What a Find!

(photo from Dayton Daily)

This photo comes from the Dayton Daily News. At Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio a biologist found eleven smooth green snakes that have not been documented in the southwest Ohio area since 1871. The biologist was using cover-boards to catch massassauga rattlesnakes (Sistrurua catenatus) and stumbled upon the smooth green snake that had been hidden for more that one hundred years. As the light at the end of the tunnel the biologist, Jeff Davis is now being funded to study the local population and in turn finding out what can be done to help conserve this species!

Smooth green snakes (Opheodrys vernalis). Is mostly terrestrial, preferring grassy areas where it can blend into the environment. If approached it will sprint away, and if caught they will not bite. but release a musk. This species solely eat insects, which makes it possible that their decline is due to pesticide use.

(Anna Paraskos)

Elaphe obsoleta

A local herp that we have not yet seen is the black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta). This one of Ohio's largest snake, reaching 4 to 6 feet in length. The chin and throat are a plain white or cream color. The scales are weekly keeled with dark stripes extending backwards from the eye to the mouth. They are excellent climbers and usually reside in the hollow trees, which is probably why we have not encountered them on our field study. If we had encountered this snake it would freeze in its position and attempt to blend into the environment. They would not attempt to move until they were first touched by rapidly vibrating their tail.

The black rat will often hibernate between March and May and will seek out the crevice of rocks with other snakes. The black rat will seek out mating partners from late April to Early June. They also play a central role in controlling destructive rodents.

(Anna Paraskos)

A few reptiles from Kenya

Last summer I traveled to Kenya with the Biodiversity of Kenya class offered at Miami and saw an amazing amount of organisms, including a handful of really neat reptiles. Here are three of my favorites: This a type of flap necked chameleon (Camaeleo dilepis) we found crossing the road near Tsavo National park. Our guide helped it get off the road and onto some bushes, where it immediately changed from the color in the picture to a very dark green - that was pretty awesome to watch. Chameleons famous for being able to change their color by moving melanopores in their skin that differ in their ability to reflect certain colors of light, and often do so more according to their mood than to match the habitat around them.

This is the well known Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) we saw in the Talek river in the Masi Mara National Reserve. They have a very wide range in Africa, are estimated to have an average size of around 5 meters and live up to 45 years.

It was really, really exciting to have seen this black spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis) in the Mara. It was a fairly large individual (4 or 5 feet at least) that we spotted just lying out in a fairly open area next to a stream, though it eventually slithered into some shrubs. This cobra is able to exject venom from its fangs (spraying rather than spitting, as certain muscles are used to squeeze the venom glands which projects the venom out of holes in the fangs) if threatened with very good accuracy up to 2 meters...the venom causes severe burning and pain in eyes, maybe causing permanent blindness.

(Posted by Paula Cimprich)

Meanwhile on the bank.....

While we were at Four-mile creek and the few people were wading their way to the 3 turtle traps in the water, there was some herp action located right by us on the bank. As we were standing and writing our notebook I noticed a Blanchard's cricket frog, Acris crepitans, hopping in the shallow water and mud.

It was very difficult to catch, in fact Justin and Madeleine were also helping. After we snatched it up it still kept trying to get away, it obviously did not want to be handled. We finally set it back down and watched it hop around in our footprints in the mud from our waders. It then swam away in to the murky water.

It was very brown in color with a little bit of green tint on its back. Its coloration was not very vibrant which may have been due to the water quality. After it swam away it may have been going after a meal (it loves insects especially mosquitoes). I think it stayed close to the edge of the water to be ready to avoid predators. It is commonly fed upon by birds, fish, and other frogs. It is, however, an excellent jumper and swimmer so that helps to keep this little guy alive.

(Alex Hauenstein)

(photo courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org wiki/File:Acris_crepitansPCCA20061001-8206B1.jpg)

Little Black Tadpoles

When we were on our feild trip yesterday I saw a bunch of these little guys swimming around on the shore line. From past experience and what I have learned in class I am fairly certain that these are American Toad tadpoles (Bufo americanus). These tadpoles and the toads that they eventually metamorph into are very common in Ohio and the surrounding areas. They begin breeding in early spring and can lay as many as 12,000 eggs with some extreme reports of up to 20,000 being laid. The eggs are laid in two long single file strands that are usually intertwined in plants and sticks in the water. One interesting fact about these guys is that there is a dwarf subspecies (B. a. charlesmithi) that grows to a smaller size and has a more reddish coloration. An easy way to distinguish between the normal and dwarf subspecies it to look at their belly. Dwarf toads have an unspotted belly. Like most anurans these guys are ferocious eaters and will try to take down anything is small enough to fit in their mouth.

(Sammy Peppers)

A Tale of Two Turtles

The pictures of our little adventure from yesterday do not appear to be available just yet, so I'll make due with this one.

Yesterday was April 29 and we set about trying to trap turtles. Wasn't exactly the most successful day but we did get two male midland painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) out of Bachelor Pond. They were less than enthusiastic about being handled as shown by their excessive flailing to get away but they were docile enough not to try and eat our fingers like the snapping turtle did from an earlier expedition.

I actually have one of these as a pet that my dad found when someone tried to toss it. It was around the size of a quarter when I got it and now it's as big as my hand. I've been familiar with the species for awhile.

The midland painted turtle is an inhabitant of slow moving water that has a thick layer of mud. As you can see they are brightly marked thus earning their name and they have a shell that can range from 3.5 up to 10in long. Males reach maturity between 3 and 5 years of age while females take 6 to 10 years to fully mature. Sex of offspring is determined by temperature. The breeding season starts in late spring and continues through early summer. They are diurnal and will bask on logs periodically to regulate temperature and to deter some parasites like leeches(one of which we found crawling on one of the turtles, by the way). They eat plants, small animals, and carrion. They are mostly carnivorous while young but adapting more to a plant based diet as they age.

These turtles may live up to 40 years but average lifespan is 30.

Cool animals.

(Shaun Delph)

A Little Tadpole

Ah, here's a lovely green frog tadpole, or Rana clamitans if you prefer. I caught this little guy by hand (Yeah, I know you're jealous of my amazing skill) at the same place and same day described in my previous post, the Two Chicken Pond as I believe we should start calling it during that unseasonably crappy day.

Green frogs usually occur around any inland body of water you can think of- ponds, rivers, marshes, you name it. The adults are usually between 3 and 5in and can be distinguished by a tympanum that is larger than the eye and can be differentiated from bullfrogs by the presence of that well defined dorsolateral fold. It can take anywhere from 3-22 months for a tadpole to metamorphose which means these guys can live the dream of an extended childhood. Adults can also live quite awhile with captive frogs reaching ages of up to 10 years. Green frogs breed in late spring and females choose males based on who has the best digs- better territory makes them more attractive. Their call is quite distinctive often described as a banjo string being plucked. Tadpoles eat diatoms, algae, and zooplankton while adults will eat anything that moves that's smaller than them- crayfish, snakes, insects, snails, spiders, etc.

Very cool Anurans.

(Shaun Delph)