat-Backed toad. Mama was always so frightened of our little pets--I can still hear her yelling at me in Kiswahili, "Sipendi chura! Sasa anapenda--kwaherini!!" Laughing, I always released the animals where I found them. These little toads helped me bond with the Tekesis--and for that, I am thankful for these guys. (Posted by Morgan Smith)

Red-Spotted Newt

Last September, I was camping in Hocking Hills state park in Logan Ohio when I came across this Red-Spotted Newt or Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens.  He was at the entrance to a large cave, where a shallow pool was fed by a thin waterfall.  This little newt seemed to be basking on a log at the edge of the pool when it was spotted.  The distinct red coloration and dark speckles contrasted quite a bit with the log on which this newt was perched.  Male Red-Spotted Newts are said to lose the spotting on their legs upon the end of the spring breeding season.  It was late September when this specimen was found, and he did not have any noticable spots to be seen on his limbs, leading me to believe he was a male.  

(Brian Lutter)

Salamander Eggs

In the same small stream where the Southern Two-Lined salamander was found yesterday, we turned over a submerged rock to discover a number of eggs attached to the underside.  The eggs were about 6-7 mm in diameter.  After reading about the life history and breeding habits of the Southern Two-Lined salamander, I would venture to guess that the eggs were of this species.  Eurycea cirrigera usually lay eggs early in the year, and this may be one of the early clutches in our area.  If anyone has any advice or opinions about the species of these eggs, please let us know!

(Brian Lutter)

Southern Two-Lined Salamander

Yesterday afternoon our class took a trip into the field, and braved the Ohio weather to search for herps in a couple of natural areas near Miami University.  With the local ponds fairly frozen over, we were not sure how much success we would have in our search for herps.  I think we suprised ourselves with our luck.  Among other species, we came across a Southern Two-Lined Salamander, Eurycea cirrigera, while exploring a local river.  This salamander was found in a small and partly frozen over stream hiding under a rock.  It took a few minutes to catch this little guy, but we managed to get him out of the water for a brief photo shoot. 

(Brian Lutter)

Greetings from the North!

Hello Sandlappers! We had our first herpetological expedition into the field today. You will notice that the herpetological fashions in Ohio differ slightly from yours in South Carolina. But you may still be thinking, for midwesterns that the class looks very cool (and they are). We did find a few species when we gathered at the river, and I will let the OH herpetologists tell you about what they found.

But, let me introduce the class from back to front and left to right:

In the back row we have Andrew Henterly & Phil Ritz.
In the middle row(s) we have Beau Presnell, Brian Lutter, Louisa Phillips, Roland Lefebvre, Brian Ulrich, Bahram Khosraviani, and Dominque Wagner.
In the front row you will see Melanie Davis, Morgan Smith, Jeff Naples, Brian (Leei) Lin, and our wonderful & talented TA Andrew Tucker.

Hope you see the species you all have found in SC (& OH) soon! (Posted by Michelle Boone)

Greetings from SC!

We South Carolina herpers made our first foray into the field this week. Armed with dipnets, field guides, and boots of all shapes and sizes (some mismatched!), we set out in search of the elusive amphibians of the Francis Marion National Forest, in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Despite the drought, our trip was a success. We found four species of amphibians and one reptile, none of which you Ohio herpers will encounter up in your neck of the woods. After a fun afternoon spent herping, we headed back to civilization, soggy and muddy, but smiles intact.

I'll leave it to the students to blog more about our trip and the species we saw. (Posted by Allison Welch)