CornSnakes.com Forums  
  Tired of those Google and InfoLinks ads? Register and log in!

Go Back   CornSnakes.com Forums > The CornSnake Forums > Natural History/Field Observation
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

Natural History/Field Observation Field observations of corn snakes, field collecting, or just general topics about the natural environment they are found in.

The First Herps of the Year
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-12-2013, 06:25 PM   #1
tspuckler
The First Herps of the Year

With temperatures hitting the mid-60s today, I decided to go outside and take a look around. Though warm, there were still patches of snow on the ground and many areas of standing water were still frozen.



As I hiked, I could hear Spring Peepers calling off in the distance, but there calls were scattered and sporadic. The first herp of 2013 was a much bigger frog than a Spring Peeper - American Bullfrog.



In the same area while looking through the underbrush, I spotted my first reptile of the year - Midland Painted Turtle. I could hear lone Spring Peepers calling off in the distance, but these herps were right in front of me, so I photographed them.



I wasn't the only one herping today - Red-tailed Hawk.



Here's male a Midland Painted Turtle courting a female. To express his affections, he scratches her cheeks with his extra-long front fingernails.




She did not seem impressed with his technique.



These Ground Beetles are cool. They have big jaws and "play dead" by freezing in this position when they feel that they're in danger.



Soon it began getting dark. I decided to track down one of those Spring Peepers that I'd been hearing throughout the day. Finding one can be tricky, they are very small and tend to stop calling as they are approached. But persistence paid off.



Not a bad outing for January 12th in the Greater Cleveland area!
 
Old 01-12-2013, 06:30 PM   #2
turkeytim
great pics gotta love exploring the outdoors
 
Old 01-12-2013, 07:02 PM   #3
Tom Tuttle
Tim Thanks for sharing!
 
Old 01-12-2013, 07:57 PM   #4
hypnoctopus
That looks like a lot of fun. Nice finds!
 
Old 01-12-2013, 09:13 PM   #5
crotalis40741
Great pics thanks for sharing.
 
Old 01-12-2013, 10:01 PM   #6
Buzzard
Great pics - thanks for sharing. It was in the mid 70s in South Alabama today and we went out to try our luck at some herping but did not find anything.
 
Old 01-12-2013, 11:11 PM   #7
yojoe05
Wow surprised it's that warm in Cleveland. It's now snowing here in Illinois again.
 
Old 01-13-2013, 11:15 PM   #8
MotleyMedusa7
cool pics! all of our local herps are confused-it was 70 yesterday,in the 40's today..gotta' love SE Texas weather lol..anyway,I'm excited to get some more pics of my local herps this spring


If you would like to see what all I've taken pics of so far you can check out this album link,there are snakes,frogs,turtles,lizards,etc. a little bit of everything-all taken near my house

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=34fd786425
 
Old 01-14-2013, 01:08 AM   #9
Wyldrose
Awesome pics! Jan's been pretty nice up here too. Supposed to be above freezing the next few days. Won't see any wild herps until end of April or May.
 
Old 01-15-2013, 06:53 PM   #10
smigon
Beautiful pics! I do miss the midwest sometimes, especially when the creatures start to come out, and to hear the "peepers" starting to find their voices.

Here in Phoenix my only find was a baby white-tail (no, they are NOT all jackrabbits here!) scared in the road (I rolled my wheels over her so she was under the car, not hurt), I got out and moved her over under some bushes to hopefully not be coyote food!
 

Join now to reply to this thread or open new ones for your questions & comments! Cornsnakes.com is the largest online community dedicated to cornsnakes . Registration is open to everyone and FREE. Click Here to Register!

Google
 
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:02 AM.





Fauna Top Sites
 

Powered by vBulletin® Version
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Page generated in 0.04274011 seconds with 9 queries
Copyright Rich Zuchowski/SerpenCo