Serendipitosityness

Joseph, alert child that he is, noticed an unusual feature had been added to our backyard sometime during the night.

Sadly, they were not permanent.

Salamander Project Update

These things rarely turn out as I plan. Or maybe I just don't plan them well. Either way, my little projects tend to take rather curious twists or turns, and the Salamander Rearing Project: 2008 Edition was no exception. Some of you may want to read my original post on the subject, for the rest of you, I'll simply state that I collected several Ambystoma larvae from a vernal pool in my home county, and brought them home to rear them to . . . well, some point past metamorphoses anyway. My goal was to verify the continued presence of the Marbled Salamander there.

Unanticipated Problem #1: Feeding 7 larvae 10 (give or take) freeze-dried bloodworms by handheld forceps every day got old very quickly-- I had to dangle each individual worm tantalizingly in front of each little larval snout until the little guy sucked it in-- and the colony underwent, er, selective reduction after about a week. I kept the three largest and most interesting looking to see what they turn out to be.

Unanticipated Problem #2: The larvae grew a bit faster than I had calculated and were showing obvious signs of imminent metamorphosis (including gill shrinkage and tail ridge loss) shortly before I was to leave town for Myrtle Beach for a week. I ended up solving this by placing the three remaining larvae in one little water-filled sandwich container (sans lid) and placing this inside a larger plastic shoe box lined with mud and leaves. After placing a tree bark bridge from the smaller container to the floor of the larger (so each metamorph could leave the "pond" when it was ready) I put on the lid and placed it at the shadiest portion of the base of my lilac bush hoping for the best.

Fast-forward one week. We return from Myrtle Beach late, late at night. No time to check the 'manders. Next day, we went out and found the shoe box and shade had done the job as expected. Plenty of moisture had been retained and two, count them, TWO of the larvae had metamorphosized.
This was the first one to go, I believe, judging from the progress of gill resorbtion. The tape measure above is metric by the way, so the little guy was about 40 mm in total length. This is under the average length most Ambystoma larvae undergo metamorphosis, and was probably the result of the limited diet of captivity. Here is a picture of the same animal in a more natural setting.
You can kind of see the faintest remnant of the gills. Anyway, back to the story.

I took the whole contraption back to the basement to set up a juvenile habitat. While I was working all that out, the final larva "went terrestrial". I put them all in the new hab, and started looking for possible prey items to supply to them.

I ended up settling on what is either a small species of earthworm or juvenile regular earthworms. Whatever the case they looked just the right size and I supplied them to the two remaining salamanders. Yes, two. At some point one disappeared. I don't want to believe that the other two got all "Timothy" on him, but there are only so many plausible scenarios here.

I guess the salamanders agreed with my assesment of prey suitability.

By the way, it does not appear to me that either of these animals are the Marbled Salamander I was hoping for. The first one looks like a hybrid of a Blue-spotted Salamander and . . . something. The other looks like it has Jefferson's salamander genes in it. Discerning lineage in hybrids is always difficult, but as they grow it should be at least a little easier.

Anyway, now you are as up to date as I am. As always, all earth-shattering developments will be shared in . . . almost real time.

New Contact Sport

Tennis. Unfortunately, the racquet should contact the ball, not someone's noggin. Ella knows this now that she watched her mother get examined for a broken nose and sewn up with 4 stitches.

It does look much better. At least she can see out of it now.

Hot Summer Herpin'

Make no mistake about it, South Carolina in late June is hot. I kind of knew this before I went to Myrtle Beach. Now I really know it. It didn't help things that the first day there I got probably the worst sunburn of my life boogie boarding the 3-4 foot waves that were breaking 300 yards from the condo we were staying at. More on that later.

Anyway, I was able to take portions of three different days (for a total of about 12 hours) and go out looking for critters. The thing about herping SC this time of year is that reptiles and amphibians are temperature sensative, and many tend to be active during the cooler parts of the day or at night. Most cool parts of the day and all of the nights I was either at the condo or doing something with family.

Nevertheless, I was able to encounter some of the herp fauna. Nearly every animal I saw was a new species for me, but due to some of the situations I was unable to get pictures of many. Please enjoy those I was able to photograph.

American Alligator/Alligator mississippiensis

Northern Green Anole/Anolis c. carolinensis

Ground Skink/Scincella lateralis

Rough Green Snake/Opheodrys aestivus

The boys viewing a gator.

Six-lined Racerunner/Aspidoscels s. sexlineata

Some sort of Sand Fiddler Crab that Winfield caught.

Other animals seen that I could/did not photograph include the Banded Water Snake, Southern Black Racer, Southern Leopard Frog, and the Southern Toad-- all new to the life list as well.

At one location I went with Big Nick, we saw several interesting birds as well, including a pair of Painted Buntings. I had no idea that such colorful birds were found in North America.

That's all for now, I will try to return in short order to tell more of the family side of the trip as well as updated you all on my latest project.

Keep a sharp lookout!

Latest Project

I believe the Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum) to be one of most intriguing salamanders of Ohio. First of all, it is a beautiful animal; just click the link above to see for yourself. (That is a really neat site, by the way; most if not all the photos there were taken by fellow named Jason Folt.) Additionally, their life history is somewhat different from that of most other Mole (Ambystoma sp.) salamanders such as the Tiger (Ambystoma tigrinum) or Blue-spotted (Ambystoma laterale).

While these latter make their way to the breeding ponds in early Spring when they are usually quite swelled with February snow-melt and March rains, the Marbled Salamander arrives at its ponds in Autumn, when they are no more than empty depressions that have been dry since Summer. They then lay their eggs-- not too near the bottom (so they don't hatch at the first rain then dry out if no further rain arrives), and not too near the top (to avoid being just above the water line if it never rains enough to fill the pool that high)-- then wait there with them until the rain does arrive. Because of this behavior that is curiously divergent from that of like genera, it is very difficult to sample vernal pools for this particular Ambystomatid species in the typical way-- using partially-submerged minnow-trap-like-thingys around the perimiter of the pond in early Spring. Marbled Salamander adults are months gone by then.

So, in order to sample a pond for opacum effectively, you really need to dip-net said pond in spring and early summer, then check out the larvae that you find. The dip-netting part is not too hard-- I have had good success two years running now at a pond in a Hancock County, OH woods that has, historically, held Marbled Salamanders. It is the checking out larvae that I have a bit of trouble with. First off, they are kind of small and look pretty fragile. It seems that belly and throat pigmentation are key to discriminating between the different species, and these little guys just don't want to lie on their backs while I get a good enough look. I always feel like if I hold them in place long enough to see what I need to see, I am going to break a tiny leg, tear of a gill, or just plain crush them.

Therefore, the former snake room in my basement now houses a new project.

Yes, folks, we're growing baby salamanders.

Let me explain what you are seeing here. Each larva now lives in it's own little tupperware container. This makes it easier for me to keep track of how much each one eats (presently I feed them dried bloodworms one by one by hand and forceps), and keeps them from eating each other's gills off. I collected these larvae on Saturday and, until tonight, I had them all in one larger plastic tub. As of last night a couple of the little guys were already missing gills. This arrangement also allows me to track individual progress as they mature.

My hope is that one or more of these little guys grows up to be the striking creature you saw if you followed the link at the top to the photo. Admittedly, the chances at this are not great. The woods in which these were found is now much smaller than it was when the records were vouchered back in the 1960s, and the habitat is somewhat altered, so opacum may no longer persist there. Even if I don't get what I am after here, I will still end up with interesting animals. Smallmouth Salamanders (Ambystoma texanum), perhaps, or one of the several hybrids involving the Jeffersons (Ambystoma jeffersonianum) and Blue-spotted species.

OK, it's not a puppy, but who could say no to this cute little face?

Ella Can Has Boo-boo

Important Bulletin!

A while ago, I provided you all with a list of all the reptiles and amphibians I have seen in the field. There are a couple of problems with this list. First of all, since it is going on three years old, it is outdated. In addition, I made some inclusions in the original list that were a bit speculative. At this point, I believe I should include only animals that meet the following criteria:

1. I personally observed the animal in the field. This allows me to include animals that I was not the first to come upon or was not the one that lifted the rock to find, etc.
2. The animal was alive. I will not be including animals found dead on the road.
3. The animal was positively identified.

That last one is probably the most restrictive. It will remove a few of my previous listers, and prevent me from adding a couple more--most notably some sort of skink (probably a Broadhead) that the boys and I observed in TN last year, but not closely enough to be absolutely sure it wasn't a Five-lined sporting its "breeding colors".

However, in the interest of accuracy and honesty, I feel that adhering to these principles is best, and now present you with the updated and amended list.

REPTILES

TURTLES

Common Snapping Turtle, WI- 1980
Eastern Box Turtle, OH- 2003
Ornate Box Turtle, WI- 2005
Eastern Painted Turtle, OH- 2005
Midland Painted Turtle, WI- 1991
Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle, WI- 1991

LIZARDS

Green Anole, FL- 1988
Northern Fence Lizard, KY- 1999
Praire Racerunner, WI- 2006

SNAKES

Lake Erie Water Snake, OH- 2007
Northern Water Snake, WI- 1995
Queen Snake, OH- 2007
Northern/Midland Brown snake, OH- 1999
Midland/Texas Brown Snake, WI- 2003
Northern Red-bellied Snake, OH- 2006
Eastern Garter Snake, WI- 1990
Maritime Garter Snake, ME- 1993
Chicago Garter Snake, WI- 1990
Plains Garter Snake, WI- 1980
Butler's Garter Snake, WI- 2003
Northern Ribbon Snake, OH- 2004
Northern Ringneck Snake, OH- 2005
Blue/Yellow-bellied Racer, WI- 2006
Smooth Green Snake, OH- 2005
Western Fox Snake, WI- 2005
Eastern Milk Snake, WI- 1991
Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, OH- 2005


AMPHIBIANS

SALAMANDERS

Red-spotted Newt, OH- 2007
Spotted Dusky Salamander, TN- 2007
Northern Dusky Salamander, OH- 2005
Imitator Salamander, TN- 2007
Ambystomatid hybrid, OH- 2005
Spotted Salamander, OH- 2007
Smallmouth Salamander, OH- 2006
Eastern Tiger Salamander, WI- 1991
Redback Salamander, OH- 2005
Jordan's Salamander, TN- 2007
Southern Redback Salamander, TN- 2007
Northern Two-lined Salamander, OH- 2007
Southern Two-lined Salamander, OH- 2005
Long-tailed Salamander, TN- 2007
Blue-Ridge Two Lined Salamander, TN- 2007
Northern Spring Salamander, OH- 2006
Blue Ridge Spring Salamander, TN- 2007

TOADS AND FROGS

American Toad, WI- 1980
Fowler's Toad, WV- 2005
Gray Treefrog, OH- 2004
Spring Peeper, OH- 2006
Western Chorus Frog, OH- 2006
Bullfrog, OH- 1997
Green Frog, OH- 2005
Wood Frog, WI - 2005
Northern Leopard Frog, WI- 1991
Pickerel Frog, WI- 1991
Blanchard's Cricket Frog, OH- 2005

Some interesting stats on the numbers above. I added 7 species or subspecies to my list in 2006 and 11 (9 of them salamanders!) in 2007, giving me a totals of 6 turtles, 3 lizards, 18 snakes, 17 salamanders, and 11 frogs/toads, or 55 herptiles. Again these numbers are modest to poor compared to those of other people who like to do what I do; this is merely the present status of a lifetime project.

Species I think I have a good chance of adding this year on outings in Ohio and South Carolina include the Eastern Fox Snake, Black Kingsnake, Eastern Kingsnake, Corn Snake, Hog-nosed Snake, Copperhead, Southern Toad, and American Alligator. I also still hope to verify continued populations of Marbled Salamanders and Four-toed Salamanders in my home Ohio County.

Wish me luck.