Mississippi Green Water Snake

Natural History

Snake! I've been waiting to do something on a snake! We just saw one two days ago (April 22, 2013) at a park. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, my fiancee (yes, it changed) did not have her camera with her. It was clear as day, though. It was a Nerodia cyclopion, or a Mississippi Green Watersnake. Here is an example picture.

Photograph courtesy of Brad Moon, favored photographer of Mississippi-type snakes by the state of Alabama.

Honestly, I thought it was a Cottonmouth up until now. It occurred to me that the dorsal portion of the snake that showed itself to us was too dark to be a Cottonmouth. So, most of the information I am about to spout off throughout this entry is almost as new to me as to you.

Native to all along the Mississippi River and Southeastern United States, Nerodia cyclopion are quite common around here. Other than rivers, these snakes are found around ponds (which is where we saw one) and other small bodies of water. We thought about showing somebody at the park. I personally really wanted to see what those city-slickers' reactions would be. I saw most of them scream in fear of Carpenter Bees shortly before I sighted the snake. ... "The snake" seems a little impersonal. I shall name it, then. ... ... Jenny. Jenny sounds good. If Carpenter Bees were such a great source of entertainment for me, Jenny would have evoked a reaction that I would share with my grandchildren many, many years from now. I could see it in their mind's eye right now. It may look a little something like this:

Dramatic photograph courtesy of Tom Spinker of FlickRiver (Like Robin of Locksley). Your name and  noted website sound amazing together. Kudos. 

Yes. The dramatic closeup and everything. And as they ran screaming, I would holler, "I bet Jenny has eaten crayfish, frogs, fish, and toads braver than y'all!" Yes. That sounds pretty well planned. And do you like how I fed you information on this water snake's diet? I got that and previously stated infromation from http://www.outdooralabama.com/watchable-wildlife/what/Reptiles/Snakes/mgws.cfm. Mississippi Green Water Snakes are rather boring. Very much so. I shall do more interesting herps in the future, assuming I continue posting.

Adults usually range from 30-45 inches (76-114 centimeters), the current record being 50 inches (127 centimeters). Babies range from shorter than 30 inches to very short indeed. "Indeed" being, in this case, a unit of measurement. It is equivalent to adding an extra "very," just classier. Their young are born live, as is the case for most water snakes, numbering 15-25 itty bits born during the summer. I bet they're cute. Let us take a look.

Photograph courtesy of Dylan the Herper. May you live well with your title.

Alright... No offense Dylan the Herper, but is this the best Google can offer? I'm disappointed in you, Google. He is cute, though.

These snakes are incredibly nonvenomous, so watch out. True, they won't kill you, but they will not hesitate to bite you with a mouth full of teeth if they don't think they can escape quickly enough.

Hmmm... this species isn't even invasive enough to terrorize some poor continent. Well, dang. That wraps this one up. Sadly, this may very well be my last blog. Unless, of course, somebody is actually enjoying it. If so, tell me. Comment on something. If one person has read through this whole entry and comments in favor of my blog, I shall continue it. It's pretty cool how people from Romania, Germany, and Russia have read the blog of a native, small town Tennessean.

Eastern Narrowmouth Toad

Natural History

Upon a little consideration, I admit what I said in my last entry was not fair. Not everyone thinks Eastern Six-Lined Racerunners are more interesting than Eastern Narrowmouth Toads. I know, I should keep more of an open mind. I am sorry. Since I was so harsh on all of the Eastern Narrowmouth Toad lovers, I will dedicate this entry to that very creature.

Photograph courtesy of Mr. Ronn Altig in association with the Virginia Herpetological Society.

Your contribution is very welcome.

Yes, I posted a picture of a Gastrophryne carolinensis tadpole, but it looks really cool. It is incredibly streamlined and angular with an interesting tail design. It's like the Maserati of the tadpoles! I take it back. Maserati Toads are fantastic! Where could I find one of these things?! According to Savannah River Ecology Laboratory at the link in the parentheses (http://srelherp.uga.edu/anurans/gascar.htm), Eastern Narrowmouth Toads can be found in any part of Southeast United States, except in the high elevations of the mountains. Wait!! Look at this picture!

Photograph courtesy of Suzanne L. Collins. Thank you, Suzanne.

I can't believe it! What happened to Maserati Toad? It's fat... With T-Rex arms... And half of a head peeking out from... somewhere. Let us find a more flattering picture.

Photograph courtesy of Kerry Kriger. You are well appreciated around these parts, Kerry.

That's a bit better. And the picture seems a little sharper. I was afraid this little guy was an out-of-focus toad altogether.

Well, let's get to talking more about Gastrophryne carolinensis. I shall try a different technique this go 'round and state my second and final URL source: http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=AR0544. That website is known as Enature.com. Enature and Savannah tell us that the average length of an Eastern Narrowmouth Toad should be around 2.4 - 3.9 centimeters. We are, therefore, dealing with an incredibly small amphibian. Wow. They're really tiny! And, according to Psychology, such a tiny creature with outlandish physical features including a short and squat, very round body, relatively small limbs, and an itty bitty head would classify as considerably cute.

It would seem I would favor this species because it particularly enjoys eating ants. Maybe I should have adopted a few Narrowmouth Toads during my family's ant-demic about ten Summers back. Cinnamon works wonders, by the way. But back to the toads! I admit I find a particular pleasure in reading people's verbal descriptions of Gastrophryne carolinensis vocal calls. Enature says it sounds similar to a bleating sheep. Hahahahahahaha... Just wait until you hear the call... hahaha.... Savannah does a better job describing the call as a nasal, high-pitched "waaaaaaaaaaaaah." Hahahaha! That is quite true. I must say, though, that http://srelherp.uga.edu/anurans/sounds/gascar.mp3 does the best job of describing the call of an Eastern Narrowmouth Toad.

Photograph courtesy of Herpjournal. I like your name. Keep up the good work.

Of course, the study of human insanity has to be correct. It is pretty cute... I like this toad best as an in-focus, Maserati tadpole, though. Seeing as nothing is exciting about the mating occasions of the Eastern Narrowmouth Toads, I must bid thee farewell. Supper is ready and I'm about to watch a futuristic alien doctor save multiple worlds from ornery alien races with a sonic screwdriver, or a daytime vigilante shooting arrows through the forest for the sake of poor folk! Have a wonderful morning/day/evening/night/out-of-body experience/etcetera.

Eastern Six-Lined Racerunner

Natural History

Unfortunately, Memphis weather did not work with me this time, so I have not had the chance to go out and take any good pictures. Instead, I  shuffled up my pile of herp flashcards (hand-laminated pictures of lab specimens) and drew Gastrophryne carolinensus. However, I thought that would have been a boring second blog entry, so I chose to do Cnemidophorus sexlineatus. Commonly known as the Eastern Six-Lined Racerunner, C. sexlineatus has distributed itself all over the Eastern United States. They're cute little creatures.

Photographic proof of cuteness courtesy of Virginia Herpetological Society

As you can see, the species name sexlineatus was derived from Latin words sex and lineata, meaning "six" and "of a line", respectively. How could I have possibly known that? I'm smart... and I've taken two semesters of Latin. But, just to make people happy, I shall credit some website: http://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/reptiles/lizards/eastern-six-lined-racerunner/eastern_six-lined_racerunner.htm. I can tell you this, the -us suffix means that only one sexlineata is being addressed. Now that we've had our lesson in forgotten languages, let us amble back over to Herpetology. Cross-referencing a couple websites has provided this entry with many lovely facts. C. sexlineatus reach an average length of 6 - 9.5 inches (15.24 - 24.13 centimeters) in length. Their preferred habitat includes open, sunny, dry areas with soft, loose sand and/or soil and sparse vegetation. This information can be found by clicking on http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Plants_Wildlife/herps/Squamata/EasternSix-linedRacerunner.asp and/or http://www.tnwatchablewildlife.org/details2.cfm?sort=aounumber&uid=11060917103376207&commonname=Six-lined%20Racerunner&DISPLAYHABITAT=&typename=Reptile&Taxonomicgroup=Reptile%20-%20Lizards. Information on mating habits, admittedly the most interesting information shared thus far, can be found by clicking on the latter link. Tennessee's Watchable Wildlife states (pun intended) that males turn bluer around breeding time. Yes, the website said "bluer." I hope you enjoy that as much as I do. Once past the wording, a lizard turning bluer sounds pretty cool, I mean interesting. Let me see if I can find a picture...

Photographer: Seth Berry
This photograph is courtesy of the very courteous copyright owner: George M. Jett
Yes. That is bluer.

Alright, that is pretty blue... but it may not be as blue as they get. Actually, the latter picture may not be any bluer than the first picture in this blog entry... Be that as it may, the ventral portion of the body very well has the potential to be bluer, or even less blue. Once mating has occurred, the female may lay anywhere from

1 - 6 eggs in open, shallow sand and soil. These eggs remain unguarded by either parent and have a 60 day incubation period before hatching. That, to me, seems quite a long time to be sitting there unguarded, but  I have been unable to successfully research that C. sexlineatus eat any organism's eggs, much less their own. Of course, other organisms may end up eating some, most, or all of the eggs of a female C. sexlineatus. Other than turning different shades of blue based on the amount of Barry White playing in a guy's head, these herps are pretty boring. Good thing they have looks going for them.

Leave it to Tennessee to create funny sounding names for any critter; Eastern Six-Lined Racerunners are also known as "field-streaks" and "sandlappers." My favorite alias is the latter one. ... Gasp!

OhMyGosh!

Looky There!

Photograph courtesy of  Maryland's Department of Natural Resources

Ain't it cute!?

Red-Eared Slider

Natural History

After attempting to find herps in the outskirts of Memphis to no avail, my girlfriend, who doubles as my all-time photographer, and I broke down and went to Shelby Farms. Here we were hoping to capture a photograph of one of the many frogs we could hear, but, after the inevitable scare from a snake and zero luck in sneaking up on a frog, we managed to catch a few photographs of Trachemys scripta, or red-eared slider. Red-eared sliders are very common as pets; until that new law against keeping turtles as pets was passed, of course. As you should deduce from the turtle's common name, the telltale marking is a red blotch behind the eye.

Credit for this photo belongs to my own, personal photographer, Dayne Nelson. Taken on 2/11/2013

All I could find on who came up with the taxonomic name was this ---> http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=173823

According to Jeff LeClere at http://www.herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=26,the red-eared slider can be found anywhere along the Mississippi River. These reptiles have an affinity for any permanent body of water, be it a pond, marsh, river etc. Native to southern and southeastern United States and northern Mexico, Trachemys scripta is apparently very adept at existing, as is exemplified by its label as an invasive species. Everywhere from California to Australia, Trachemys scripta is invading native wildlife's territories and multiplying. Australia even sent out an alert against red-eared sliders, which can be viewed at the following link: http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/pw/vp/toad/red-earedslideralert.pdf . In fact, a major method by which red-eared sliders are introduced into the wild is a previous pet owner letting them go free into the wilderness. Granted, these turtles can live 50-70 years, so I may be able to say some of those owners got too old to properly care for them. By the way, if you happen to be in Australia and find a red-eared slider, just call 1-800-084-881. No joke.

As is shown in the picture above and one that is to follow, Trachemys scripta absolutely love basking in the sun.

Credit for this photo goes to Dayne Nelson. Taken on 2/11/2013

Like crocodilia, this turtle can move incredibly quickly in short bursts. My younger brother called me while Dayne was preparing to take this picture. As soon as I answered, "Hello", which was a fraction of a second before Dayne took this picture, this turtle leaped into the water. This action occurred so quickly that, once the shutter of the camera reopened, the turtle was already out of sight. If you (yes, I am self-indulging enough to assume that I will have at least one reader that I can specifically address) look at this picture closely enough, you can see that this turtle is in pre-mid jump. I'm not sure if these pictures can be double-clicked and zoomed in upon, but take a look at its eye. It reminds me of the velociraptors' eyes on Jurassic Park...