The Tiger Salamanders are back!
Larval Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) used to be a common site for me. They could regularly be seen walking around the bottom of the ponds. In 2008, the Cedar River overflowed out of it's banks higher than it had ever done before. The flood waters didn't quite make it to my favorite pond, but the pond itself also flooded, and spilled out into the river. The stream of water pouring out was enough for little fish to swim up, and make their way in to the pond. After the flood waters...
Tarantulas are Marching North
I was doing some herpetology work with a friend in the Missouri Dept. of Conservation. We were flipping rocks in an area, and finding a bunch of Tarantulas. We find them all the time, and didn't think much of it. On the way home, my friend finally yelled "CRAP!", and when I asked him why, he said Tarantulas had never been found north of the Missouri River before. We checked the Missouri Dept. of Conservation website, which confirmed that the Missouri River was believed to be a barrier. The...
Smooth Softshells in the Wapsipinicon River
When I was a kid, my family attended a birthday party for a friend of my mom along the Wapsipinicon River. The party was for the adults, so myself and other kids were just running all over the place and exploring the river. I met some other boys who liked reptiles and amphibians as much as myself, and we spent most of the weekend together catching snakes and turtles. It was these same boys who introduced me to Softshell Turtles. They told me about the flat, pancake like, turtles that were...
Twelve Consecutive Months of Herping in Iowa
I found a brown snake out basking, and was excited that I had found herps, not just in 12 consecutive months, but 12 consecutive months in Iowa! Not only that, but 12 months in my home county! When I got home to verify my records, I realized I had actually found brown snakes last February, so the ones I found in January completed my cycle. Either way, lets review the cycle in Iowa (finds from outside my home county will be included). February 2011 started my 12 month cycle with just a...
A first for me, but not a lifer
I have mentioned to people, in person and on Field Herp Forum, that there are days when getting out in the field feels like work. Sometimes I get so caught up in the idea of vouchering animals and jotting down coordinates, that I forget to sit and enjoy nature. It is one of the reasons you don't tend to see me nagging people about whether or not they are entering records into the H.E.R.P. database. When I first joined Field Herp Forum, I would come home from hiking and post pictures of every...
When the day is gray and ordinary...
...you go herping anyways... duh! I had to meet up with Mike Pingleton today, so we decided to get together at some sand prairies we had been talking about for a while. I dragged my oldest boy, and my little buddy Isaiah with. The weather forecast showed thunderstorms all day, but I usually find ornate box turtles in the rain, so we figured we would go anyways. I have been trying to find a Western Hhognose Snake in the area for a long time now, and always miss out. A few other forum goers...
Snakes are survivors
Look at this snake. It is a survivor. A friend of mine had a LOT of snakes in her basement one year. We put down sticky traps, and once a day I would check them, and use vegetable oil to free any snakes caught on the traps, and release them outside away from the house. This snake was found on a trap in December. This time though, my friend didn't want to bug me to come out because she believed the snake was dead, and her neighbor volunteered to take it outside and throw it in the trash can. I...