Gulf Coast Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis proximus orarius) mating ball in January (winter) displaying stage III courtship behaviorm
In the previous blog we discussed how snakes’ breeding behavior is different in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), and gave an example of the case of Leptodeira septentrionalis, Northern Cat-Eyed Snake, an attractive species unique to this region. Although the literature says they’re spring breeders, it seems that our field observations contradict that.

An even more drastic example of snakes that breed without brumating in the LRGV are Gulf Coast Ribbon Snakes (Thamnophis proximus orarius), they too, are supposed to breed during the spring. One day back in 2010 I was hiking through a small refuge and noticed a rather small mating ball consisting of about 8 snakes. This occurred in January, still winter, and the snakes were in full courtship behavior. Over the next few days I continued to observe them around the same “denning” site, which consisted only of a dense pile of branches. I documented this behavior and published it as the earliest reproducing snake in the country (Oyervides and Zaidan, 2014. Herp.Rev. 45(1):574). Over the course of the next few years I continued to monitor the behavior of this species in this region.

I’ve now learned that they breed year round. One would think that this would be detrimental to the snakes and they’d likely breed themselves to death in an effort to put out as many litters as possible, but it seems that’s not the case. Neonate and gravid Ribbon Snakes can be found year round in this region. In conducting my field surveys of these, I’ve also located a record size Ribbon snake, and one with a record size litter. Thus if they’re growing this large, having multiple litters per year doesn’t seem to be detrimental to them.

Their breeding behavior is also quite contrary to what the literature says, mind you, that last update on their biology was back in the 50’s by Tinkle. There is a very marked dimorphism between males and females of the species. When a female is being courted, she has several small males around her. These will follow her around and shadow her every move. Unlike in large mating balls where the males stress the females so much they practically force them into copulation, here, the female decides when she’s ready, as the males are too small to force her to do anything. These satellite males as I call them, will follow her around for days or weeks until she’s ready. Upon copulating, the males will disperse, and she will spend a lot more time up on tree branches absorbing as much sunshine as she can to speed up the process of having her first litter of the year and prepare for the next.
The advantage to this behavior is that because of the warm climate, there is a food supply for neonates year round. Moreover, their population numbers really decrease …read more
Read more here: King Snake

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!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Martha, a Reeve’s Turtle, is just chilling out in the sun 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!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Not all royal diadem snakes are strongly patterned.
For reasons still unbeknownst to me, the snakes of the genus Spalerosophis have never become overly popular with hobbyists. Big, hefty, easy to care for, attractive. and relatively inexpensive — even though they are a bit on the feisty side and an opisthoglyph, it seems to me that at least one species, S. diadema atriceps, should have become a hobby wide favorite.

Let’s address the opisthoglyphid aspect first. Clinical toxinology assessments on this snake by the University of Adelaide conclude: “Bites by this species are not expected to cause medically significant effects and the only risk, probably small, is local secondary infection. Patients presenting with bites by these snakes do not require medical attention, other than to check for infection and ensure tetanus immune status. ”The report continues “Non-venomous, so essentially all bites should be “dry.”

In other words, despite its enlarged rear teeth and feisty attitude, this snake is considered nonvenomous.

Over the years the royal diadem snake (also known as the black headed diadem snake, or simply, diadem rat snake) has been bred by a few dedicated hobbyists. Hopefully there will continue to be enough interest in this species to assure that this big orange on orange snake doesn’t disappear from the hobby.
Continue reading “Royal Diadem Snake” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Northern-Cat Eyed Snake Leptodeira septentrionalis
The southernmost region of the Lone Star State is a very interesting location. It harbors several unique species only found here, as this is their northernmost range from either Mexico or Central America. With its dry subtropical clime, most of the year is hot and winters are extremely mild. The vegetation (or what’s left of it), consists of some succulent plants that extend through the sandsheet, thornscrub forests and chaparral.

In over a decade that I’ve been conducting research here, I’ve noticed that for many species, winters aren’t cold enough and certainly not prolonged enough to result in any significant brumation period. A lack of brumation time, interestingly, may result is several species here reproducing year round or producing multiple clutches in a year (this is a neat discussion topic).
For example, one very attractive species found only in this part of the country is the Northern-Cat Eyed Snake (Leptodeira septentrionalis). Relatively little is known about their natural history in this part of their range. We currently have ongoing projects with the species to learn more about their secretive lifestyle.

One observation I’ve made so far is that there are active neonates in December and January, and gravid females in September. This suggests the species is either double clutching or are fall breeders instead of spring breeders as the literature denotes (at least in this part of their range). Even without extended brumation periods, it seems in some parts of their distribution their populations remain stable, while in others they are facing environmental pressure due to habitat loss. I’ve noticed the peak of their activity is during temperatures in the mid 60s to mid 70s. They are rear-fanged and will feed on anurans, lizards, other snakes, and even mice. Finding neonates that late, (or early), in the year, poses more questions than answers for me. I guess we still have a lot more to learn about this enigmatic species.

…read more
Read more here: King Snake

There is so much to love about Colubrids, so why not celebrate them with a big ole pile of beauty in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user xtranch ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

There is nothing Common with this Toad in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Krallenfrosch ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Although a night lizard, this island taxon may be active diurnally.
We were traveling to Santa Barbara Island in California’s Channel Island group specifically to see the large, mostly diurnal, Island night lizard, Xantusia riversiana reticulata. A dichotomy? Diurnal night lizard? Indeed it seemed so and we hoped that this taxon was as diurnal as we had been told.

We were aboard a comfortable catamaran belonging to Island Packers in Ventura, CA. On the trip out we saw more common dolphins than we had known existed, a blue whale, and many pelagic birds. About 3 hours after we had left we arrived, to be greeted by elephant seals, California sea lions, and a US Fish and Wildlife Service agent, the latter who explained the dos and the don’ts associated with our visit. Then up a steep incline, hoping to avoid the depredations of the common ravens that are so adept at ferreting out stored foods and trinkets, and then ambling slowly up the footpath in search of the lizard that had drawn us…

The Island night lizard was the last of the 8 US species in the genus that we needed to photograph for our western turtles and lizards field guide. And once we were on its home real estate of the 8” long (that’s HUGE for a night lizard, by the way) lizard we quickly learned that the word “night” in its name really was a misnomer. We were to see and photograph the stocky, brown reticulated grayish, omnivorous, lizards, basking and foraging on and around many of the rocks along the trail. Some, their lidless eyes all watching for ravens, were even scrounging for crumbs beneath the picnic tables.

If you are ever out that way, check out the Channel Islands. It is an experience you will long remember.
Continue reading ” Island Night Lizard” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

What a lovely field shot of a Northern Yellow-faced Turtle hatchling in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user frilly ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

This Western Diamondback’s, Crotalus atrox, last meal was a Texas horned lizard, Phrynosoma cornutum
If you’re a herper that wants to make an everlasting contribution to science. What better way than by providing information that end users such as yourself or researchers can turn into valuable scientific data. Collecting either tissues or whole vouchers from DORs isn’t typically what the vast majority of herpers do. But we should! In doing so we are supplying immeasurable amounts of information that can be used for current research on snakes and amphibians, but also for a hundred years in the future! Through the use of vouchers, (preserved specimens curated in a collection), we can learn many things about species’ such as their anatomy and physiology, their diets, morphological variation and so much more.

Loving herps means doing all we can to aid in our understanding of their natural histories, their conservation, and population trends. With the advent of apps such as iNaturalist and HerpMapper (and others), we’re capable of recording digital (sounds, video, images) of sightings of live animals more than ever. This in turn illustrates that the range for many species or their numbers are much more expansive than previously thought. If you’re interested in citizen science start collecting DORs and submitting your digital vouchers.
But after you do, what’s next? In most cases you can call a local university and ask if they have a vertebrate collection. Once you find a museum, explain what you do and what you collect, in most cases curators will help you get vouchers to them. Some may even provide basic essentials, such as notebooks for data pertaining to the vouchers you’re providing. If a museum is not in your area, most will facilitate shipping to them. For tissue samples most curators would happily provide tubes.

So the next time you find a dead snake, a skull, snake skeleton etc. pick it up! The way I see it, we’re already out there, rather than letting those DORs become dry jerky on the road let’s make an everlasting impact and start publishing your findings so we all may learn! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

What an awesome field shot of a Blue Spiny Lizard in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user arkherps ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Mountain skinks are one of the most beautiful members of the genus.
At an adult length of 6 to 7 inches, the beautiful mountain skink, Plestiodon callicephalus, is a denizen of habitats that vary from rocky desert to wooded slopes. Those that I have seen have been along the rocky banks of seasonal creeks, and with just a little effort on the part of the searcher, the rocky banks of one spring-fed water trough could always be depended on to harbor at least one of these skinks.

This taxon has a light “Y” shaped marking on the top of the head, a fawn dorsum, and a broad dark stripe on each side. The stripe narrows posteriorly and fades entirely a few scale rows posterior to the hind limbs.

Like many skinks, the mountain species has a brilliant blue tail when young. Unlike many other skink species that lose the blue with growth and age, the mountain skink retains the blue throughout its life but the intensity dulls some with age.

Primarily a Mexican species, in the USA the mountain skink occurs only in extreme scAZ and the western bootheel of NM. From there it ranges southward to the vicinity of Guadalajara, MX.
Continue reading “Mountain Skink” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Always a fan favorite, this Rainboa Boa is watching you in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user chrissyk35 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

D.O.R. Bullsnake Pituophis catenifer sayiDriving down a dark county road seemingly in the middle of nowhere I stumbled upon a 7 ft Bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer sayi) that was dead on the road (DOR). I was with my friend Bernd Skubowius at the time and we were both astonished at the size of the snake. It is unlikely the car that hit it didn’t see it, such a behemoth was visible from quite a distance. Nevertheless, because of the stigma associated with snakes people often don’t stop or go around them. On another occasion I found a gravid Gulf-Coast Ribbon snake (Thamnophis proximus orarius) that was also a DOR, as per my usual I collected it along with several other ribbon snakes that night. I later learned, that one was of record size and the other had a record number of neonates! We published these findings to increase our knowledge of Gulf-Coast Ribbon Snakes.

Snakes fall victim to the crisscrossed death grid we call roads. Roads border every good habitat, every ranch, every preserve, roads are everywhere (but so are we).
With a growing human population and development of land there are several reasons why herps come on or near roads. For one, they have an ever increasing pressure to exit their refuge in the wild as this land is leveled and cleared for other types of development. The pressure results in wildlife emerging from these sites fleeing and seeking new patches of habitat to thrive on. Animals can continue emerging from these sites for months and months and many fall victim to mortality by the ever increasing vehicular activity. Additionally, there is a phenomenon we call the edge effect. In ecology the edge effect is particularly pronounced when the habitat is highly fragmented into ever decreasing patches. Edges and mid-disturbance levels result in higher biodiversity as it creates new microhabitats constantly. Unfortunately, the edge effect we see most as herpers is that one caused by new roads and development. Thus, we encounter a large number of DORs. It is becoming an increasing trend, at least in some areas, that road cruising results in more DORs than live snakes. It’s sad, but not all is lost!
(to be continued)
D.O.R. Texas Coral Snake Micrurus tener tener

…read more
Read more here: King Snake

Happy Rattlesnake Friday! This beautiful pair of Copperheads are just things of beauty in our photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user ShadowChaser ! 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. It is our goal to help dispel the fears surrounding our beloved venomous creatures.

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

What an adorable little tree frog in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user redjiboia ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Albino red-eared sliders are now readily available in the pet trade.
The beautiful and ever popular red-eared slider, Trachemys scripta elegans, may be the most successful reptilian invader known to the world.

When I was a kid, red-eared slider hatchlings, then sold as “baby green turtles”, were available in just about every 5 and dime and pet store in the nation. Like kids in untold numbers of other households I was a keeper of these pretty chelonians. In those early days of herp-keeping-non-knowledge such inappropriate foods as dried ant pupae and caging such as plastic turtle bowls complete with an insertable plastic palm tree were the rage. And I never heard a single salesperson explain that when adult these turtles ranged from 6 to 12 inches in carapace length (try and keep those in the old style turtle bowls!), that they (like most turtles) were messy eaters, and that maintaining clean facilities was a necessary and almost daily job. The need for vitamins/calcium/full spectrum lighting was virtually unknown. It is small wonder that the majority of these turtles died. It was equally understandable why, if just by accident the red-ears happened to survive and grow, they either escaped or were eventually loosed in the nearest body of water.

Despite a regulation passed in 1975 a regulation that made it illegal to sell or barter chelonian eggs or turtles having a carapace length of less than 4” domestically except for scientific purposes turtles continued (often surreptitiously) to be sold (I was surprised to learn how many 5 and 10 year old scientists we had in this country). And thousands more continued to be exported.

Somewhere along the line feral populations of red-ears began to show up in odd places—New England, the Pacific Coastal region, the desert southwest, France, Asia, Brazil…

It seems that at least some, and from the looks of things, probably many, of the escaped and released red-ears have survived and are breeding.

Check out these statistics from the Global Invasive Species Database that document this turtle now being established in Asia, Australia, Austria, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Europe, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea, Republic of, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Martinique, Micronesia, Federated States of, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Northern Mariana Islands, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Lucia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, and Viet Nam.

Statistics such as this help undermine our hobby!
Continue reading “Definitely NOT a Stay-at-home, The Invasive Red-eared Slider” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Happy Hump Day from this stunning pair of Chondros in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user NYCMedic ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

This curious little wild Rat snake is checking out the herper in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cmac107 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Even when half grown the patterns and colors of most yellow-bellied sliders is bright and precise.
Worry not! Populations of the yellow-bellied slider are alive and well. It is only the ongoing name games between geneticists and Linnaean biologists that have dictated the changes, shrunken the realm, if you will, of this venerable, wide spread, and well known turtle.

At one time, in one subspecies or the other, Trachemys (once Pseudemys) scripta ranged from our northern tier states southward through Mexico and Central America, and across South America to Argentina. There were then 16 subspecies. Since those early days, varying by authority and their outlook on taxonomy (and their need for a paper), the number of species and subspecies has yo-yoed radically with some researchers elevating a subspecies to full species status while another sinks the creature in question into taxonomic synonymy. The good thing about all of these changes is that they are only on paper, except for those sacrificed during research, the turtles themselves not giving a hoot.

What once was: USA; Was T. scripta scripta, yellow-bellied slider, still valid; was T. s. elegans, red eared slider, still valid; was T. s. troosti, Cumberland slider, still valid; was T. s. gaigeae, now T. gaigeae, Big Bend slider.

Mexico and Central America: Was T. s. venusta, now T. venusta venusta, Meso-American slider; was T. s. cataspila, now T. venusta cataspila, Huastecan slider.

Was T.s nebulosa, now T. nebulosa nebulosa, Baja California slider; was T. s. hiltoni, now T. nebulosa hiltoni, Rio Fuerte slider; was T. s. ornata, now T. nebulosa ornata, Ornate slider.

Was T. s. grayi, now T. grayi, Guatemalan slider; was T. s. yaquia, now T. yaquia, Yaqui slider; was T. s. taylori, now T. taylori, Cuatro Cienegas slider; was T. s. emolli, now T. emolli, Nicaraguan slider.

South America: Was T. s. callirostris, now T. callirostris callirostris, Colombian slider; was T. s. chichiriviche, now T. callirostris chichiriviche, Venezulan slider.

Was T. s. dorbigni, now T. dorbigni dorbigni, Southern D’Orbigny’s slider; was not originally designated, now T. dorbigni braziliensis, Brazilian slider.
So, if we exclude the many introduced and established populations of the red-eared slider, we see that the taxonomic realm of the Trachemys scripta has been reduced from much of the new world to only the USA, a significant change indeed—or not. Just sayin’.
Continue reading ” The Shrunken Realm of the Yellow-bellied Slider” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Hopefully this hatching Ctenasaura palearis in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ilovemonitorliza cures any case of the Mondays you might have! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Happy Rattlesnake Friday! What a gorgeous field shot of a Tiger Rattlesnake in Arizona in our photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user kevinjudd ! 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. It is our goal to help dispel the fears surrounding our beloved venomous creatures.

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Big and voracious! Meet the 3-toed Amphiuma.
Two of the 3 described species of Amphiuma (amphiuma is the accepted common name as well as the genus name for this group of “mud eels”) reside in Florida waters. The 3rd species A. tridactylum, the three-toed amphiuma, comes within a few miles of Florida’s northeastern panhandle but has not yet been verified in the Sunshine State. It is found from eTX to seAL and northward in the Mississippi River Valley to extreme seMO.

This mud eel is a big amphibian. It occasionally attains a length of 40 inches (but is usually under 3 feet long) and attains a quite considerable girth. The dorsum is grayish brown and is sharply delineated friom the much lighter gray belly. Excluding the light lower jawbone, the throat is dark gray.

That this is a hardy creature was shown by one kept in a high school classroom for nearly 2 decades by a friend. Although he made an effort to feed it correctly, students would frequently give it parts of their sandwiches. It ate these ravenously. It was also an accomplished killer of mice, eagerly accepting the occasional white mouse offered. Bill told me that it had never bitten a student, but it was not for lack of trying.

All in all, this was (and is) quite a salamander!

Continue reading “Three-toed Amphiuma” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

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!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

What an awesome frilled dragon in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user frilly ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

It took the combined scrutiny of Jake and me to find this adult male bog frog in its grassy home.
In 1985 the Florida bog frog, Rana okaloosae, Florida’s smallest ranid frog was described by Paul Moler. Adult at about 2” svl, because of its unique call (a repetitive single note) this tiny greenish ranid was found in a small creek on Eglin AFB in 1982 by Moler. It is known from a few dozen small populations in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton counties. Florida.

In overall appearance the bog frog is quite similar to the common and widespread bronze frog, Rana clamitans. However from the latter the bog frog differs in having very reduced webbing on the hind feet, lacking a central raised area on the tympani, and the dorsolateral folds, lighter in color than the dorsum, terminate just posterior to the sacral hump. Since all other ranid frogs are considerably bigger than the bog frog when adult, size can also be an identifying factor.

It had been about 10 years since I had last looked this little frog up, but with the help of Paul Moler, and the calling of the frogs, Jake and I were able to find a small population and update our photos. Thanks, Paul.
Continue reading “Florida Bog Frog” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

This caecilian (Typhlonectes natans) is often incorrectly called the Rubber Eel, we just like his “smile” in this awesome close up in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user chrish ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Happy Rattlesnake Friday! What a gorgeous albino Western Diamondback in our photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user krantz ! 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. It is our goal to help dispel the fears surrounding our beloved venomous creatures.

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

These two little Cresties seem a bit confused which way to go to food in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user MOC_Reptiles ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

The 2 dark lines that define this subspecies are easily seen on this young example.
Although softshelled turtles hadn’t figured into our stop on the Pascagoula River, Jake and I were both delighted when we saw a female Gulf Coast spiny softshell, Apalone spinifera aspera, sunning on a snag near the shore. That it was a female was obvious from the heavily pigmented carapace. Not large as females go—the record is about 17 ½”—this female was about 9 inches in shell length. The much smaller males seem to top out at about 8 ½ “ carapace length and are often 1 or 2” smaller.

This subspecies ranges from eNC to seLA. It is found in extreme nFL, where I have seen it in the rivers in the Apalachicola National Forest.

This subspecies differs from all other subspecies of Apalone spinifera in having 2 (rather than just one) lines paralleling the rear of the carapace. Very visible in young example and males, the lines may be difficult to see on heavily pigmented adult females.
Continue reading ” Gulf Coast Spiny Softshells” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Pick your favorite in the Drymarchon rainbow in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user alanB ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us, including this pair of chucks in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Gabby1 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

An Alabama map turtle–but not one that I found!
Our destinations on Sunday were access points to the Tombigbee River and If we failed to find Alabama map turtles, Graptemys pulchra) and northern black-knobbed sawbacks, G. n. nigrinoda, there to continue eastward to the Alabama River where we would again try our luck.

Similar to the other sawbacks, G, n. nigrinoda ranges from 3 to 8” in shell length. Males are only about half the size of the females. We had no trouble at all finding tis species on both the Tombigbee and, later, the Alabama rivers. On the other hand, the broad-headed Alabama map turtle, the second largest of this group with females nearing a 12” shell length, has proven tough.

When it was thought that the Alabama map turtle ranged from mid-AL to the Pearl River drainage in MS, I had no trouble finding them. But now that the western forms (the Pascagoula map and the Pearl River map) have become full species, I have had no luck at all in finding the real, remaining, population of the Alabama map turtle. This search was no exception—at least for me. I found none. But Jake scored again. He, after clambering 50 yards over an almost vertical rockface and teetering back and forth while photographing, actually got fuzzy pix of 2 G. pulchra in the river below his perch.

But another trip is forthcoming and the next time success WILL be mine (LOL).
Continue reading ” Alabama Map Turtle and Northern Black-knobbed Sawback” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

So many colors! This is one gorgeous Dumeril’s boa in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user biophiliacs ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Gotta love this in situ shot of a Timber Rattlesnake in our photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user mbwright82 ! 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. It is our goal to help dispel the fears surrounding our beloved venomous creatures.

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Happy 20 years! kingsnake.com turned 20 yesterday and in our #tbt we are sharing the first photo ever uploaded in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kingsnake_com ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

The carapacial markings of the ringed sawback are often obscured by accumulated silt.
Typical of many of the jaunts that Jake and I embark on, this trip had morphed from a frog search that would have taken us on a round trip of about 700 miles to a frog AND turtle hunt that now would carry us close to 3500 miles. The Pearl River forms the LA-MS state line in the south and extends far into MS as it meanders northward. It is the home of the beautiful little ringed sawback, Graptemys oculifera, and the marginally larger, broad-headed Pearl River map turtle, Graptemys pearlensis, a species that can be difficult to find. Again, based on temporal blotch shape and genetics, the latter once considered the westernmost population of the Pascagoula map turtle is now a full species. Both taxa range from 3 to 8 1/2” in length; again females are the larger.

On our first access to the Pearl (late in the afternoon) we were able to see several ringed sawbacks on a nearby snag and the next day, from a very high and busy bridge, we saw a dozen or so more. It was at this 2nd vantage point that Jake succeeded in finding his “twofer”, finding 2 Pearl River maps among the ringed sawbacks while I, on the opposite end of the bridge, failed. But since I had seen them on an earlier trip, all was not lost.

What now? Back eastward and a bit northward to try for 1 species and 1 subspecies that we had missed on our run westward. And off we went.
Continue reading ” Ringed and Pearl River Map Turtles” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

This momma Suboc is guaring her fresh clutch in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user pecoskid ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

This kingsnake has perfect camouflage in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user rick d ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!

Upload your own and photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

The yellow-blotched map turtle is another aptly named beauty.
Navigator Jake takes his direction giving seriously. With the map turtle atlas open on his lap, he sought directions from both the GPS and his cellphone.

OK—go west, next left, next right, 2nd left, next left… and magically, just ahead of us was a bridge. We had reached the Pascagoula or at least one of its tributaries and as we looked down from the bridge we saw yellow-blotched sawbacks on every snag. And then, a bit upriver we saw 3 big map turtles, the two largest of which had BIG heads and were watching us with great interest. Map turtles are wary—very wary, and we hastened to take as many pix as we were able before the chelonians decided we were a threat and dove from their basking stations.

But we had succeeded. That stop had produced the “twofer” we had hoped for—the yellow-blotched map turtle, Graptemys flavimaculata, a sawbacked species (3-7” females the larger), and the Pascagoula map turtle, Graptemys gibbonsi, one of the broad-headed species (3-8 ½”, females the larger).

Based on temporal marking shape and genetic differences the Pascagoula map turtle, also referred to as Gibbon’s map turtle, was rather recently split away from the Alabama map.

“Where next?” Jake asked.

He looked unconvinced at my response, “the Pearl River.”

But within moments he had reassumed his navigator stance and it was westward, Ho!
Continue reading “Yellow-blotched and Pascagoula Map Turtles” …read more
Read more here: King Snake