Not something you see every day, this cute little long nose leopard lizard (Gambelia wislizenii) in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pek296 is totes adorbs! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What a chunker! I’m just gonna go out on a limb and say that the Barking Tree Frog in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user saltycity has never missed a meal! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus) in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user frilly is certainly an awesome field find!! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This adult Rusty Whipsnake was a bit over 7 feet in length.
The neotropical genus Chironius contains about 20 species of slender serpents that are often referred to as “Neotropical whipsnakes.” Although some fully grown at 4 to 5 feet in length, a few species routinely exceed 6 feet when adult. Despite their large size, their whiplike slenderness allows these snakes to be arboreal and they may as often be seen sprawled on the fronds in the crown of a palm tree as in shrubs nearer ground level. Not only the preferred habitats of some, such as the Rusty Whipsnake, C. scurrulus, may change with the growth of the snake, but the overall appearance of the snake changes also.
Reversing ontogenesis from what we have become used to on the emerald tree boa, this snake, the Amazonian Rusty Whipsnake, often found at river edge, is an intense emerald green as an arboreal hatchling. The intensity of the green fades rapidly with the snake’s age and growth. As a semiaquatic adult, the Rusty Whipsnake becomes a beautiful rusty red and is often seen foraging for its prey of frogs at water’s edge.
As indicated above, this is an oviparous species.
In keeping with the above comments, the bright green hatchling fell from the forest canopy during a storm. The paler green juvie was found on a vine covered log, and the red adult was searching for prey on the banks of the Rio Orosa, all so very typical. Enjoy.
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Check out this gorgeous pair of Sidewinders in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user dvenom05 . Remember that on Rattlesnake Friday, we celebrate all our venomous creatures! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This pine snake (Pituophis deppei jani) in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pitparade looks like maybe she wants to see a manager! SASSY! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Not a very common sight, but these Brahminy blind snakes are the spotlight today in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Canes05! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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With his nose peeking through the baby goo, this boa’s first moments are here in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user dpiscopo69,! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Always watching, this Toffeebelly Hognose is serene in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user hogboy!
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If you are up in Canada, chances are you know Stacey Laurin. Stacey is known for both her ball pythons but also her willingness to work with others to help spread the reptile love. She is always there to help people, especially beginners to get set on the right path.
Now it is our turn to help. Stacey has been battling a very aggressive ovarian cancer for 4 years and has recently come back with a vengeance. Now Stacey could use a little help from the community she has helped for so long.
From the GoFundMe
“Stacey is currently at a medical facility receiving pain management medications and treatments. Unfortunately alternative cancer treatments are quite costly and a hard burden to bear. She is now in the fight for her life, if Stacey has ever touched your life, please consider donating to her cancer treatment, or simply sharing this fundraiser.”
There are two big ways you can help Stacey. The obvious answer is donate, but if you can not donate, please share this around.
Please check the GoFundMe out here. …read more
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If you are up in Canada, chances are you know Stacey Laurin. Stacey is known for both her ball pythons but also her willingness to work with others to help spread the reptile love. She is always there to help people, especially beginners to get set on the right path.
Now it is our turn to help. Stacey has been battling a very aggressive ovarian cancer for 4 years and has recently come back with a vengeance. Now Stacey could use a little help from the community she has helped for so long.
From the GoFundMe
“Stacey is currently at a medical facility receiving pain management medications and treatments. Unfortunately alternative cancer treatments are quite costly and a hard burden to bear. She is now in the fight for her life, if Stacey has ever touched your life, please consider donating to her cancer treatment, or simply sharing this fundraiser.”
There are two big ways you can help Stacey. The obvious answer is donate, but if you can not donate, please share this around.
Please check the GoFundMe out here. …read more
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Pine Woods Treefrogs often call in huge numbers from terrestrial locations.
Last nite (06 Aug 2020) was a 1 snake (cottonmouth) aor and 1 snake (same species) DOR kind of night. Storms had been forecast for earlier in the day but, as usual, they arrived late. I had motored about 65 miles northward hoping for a warm temperature and dry road. By the time I had arrived at the destination a rainy dusk had enveloped the region and temperatures had plummeted from the 80s to the low 70s. I knew by that time that I had been lucky to see even that single cottonmouth. Rain fell, then fell harder, then harder still. The world—or at least my little part of it– appeared awash. But it soon became apparent that this was just what the anurans, the hylids and the microhylids, had been waiting for. There was no lead in to the anuran chorus. One minute the region was silent, and of a sudden, frog voices echoed from mile after mile of newly refreshed roadside ditches. The choruses were astounding.
Pine Woods tree frogs were by far the most numerous. Hunkered down in the grasses their Morse Code cadences were deafening in some flatland areas. They were followed next by the honks and churrs of green and squirrel treefrogs. A fair sized chorus of Cope’s gray treefrogs was heard back near a forest stream, and bronze and pig frogs were plunking and grunting from Impassible Bay. Only a single barking treefrog was seen, it sitting quietly on the road. Cricket frogs called in fair numbers from various flooded locales.I estimated the calling anurans in the thousands. No way to guess at the non-vocalizing females. Interestingly, I saw zero bufonids of either species or either sex.
Friend and researcher Dr. Sam Sweet’s comment when I told him about the experience was “You hit the storms just right! I went SW and everything cleared up by dark — one small ribbon snake, a baby N. fasciata and about 10 leopard frogs on 55 miles of road.” Sam’s ending comment, “Floriduh!”
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! This fantastic headshot of a Copperhead our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran reminds us that on Rattlesnake Friday, we celebrate all our venomous creatures! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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The Coelen’s python may be a hybrid, but they are still are so beautiful that they deserve a spot in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user JonathanH! Be sure to tell tem you liked it here!
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These two boas are chilling in a fresh tub of water in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user BNixon ! I bet there were babies being made at some point here. Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Despite their reputation of being angry, the beauty of a Tokay gecko puts it front and center in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user stingray! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Nose to nose with a California Giant Salamander.
California has it all. Well almost all. Except for what they don’t have. But if its caudatan diversity you’re interested in, California is definitely a state you should consider visiting. Newts, Lunged salamanders and Lungless salamanders all may be found there. Some are colorful, some are drab. Some are tiny, some are comparatively large. All are interesting.
One of the groups that I find of great interest are the Giant Salamanders of the genus Dicamptodon (family Dicamptodontidae). Of the 4 species 2 dwell in California’s cool, moist forestlands. These are The California and the Pacific Giant Salamanders, D. ensatus and D. tenebrosus, respectively. Both are hefty, and both top out at just about a foot in length, with tenebrosus perhaps being a bit more slender, a tiny bit shorter, having a proportionately smaller head and shorter limbs. This latter is also a bit darker in color. The former, the California Giant, is the southernmore of the 2, ranging southward in the Coast Range from southern Mendocino County to western Glenn County. The Pacific Giant ranges northward from Glenn County to southwest British Columbia, Canada.
Populations of both of these big nocturnal salamanders are adversely affected by foresting practices that leave stream banks unprotected, subject to drying, and the streams themselves subject to warming. Although both of these salamanders are variably colored, neither is brightly colored. Ground color of both is tan to light brown with well-defined reticulations and spots of reddish brown to dark brown. They breed in streams and creeks and the aquatic larvae may take several years to metamorphose.
Prey includes invertebrates such as worms and slugs as well as vertebrate prey such as smaller salamanders.
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A whole lot of AWWWWS for this newborn Collared Lizard in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user the4thmonkey! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What a fabulous shot of a Great Basin Rattlesnake in Utah in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user crocman6594! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Hope your day shines like this Northern Pine does in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Turekj ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What a lovely pair of Vietnamese Leaf Turtles in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user schroderal ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Sometimes you just need to be sassy like this lil alligator in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user lance_portal ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Fer-de-Lance are everywhere and nowhere. Walk carefully–especially at night.When I sit down to write these blogs, I try to discuss any herps mentioned in a positive way. Such is the case now. I’m writing about the Fer-de-Lance and I’m positive that this, the Fer-de-Lance, Terciopelo, or Her-gon) are the sneakiest snakes alive. I’m equally positive that there far more of them within a Baseball Pitcher’s throw than I can even begin to guess at.
I know that about 10 of us walked across a clearing between the tambos (rustic rooms) to look at a frog brought in by a guide, and when we turned to amble back there sat all coiled and ready for meanness if necessary was an adult Fer-de-Lance. It wasn’t there a minute earlier. Then one night I was stooped down looking at a frog on the trail (I’m about to begin believing that frogs are bad luck!), stood up and there was an 18 inch long Fer-de-Lance staring me straight in the eye. It was coiled 5 feet up in a leafy shrub. Another time I walked down to the shower stepping carefully on the cement pads and looking carefully between them. Nothing. Five minutes later I retraced my steps and in the grass between the pads were a neonate Fer-de-Lance and a couple of pads later an adult was half on and half off a pad. Then there was the incident at the frog puddle. We—all of us– had walked from tambo to river along this cleared trail numerous times for a week or so. Zero snakes of any kind. Finally we had a rain hard and long enough to fill a depression in the trail. While it was raining small leptodactylid frogs began gathering at puddle edges. And within 15 minutes there were a half dozen Fer-de-Lances gathered to prey on the frogs. I wonder how closely we had been walking to those snakes without ever seeing them.
The above, of course, are excerpts from Preserva Madre Selva on the Rio Orosa in Amazonian Peru. And what exactly is this abundant snake?
The Fer-de-Lance, Bothrops atrox, is a very venomous pit viper. It has a ground color that may vary from olive through various browns and grays to almost yellow. The pattern is equally variable, sometimes being prominent dark banding and on other example the markings may be faint rectangular dorsal blotches or triangles. There is a diagonal facial stripe from the back of the eye to just beyond the angle of the jaw. It is a snake that you should get to know immediately. It is a dangerous snake that as Devon and I have often said is everywhere and nowhere. Caution is the keyword here. And never stroll, even for a few feet, at night without your flashlight. To do so is inviting disaster.
But c’mon down. You’ll love the herps.
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A male Voeltzkow’s chameleon in Madagascar. Photo courtesy CNN
After nearly a century of being elusive, the rare Voeltzkow’s chameleon was recently rediscovered on an expedition of scientists from Germany and Madagascar.
“Our planet is probably facing the beginning of an enormous extinction of species, often referred to as the ‘sixth mass extinction’, the ‘Holocene extinction’ or the ‘Anthropocene extinction’,” researchers wrote.
“Rediscoveries of ‘lost’ species are very important as they provide crucial data for conservation measures and also bring some hope amidst the biodiversity crisis.”
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A male Voeltzkow’s chameleon in Madagascar. Photo courtesy CNN
After nearly a century of being elusive, the rare Voeltzkow’s chameleon was recently rediscovered on an expedition of scientists from Germany and Madagascar.
“Our planet is probably facing the beginning of an enormous extinction of species, often referred to as the ‘sixth mass extinction’, the ‘Holocene extinction’ or the ‘Anthropocene extinction’,” researchers wrote.
“Rediscoveries of ‘lost’ species are very important as they provide crucial data for conservation measures and also bring some hope amidst the biodiversity crisis.”
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Back in the field as this lovely Fire Salamander takes the spotlight in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user NYgaboon ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! What a fantastic close up of this horned viper (Cerastes cerastes), uploaded by kingsnake.com user gaboonviper1388! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! As always on Friday, we celebrate all of our venomous reptiles for their contribution to the world.
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An amazing shot of this Indigo Snake in the field in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user ACO3124! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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We hope that this amazing field shot of a Wood Frog kicks off your day right in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user casichelydia . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What a cute plated lizard in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user jungleemporium ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Hope this beautiful Sumatran Short Tail (aka Black Blood) in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user amaliamoran brightens your Monday! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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In celebration of all things venomous, ciccada is on the menu for this Copperhead in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user coolhl7 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Gotta love the sassy nature of the Schneider’s smooth-fronted caiman in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cpipes! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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We never post enough kingsnakes, so get a gander of this beautiful kingsnake in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kasie ! When this photo was originally posted in 2006, Martha was over 30 years old! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Gotta love Garters! Look at this stunner in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user tomdickinson! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Note the similarities such as the narrow pointed head of mole and pine snakes that is designed for plowing through subsurface burrows. This is a young adult mole snake.
They’re a half a world apart but the similarities between the African Mole Snake, Pseudaspis cana, and the American Pine Snakes, Pituophis melanoleucus ssp. are rather remarkable. Do not mistake the mole snake of this article for our various Mole Kingsnakes. The two are very different. If you have been fortunate enough to work with both African Mole and American Pine snakes you’ll know immediately what I’m talking about.
Both are small-headed, strong-jawed, powerful constrictors that spend a goodly amount of time pursuing rodents in their subsurface burrows. Our gopher and pine snake pursue pocket gophers and the mole snakes pursue mole rats and other rodents. The two differ in scalation, with the scales of the pine snakes being keeled and with the mole snake usually (but not always) having smooth scales. A length of 6 feet is not unusual for them and anecdotal accounts of even greater lengths are often heard.
Mole snake hatchlings and juveniles are straw colored and strongly patterned with dark alternating dorsal and lateral bars. The markings fade with age and adults vary from an almost uniform light olive to dark olive-brown in color. Hatchlings of the American pine snake may be paler than the adults. This snake varies in color by subspecies with the northern subspecies (P. m. melanoleucus) being the most strongly patterned in chocolates, black, and white. The Florida subspecies, P. m. mugitus, is the palest (sometimes almost a uniform straw tan), and as indicated by its common name the Alabama/Mississippi subspecies the Black Pine, P. m. lodingi, is the darkest.
Mole and Pine snakes also differ in reproductive modes. The mole snake bears large litters (usually between 20 and 90) of live young. The Pines produce small clutches (often only 3 to 8) of large eggs.
Both species are tough and they know it. And they’re not at all reluctant to pass that knowledge on. If unduly disturbed both hiss loudly, assume a striking “S,” and lunge at the intruder. But both do tame and some make excellent pets.
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What a stunning boa in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user BoaZilla! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! What a stunning Brazil’s Lancehead in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user neverscared ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Remember, we share photos of all our venomous reptiles to help celebrate their place in this world and help dispel some of the myths surrounding them. They contribute so much to our medical community and environmental health, they need our help for their conservation!
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How cool is this African Herald Snake (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia) in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user MVH4 . Gotta love colubrids of all types! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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What wonderful color contrast in this hatchling Mud Snake in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Godfrey ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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