Just because Dr. Welch said she'd give me credit - The Armadillo!

Donnelly was one of our most active sites. Besides thousands of cricket frogs we saw quite a few different species there. I had seen a black racer, Coluber constrictor, and so I was snake hunting on the higher dry ground, which also kept me from being eaten alive by gnats. I heard movement nearby and saw this goofy thing run by. It's a Nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus, and is just visible in the center of the picture (I know it's a crappy picture but I was running after this thing with a phone camera). These are the only armadillos that are local to South Carolina. Probably the best thing about it is how it runs. It's hard to describe, but it wasn't very fast and just kind of skips along. It didn't seem too concerned by my presence and would occasionally stop to catch food. It was about a foot and a half long and almost a foot tall. I'd never seen one and didn't really know we had them around here, so it was a comical experience chasing one.

-Hill Felton

Photographed at the Donnelly Site

Road cruising in Francis Marion National Forest

Last Friday night after some substantial rains I headed out to the Cainhoy region of the Francis Marion National Forest. I was out there searching for gopher frogs for my undergrad research but unfortunately none were calling. Because I was already out in the forest I decided to take advantage of the warm, humid conditions and see what I could find on the roads.

Almost immediately I found this small frog. Based on the body shape and large toe pads it was easily identified to the family hylidae. The size and unwebbed toes further narrowed this specimen down to the genus Hyla. Based on the general coloration my initial thoughts were that this was either a grey treefrog or a pine woods treefrog. Exposing the concealed hind surface of the frogs thigh I found a row of yellowish orange spots, indicating that this was a pine woods tree frog, Hyla femoralis.

These frogs inhabit pine flatwoods near ponds. The area of the Francis Marion where I was fit this habitat description perfectly. These frogs are not typically seen because they spend most of their times in tree tops. Perhaps this guy (or girl) was taking advantage of the warm and humid night to make a breeding migration.

There were also many members of this species on the road that night. Based on the presence of parotid glands which produce bufotoxins these frogs were clearly members of the family bufonidae. Locally Bufonidae is represented by only one genus, Anaxyrus. Based on the large size and position of the cranial crests I identified these as southern toads, Anaxyrus terrestris.

These frogs are very abundant in our region, especially where there are sandy and loose soils compatible for burrowing. I think that the southern toads I encountered were foraging for insects on the road.

(Kevin Maginn, SC)

Aquarium Means Free Food and Endless Poking From Small Children

The Diamondback Terrapin, Malaclemys terrapin. This one was lucky enough to be placed in the exhibit where the "do not touch" sign was easy to ignore. He was pretty small, maybe 15 cm in overall length. He is a semi-aquatic turtle with limbs that support walking as well as swimming and a slightly domed carapace which is also quite ornate. Typically found in marshes, swamps, and really any body of brackish water, the aquarium built display was relatively close to his natural habitat (kind of). He's probably a male due to smaller overall size. He also wasn't too shy, but after spending time being poked by countless people (including us) I suppose that isn't too strange.

-Hill Felton, SC

South Carolina Aquarium

Dixie Plantation and a Heron that looks like a zombie

Note: The first picture is just a shot of some of my fellow classmates wading about in the swampy portions of the Dixie Plantation... Pretty place, no?

On yet another one of our wonderful field excursions, we found a variety of life. My most memorable sightings would include a large adult - young adult alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) that was approximately 5-6 feet long and what could have been a prey item, a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias).

The two are featured above in the photographs, however due to the feeding style of alligators, it is unlikely that this particular heron met its untimely fate at the powerfully snapping jaws (around 2,000lbs of pressure per square inch) of our friend cruising about in the pond nearest to where the bird was found. Although alligators do frequently feed on wading birds utilizing their dark coloration (as adults, younger individuals has yellow banding that is last to fade on/near the tail) and stealth to sneak up on unsuspecting prey; the alligator in this pond was perfectly large and capable enough of swallowing the entire bird whole.

However the heron was found around 6 feet from the shore and although its fragile bones were most certainly shattered and scattered about, it is more plausible that the bird was shot or died of poisoning/swallowing a lure or other man-made object - despite this area being protected, it is largely accessible to trouble-making humans, many of whom still find entertainment in shooting wading birds or other non-game animals (though we did find a White Tailed Deer skeleton nearby as well). The only creatures to have fed on this specimen appeared to be small mammalian scavengers and insects due to the animal being largely intact (within a 10 ft. radius).

(Channing Derry, SC) And yes, I am still awful with formatting... My apologies!

Trachemys scripta- Yellow belly slider at Donnelly WMA

This large yellow belly slider was found in a turtle trap that had been set at Donnelly WMA. It was identified based on the obvious yellow stripes on the seat of its pants and on the forelegs as well as the yellow blotch found behind the eye. Another characteristic of the species is a yellow plastron with dark smudges, which can be seen in this picture. Turtles of this genus can be distinguished from other similar genuses of Emydidae by their distinctly rounded lower jaw. Yellow belly sliders are semi-aquatic with webbed feet and shallowly domed shells. They are often seen basking on logs or rocks in ponds, rivers, and lakes from southern Virginia to northern Florida and over to Alabama. Their diet is primarily vegetarian may also eat small insects, worms, and fish. This particular turtle was determined to be female based on its huge size (about 10 in carapace length and really heavy!) and its short claws (males have long ones used in courtship).

Carrie Umberger (GA)

Copperhead

Our last field trip of the semester was to the Donnelley Wildlife Management Area. It was a hot, sunny day as we made our trek through the forests and swamps in search of specimens. We found a lot of cool stuff, but I decided that I still wanted to see a venomous snake and I had yet to see one all semester. In our second to last stop, we had all spread out, some of us were in the water with nets and others were searching in the undergrowth of the forest. I did not have any sort of net, so I decided to look under logs and such for specimens. I was walking near a tree stump looking for snakes when I saw it. It was a Copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix. It was probably about 60 centimeters long and it was coiled up next to a tree root. I could tell that it was a Copperhead because it had a large triangular head, a coppery-red colored head and the typical hourglass pattern down its back. I started to back away slowly when it struck out. Luckily, I was far enough away that it still had at least another 40 cm before it could have sunk its teeth into my leg. As soon as it struck, I started moving back a little faster than I thought was possible, but it seemed that the snake was as scared of me as I was of it. It retreated into a little hole in the root system nearby and I stood there for awhile, trying to catch my breath. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to take a picture of the snake, but I will always have the mental picture of the snake's open mouth as it lunged for my calf. This was definitely the highlight of the class and I can now check off my goal of seeing a venomous snake in the wild.

Andrew See

Charleston, SC

My Extra Roommates

So here it is, the Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis. Classic, right? I swear that I have a motel's worth of them around my house. Typically arboreal, this one was in a small growth of ivy under my house. I took a shot at catching him after taking this picture but he darted downward into where the ivy is much thicker and conveniently brown and dead. He blended pretty well and I couldn't find him after that. He was about 8 cm in overall length and probably young. I was unable to determine a sex. And he is one of many bold anoles living on or around my house. Seems like if I'm around the outside of the house I'll run into one. Encounters on the porch typically lead to me sitting while an anole climbs up onto the porch railing in front of me, shows his dewlap, and starts bobbing his head in a display of machismo. They think they own the place.

-Hill Felton

Photographed in downtown under my house