Kenny and I agreed that it was a long way from North Central Florida to southwest South Dakota just to try to see one little snake, so time and again we delayed the attempt. But finally the time seemed right.

We were planning a salamandering trip that would take us along most of the Pacific Coast so we’d start at the north (Washington) and work our way southward to southern California, then eastward and towards home. By starting in the north we could travel through the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota, up into Montana. The time had come to try to see the Black Hills red-bellied snake, Storeria occipitomaculata pahasapae.

We allocated 3 weeks for the entire trip (and as it turned out we used every minute of it), allowing a couple of days to search out the Black Hills target.

Despite locales provided by a friendly researcher, finding the targeted “west of the heartland” red-bellied snake took more time and work that we had thought it would. It seemed that we had arrived a week or two later than was best and the little snakes had already left the hibernaculas. Not only had they dispersed, but seemingly most were already in subsurface retreats.

We persevered and after several hours of searching, Kenny found one of the reclusive and seclusive snakes. It was the only example of the subspecies found. Remembering how difficult it had been to justify the trip to the Black Hills, many more photos than were actually needed were taken.

Then westward, ho!
Continue reading “A Black Hills Venture: The search for a red-bellied snake” …read more
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This rundown of snake fact and fiction may change some minds about the reptiles.

From Live Science:

Snakes play important roles in ecosystems, but they also terrify some people. That fear has led to many myths about snake behavior.

To get to the bottom of some of the assumptions about snakes in the United States and separate fact from fiction, Live Science talked to several snake experts. Here are some commonly held beliefs about snakes and whether they’re true or false.

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The Northern Leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens) is an fairly widespread US Native species that get a spotlight in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Terry_Cox!

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By Herp News

A compilation of new camera trap videos from Yasuni National Park shows off rarely seen species like the rufuos-vented ground cuckoo and the short-eared dog as well as odd behavior, like sloths licking salt from the ground. The compilation is produced by Diego Mosquera, manager and head of the camera trap program at Tiputini Biodiversity Station.

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By Herp News

Fifty miles out to sea from San Diego, in the middle of April, under a perfectly clear blue sky, fisheries scientists leaned over the side of a rubber inflatable boat and lowered a juvenile loggerhead sea turtle into the water. That turtle was a trailblazer — the first of its kind ever released off the West Coast of the United States with a satellite transmitter attached.

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Python! A snake that everyone is aware of because they are found on every continent of earth except Antarctica.

India has three species of pythons that are famous across the world: The reticulated python, the Burmese python, and the most common in India, the Indian rock python, Python molurus molurus. This is a snake that averages 13-16 feet in length, with a maximum of 25 feet. The body has dark brown blotches on a grey, off-white, or pale brown body, with an arrow-shaped incomplete mark on the head.

On a recent trip, our herping destination was Wayanad, a district in Kerala famous for a tea plantation. At around 8 in morning, our teacher, Iqbal Sheikh, my friend Axy, and I were heading toward the forest in our car. Suddenly we saw a crowd of tea farmers gathered on the edge of the road.

After some enquiry, our driver told us there was a big snake in the field, and the farmers were damn scared to enter it. After hearing the word “snake,” the three of us jumped out and entered the farm. I heard my driver saying that it’s a big snake, so I was desperately expecting a king cobra. When I saw the snake, however, it was a 10-foot Indian rock python.

It wasn’t an easy task to catch this fellow, but somehow we managed it. After coming out of the farm with the big guy in hand, everyone from the crowd gave us a big round of applause. The farmers also gave us fresh tea bags.

It was a great achievement for us. The python was a good natured fellow, which made our task easy.

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Citizen scientists are helping researchers learn what rising temperatures mean for Joshua Tree National Park.

From USA Today:

Stortroen, an 82-year-old retired insurance claim center manager from St. Paul, Minn., has joined research outings in places ranging from Australia to South Africa. This was his first time assisting scientists in the Mojave Desert.

“I enjoy the teamwork. I enjoy working with nature,” he said, pausing beside boulders while the group took a break and pulled out their water bottles.

Stortroen was one of 15 Earthwatch volunteers — American, British and Canadian — who helped with the research earlier this month in Joshua Tree National Park. The volunteers split up with park biologists and UC scientists to conduct surveys of plants, count birds and record the numbers of lizards and other reptiles.

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The simple shot of a tree frog in a field of green is hard to beat! We hope you enjoy this shot of a Pseudacris regilla in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user emvee!

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Our Herp Video of the Week is a sneak peek in how professionals extract venom! This flashback video shows the extraction of a king cobra by our friends down at the Kentucky Reptile Zoo. The venom is then used for cancer research.

Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users! …read more
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By Herp News

The fate of La Sierra del Divisor, a 1.5 million hectare reserve lauded for its megadiversity of wildlife, will soon to be decided. According to El Comercio, next week the Peruvian government is expected to rule whether Divisor will be declared a national park. The designation, which was requested by local groups nearly a decade ago, would strengthen legal protection of the area, which faces logging, mining, coca cultivation, and agricultural encroachment. It would also establish rules for the buffer zone around the potential protected area.

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By Herp News

Energy has become a contentious and politicized topic, spurring activism, whether it be the fossil fuel divestment campaign, Keystone pipeline protests, or concern over wind turbine harm to birds. But whatever energy future we choose, two things are clear: an expanding human population will need more energy, and no matter what energy source we pick, it will have landscape-scale impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

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kingsnake.com staffers Jeff Barringer and Leiren McKenzie (and kingsnake.com’s Zombiehunter snake hunting truck) will be in San Antonio for this year’s International Herp Symposum down at the city’s famous Riverwalk, May 27 through 30.

This year’s event is notable for its distinct “Texas” flavor, both in location and topics, with a variety of talks and lectures by Texas herpers and herpetofauna, including Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Andy Glusenkamp, discussing citizen science in the Lone Star state with the iNaturalist project as well as others.

The symposium, an annual event now in its 38th year, is hosted in a different city every year, and draws herpetologists and herpetoculturists from around the world to discuss a variety of herpetological topics, from captive care and husbandry, to species management and conservation efforts in the wild. The event includes a field trip to the San Antonio Zoo with a VIP “Behind the Scenes” tour of their noted Reptile House, which includes Komodo Dragons among the many species it works with, as well as an optional banquet followed by a live auction. Many guests also plan to make informal field trips to chase reptiles and amphibians through the desert thornscrub.

Registration for the symposium, held at the Hilton Palacio del Rio San Antonio River Walk Hotel, is still open, however the IHS room block is almost full, so you will need to hurry to take advantage of the special room rates offered for this event. For a full breakdown of this years schedule, speakers, and topics, and to register for the event or reserve a room, make sure to check out the IHS web site at http://internationalherpetologicalsymposium.com .

If you plan on sneaking away to go herping, please remember to follow the laws and regulations, and make sure to have the proper licenses and permits. For Texas residents that means a standard hunting license and a Reptile & Amphibian Stamp. Non-residents can go herping with a Non-resident 5-Day Special Hunting License and Reptile & Amphibian stamp. For questions regarding the Reptile & Amphibian stamp, and it’s rules and regulations take a look at TP& W’s Amphibian and Reptile FAQ at https://tpwd.texas.gov/faq/huntwild/amphibian_reptile_stamp.phtml
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The red sand boas (Eryxx johnii) are the most common species of boas found in India after common sand boas.

These snakes are also found in many other African and American countries, and there they are known as rubber boas. I would like to call this snake an ‘alien’ snake because it looks like a snake from a different planet.

The head and the tail of this snake look very simila,r and I’m sure it would be very difficult for the average person to differentiate between the head and the tail of this snake. When the predator attacks this snake, the snake coils up and hides its head under the body and displays its tail so that the predator gets confused and attack its tail instead of head.

Red sand boas have a thick body and the tail is short and blunt. Adult sand boas are brown, sometimes with black or brown blotches or bands. The underside is brown or brownish white and the young ones are reddish-brown with black bands that disappear as the snake grows.

There are many superstitions in India regarding this snake. It is said that these snakes are used in black magic and they have the power to shower money. Many times there have been articles in the newspapers regarding this case.

I am always attracted to this snake because of its out of the world appearance, and it always joyful for me to have this ‘alien’ in my hands.
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Take time this weekend to get your feet in the grass. Follow the lead of this tegu in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Tristen!

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By Herp News

On April 25th, poachers shot and killed wildlife ranger, Agoyo Mbikoyo, in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the organization African Parks. On the frontline of the illegal wildlife trade, Garamba Naitonal Park is known as a hotspot for elephant poaching.

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Amphibian migration season is a little late this year, so if you’re driving in New England be careful.

From Newser:

Northern New England’s annual amphibian migration is always perilous, but critters that cross roads to breed are facing an additional challenge this year: a delayed start after the long winter. Every spring, several species of salamanders and frogs travel to vernal pools —temporary bodies of water created by melted snow—to mate and lay eggs, and the resulting offspring need several months to develop and grow legs before the pools dry up in summer. Wildlife officials say the migration is running a week or two behind this year, cutting into that critical development time. That could affect millions of animals across Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire, says Eric Orff, a wildlife biologist with the National Wildlife Federation.

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It was in the 1980s when I first made a concerted effort to see a flattened musk turtle, Sternotherus depressus.

My interest had been piqued by the news that a single almost white example was in the live collection at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In those long ago days, except to differentiate leucism from albinism, we didn’t differentiate between the various causes of inhibited pigmentation. Since the little turtle did not have the dark eyes associated with leucism, I then and still do refer to the turtle as an albino.

I was happy to have seen the captive specimens at the university, but it was not until just a few years ago that I took the time to look them up in the wild. Since they are a federally endangered turtle species, I thought that they would be difficult to find. This was not at all the case.

After arriving at 2:00PM on a sunny spring afternoon and making my way down a considerable slope and through painful tangles of cat briar, I reached the river’s edge. Within 5 minutes I had seen my first couple of depressus. They were in deep water and I wasn’t able to photograph them.

But in just another few minutes I had found another near the shoreline and a fourth in a small disjunct pool. Photos were taken.

It was a good day.
Continue reading “Endangered but everywhere: Flattened musk turtle” …read more
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There is no denying that “DeNile” is a gorgeous animal that deserves a spot as our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ToucanJungle!

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By Herp News

Diets of snakes from a temperate region in South America may depend more on phylogeny (ancestry) than ecology.

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A boy in India caused a stir by catching the snake that bit him and taking it to the hospital.

From DNA India:

“Sandesh was well informed about the dangers of a snakebite. He very well knew sleeping causes venom to spread rapidly all over the body and hence he did not sleep,” Nayak said. Sumalatha said the snake was not poisonous, but had caused a deep wound around the boy’s knees. “On giving necessary treatment, we found out the boy was not bitten by poisonous snake, but it had caused deep wound around his knee.

As he responded to the treatment quickly, Sandesh was discharged from the hospital after he recovered fully, the doctor said. The boy, on his arrival to the hospital, refused to set the snake free from his bag, but after the treatment it was released into a nearby forest, the boy’s father said.

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A less common, but no less interesting anole, the Escambray bearded anole (Anolis chamaeleolis guamuhaya) takes the spotlight in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user chrisred!

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By Herp News

Think of it as trying to help the long-lost cousins who never left your home town. Researchers and friends at the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) are doing just that for chimpanzees. Our closest living relatives still live in their hometown African forests but these forests are under increasing threat.

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By Herp News

Yesterday, a team of Italian scientists caught a frog in a montane forest in Tanzania. And then they made history: using a small blood sample the team were able to extract, purify, and amplify the amphibian’s DNA—all in the forest—through a new, battery-powered device called the Expedition Genomics Lab.

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Have you ever really considered the mechanics of how snakes climb trees?

From the Daily Mail:

Moving quickly, the top half of the snake ascends the trunk, while the bottom half of it stays coiled lower down.

Wrapping its top half around the tree, the snake then brings the rest of its body up to where its head is and begins tightly coiling itself around the trunk once more.

Once entirely wrapped around the middle section of the tree, the snake again lifts its head and ascends vertically a metre or so.

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Although they have a superficial resemblance to the eastern glass lizards, the western genus Anniella, is contained in the family Anniellidae. Until very recently the genus was comprised of only 2 species, one in California and northern Baja and a second endemic to Baja California. Initially, based on coloration, the American species, Anniella pulchra, was thought to have 2 subspecies. A. p. pulchra, the California legless lizard, occurred over most of range with the black legless lizard, A. p. nigra replacing it in the Monterrey Bay and peninsula region. Examples intermediate between the California and the black in coloration were found elsewhere south of the range of the black examples.

The subspecies concept had fallen into disfavor with geneticists, so for a while, no matter its color or where within its range it occurred, the California legless lizard was considered a single entity.

However, genetics, now in vogue, eventually came into play and within the single species researchers determined that there were 5 clades. A “clade” is a group consisting of an ancestor and all its descendants, a single “branch” on the “tree of life,” and that ancestor may be an individual, a population or even a species whether or not still extant. Researchers hypothesized that there were now 6 full species contained in what was until their assessment a single species.

So add now to the still extant A. pulchra, the hypothetical species A. stebbinsi, A. alexanderae, A. campi, A. grinnelli, and A. stebbinsi.

And we still have to add A. geronimensis, from south of the border.

As 2 friends have told me, these and similar recent hypotheses by other researchers seem to be solutions to problems not yet asked. Believe me, the solution to the non-problem regarding the legless lizards does not stand alone.

These lizards, no matter their name, are accomplished burrowers. Besides making their own burrows when substrate is of the proper consistency, they may seek seclusion beneath surface debris or may enter and follow a burrow premade by a small rodent or large insect.

Most that I have found have been only a half inch or so beneath the surface or beneath boards atop a yielding sand substrate or in shallow seaside burrows.
Continue reading “Limbless wonders: The Western legless lizards” …read more
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Alert and always keeping his eye on you, this Basiliscus plumifrons shines in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kus!

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By Herp News

The rescue, which took place in early April, was conducted by the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC) in response to a report of an adult male orangutan isolated in an fragment forest surrounded by oil palm plantations. The orangutan was found to be in poor health, according to Krisna, OIC’s Human Orangutan Conflict Response Unit field coordinator.

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By Herp News

Usually animal pens in zoos are designed to resemble a species’ native habitat: lions in sprawling savanna, pandas in bamboo forests, and crocodiles in mangroves. But a new pen at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL)’s London Zoo is meant to dramatically highlight not a species’ habitat, but it’s biggest threat.

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The common trinket snake, Coelognathus helena helena, was the first snake I ever touched in my life. This snake was the one to create a strong impact on my mind to conserve and protect these beautiful creatures. Apart from me, it has helped many other people to remove their fear of snakes — which makes sense, as these snakes are very shy and avoid biting.

In India, you can find nine species of trinkets, and the common trinket is the most commonly found of all. These are the most common snakes found in my area, and they prefer staying near humans.

Common trinkets are light brown in color and have a slender body with dark brown or dark grey bands on forebody and stripes on the hind body. The average size of an adult trinket is 4 feet, and it is oviparous by nature.

It was an experience I can’t define in words,was the best feeling which I ever had in my life, when handling a snake the first time. I’m very affectionate toward trinkets to this day because they helped me become “what I am today.”

I would like to share the pictures of that revolutionary day.

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Sued by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finally developed a recovery plan for endangered tiger salamanders.

From IndyBay.org:

The recovery plan focuses on alleviating the threat of habitat loss and fragmentation by permanently protecting breeding ponds and their adjacent uplands through acquisition and conservation easements. Because the majority of the remaining habitat for the Santa Barbara County California tiger salamander is on privately owned lands, habitat-based conservation efforts will require the cooperative efforts of both local agencies and private partners.

“Because we’ve already destroyed so much of their natural habitat, recovering and protecting the places these unique tiger salamanders need to survive won’t be easy,” said Loda. “But we can’t afford to lose this special amphibian, so I hope federal, state and local agencies as well as developers will all step up to support the hard work of recovery.”

Although Santa Barbara California tiger salamanders have been protected under the Endangered Species Act for more than a decade, the Fish and Wildlife Service had not developed a required recovery plan to guide management of the species. In April 2012 the Center sued the Interior Department for its failure to develop such a plan for the endangered salamanders; the plan released today is the result of the December 2012 settlement agreement that resulted from this lawsuit.

gallery photo by user TXCobraman

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This black Roughie is monitoring the world in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cynthy07!

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By Herp News

Following a major seizure of illegal wildlife goods in North Sumatra, the Indonesian authorities released 94 critically endangered pangolins into the wild last week, including a newborn whose mother died shortly after the authorities caught up with the traffickers. Five tons of pangolin meat were burned in the wake of the bust.

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By Herp News

A team of Chilean scientists discover two new species of iguanid lizards from the Laja Lagoon, Chile. The two new species are believed to have been long confused with other representatives of the elongatus-kriegi lizard complex, before recent morphological and genetic analysis diagnosed them as separate.

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By Herp News

A study on the impact of forest loss on biodiversity, recently published in the journal Conservation Biology, shows that one-third of the Brazilian Amazon is headed toward or has just passed a threshold of forest cover beyond which species loss accelerates and is more damaging.

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By Herp News

Ten thousand years from now, human historians—or alien ones—may view the current wave of biodiversity loss and extinctions as concurrent with the Pleistocene extinction. At that time, peaking around 11,000 years ago, many scientists argue that human hunters killed off the majority of the world’s big species. According to a paper today in history may be repeating itself.

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I am well aware of the new paper regarding the new classification of copperhead genus Agkistrodon, but for the purpose of this post I will regard the southern copperhead as Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix.

The southern copperhead is common throughout its range, utilizing a variety of habitats. A good night of road cruising can produce a half dozen or more specimens. The southern copperhead is our most common pit viper. Their ability to adapt to virtually any habitat, including areas around humans and their generalistic feeding habits, have made them quite successful.

Copperheads will feed on lizards, frogs, salamanders, small rodents, and even certain insects. Cicadas seem to be a favorite meal.

Copperheads are ovoviviparous and litter size typically ranges between 6-8, but litter sizes well over a dozen are not uncommon.

One of the most amazing aspects of the southern copperhead is its camoflauge. When sitting perfectly still in leaves it becomes practically invisible.

Please remember if you go out looking for these that although the venom of the southern copperhead is considered “mild” compared to that of other pit vipers, here in the southeast an envenomation is quite serious and if you are bitten seek medical attention immediately! In my opinion, there is no such thing as a “mild” bite. …read more
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Get yourself a closer look at the Savu python in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user chefdev!

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By Herp News

The search for effective measures to reduce human-elephant conflict is a top priority for wildlife managers and a significant challenge. Ongoing conflict incidents exacerbate anti-wildlife sentiments among rural populations, as conflict events can lead to the deaths of both people and elephants. The continued expansion of development and agriculture into traditional wildlife grazing lands pushes elephants into more frequent contact with people and crop fields.

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Once considered to be non-existent in Angola, a new study reveals the country is home to Gabon vipers.

From SpyGhana.com:

Bitis Gabonica, commonly known as the Gabon viper, is a venomous viper species found in the rainforests and savannas of sub-Saharan Africa. It is not only the largest member of the genus bitis, but also the world’s heaviest viperid, and it has the longest fangs and the highest venom yield of any venomous snake.
Angolan scientist Paula Regina de Oliveira said the species of Bitis Gabonica are the ones with teeth that could reach five centimeters long and larger glands, which allow them to accumulate large amounts of venom.

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Many years ago, I decided (to my own satisfaction) that although most caiman are hatched feisty, the 2 species of the so called dwarf caimans of the genus Paleosuchus are hatched actually evil.

We see the smooth-fronted species, Paleosuchus trigonotus, on almost all of our trips to the Peruvian Amazon and no experiences I’ve had with them has altered my opinion in the least. In fact, if anything, my interactions involving this caiman, be they hatchlings or adults, have cemented my opinions ever more firmly.

The scales of this brown-eyed caiman are heavily ossified, providing an alternate name of armored caiman. Comparatively small though they may be, these 4 to 6 foot long alligator relatives are strong, have very sharp teeth, immensely strong jaws, are perpetually ready to do battle, and our guides and I have learned to afford them much respect.

A couple of years ago, a few early arriving clients (experienced herpers, all) got together on a rainy night before my arrival and decided to roadhunt the road to Nauta. After all, isn’t that what herpers do? Somewhere along the way they encountered a 30 inch long smooth-fronted caiman, just sitting on the wet pavement minding its own business.

They stopped to look at it. It looked like, with minimal repositioning it would make a fine photo. One of the group attempted to reposition the little beast with a stick only a few inches long. Now this would have been fine for a spotted salamander, but for a 30 inch smooth-front?

Nope. It didn’t work. Didn’t even come close to working. And the result? Another herper learned respect for “little-but-feisty” beastie. I just wish I had been there to watch the action.

It’s always good to start a trip with a little entertainment.
Continue reading “Beware of dwarf caimans” …read more
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