Don't tread on me

This beautiful Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) was the highlight of my day today. I'm not sure who saw who first. Nor am I sure who even reacted first. What I do know is that the snake coiled and began rattling before I could've stepped on it. "Don't tread on me" couldn't be stated more clearly.



"I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids—She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance.—She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage.—As if anxious to prevent all pretentions of quarrelling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenceless animal; and even when those weapons are shewn and extended for her defence, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal:—Conscious of this, she never wounds till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.—Was I wrong, Sir, in thinking this a strong picture of the temper and conduct of America?" -Benjamin Franklin

Fall salamander searching (long post!)

Sarah and I recently returned from a great trip where we got to visit family and friends, go to a wedding and work meetings, and do some herping in between. Not many frogs call at this time of year, and it was a bit cool for many reptiles to be out, but it wasn't a bad time to look for salamanders.

Our first stop was a cave in Tennessee, where Sarah spotted the only Tennessee Cave Salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus necturoides) that we were to find, about 300 m into the cave, in a crystal clear stream. These retain a larval body form (funny head shape, external gills, larval pigmentation, etc) throughout their lives. If you click the play button on the video, you can see how it moves.




Nearer to the entrance of the cave, we found two young Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) and this Northern Zigzag Salamander (Plethodon dorsalis).



Here are a couple photos to give an idea of what the cave looked like.



In Kentucky, I found one species new to me, the Northern Ravine Salamander (Plethodon electromorphus),

adult


juvenile (found in different location, so not sure on electromorphus or richmondi)


and some more familiar species.

American Toad (Bufo americanus) looking almost regal


adult Longtail Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)


juvenile Longtail Salamander


In West Virginia, I tried to find Green Salamanders (Aneides aeneus), but their habitat was too dry. I did get to observe Barred Owls (Strix varia), Southern Flying Squirrels (Glaucomys volans), and some neat amphibians, so the effort wasn't without reward.

Northern Redback Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) eating a sowbug (class isopoda)


Northern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus)


larval Northern Spring Salamander (Gyrinophylus porphyriticus porphyriticus)
I found an adult, but couldn't get photos.


On my way to Virginia, and in Virginia, I found some more neat species, including the highlight of the trip in this river.


An 18" Eastern Hellbender!!! (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis)



Here's a video to see how it moves:


Eastern Red-spotted Newt eft (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens)


Eastern Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus amoenus), one of only two snakes seen on the trip


Wehrle's Salamander (Plethodon wehrlei)
from Northern Virginia


Dixie Caverns variant Wehrle's Salamander
I'm a bit surprised that this is considered part of the same species as other wehrle's.


Northern Two-lined Salamander (Eurycea bislineata)


On my way to Philadelphia to visit our good friends, Kate and Nate, I stopped at Shenandoah National Park and enjoyed some nice scenery, which was representative of the whole trip with the beautiful fall colors.


I also happened across a couple Shenandoah Salamanders (Plethodon shenandoah).
red form

yellow form


Not sure if this is a legitimate wild bird or not, but this White-cheeked Pintail (Anas bahamensis), a mostly carribean species, wasn't too far out of the way to go see. The other two ducks are Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca).


On our way back down to Florida after visiting Kate and Nate, followed by Chris, Jess, and little Henry, we stopped briefly at a couple parks and poked around a bit.

gravid? female Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)


Apalachicola Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus apalachicolae)


Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)


video of it going into its burrow


At one stop we had the pleasure of seeing some rare Florida plants.
Florida Yew (Taxus floridana)


Torreya (Torreya taxifolia)
The torreya is extinct in the wild, with the exception of a few sprouts from old roots, like the one pictured below. As with the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata), a fungus was accidentally brought in that resulted in a 100% death rate for torreyas. They can now grow for a little while, but are attacked by the fungus before they get old enough to reproduce.

Reunited, and it feels so good.

As a senior in college, I lived with 9 girls in a house we dubbed, "The Mansion." Before we graduated, we recognized that time and geographic distance would make it challenging for us to keep up on these friendships that were so transformative in our lives. Therefore, we committed to coming together again at least once a year. Every year for six years we've made good on that promise -- gathering together for a long weekend of celebrating our dear friendships, catching up on the details of life, and -- as always with this group -- discussing challenging issues and sharing our souls. This weekend was no exception. We converged on Kansas City and spent an amazing four days of long talks, little sleep, delicious food, hillarious moments and incredible connection. Unfortunately we were missing three vital pieces this year -- Jes, Renee, and Smose, your absence was deeply felt!

For a full set of photos from the weekend, click here (compliments of Kate Bowman-Johnston).

So many herps, so little time

I'm sure you're surprised to see me posting herp content on our blog. I guess it isn't the first time, and it likely won't be the last. Somehow I've found the time to go after a few more species and subspecies that I haven't seen before, along with some familiar but still enjoyable ones along the way. The Florida panhandle may not be a hotbed of rich cultural heritage, but it sure has its fair share of good biodiversity.


My friend Brandon spotted this cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) when it had little more than the head of this unfortunate banded watersnake (Nerodia fasciata fasciata) in its mouth. It was neat to watch it use its fangs to help swallow.



In the same genus as the cottonmouth, these southern copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix) can be hard to find in Florida, and I'd been looking forward to seeing this subspecies in the wild for some time. I included the first photo to show how well they can blend into leaf litter. If you weren't looking right at them, you could easily overlook them. The photo below gives a better full body shot.



We recently went in search of the seemingly elusive river frog (Rana heckscheri), which took us to a really neat set of small streams and the springs they were fed by.




Here's our target! Not exactly a beautiful knockout, but interesting enough to motivate me to put some effort into finding it and seeing where it lives.


Along with the river frogs, there were also good numbers of bronze frogs (rana clamitans clamitans) and this southern leopard frog (rana utricularia).



In the same area as the frogs, we found good numbers of loggerhead musk turtles (Sternotherus minor). The babies were feisty but cute.


adult female


adult male with proportionately huge head, for which the species is named


This large male was the first wild gopher tortoise that I've seen.



Here's a young and vibrantly-colored yellowbelly slider (Trachemys scripta scripta).



I went to the Pea River at night, just over the border into Alabama, to look for Escambia map turtles (Graptemys ernsti). I found this little fella, but he ended up being a hybrid between Barbour's and Escambia map turtles.


We then went to the Escambia River to ensure that anything we found would be full-blooded G. ernsti, and found four of them, including the one below.



River cooters (Pseudemys concinna) seem to be pretty common in some areas. We found seven or eight sleeping in one little set of rocks. I think the eye looks really neat on the second photo. It almost reminds me a bit of the flag of Brazil, or a solar eclipse.





This was the first chicken turtle (Deirochelys reticularia reticularia) that I've seen in Florida so far. Hmm...I wonder what they taste like?



I believe this is the first Fowler's toad (Bufo fowleri) I've seen since moving down here. They seem pretty sparse in this part of their range, and are far outnumbered by southern toads (Bufo terrestris).



Here's a squirrel treefrog (Hyla squirella) that's not sitting on mowed grass or vinyl siding for once.

The next three snakes are all young individuals.


brown watersnake (Nerodia taxispilota)



Florida redbelly snake (Storeria occipitomaculata obscura)




black swamp snake (Seminatrix pygaea pygaea)
The swamp snake was a special one to find, as they are habitat specialists, and are unlikely to be seen without intentionally seeking one out.



young eastern glass lizard (Ophisaurus ventralis)



Last but not least, the nearly full-spectrum rainbow markings from nose to tail on a black background, makes a hatchling broadhead skink (Eumeces laticeps) one of the most attractive lizards in my opinion.