Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here are some pics from Friday and Saturday. You can click on the links to hear a recording of the pictured species.
The first find was this little beauty:

Prarie Ringneck (Diadophis punctatus arnyi)
They would be really cool snakes if they got up to 4’ long.

While digging through a pile of tin, this beast caught me by surprise:

Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
Awesome snakes. I also saw a DOR juvenile.

At the same spot where I found the horridus, this little thing was soaking up some rays:

Northern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus)

It’s always fun prowling around old barns and sheds:

After the obligatory rafter search produced nothing, I worked my way around the outer sides, and saw this guy doing the same thing (it obviously noticed me first). In situ:

After a bit of harassment:

Texas x Black Ratsnake (Elaphe obsoleta)
Ugly things.

And of course some dickey snakes:

Rough Earth Snake (Virginia striatula)

I found this little beauty crossing the road:

Western Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma)

Much of this area was historically prarie. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a good area to flip rocks. All the good rocks are used as fence anchors:

I spent some time in the field looking for Western Pygmy Rattlesnakes, but had no luck in that department. Here is a habitat shot of a very productive locale for that species:

However, I did find this:

Not a bad buck for this area.
Some map turtles were basking:

Graptemys sp., probably Ouachita Map Turtle

Before day turned to night, I took these habitat shots. This is habitat for Southern Crawfish Frogs (Rana a. areolata):

One month ago, that vernal pool was bone dry…..but with recent rainfall, it now looks like this:

And of course, their refuge:

In this area, areolata are normally finished calling in early March, but because of the drought, it appears that they are simply delayed by a month or so. I heard them calling, but my spotlight was out of juice, so I didn’t go look for them. Here’s an old pic, just for good measure:

The frogs and toads are now doing their thing, so I spent some time tracking them down. The most abundant choruses were from this species:

Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor)…they’re taking over the world!
I saw many versicolor, but while trying to track down a Western Chorus Frog at that spot, I jumped a cottonmouth that was enjoying the buffet. I tried to get a pic of it, in situ, but it went under before I had a chance. Here it is, trying to hide:

And a link to the chorus:
www.geocities.com/shane77@sbcglobal.net/versicolor.mp3

I did find one lifer this weekend; here it is, in situ:

And a pose:

Spotted Chorus Frog (Pseudacris clarkii)….cute little things.
www.geocities.com/shane77@sbcglobal.net/clarkii.mp3

These guys were in full swing:

Strecker’s Chorus Frog (Pseudacris streckeri)
www.geocities.com/shane77@sbcglobal.net/streckeri.mp3

And of course, some toads:

Dwarf American Toad (Bufo americanus charlesmithi)
www.geocities.com/shane77@sbcglobal.net/americanus.mp3
(at the end of the recording, you can also make out an Eastern Narrowmouth Toad/Frog)
I found this guy while looking for americanus:

Mississippi Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum hippocrepis)

That’s all folks; hope I didn’t bore you.
Shane

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Shane's Herp Lifelist
http://www.geocities.com/shane77@sbcglobal.net/my_page.html

Shane, that was awesome! Thanks for sharing those voices in the night! Not at all boring! Awesome timber, also!
Todd Hughes

Super post, thanks!

Horridus@aol.com

Thanks far sharing those great pic. I live in NH. Last weekend I went out and saw a couple water snakes, 1 Blandings and a ton of red-spotted newts.
Eli

That rat snake behind the barn looks enormous in that pict!

Hello Shane
2 items:

One
Thanks for an excellent post and including some habitat shots, as well. These views are too often left out.

Two
I was passing through SE Oklahoma last fall and found this DOR. It seemed to me mostly chocolate and rusty brown?, Golden?, . I know the animal and the picture are pretty bad, but I was wondering if this is a common morph in your neck of the woods?
(If you want GPS coordinates, just email me through KS).
.
.
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Regards, Bill McGighan

Hey, That would be a Texas rat snake. I live in kansas and ours are more black, but where you found that guy, they have a mix between the two species. Some are more colorful than others.

10-4 on the texas rat snake.

LOL, you could call it a lindy if it was from southeast TX, but it was from southeast OK, where it can only be accurately described to the species level. Of course, perhaps it warrants description as Elaphe obsoleta oklahomaensis....just a thought.
Shane
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Lifelist

yeah, the pic looks a lot like the ones i have here in northeast texas - i'm only about 50 miles from southeastern oklahoma . . .

Thanks for the comments guys....FYI, the rat was only ~4', and the timber just a bit more than 30".

Bill, that is an interesting looking obsoleta.....kinda neat looking. The snake I pictured is typical of this area (south-central OK), I haven't seen any real variation around here.
However, Black and TX rats intergrade over such a huge area, that nothing would surprise me. I would imagine that if the snake I pictured were to have a couple of shades of melanin taken away, it would look similar to your snake (blotching not well defined....rich reddish brown color).

Shane
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Lifelist