Reptiles Magazine Community / Reptile Forums / Into The Wild

Hognose pictures

Hognose Saviour — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:55:07 GMT

Hey everybody. I am going to be spending a good month looking for all the hognose snakes I can find in Florida to get pictures of them to show all of the variation possibilities that I can find for the Okaloosa and Walton county areas. I already know to look in the afternoon and early morning because during midday they hide because they are not hot weather snakes. There are not many plywood or metal sheet stashes in any of the woods around here that are not on PRIVATE property. After the month is up I will post what I have. Thanks for any information you can provide as to what type of cover to check under.

Sandhill Prairie Herping on Mother's Day

tspuckler — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:39:27 GMT

Last year I drove 6 hours to the sandhill prairies of Illinois to look for my first wild Bull Snakes on Memorial Day Weekend. I didn't find any. So this weekend I got "back in the ring to take another swing" and I went a few weeks earlier than in 2011. That turned out to be a pretty good idea.

My first wild Bull:

Prairie Racerunners were easy to catch in the morning when they were still cold and under cover.

But after they warmed up they were fast and fiesty. I also saw my first legless lizards, but I was unable to catch/photograph one.

Blue-margined ground beetles were commonly encountered.

The second Bull Snake I found was in shed.

I saw two Blue Racers, but both were going through a shed cycle so they weren't particularly attractive.

The final Bull Snake was the best of them all in terms of color and pattern.

It was a great day for finding a couple of "lifers." Closing shot of a Muskrat:

Western Australian Elapids

stim72 — Mon, 14 May 2012 02:17:47 GMT

Thought I would share some photos of some Australian Elapids that I found on one of my trips to the Western Australian Pilbara.

Desert death adder - Acanthophis pyrrhus

Pilbara death adder - Acanthophis wellsi

Mulga snake - Pseudechis australis

Cheers

Mark

Frustrated

Txlink08 — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:16:14 GMT

I've had no luck at all this year for finding snakes! I can easily find Green Anoles and other critters but no snakes. The drought in Texas has completely messed with the snakes in my area. My favorite spot that I used to always find snakes is now empty. I have tried different areas but still no luck! This weekend i'm going to a state park and should be able to find some herps. Any tips? Wish me luck!

Water Snake

Reptileherps — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:29:19 GMT

I went and did a little herping on my first day of summer. It was raining lightly and not much was out. There was one spot where I saw at least two Water Snakes, but I couldn't tell how many there actually were. I caught this one.

Anyone know exactly what kind? I was thinking Banded or Mississippi Green, but let me know what you think.

What's on you list for this season?

Reptileherps — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:08:04 GMT

So like the title says, what herps do you guys hope to see this season?

I'm hoping to see/photograph a Canebrake Rattlesnake, Pygmy Rattlesnake, Eastern Hognose(which I think will be my toughest find), Mud Snake, and Speckled King.

I have a couple spots that I'm going to check. One I know for a fact is full of Rattlesnakes so hopefully I'll see the ones I'm trying to find. I just need to get some thick boots before I go out there

I really need some advise here!

Jaclyn206 — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:31:18 GMT

So I live in Seattle,WA, I found a mosaic gargoyle gecko outside in a very nice aquarium set up, by a dumpster ! It's freaking beginning of May in SEATTLE! He or she is still alive, barely,It will not move, I don't know how long it was out in the elements! I brought it inside plugged in the heat rock and luckily had a heat lamp for emergencies such as this! I had a white spotted gecko years ago, but I'm not very experienced and I need to know what to do to save this little guy or gal! So is it like hibernating, or what? What do I do please help! And if I can get it back to health is there animal shelters that take these lizards, I already have two dogs, two cats (all rescues) and I'm fostering another dog and cat in a very small apartment with my boyfriend and five year old daughter! Plus the reason I don't have that spotted gecko anymore is because I couldn't handle the live bugs EHHHH!!! I don't like bugs at all! If this little one can eat dead bugs or pinkies or mashed fruit then I'll keep it. But that aside I don't want it to die someone help please!

3 racers and a rat snake

cornguy17 — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:40:28 GMT

the one on the top i found the 3rd the biggest one the next day and the smallest one i found on the 8th along with a black rat snake. i also found a large hibernating den full of racers.

Lucky Rock

tspuckler — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:42:27 GMT

At a very popular hiking and biking trail, I noticed this rock. There's a lot of wildlife in the area, so I thought "What the hey, I'll lift that rock."

I was a bit surprised to find five snakes. Two Eastern Milks and three Eastern Garters. Every time I've checked it, there's 2 or 3 milks and 3 or 4 garters. Here's one of the milks - it is in need of a shed.

Here's another.

This is one of last year's babies. Around here they change from a grey background with maroon blotches to a tan background with brown blotches as they reach adulthood.

This one was about two feet long.

The garters are almost always in shed. But this one recently shed its skin as was rather pretty.

I really like this rock. Oh, and one more thing about the milk snakes: Did you know that they bite?

Cinco de Mayo in Central Ohio

tspuckler — Mon, 07 May 2012 08:37:30 GMT

On the first weekend in May I joined 19 high school students on a trip to a place near Zanesville.

Our first outing was a freshwater field study.

We used seines and nets to catch fish, crustaceans and mollusks.

I caught a Northern Water Snake.

Here's a bigger one caught on the following day.

We had a wood shed on the campgrounds and in the evening this Eastern Garter Snake was hanging out there.

We went on several hikes and found cool stuff, like this American Toad.

Here's something which I've never seen before: American Carrion Beetle.

Northern Ringneck Snakes were the most commonly seen reptile.

A very tiny (but very cute) Red Eft.

Mr. Maretka, Independence High School's biology teacher and Graham turned a few logs.

Eastern Garter Snake in a tree.

The same snake photographed on a tree stump.

Spring Peepers were calling, as well as Grey Treefrogs.

In the afternoon I gave a presentation on the reptiles and amphibians we had found. We stayed in tent on stilts (like you see in the background) called yurts.

The students enjoyed getting a firsthand look at some native Ohio reptiles.

Tanner checking out a water snake.

He decided that he liked snakes so much that he put a ringneck on his head.

Lily is a foreign exchange student from New Zealand - they don't have snakes there.

Adam enjoys and Eastern Garter Snake.

Marissa chillin' with a Northern Ringneck Snake.

Steve checks out a water snake.

It was a great weekend for hiking and herping.

may 3rd and 4th finds

cornguy17 — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:56:27 GMT

yesterday i decided to go out around 11am and as soon as i got on the trail there was a lovely looking eastern hognose right along the path as though it was purposely put there for me to find. so i bagged that and kept going. i came upon a brush pile and notice a gorgeous blue racer perched atop the pile so i went to grab it, and of course it fled, but i started digging through it and finally caught it after about 20 minutes. after finally getting control of it i stood there and started haveing a panic atttack because i was so happy, then i ended up vomitting up my brunch before i bagged it up. so i decided to go out again today and found another blue racer in the same exact spot i found the first one. then i realized i was probably chasing both of those yesterday but didn't realize there were two. then like an idiot i released the hognose without photographing it. but i will post pics of the racers as soon as i get off from work tonight.

Get out and find the love

jasonw — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:25:59 GMT

Get out and find the love
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_294hf4K4w[\url]

Taiwan

green_iguana_lover — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:45:26 GMT

What are the frogs native in Taiwan?

May someone also provides photos for each?

The First Week of April in Norcal

tspuckler — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:38:42 GMT

From what I've heard, it's rained pretty much for the last three weeks of March in Northern California, essentially pushing back spring a bit. The forecast for the first week of April called for sunny skies most of the time and daytime temperatures in the 60s. After arriving at SFO airport, I took Skyline Drive down to my friend's house in Los Gatos and did some herping along the way.

It was no surprise that Slender Salamanders were very common and were the first herps that I came across.

Most of the Coast Garters at the beginning of the trip were small and in shed. This one was a bit bigger and exhibited some red.

A not-too-bad looking Alligator Lizard.

I took finding a Rubber Boa on the first day of the trip as a good omen of things to come.

It had a chewed up tail.

Some habitat from day one.

Hey, what do you think is under that board?

Answer: Four baby Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes. Here's one of them.

Ringneck Snakes were very common in certain areas.

There were a few of last year's Pacific Gopher Snakes to be found as well.

Some of the newts were so fat that they looked like they were going to explode.

Although I've read about the vocal abilities of Arboreal Salamanders and found a few over the years, this was the first one that I ever encountered which squeaked like a mouse.

On Sunday my friend's kids were intent on doing some herping. And although it was only in the upper 40s on the mountain we were on that day, we were undeterred by the temperature in our search for reptiles and amphibians.

Ensatina

Sarah likes salamanders.

And Connie was glad that cold Alligator Lizards don't bite.

We flipped this Yellowbelly Racer.

And we liked it.

California Toads were not especially common, but we managed to find a few.

A young Gopher Snake turned up.

But the highlight of the day was finding this California Red-sided Garter.

The following day I went for a drive a few hours north to look for my first lifer. I passed landscapes that looked like this.

And eventually made it to this habitat.

I saw some Ensatinas.

And many, many slugs.

This Trillium reminded me of my home state of Ohio.

Then I found my first "lifer" of the trip - a Red-bellied Newt.

A few more were seen "on the crawl" as well. Most were not far from this creek.

Slender Salamanders were present too.

Finding a "lifer" is great, but finding two in one day is even better and that's exactly what happened when I spotted this Northwestern Salamander.

As I was leaving I saw this Banana Slug eating a banana peel on a State Park garbage can.

On Tuesday I stayed close to Los Gatos, looking for herps that were in a 20 mile radius. There were still plenty of Ringnecks to be found.

As the weather warmed, Western Fence Lizards began coming out, but there were never out in "full force."

Skinks seemed to favor the relatively damp weather.

A young Santa Cruz Garter "on the crawl."

And a larger one that just ate something resting on the path.

I closed out the day by seeing my first wild Bobcat ever.

On Wednesday I headed up to Marin County. Amphibians were easy to find. Here was my first Sierra Treefrog of the trip.

Here's a "power trio" consisting of an Arboreal Salamander, Banana Slug and big spider - all under the same piece of cover.

Ringnecks were the snake we found the most of.

Everybody loves Ringnecks - even me.

But I was also glad to see the first Sharptail Snake of the year.

And the only scorpion of the trip.

This Fence Lizard had some cool markings.

We found a few Ensatinas too.

On the way home I stopped at a spot to look for snakes and came across a few Coast Garters.

And some Red-legged Frogs.

The following day I took a drive up the coast.

Many beetles, ants, voles and deermice were seen under artificial cover throughout the week, but this beetle was running around out in the open - Garden Carrion Beetle.

A Coast Garter so deep in shed that at first I thought it was a Santa Cruz Garter.

A more typical looking Coast.

An adult Northern Pacific Rattlesnake with a bit of yellow coloration.

Elephant Seals aren't herps, but they can be amusing at times.

This young Yellowbelly Racer was actively patrolling the edge of the walking path.

A somewhat colorful San Francisco Alligator Lizard.

As I walked, I approached this pond.

Has there ever been a herp that has been on your wish list for a long time? Something you've spent years trying to find in the wild and then one day you find it? If so, then you have some idea what it was like to find "lifer" #3 of the trip.

Here's a closer look at a San Francisco Garter.

The following day was Friday and Sarah and Connie still wanted to do some more herping. The problem was that Friday was a "school day." I've played my share of "hooky" back in the day and therefore I know that sometimes you just gotta skip school. So we went herping in Santa Clara County.

Little Ringneck.

We set out sights on finding 10 different types of herps, we exceeded our goal by finding 12. A Fence Lizard doing what it's supposed to do.

Sharptail Snake.

More log turning turned up several California Newts.

We were puzzled by this yellow Fence Lizard found underneath some bark, but then figured that it somehow got itself coated with pollen.

I caught a Gopher Snake and the girls dug how mild-mannered it was.

Habitat we were exploring.

Here's something that you don't see everyday - a Rattlesnake sticking its head out of a hole in a barn.

Did I mention that lots of Ringnecks were seen on this trip?

A huge Alligator Lizard.

We closed out the day (and the trip) by finding a few Coast Garters.

See you next year, California!

Please Help Identify These Wild Salamanders

CreepyCrawley — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:08:54 GMT

Please see pic for more details.

Some Local Herping

Reptileherps — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:08:38 GMT

I went herping today, and there were Water Snakes all over the place. We also saw a small alligator.

Our first find was dead unfortunately, but it let us know they were out there.

Then we started finding some that were still alive...And all of these are different individuals by the way.

Any idea of what kind of Water Snake this is? It looked different than the rest to me.

This was the only one I could manage to catch without having to jump into the water. And he was not happy about it.

insane weather

cornguy17 — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:36:19 GMT

so as im sure most of you have noticed we had a very mild winter this year. so when we had those 80 degree weeks it obviously brought out all the herps early this year. i have already found a baby snapper in my basement several toads and treefrogs and i even found a yearling eastern hognose already this year and its only april 5th! i have a good feeling that we will be finding lots of herps this year if this warm pattern keeps up during the summer.

"Winter" Herping in Northeast Ohio

tspuckler — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 11:35:51 GMT

We just finished up the warmest winter on record here in the Greater Cleveland Area. Here's some of the stuff I found this year prior to March 21st.

Painted Turtles were the first herps of 2012 for me. I started seeing them out basking in February.

A nice group of them from a Metropark.

A "flying" Painted.

Amphibians started migrating around the middle of March, if not, a bit sooner. Jefferson Salamander:

I took my friend's kids out during the daytime. Here's the habitat we explored:

Lauren likes salamanders.

And so does Lance.

But Lucas...not so much.

Spotted Salamander.

Redbacks are one of two types of salamanders that I can find in my backyard.

Another friend wanted me to take her kids herping, so I did.

The children were stoked when we hit the "salamander jackpot" - four Spotteds and one Smallmouthesque under one log.

Smallmouth-like Salamander (probably a hybrid).

Ryland was happy.

Avery now wants to be a herpetologist.

Wood Frog.

Darker, floating Wood Frog.

Spring Peeper.

On March 14th I saw my first "lifer" of the year - Blanding's Turtle.

Bullfrog.

Big Ol' Snapper.

Medium-sized Snapping Turtle, sporting some orange.

Black Squirrel

A little bit after the Peepers and Wood Frogs, Western Chorus Frogs and American Toads started calling.

Western Chorus Frog.

American Toad.

Big toad carrying a sign. Somebody told me that it wasn't real, but I want to believe.

On March 17th I went looking for my second "lifer" of the year. Along the way I saw this Northern Brown Snake.

And some Green Frogs.

And I found my "lifer" too - Spotted Turtle.

Northern Water Snakes were the first snakes I saw this year, but they proved to be tricky to get shot of.

Here's a different one.

Leopard Frog on a log.

Pickerel Frog on a log.

On March 20th, it seemed there there were Eastern Garter Snakes everywhere. A few males courting females were seen. Here's a little male with a large female that appeared to have recently eaten a frog.

And here's one from another location.

Red-spotted Newt in "suspended animation."

Newt out of the water.

It's been an interesting winter!

Frogs and nature

Tenacious Leafs — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 07:43:16 GMT

Here are a few pictures I took this week at the nature center I work at.

Lithobates palustris (Pickerel Frog)

Clitocybe dealbata? (Sweating Mushroom)

Rhaphidophoridae sp. (Cave Cricket)

Pseudacris feriarum (Upland Chorus Frog)

This Green Tree Python is part of our Exotic collection

Corallus hortulanus (Amazon Tree Boa) Also part of the exotic collection

Florida Herping

amphibian keeper — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:22:55 GMT

This summer my family is going to Florida. I haven't been down there recently and when I did go, I didn't do much herping. I'd like to be able to get some herping time in, this time. I was wondering what to expect. We are going to be in the Fort Lauderdal area. The place where we are going mainly is paved, but has allot of trees and bushes. I have really only seen lizards when I have been down there. What kinds of lizards and snakes are common in that area? What could I do to try to find some snakes?

Spotted Turtles in Ohio Today

tspuckler — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:08:40 GMT

I went on a quest to find a home-state "lifer" this afternoon. Here's what the habitat (a place that I have never been to) looked like.

It was quite warm for mid-March today - 80 degrees. I was beginning to think that maybe I should have went when it was still cooler outside. But wait, what's that movement over there in the water?

Not just one Spotted Turtle, but two breeding!

Males seemed much easier to come across.

It was a great day for herping - I also saw my first Green Frog, Eastern Garter Snakes and Northern Brown Snake of the year.

This Week's Amphibian Migration

tspuckler — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 07:38:39 GMT

It's been raining pretty heavily i the Greater Cleveland Area until early afternoon, but then it stops, but it still is turning out to be very for seeing amphibians.

Wood Frogs were everywhere. I've never seen so many in one night (I only stayed for an hour). Here's a female heavy with eggs. Unfortunately they didn't close the road like they usually do, so there were quite a few casualties. We called a ranger and he stopped by shortly thereafter to close it.

Although the Wood Frogs were calling in full force, there weren't many Spring Peepers calling yet. I only saw two on the road.

Salamanders tend to start crossing a bit later at night, but eventually they made their presence known.

But the Wood Frogs kept coming too. Sometimes I'd be photographing one and two or three would hop right on by. A few were orange and a few were pink.

A hybrid/intergrade thing that no one can quite figure out.

This spotted successfully crossed the "finish line."

Hey, that's a spotted salamander, but it's not a Ambystoma maculatum. This newt was probably looking to cash in on some tasty amphibian eggs.

Gray is my favorite color, and this Jefferson's certainly was a fine sight to see.

It was quite a night!

How do you catch ground skinks???

A.M herps — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 09:39:24 GMT

To start off, I love ground skinks. I think they are amazing! They literally swim throught pine straw and leaf litter! They're so agile that they're so hard to catch! What do you think is the best way to catch them?

Hunting for Herps?

lizsnakelover — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:16:25 GMT

I was wondering if anyone could give me tips on how to find and catch wild reptiles. I'm pretty new at this and all I'm doing is going out to the woods near our house (I live outside of Austin, TX,) and looking around. It has been a bit chilly (40-50 degrees F) so I am assuming most reptiles are all hibernating. But if you have any tips and pointers on looking and catching some cool reptiles I would really appreciate it.

Ambystoma season!!

Tenacious Leafs — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:48:56 GMT

I work at a nature preserve just north of Atlanta and we have about 5 previously recognized species of salamanders on our preserve. A few months ago I found a Pseudotriton ruber which has become the first ever recorded species in this range which is very exciting. Well last week I discovered a species which I was almost positive that was on our preserve. I found this large male Ambystoma maculatum under a few rocks near a water run off followed by some eggs. Here is a picture of him. Everything ive read said that February was the best time to find them. Anybody else find this to be true?

Western or Rough Earth Snake

Central Texas — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:14:56 GMT

I found this guy under a rock in my front yard in Central Texas. At first I thought it was a Rough Earth Snake but after taking some pictures and seeing this guy is 12 inches long I think it may be a Western Earth Snake.

My front yard is one wooded acre and my back yard is two acres wooded with Cedar and Oak. I usually carry a camera whenever I'm outside and I've taken pictures of many herps (and other stuff) I stumble on in my property.

Here is the mystery snake - is it a Western Earth Snake?
http://photobucket.com/western_earth_snake

Here is a Rough Earth Snake I found in the pool skimmer.
http://s644.photobucket.com/albums/uu165/central_texas/Rough%20Earth%20Snake/

and pics of other critters in the yard.
photobucket.com/central_texas/

Take care

Bob

Eastern Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus ventralis)

Leora22 — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:08:49 GMT

Hey all this is the Ophisaurus ventralis I found today while herping it was a Great day...I loved getting out today and spending some time with nature ahhh I have missed it .......Infact heres some advice everyone, If your stressed out go and sit in the woods ....believe me it helps Peace

He/she was About 9" and and felt like the weight of my hoggie whos about 23 grams

Thanks For Looking

the rescue of a monster

herperchic — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:01:28 GMT

So me and my good friends decided to take my golf cart out for a spin and I saw this monster tangled in the chicken fence that surounded my coop.he somhow got in but not out so he got a little human assistance!

My first Pseudotriton ruber

Tenacious Leafs — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:31:33 GMT

I work at a nature center just north of Atlanta. Our preserve has yielded only two previous salamanders: Eurycea guttolineata and Eurycea bislineata (the three lined brook salamander and the two lined brook salamander). We had a week where it rained almost everyday so I took a night to see if I could find anything. Just as I was about to leave the creek I turned over one last rock and found a Pseudotrition ruber (Red Salamander) just sitting there, I could not get any luckier that night. I didn't have my camera on me so I took the salamander back to the center and took some photos (they are very poor quality) then I took it back and released it where I found it. I was so pumped to find this specie which I was not aware was on our preserve. Since there has only been one found I am assuming that the population is very small. This is just such a cool specie to find in the wild.

I was out herping a bit earlier that day and came across some advanced club moss specie that was a perfect retreat for herps. So I began to look in the moss and I quickly found the coolest looking baby Diadophis punctatuas (Ringneck Snake). I wasn't able to get any pictures of the snake but its coloration and ventral patterning was breathtaking. Ringnecks are one of my favorite snakes that we have here and are so awesome to come across. Anyway here are some photos of the P. ruber (I apologize for the low quality).

Got really into herping outdoors

Txlink08 — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:55:02 GMT

I have been herping outdoors in southeast Tx been catching lots of skinks,green anoles (espically babies), and mediterranian geckos. Had really fun this season, but never found or saw any snakes any tips ??? Thanks

Snake hunting

repfreak — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 05:54:36 GMT

Went snake hunting last night on a road that one time got me 80 snakes on one trip down. We have never been skunked on it before, ever. Not even in pouring rain, and lighting shooting all around us. Needless to say we went last night and found no "live" snakes. All the ones we found were DOR. It sucked. Me and my brother did make the best out of it and caught like 7 leopard frogs, 15 green treefrogs, and 1 pig frog. We need to find a new road...

Final Day of Field Herping

cornguy17 — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:15:52 GMT

After i got on RC today i realized this would most likely be the last day i have to go out field herping. so i went out and found this girl coiled up under a stump digesting a recent meal. But i think this year was success, i found a variety of snakes and one that was on my most wanted list. Unfortunately i still haven't found an eastern massasauga though.

This Weekend at Snake Road

tspuckler — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 21:51:00 GMT

Last year I made my first trip to Snake Road. I found a bunch of "easy lifers" like a Ribbon Snake, Cricket Frogs, Cave Salamanders, Yellowbelly Water Snakes, etc. This year I made the trip again, hoping to find some of the trickier "lifers" as well as get reacquainted with Snake Road's more common residents.

The trip went something like this:

THURSDAY
I arrived Thursday at around noon. The temperatures were in the low 80's. I checked out some artificial cover along the way, and found my first snake of the trip - a freshly shed Western Ribbon Snake.

Shortly afterwards I found this Yellowbelly Water Snake underneath a tire.

A ventral shot.

I then figured it was time to get to my destination.

When pulling into the parking lot, I got the feeling that maybe there were already some other herpers on the road.

Cricket Frogs could be encountered in decent numbers in puddles in the parking lot, as well as in other areas along Snake Road where there was shallow standing water.

Eventually I made it onto Snake Road.

This is the kind of thing that a lot of first-timers want to see. I saw a total of 10 Cottonmouths on day 1.

Sometimes when you approach them, they do this.

Hey, what are those people down the road looking at?

Answer: Big millipede.

This is always a fine sight to see.

Everybody likes Rough Green Snakes.

Some Yellowbelly Water Snakes have coppery coloration on their neck and chin.

Did you know that they bite?

A swamp-side view.

Longtail Salamanders were not hard to find if you looked in likely places.

This Cottonmouth seemed to be actively foraging along the bluff.

Sometimes when the first emerge from the swamp they have a light duckweed coating.

Plains Leopard Frog.

I thought it was cool to see this little Ringneck doing a road crossing.

Fence Lizards aren't terribly common in the area and they are quite skittish.

My hike had come to a conclusion and as I drove back on the levee on the banks of the Muddy River, I spotted a large snake up ahead in the distance crossing the road. As the car approached, the snake made an abrupt U-turn and headed off the road and back down the bank. But I caught that thing - my first "lifer" of the trip - a Diamondback Water Snake.

It was a great way to end the day.

FRIDAY
It was in the low 80's again and looked like it would stay that way for the next few days. There is a profusion of fruitfly-sized bugs that swarm the faces of Snake Road visitors. They don't bite, I think they are attracted to sweat. But they sure are annoying.

The first snake of the day was this young Eastern Garter seen crossing the road.

The bank of the Muddy River.

Central Newt (lifer).

When viewed from above baby Cottonmouths can look an awful lot like Copperheads.

Cottonmouth courtship in the bluffs.

Striped snake skin.

This pool of water between the road and the bluffs is where a lot of herps have been seen over the years.

Like this Yellowbelly Water Snake.

A sweet-looking Ribbon Snake with a dorsal stripe that was almost red in color.

The first Cottonmouth of the day looked like it had been feeding well. I saw 15 in total on Friday.

A young Cottonmouth basking in direct contact with an adult.

This was the smallest water snake (a Yellowbelly) I'd seen so far on Snake Road. Thanks Matt.O and psyon for the ID!

That night I did some roadhunting and found this Shawnee King.

This young Yellowbelly was out too.

The third DOR Rat Snake I've seen in the last two days. I hope to see a live one before the weekend is over.

SATURDAY (TODAY)
By 10:00AM there were quite a few visitors on Snake Road.

I decided to focus my morning efforts on finding amphibians. The first one found was a "lifer" - Bird-voiced Treefrog.

I then thought I'd check in on some Cave Salamanders.

A funky-looking Fowler's Toad.

Tiny Treefrog.

Adam & Eve Orchids.

A number of the herp "usual suspects" were present, including:

Rough Green Snakes.

Southern Leopard Frogs.

Western Ribbon Snakes.

Yellowbelly Water Snakes.

Some harder-to-find herps turned up as well. A tiny Worm Snake.

Mississippi Green Water Snake.

An ultra-rare white stripe morph of Western Cottonmouth.

Aquatic turtles are very wary and difficult to get good photos of, but this "empty shell" was easy to get a shot of.

A Pickerel (I think).

Even if you're not finding stuff, climbing and exploring the limestone bluffs is pretty fun.

I found this huge Yellowbelly Water Snake while searching in the bluffs.

My friends from the Greater Cincinnati Herp Society showed up.

I sure was glad to finally see one of these guys alive and well (Black Rat Snake).

The highlight of the day was this Red Milksnake.

I returned in the evening for one last look at Snake Road.

Copperhead.

A large and ill-tempered Eastern Garter Snake.

A young Yellowbelly Water Snake found on the levee.

It was a herping weekend that was hard to beat!

Tim

What's this?

mas0ud — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 02:14:51 GMT

Hi

Yesterday my friend showed me this pic. He took this pic in north of iran and I believe the animal is not native ! I think this is kind of marsupial but I can't identify it

anyone can help me?

I don't have any other pics and I know it's not so clear but I need help

3:00 AM finds Help Identify

Leora22 — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:37:33 GMT

So i was up all night last night and decided to go outside and photograph the night life

I need help identifying this first photo what kind of bug is it ? i looked in my insect field guide and didn't find anything i live in Ft.Myers Florida

Six-legged Frog

tspuckler — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 07:12:34 GMT

I was walking the Ohio Erie Canal towpath yesterday evening near my home, when I spotted this young American Bullfrog at the edge of the path. Since there were a number of cyclists out, I decided to move the frog across the path, so it wouldn't get hit. When I picked up the little amphibian, I noticed that it held out its front leg in an awkward way. I thought maybe it had been injured. But then I noticed that it had extra legs.

Yelloew bellied racer

Kernel — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:14:47 GMT

Today I found a wounded yellow bellied racer. Most of it's wounds looked to be superficial, so I treated them with some betadine, let it drink some water (it drank alot of water) and released it. Here are a few pics.

hatchling eastern hognose

cornguy17 — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:32:09 GMT

There must have been a nest somewhere close to my house that hatched, because i have found 4 of these cool little snakes in my yard in the past few days.

A Clevelander in NorCal...in Mid-August

tspuckler — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:16:29 GMT

I usually like to head out to California in April, but it's been a crazy year. The best I could do was to get out there last week. Here's what I found.

On Monday I started off in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

My first find was a pretty good one. California King as found:

Posed (you can see that she's gravid).

Then I found the biggest Coast Garter I've ever seen. She had two lumps in her, it felt like she ate two mice. I am endlessly fascinated by the color and pattern variations in Eastern Garter Snakes in the east. The same goes for Coast Garters in the west. So I will warn you in advance that there's going to be a whole lotta Coast Garters in this post.

A Southern Alligator Lizard with attitude.

Things really kicked into high gear when I found my first lifer of the trip - a snake I've always wanted to see in the field since I was a kid - Rubber Boa.

Close up of a snake I was totally stoked to finally find.

I also found this rather dull-looking Racer.

On Tuesday I set out to find another snake that has eluded me - the California Red-sided Garter. This time around I got smart and asked for Natalie's help - she said she knew where to find them. It wasn't long before she dove into the grass and came up with a snake in each hand. One was this Coast Garter.

The other snake was an Aquatic Garter intergrade. It was very cool with a wide stripe on an army green background.

Northern Alligator Lizards were seen moving through the underbrush. This location had some nice, high-contrast (for an Alligator Lizard) individuals.

Another cool Coast.

Several of this year's babies were seen as well.

Two lifers in two days? Yeah, it happened when Natalie caught this California Red-sided Garter.

After that we went looking for Western Pond Turtles, but all we found were these (Red-eared Sliders).

There were many newly metamorphosed Sierra Treefrogs hopping around.

Eventually a fine day of herping came to an end and I envisioned finding my third lifer in three days on Wednesday. To do so, I travelled south for about an hour, until I got to this hilly place.

Then I walked for a few miles. Along the way I saw a Tarantula Hawk.

And a Western Whiptail Lizard too.

And then I made it to this creek, where I was hoping to find...

...lifer #3 - the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog (this was turning out to be a pretty good trip to the Golden State).

Even this Northern Pacific Rattlesnake was excited, as it started rattling when I was 20 feet away.

Turkey Vulture.

On Thursday I joined forces with Zach to once again herp the Santa Cruz Mountains.

We found some colorful Coast Garters.

As well as this not-so-colorful one which was in shed. This was the first time I've seen a western Garter doing the "flattening out" defense behavior. It seems eastern Garters employ this habit much more often than those west of the Mississippi.

This was a seriously sweet Southern Alligator Lizard.

We caught a Racer that looked like it was chewed up pretty badly in the past, but otherwise seemed healthy.

On Friday I herped some marshlands with Julia.

It wasn't long before we came across a Coast Garter.

Same snake.

Some parts of the marsh looked like a lunar landscape.

As you might expect, Western Fence Lizards were seen in a number of different spots.

Suede bike.

A "patternless" Southern Alligator Lizard.

Some of the rocks and logs around the marsh had many, many tiny newts under them.

On Saturday, my final day of herping, I took my friend's kids, Sarah and Connie herping. They were ready for action.

This Western Fence Lizard had blue flecking.

We also found a few Alligator Lizards. Did you know that they bite?

This Coast Garter had almost no red.

But we also found some very pretty ones.

Then we did a little creek herping and saw Western Pond Turtles.

Many of the waterways that I visited were overrun with Bullfrogs - some were almost black.

Kids don't care that they are invasive species - they're still fun to catch.

A young Racer.

By far, the favorite thing that the girls found were newts.

My favorite thing was this large (and pretty beat up) Rubber Boa.

It was a great trip. Thanks to Natalie, Zach, Julia, Sarah and Connie for spending some time out in the field with me.

Herping...

the gecko geek — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 14:38:41 GMT

who's gone herping lately? what have you guys found lately?