Max needs to hurry, max is hurrying, and close enough were all brought to you today by Maxwell Rohr at miami university. He thought it was five o clock when the blog thought it was 454.........he also knows that his spelling might have been off....like the word finging should probably be more like "finding" and so on. His blog were also brought to you by the letter "E" amd the number "13"......Thanks for listening......reading?

close enough

This guy was also found last week in the local park. A bit further upstream from the southern two lined salamander, I basically did all the work in finding this Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata). My buddy Cliff grabbed it I guess, but I did all the work by telling him to pick up the rock and the snake. I would have done it myself but he had such poor luck in finging his own herps. Quick facts: they are usually about 15 to 24 inches long, it is sometimes called the willow or leather snake, it's belly is yellow with four brown stripes and largely feed on softshell cray fish.

"just 5 more mins mom....."

For a different class field trip, We headed down to the Quarry at Hueston Woods. The weather was a bit chilly since it was raining earlier that day and was expected to dump some more water on us at any minute. Luckily it stayed away. Anyway, i found this frog sleeping under a pretty big rock that was slanted off to the side of the creek. This frog is a green frog (Rana clamitans). He was really calm, i think it was just wanting to go back to sleep.

Green fros are medium sized frogs with a very distinct tympanum behind the eyes. They can come in different shades of green but are gereally llighter in the front than in the back. Their legs also have a banding around them. They have webbed feet and their first toes don't extend past the second. They are active both at night and day. Their legs are half the size of their body and they usually reach full size about the age of 4 or 5.

Emily Angner
Miami University

Max hurrying faster

So this happend over spring break down in cozumel, mexico. Here I found a copious amount of iguanas. I had to use the word copious, and the ocean was deafening at this resort. (gotcha sean) This species just walked up to me at my resort. This is a Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) and it is usually found to grow up to 1.5 meters, possibly 2. On the island I found a variety of colors and sizes, and a little known fact is the species was first acknowledged by Carl Linnaeus.

max in hurry

Okay I am going to freak out....I am running even more late on these blogs, after I somehow lost the other one. Short and sweet, last week I was walking along the river bank in the local park and found this little guy. He was between fallen leaves and makes my hands look gigantic. It is a Southern two lined salamander (Eurycea cirrigera). Usually 2.5 to 3.25 inches and has 14 coastal grooves. This separates it from the northern two lined that has between 15 and 16.

Bufo americanus

On Saturday April 25th, I went over to the Group Campsite at Hueston Woods. The weather was gorgeous at about 68 degrees with clear skies and a shinning sun. I found this little guy hopping around in the open grass close to a woody area. This is an American toad (Bufo americanus). You can tell since it only has one spot per wart where as the Fowler's toad has multiple spots on the warts. These warts on there skin are filled with a milky poison that is only harmful if it's ingested. These toads are usually brown with their wart ranging from a red to a yellow. Females have a white throat and an overall lighter color whereas males have a black throat. Toads are most active when it is warm and humid out. They are solitary and usually only congregate when it is time to breed.

Emily Angner
Miami University

Anolis carolinensis

A month and a half ago, I went on spring break to Seaside, Florida. Outside of our condo, on the way to the beach we found her. A green anole (Anolis carolinensis). They are abundant in the south with a range from North Carolina, down to Key West, Florida, and all the way west to Texas. They typically grow to a length of 5 to 8 inches and are found on fences, around old buildings, on shrubs and vines, or on the ground. They feed primarily on insects, spiders, and other arthropods that can be gulped down whole. They're really cute too.

Painted Turtles

I know that there have already been posts about the midland painted turtles, Chrysemys picta, at Bachelor pond, But I figured that the basking behavior had to be shown. Painted turtles are readily recogniseable by their smooth unkeeled shells and their spectacular yellow and red coloring. One way to tell the midland painted turtle from the other types of painted turtles is that it has a large plastral blotch which is an oval in shape, and usually incorporates all of the plastral scutes. Males of this species have very long nails on their front feet. One of the uses for these nails is to tickle females during mating season. If you are not sure if you have caught a painted turtle try scraping at the shell with a fingernail, because as this species grows old the shell often becomes encrusted with a red or brownish buildup which can easily be removed to see what the shell looks like beneath. I've decided to supplement the basking with a picture from home, Medina County, to show the truly awesome coloration that these turtles can show.

Zack Mikolaj,
Miami University

Hello herpers...meet the Panamanian golden frog Atelopus zeteki. For my final blog I wanted to feature a species I have not caught, having never been to Panama. I was introduced to this species by the PBS special "The Thin Green Line." This species is considered "critically endangered" by the IUCN. Along with threats of habitat destruction and pollution, Chytrid fungus (Bd) has reduced populations by 80%. These guys live in forest near streams and are very territorial for breeding areas. They deposit egg masses from 200-600 eggs. They produce zetekitoxin in their skin for protection from predator and signal this with there bright aposematic yellow coloring. Juvenilles do not express this color and are very reclusive, it is hypothesized that the juvenilles do not express the toxins along with the color forcing them to hide for survival until they mature into adults. These frogs have become a keystone species in the fight against amphibian decline. For more information about Chytrid fungus I've place the link for "The Thin Green Line" below, as well as a link to "Project Golden Frog."

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/frogs-the-thin-green-line/introduction/4763/

http://www.ranadorada.org/goldenfrog.html

William Hauer
Miami University

spotted salamander eggs

From our trip to Reily, Ohio on April 2nd, 2009, we also found a lot of eggs in the area just off from the river. We were walking in little ephemeral ponds back into the forested area. The eggs were everywhere in these little bodies of water, attached to sticks and underwater plants. You couldn't miss them. These eggs are from a spotted salamander, Ambystoma maculatum. Spotted salamanders range from about 4.5 to 7.75 inches in length. Spotted salamanders are black with yellow or orange spots in two rows from the top of the head to the tip of the tail. They are found in deciduous forests and are most common in moist, low-lying forests near floodplains, where they spend most of their lives underneath the ground - sometimes in burrows of other animals. Females usually lay about 100 eggs at a time. The egges are clear, jelly-like round lumps and will hatch in 1 to 2 months, depending on the water temperature. Spotted salamanders range from eastern Canada throughout the eastern and midwestern United States.

Cliff Griffen
Miami University

redback salamanders (Plethodon cinereus)

Back on Thursday, April 2nd, our class took a trip to Reily, Ohio. We were walking down the river, where we weren't finding much, then we decided to explore the surrounding areas. It was then that we started to find a lot of interesting things. We found some salamander eggs and various types of salamanders, including these redback salamanders (Plethodon cinereus). We were all walking through the forested area near the water and these guys could be seen after turning over logs. All we had to do was walk to a log and turn it over and usually you could see at least a couple of redback salamanders under each one. So, needless to say, we caught quite a few of them that day. Redback salamanders usually come in either a redback or leadback variation, both having black and white bellies. They live in forested habitats, where they are found under logs, leaf litter, or rocks. They can be 2.5 - 4 inches in length and have 17 to 22 costal grooves. They are considered the most common woodland salamander in the Great Lakes region. Redback salamanders range from southern Quebec south to North Carolina and west to Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan and in parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Cliff Griffen
Miami University

Night Herping

Last Friday evening, a few daring classmates and myself hopped into a van and headed to Hueston Woods in Oxford, OH. This particular spot in the park was very secluded, and had varrying amounts of water present (anywhere from about a foot to nearly three feet). It was a very warm night at about 60 degrees, and it was raining-- not the superior weather usually hoped for by college kids, but perfect for late-night herping!

This painted turtle, Chrsemys picta, was found swimming around in the somewhat deeper portions of this pseudo-lake. It was interesting to see its behavior at night-- usually this species is seen basking. It was identified immediately by the striking yellow and red markings on its head, as well as the bright pattern on the plastron. This herp seems to have a carapace of around seven to eight inches-- a pretty standard size for this species (they grow to have a carapace length of around ten inches).

The breeding season starts in early spring, and females lay between 4 and 15 eggs in the sand. When the eggs hatch, the juviniles are on their own-- no parental care. If they survive to adulthood, they will reach sexual maturity in 3-5 years (male), or 6-10 years (female). They have a potential life span of 35 years, but hardly ever live that long.

Catherine Ade
Miami University

Another couple of tadpoles…

Here are a few more tadpoles I found behind my friend’s house in Moncks Corner, SC. I don’t know what the big one is yet, possibly a bullfrog??? The little black ones are a species of toad. But I am not going to be able to figure out what they are when they grow up, because they are quickly been eaten by, I believe, the larval salamanders.

Larval Salamander

Here is the most awesome thing I have found yet!!!!
(Sorry about the poor photo quality, I shake something terrible.)

It is a larval salamander, I believe (based on talk to Dr Welch - I feel like such a name dropper :0)) that it is from the family Ambystomatidae. I found the little guy in some stagnant water pools near a friend’s house in Moncks Corner, SC. You can see how huge his gills are because of his low oxygen habitat. He looks like a little living dragon.

Something From Squamata, Archosauria, and Lissamphibia

Here are just a few stragglers that I also found near the fish hatchery, in Moncks Corner, SC . The lizard is a ground skink, Family Scincidae, Scincella lateralis. The snake is a black racer, Coluber constrictor (black with white on chin). This tadpole is possible a bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana. The little guy has no dorsolateral ridges and his webbing is short on the fourth toe, as you can see. And last but not least another alligator, Alligator mississippiensis. Big guy didn’t even move while I was splashing around in the water on the other bank, which was good, because he was definitely making me more nervous then I was making him.

Snake from Great Smokey Mountains National Park

Snake from Great Smokey Mountains National Park

In 2007 I went camping in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in NC/TN. I was walking around the stream to take some pictures when I almost stepped on a snake. I was able to get some photos of it before it dove into the water. Knowing nothing about snakes at the time, I asked a ranger what I found and he could not identify it. So it remained a mystery, until I took herpetology. It is definitely a water snake, Nerodia. The dark reddish markings on its back are wider than the lighter spaces in-between. This suggests that it is a Northern water snake instead of a midland, because in the midland the darker spaces are narrower that the ones in between. Also, according to my field guide, the Northern water snake’s habitat includes the area of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. So I concluded that my unknown snake must be Nerodia sipedon, Northern water snake.

Kimberlee Lisicki

Turtles in Charleston

Turtles in Charleston

We found two types of turtles on our Herpetology field trips. The first was a small musk turtle, Sternotherus odoratus, from the Donnelly Wildlife Management Area. It had two light lines on its head, and a small plastron for its body. Also, when we held it, it released a musky odor. On another field trip we caught two yellow belly sliders, Trachemys scripta, and saw several others. The Trachemys scripta was easily identified by the yellow patch behind its eye, the narrow yellow stripes on its forelegs, stripped “pants”, and yellow lines on its carapace. The Trachemys scripta were caught in a neighborhood pond and were the only turtle that we saw. The two turtles were measured and determined to be females.

Kimberlee Lisicki

Donnelly Wildlife Management Area Snakes

On our Herpetology field trip to Donnelly Wildlife Management Area, we found two snakes! The first was an old mud snake, Farancia abacur. It was black on top and had a beautiful red belly. The next snake whipped under a dead log, and our TA Tyler, caught it. It was a black racer, Coluber constrictor. It was thin, black all around, and being very fast, we were able to determine it was Coluber constrictor.

Kimberlee Lisicki

Trip to Congaree National Park, SC

Trip to Congaree National Park, SC

A friend and I from Herpetology class went out to Congaree National Park a couple weekends ago to find some herps. We were hoping to find some snakes, but were unsuccessful. However, we did find some really nice salamanders and skinks! We saw a lot of broadhead skinks, Plestiodon laticeps, and five-lined, Plestiodon fasciatus, including a huge one that ran through the grass and up a tree. There were many young five-lined with really nice blue tails. We also found a lot of marbled salamanders, Ambystoma opacum, including a cute chubby one. The best find of the day however was a Eurycea guttolineata, three-linded salamander. There were two together under a log. One of them was missing a tail.

Kimberlee Lisicki

My Tadpole Babies Are Growing Up

Here are some up to date pictures of the tadpoles I showed a few months ago. I thought they might be Rana utricularia, Southern Leopard Frogs, and looking at those beautiful unbroken dorsolateral ridges, light line on upper lip and vibrant colors I am pretty sure they are. I am not sure how light the spot in the tympanum is supposed to be, but they are still babies, so maybe they will become more pronounced later. I won't be able to tell though, these things eat like crazy, so I'm turning the poor babies out when they lose their tail.

Looking at them just makes your want to start knitting baby blankets, doesn't it?

Francis Marion Forest II

These herps are from a field trip from about a month ago--our second time to Francis Marion Forest. My good friend Patrice & I were rummaging through the forest floor looking for some snakes when Patrice found this beauty. Patrice, whom is quite scared of animals (especially slimy ones), screamed and picked up a salamander. She was so excited & just picked him right up... I was very proud! It turned out to be a Ambystoma opacum, the marbled salamander. He was absolutely gorgeous. Ambystomads have eyelids & costals but lack nasolabial grooves, which are present in Plethodontids. This is the first clue to us of where he belonged...then we looked at the markings on his back which were light crossbars across a dark black colouration. Sometimes these crossbands can be incomplete, but this guys were very apparent. They have a plain black belly and are very smooth. Costals are visible and they have chunky bodies with a really cute chunky face and big eyes. I'd say this is the cutest herp we found this year! While we were busy examining the opacum, one of our other peers (I believe our TA Tyler) caught a skink! Skinks are very fast, so that was great that he caught one. It was a common ground skink, Scincella lateralis. He was a very small squamate, ranging from 3-5.5 in. It had a dark dorsolateral stripe & a very smooth shiny body. There were no light markings on this guy and he looked chocolate in colour. The neat thing about lateralis is that it has a "window" in its lower eyelid allowing it to see even when its lids are closed. This skink is very fast and nimble, moving like a snake laterally on the forest floor. It was so elfin but so cute and fascinating to watch move. Overall, a very successful herp hunt!!!

queen snake (Regina septemvittata)

Last Thursday, April 30th, our herp class went on an awesome trip to the quarry at Hueston Woods. It had been raining off and on that day. I was walking in the water, listening to my buddy Max telling me how amazing of a time he was having when I decided to make my way to the side of the stream and over to a group of rocks. Feeling a bit down about not finding anything yet, I decided to eagerly turn over some of the medium sized rocks. To my surprise I found this small queen snake (Regina septemvittata) coiled underneath one. I quickly reached down and grabbed it because I really didn't want to let it get away. This queen snake was really thin and once I was holding it, it constantly tried to squirm away. It took us a while to get it to pose for a picture, but we finally managed.
Queen snakes are usually 15-24 in. long and have a yellow stripe along the lower side of their body and four brown stripes on their belly. They like small, stony creeks and rivers and are likely to be discovered beneath rocks or debris at the edge of water (like where I found this one). They feed largely on soft-shelled crayfish and have a large range (from Michigan all the way to Northwestern Florida).

Cliff Griffen - Miami University

Siren intermedia

This is my personal favourite herp. I was so excited to see one in real life... they seem like mythical creatures to me. I think that they look like little water dragons! Siren intermedia, or the lesser siren, are such a wild looking species. They are obligate paedomorphs, whihc means that they must retain juvenile characteristics, such as external gills & no eyelids, to survive in their environments. They are easily distinguished from any other herp. out there! At first I didn't know if this was a Siren lacertina (greater) or a Siren intermedia (lesser) . I would have guessed lacertina because I thought it was very large! However, it was a lesser siren...ranging in size from about 18-68 cm in length. These are eel-like creatures with only two front legs. Each leg has 4 toes. It is still a mystery whether this is limb reduction/loss or something completely separate. Their heads are pretty flat and they have a fin that goes down their back to their vent (small). He was so cool... we caught him in a trap bucket at Francis Marion Park & as soon as we took the top bucket off I got so excited. I had to hold him, and when I did it was so much different than I thought ha. It was so slimy and slippery that I could literally not hold him, he would slip out of my hands as soon as I tried to pick him up. We weren't having much luck that day finding any salamanders or other catches in the traps, except crawfish, so this was super exciting. There was also another surprise in the bucket with the siren.. it was an Lithobates grylio! The pig frog was really neat as well. As you can see from the picture, he is a slim waisted frog with a very visible tympanum (hearing aid). He is part of the family Ranidae which represent the "true frogs" or bull frog looking frogs. Pig frogs have very narrow pointy heads and their hind feet are extremely webbed (webs extend all the way to end of toes). The 4th toe extends farther out beyond the others. They are usually olive/brown in colour and have dark spots. Their venter is white or creamish with a netlike brown pattern on thighs. These are a very aquatic species & it was really neat to see him in the same environment as the siren!

Another Aquarium Post!

I just found some photos of the other herps that I got to see at the SC Aquarium. We were fortunate enough to get to see up close and personal the sea turtle hospital that the aquarium runs to rehabilitate & give second chances to sea turtles. The pictures I have posted here are of a loggerhead, Caretta caretta (which is SC & Federally threatened) & Lepidochelys kempi, the Kemps-Ridley sea turtle (also Federally threatened). This Caretta caretta was playing! She has her head in a polymer tubing.. at first it appears as if it is a bad situation, like she is stuck, but I came to find out she is playing with her "toy" (enrichment as they called it). I thought that was so funny. Loggerheads are the largest hard-shelled sea turtle extant & have large heads and jaws. They are easily identified by their heart shaped carapace, which is usually brown/yellow olive in colouration. Their plastrons are a cream/yellow colour. Loggerheads have 5+ costals on the sides of the carapace and the 1st costal always touches the nuchal (3scutes). It was truly amazing to see the shear size & beauty of these sea turtles. Their flippers are amazing; what a brilliant adaptation. The Kemps-Ridley was much smaller than the loggerheads, which I had no idea that it was so small. A loggerheads avg. weight is about 135kg whereas a Kemps-Ridley is about 45kg or less. These turtles have a circular carapace with an olive/green almost grey dark colour & a yellowish plastron. Scutes are pierced by a pore on edges of plastron (4scutes on each side). It was sad to see these turtles in this situation, because seeing them at the aquarium meant that something was wrong with them. Most of the sea turtles were either in for carapace damage, facial damage, "floating syndrome" or fell victim to a net of some sort. Some of the injuries were grusome to see; one loggerhead was completely ripped up about the face from a propeller of a boat. However, all were being well taken care of and it was truly a pleasure to be so close to these giants.

Me and Elaphe guttata

For our last field trip, at the College of Charleston, we went to the SC Aquarium. I was so excited because I love the aquarium, and came to realize that I had never really payed much attention to the herps there. When you think about the aquarium, you think about fish, penguins & other aquatic species, however, I got to see some truly amazing non-aquatic species! Here is a picture of me holding a corn snake, Elaphe guttata. I think we make a great pair...:) You can identify this Colubrid quite readily by looking at the checker "Indian corn" patter on their belly (usually black & white) & also by noticing the orange or brownish-yellow colouration, with large, black-edged red blotches down the middle of the back. They can have great variation when it comes to colouration of the dorsal colouration & spotting. This is a result of age or location of the individual snake. Corn snakes are called the "red rat snake" because they like to feed on rats like most Colubridae. They kill their prey by biting them & then constricting them. Corn snakes are slender snakes and range from about 24-72 inches in length. These Colubrids are harmless snakes and are a common pet snake. I truly enjoyed taking a picture with this beauty!!