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galacticbugman · 6 years ago

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Recent Reptile and Amphibian encounters

I am not much of a herper I am more of a bug person more than anything now and days. However I fancy myself as a generalist when it comes to nature. No matter if it flies, creeps, crawls, leaps, gallops, slithers, swims; I will photograph it. I love to keep a diverse life list and love to keep a track of all that I see in the natural world. It is just something fun to do; it is like a game of hide and seek but when you seek out a new creature you log it and then keep it to a list. It can often jog fond memories of the places you saw the creatures and sometimes the people you were with. For me even the old wild friends you see with often lead to more memories and sometime you learn something new about the creatures when you encounter them over and over again. This occurred just over a few weeks. I went out to River Legacy to try and get a boost in observations for my iNaturalist account. I have been going out there a lot more because it has been really rainy and great for fungus and bugs. Here are a few old friends that I took photos.

Okay in the photo above it is kind of hard to see. What you are looking at is one of the most common of the snakes at River Legacy. This one I have posted all too often but I got this Copperhead in a position I have never photographed before. This guy was pointed out by one of my friends who works at the science center. She saw it right off the bat but I had a hard time trying to spot it. You will notice in some of the other photos they are more of a tan and orange color and sleeker. This one was much more brown and dulled out. This guy is gong to shed soon but he had not quite gone into blue yet. Okay what does that mean going into blue? Well when snakes shed the skin is solid and even covers the eyes for it makes a scale over the eyes when it is time to grow. They gain a bluish tint on the eyes and when they are like that Look Out! They will strike at anything and everything. You just have to make sure to give it it’s space. I fed a couple that had gone into blue; they may have been non-venomous but still they are more alert to everything since they are practically blind. This guy was all coiled up by this tree waiting for a meal to pass by. I think that the Copperhead is one of the most beautiful snakes in the state of Texas. They are a very attractive snake in my opinion. There skin when freshly shed is so beautiful. Before I get on one of my long winded speeches let us look at another herp that I found recently.

A couple of weekends ago I went out on the longer trails at River Legacy one Sunday on one of my weekend nature hikes. A lady on the trail was with her family and pointed this guy out to me. This little cutie may look cute but he will grow up to be one of the kings of the pond. This is the Common Snapping Turtle. Now there are two kinds of Snapper in our area. We have the Common which is this guy and we have the Alligator and both have two different feeding habits. I used to feed animals at the Fort Worth Nature Center as one of my volunteer jobs and I had the pleasure to feed both species of turtle. This one is the active hunter. That neck may look small but don’t let size fool you this guy can extend it and it will whip around and try to get you if you pick this one up. I learned that babies are not as ready to bite but when they get a few years old they become more bite happy. They will go out of their way to chase down a meal but; The Alligator Snapper (which I don’t have a photo of) that guy is more of a ambush predator. On their tongues are made like a fishing lure and when a fish comes into close...WACKO! I love snapping turtles. I used to love it when kids would come into the reptile room. I would teach them the feeding behavior of the turtles. I loved their reactions when they would snag a fish or bite one in half. They are the true meat cleavers of the of the pond.

Here is another one that was pretty cool. It was found just this weekend right when the Copperhead was found. This guy is one of the hardest lizards to photograph. This is the Little Brown Skink. Not a snake although he is snake like. He is long and slender and pretty small. This guy is about the size he will remain forever. These guys normally are on the move. You will hear them rustling in the leaf litter and most of the time they are gone before you see them. You have to sneak up them but they are quick to run. This guy was the exception however. My dad and my friend both pointed this out to me. It is good to always have extra pair of eyes on the trail. I do have pretty sharp vision but even I miss things that are hiding in plain sight. This guy was sitting as still as could be not moving a muscle. You had to watch him very closely because his head would twitch every so often. These are one of my favorite lizards. I have managed to catch a much larger skink at River Legacy but the thing with skinks is they can be pretty bitey and boy did I get it the day I wrangled a Common Five-lined Skink. I was showing it to a few kids and it had enough and bit the base of my ring finger on my left hand. It didn’t draw blood but he told he that he had enough of that. The bit isn’t that bad in some cases normally a quick release. They may pinch and you can feel their needle sharp teeth but it depends on the size if they will draw blood. There are some huge skinks in the world that can take a plug out of you but the ones we have here are small potatoes compared to some and are nothing to worry about in terms of getting bit. You just have to understand that it is their only way to tell you; you crossed the line and it is time to go or to PUT ME DOWN!” Still I love skinks they are cute little lizards. Lets look at another one sshhhallll wee

Okay so not my best shot but still a really good one. This is known as a Southern Leopard Frog. This is a fairly large species we get here in Texas though is considerably smaller than our giant Bullfrogs. This guy was on a bit of refuse down near the Red Bridge where most of the shots were taken in these slides. This guy was sitting as still as could be; possibly looking for a nearby snack. I don’t always see these kinds of frogs. I mostly see Bullfrogs and Blanchard’s Cricket Frogs along with their cousins the Green Tree Frog, and the Gulf Coast Toad. I have not seen a new species of frog to add to my list. I don’t see these all too often because they blend in so well with their environment. This is my second one to photograph in recent years which is kind of odd. Frogs and other herps are not my strong suit but I do carry around a make shift herping tool. It is a BBQ skewer that I converted into a double pronged herp stick. I don’t use it too often by I have been known to use it. I use it mainly to flip over logs and if you dare do this in person be warned and wear some snake proof boots or your best pair of hikers for it is pretty risky business sometimes. The thing is when out in the wilderness you want to wear a pair of jeans and a good pair of boots. You never want to be out in shorts. It is the one thing that I was taught early on before I signed up to be a Texas Master Naturalist. It is just something to take head of because there are plants like Bull Nettle that will get you and not to mention the mosquitoes.

Here is my last observation for this herp post. This guy was found as it was being swept down stream in a current near where the Leopard Frog was. This guy is not venomous even though its name might conjure up another master predator of North America. This guy is called the Diamond-backed Watersnake. this guy was a big one. These guys are known to get pretty good sized around and in length. These are said to be more common than another species of Watersnake we get called the Plain-bellied Watersnake also known as the Yellow-bellied Watersnake. In the herp world there have been quite a few changes to the Taxanomic Nomenclature which is kind of causing a lot of mixed feelings and causing a few upsets in the science community. Some of the snakes have been hit hard by this. I have seen quite a few of these on my travels to many North Texas parks. These guys are quite fun to look for. I don’t mind snakes they don’t bother me at all. They used to bother me something fierce but after years of learning to better understand the beauty of the reptile world mainly from watching Steve Irwin tapes and things I have since changed my attitude toward these misunderstood creatures. For some reason I love the misunderstood animals. I guess I have always been one to stand up for the little guys. To better appreciate these creatures is to learn how they live and what they do to survive. Their is beauty in the ways in which these creatures live. Sure they may not have fur or make pleasing sounds but the world of herps is a special one. They are an indicator in our ecosystems that tell if it is healthy or not. If you have these guys the area is a good one. If you don’t see many of these then you don’t have such a good ecosystem. Many species are known as indicator species and this goes hand in hand with many of the insects and even with the fungi. Everything is connected one way or another. For this is the way of nature and the connection it makes with us. It calls to us for we came from it.

In closing remarks:

Remember being a naturalist may not cost too much to get started but when you start working you way up the ladder you might want to invest in better equipment. Learning about nature in the field is fun but field investigations are only part of the equation. In the iNaturalist gig you have to go out and get your observations but then you have to go back home and study your findings just like in a lab situation. Learning about nature is fun and very rewarding. If you have an interest in wildlife or nature don’t be afraid to let that small spark start a life time of wonder and self discovery. Being an wildlife photographer and a hiker and a naturalist has helped me find my voice, my strengths, and my weaknesses. I always had a hard time conveying natural ideals to people but now that I have been out more and have spent time with people who are like minded and people who share some of the same ideals I have been able to speak more on the things I love the most. Nature is a wonderful thing on this planet. There is no other place I would rather be than losing myself in a forest, mountain crest, or oceanic area, or heck a dark cave studying the beauty and the majesty of Mother Nature. I often see this quote that really speaks to me “Not all who wander are lost.” This is something I have really taken to heart. Nature is something I really connect with and love. I love it so much and it makes me sad just how far away we have driven ourselves from it. It is something that we can’t replace and must be protect for our future generations to appreciate and enjoy. Making contributions by volunteering for your local nature park or nature center or heck even donating is a great thing. Nature was made for us to lose ourselves and explore. So until we meet again I am Zachary Chapman AKA Galactic_Bug_Man and I will see you on the trail.

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