Rattlesnake Research

Devil's Backbone Open Space is a beautiful park outside of Loveland, CO.  This past weekend Em and I did some rattlesnake research on a restricted area of the park.  There is some proposals of putting in a new trail system so we were sent out there as volunteers to see if rattlesnake hibernaculum were present.

The whole project started when a rattlesnake gave a rattle behind the metal bunker doors seen below as park managers were scoping out the area.

We hit the area over the course of two days with almost 6 hours of monitoring.  We were looking for rattlesnakes and possible dens.

We didn't find any rattlesnakes but we found plenty of potential hibernacula spots between rocks and boulders like the ones seen below.

Even though we were a little disappointed in the lack of snake sightings, it was a great way to see some uncharted territory at one of our nearby parks.  

Plus, who doesn't love bushwhacking through waist high scrub hills looking for snakes? The best part, they gave us some nice snake guards that not only protected us from the spines of all the plants but they were pretty comfortable as well.

Devil's Backbone is considered a hogback geologic formation.  It is seen throughout Colorado but each one is unique and different in shape and size.  Prehistoric fossils have been found in this area including an elephant with 5 foot long tusks.

If you're ever in the Fort Collins/Loveland, CO area you should definitely give this park a try.  It's multi-use and allows dogs.  Who knows, if you come in a couple of years you may hike the new trails that we helped research.

Thanks Emily for being a great rattlesnake research partner.  Next time, I hope we see at least one snake!

Costa Rican Wildlife

Chestnut-mandibled Toucans

Red-legged Honeycreeper

Great Currassow

Eyelash Viper

White-nosed Coati

Spotted Antbird

The Arenal Volcano area of Costa Rica is full of wonder.  Emily and I saw over 130 species of birds and I racked up almost 30 new species on my life list.  The waterfalls were beautiful, the lush green rain forests brought many new wildlife encounters, and the volcano always loomed in the distance as a reminder of our exotic vacation.  We spent most of our days hiking the trails around Arenal Observatory Lodge looking for birds and taking in the views.  It was a great spring break and I highly recommend Arenal Observatory Lodge if you are interested in Costa Rica at its finest.

Baby Pine Snake

Green Cay has a new education snake.  We traded in our very large Pine Snake for a smaller more docile Florida Pine Snake.  So far our little guy has hissed a bit but overall seems pretty acclimated.  We'll be phasing him into some education programs in the near future.  Welcome to your new home little buddy. 

Ratsnake

While out at Lucky Hammock birding I found this 5 foot ratsnake sunning on the road.  I was really upset when 20 minutes later a huge pick-up truck came barreling down the road and intentionally tried to hit it.  I looked away when I saw the truck nearing the spot.  I still don't know if it hit it but I do know the truck never slowed down and was driving in the middle of the road.  When leaving, the snake was gone and there were no signs of death.  Hopefully this beautiful guy was spared.

Herps in Key West

While at Fort Zachary State Park, Emily and I witnessed more than just bird life.  We were treated to the mating rituals of a pair of Six-lined Racerunners (Cnemidophorus sexlineatus).  They chased each other and there was even some biting before consent was given. 

Racerunners weren't the only herps around the park.  We found a pretty large iguana basking by the fort.  It showed no fear like most of the iguanas around Palm Beach and allowed close inspection.

As we made one more loop through the nature trail we found a very obliging Black Racer that posed for photos.  It was three feet long and slinked off after we walked away.  Our time at the state park was short but full of wildlife.  We celebrated the birds and herps with one of the best meals I've had in Florida at The Cafe in Key West.  I can't recommend this place enough.

This past weekend I was supposed to be birding the Keys again but due to some complications the trip was cancelled.  I'm hoping in a few weeks I'll make the trek down and look for summer specialties like Mangrove Cuckoo, Antillean Nighthawk, and Roseate Tern.

Okeeheelee Nature Trails

I told you all about the great birding at Okeeheelee, like seeing Indigo Buntings transition into breeding plumage, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the other wildlife. Okeeheelee is also a great place for general nature viewing. One can spy Gopher Tortoises galore or a Box Turtle like the one below.
 

If reptiles aren't your thing you can also see rabbits, bobcats, and deer in the pine woods. It's especially active after a little shower and things cool down a bit. The flowers around the nature center will also produce some really great butterflies if you're into insects.  Next time you're in Palm Beach County give the park a go, you won't be let down.
 

Lizard Dewlap

Today at Green Cay I had a nice looking Brown Anole pump his little chest and flair out his dewlap when I walked by.  Now, I can't say I'm a big fan of Brown Anoles, they are an exotic herp here in South Florida but I'm a sucker for that bright throat skin.  I watched the territorial/courtship behavior, not sure which he was doing, and snapped a few photos.  This guy may be an exotic but I enjoyed him despite those shortcomings. 

Pine Snake Feeding

Snakes must be on the coolest animals out there.  How something with no limbs can be such a stealthy killer is mind blowing.  Our Pine Snake at work is a beast of a snake and it makes short work of eating 2 X-breeder mice each week.  I love watching the snake show, even if I can't say I love touching the dead mice as I thaw them out for the offering each week.  If you have never witnessed a snake eating then drop me a line and I'll see if I can arrange it for you at the nature center.

Snapping Turtle

Meet our Common Snapping Turtle at Green Cay.  This guy lives in our laboratory and we use him for education programs.  Actually he was a very kind and gentle turtle until last year and then once we started feeding him pinkie mice, he became a much more aggressive turtle.  Now we are just waiting to take him to the big tank so that the general public can see him on a daily basis.  I'll feel much better about keeping him inside once he has moved to the other tank.  If only he would play nice with the other turtles!

Mother Gator Protects Her Young

This was taken by a visitor to my nature center last week. You can watch the mother gator helping babies hatch out of the nest at the beginning then see the drama that unfolds as a Green Heron tries to make a hathling gator a snack.

Don't miss the little baby turtle hatching in the middle of the video. A Red-bellied Slider laid her eggs in the alligator nest and they hatched on the same day!

Alligator Babies!

I counted 28 baby gators in all but I'll be out later today to see if I spy a few more. This video shows you the bank of the alligator hole hours after the babies all hatched.

Mother Alligator Excavates the Nest

As the sound of little baby alligator grunts came from the nest the mother climbed into the pile and starting digging out the young hatchlings. Eggs littered the pond and the sizable nest started to crumble.

Baby Alligators Hatch at Green Cay

Tuesday morning brought us the birth of over 28 baby alligators at Green Cay.  We've been watching the young mother all summer keep diligent watch over her nest.  I guessed that the nest would hatch on August 15th but the date slowly crept by and the visitors of Green Cay starting keeping nest watch.  Each morning people would walk by to inspect the nest and wait for the arrival of the new babies.  Now we don't have to wait any longer because it looks like all the newborns have found their way to the water.

With each baby alligator grunt the mother gator would climb up into the nest and scoop out handfuls of dirt and debris.  Little gators climbed out beneath the surface.  The process must have started in the night because dozens of baby alligators were already lining the bank of the water.

The babies seem to be more in the water today but staying close to mom.  A Green Heron already came in for an inspection but was met with the mother leaping out of the water 4 times to shoo the heron away.  I am looking forward to watch the events unfold as the mother is strained to keep all her young alive.  Mother alligators stay with their young up to 2 years to protect the babies from predators such as birds, raccoons, and other larger alligators.  Tomorrow I'll have a video or two of the alligator hatching process! 

Alligator Nest

At the "alligator hole" between the mile and half mile boardwalk we have an alligator nest.  An alligator has nested at Green Cay before but we never saw the nest, just a dozen young a few months later.  Now we have the privilege of seeing the whole process from nest construction to hopefully hatching.  There's a possible second nest with another female at Green Cay but it hasn't been totally confirmed.  If the other female does have a nest it must be high up on the bank and in the palms.   If you haven't been to our boardwalk lately just take the divider between the two trails and you can't miss the nest.  In about 2 months we should have babies!

Snake in a Cup

Snakes are on the move at Green Cay.  Just this week I've seen a 4 foot Corn Snake and a 3 foot Black Racer, both near the parking lot.  Apparently, snakes are active nearby as well since we've taken in two young snakes in the past week.  The first one to come to us was this young Corn Snake.  It was very calm and we happily released it on the small island on the half mile trail.  I hope it finds plenty to eat out there.  

Cannibalism Weeds Out Baby Alligators

Baby Alligator at Green Cay.

Cannibalism Weeds Out Baby Alligators
Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer, 5/29/11

A new study finds that between 6 percent and 7 percent of young alligators fall victim to the cruel fate of cannibalism. On the other hand, a little gator-on-gator cannibalism may help keep their populations stable.

"Even the seemingly low rate of juvenile mortality attributed to cannibalism reported here may be an important factor in population regulation," researchers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission wrote in June in the journal Herpatologica.

The researchers analyzed data from years of alligator tagging and tracking programs at Orange Lake, a shallow, marshy body of water near Gainesville, Fla. Between 1981 and 1987, 267 stomachs from adult alligators that had been killed hunters were examined for tags in an effort to find out how many tagged alligators were being cannibalized by other gators.

Thirty-three of the stomachs contained tags, for a total of 56 tags in all. One particularly hungry gator had eaten at least 14 other alligators. The other gators carried a tag or two in their stomachs.The records associated with the tags revealed that 91 percent of the cannibalism victims were under 3 years old, which is juvenile by alligator standards.

The next step was to figure out how this small cannibalism sample would translate to the entire population of Orange Lake gators. To do that, researchers needed to figure out how long tags tend to stick around in a gator's stomach without being excreted. So they fed 10 alligators five tags each (to simulate natural digestion, the tags were attached to alligator feet removed from dead hatchlings).Over the next 588 days, the 10 gators got periodic X-rays to check for tags in their stomachs. As it turned out, the tags stuck around: At the end of the experiment, 76 percent of the tags, or 38 total, were still in the gators' guts.

Taking into account the size of Orange Lake's gator population and the likelihood of finding evidence of cannibalism, in the form of tags, in a guilty gator's stomach, the researchers estimate that about 6 percent to 7 percent of juvenile gators become dinner.

That rate could vary in other lakes and swamps, the researchers wrote, because the prevalence of cannibalism depends on the abundance of other food options. Understanding how often alligators chomp on each other is important, they added, because wildlife officials have to understand population dynamics in order to set goals for both gator protection and gator hunting.

Gopher Tortoise at ONC

I scurried this guy off the road today at Okeeheelee Nature Center.

Book Review: Venomous Snakes of the World

Venomous Snakes of the World by Mark O'Shea

I must confess I love snakes. Something about these reptiles appeals to me. Perhaps their odd lack of limbs or their unnerving lack of eyelids blinking, or maybe just the dangerous allure draws me in. No matter the reason, snakes truly are fascinating animals. That being said, I have always been cautious of venomous snakes and have kept a safe distance. This book will allow you the up-close look you've always desired.

As a child growing up in South Carolina I was often warned while playing outside to be on the look out for copperheads and rattlesnakes. More than once I heard the tell-tale rattle as I ran through the woods near my home but never was I too worried. As an adult I became even more interested in reptiles and spent many days hiking through Southern swamplands looking for herps. Oddly enough I rarely found many snakes. I have learned that snakes will always show up when you're not looking for them (like this week when I saw three different species in two days).

All my close-calls with venomous snakes have been quite pleasant. You can find a few posts here at The Flying Mullet such as my lifer Pygmy Rattlesnake encounter or my run in with a large "canebrake." But if you're looking for some really good stories about venomous snakes or just want to brush up on your snake knowledge then you must check out Venomous Snakes of the World by Mark O'Shea.

O'Shea breaks up the book by geography which is a little unusual but quite effective. In each section he covers species that represent the venomous snakes of that region. I really like his personal antidotes and tales of snake interactions. This guy really has had a lot of snake adventures and more than once has he had to tend to a snake bite from a deadly species. Venomous Snakes of the World is both entertaining and informative. For the armchair naturalist it is the perfect way to view these secretive animals. Though I am a snake lover I will admit that a few of these snakes I would much rather meet on the pages of this book than in the field. If you want a world of information on venomous snakes then look no further than Venomous Snakes of the World. I promise you that you will find the text entertaining and the photos unforgettable.

Princeton University Press has some great articles the author: Q&A with Mark O'Shea, details about his new book Boas and Pythons of the World, and a link to Mark O'Shea's website.

This review copy was provided by Princeton University Press.

Book Review: Frog and Toads of the World

Frogs and Toads of the World by Chris Mattison

The front cover of this book captures your attention at first glance with a small red-eyed leaf frog perched on a stem. Once you open the book you will fall into a world of colorful photos, interesting facts, and up-to-date research. If you are a naturalist, a herp-lover, or an interested student, you will find Frogs and Toads of the World a delightful read. The text is superb but it's the photos that will keep your attention. Take for instance the series of frog eyes on pages 26 & 27. They are like mini works of art staring back at you. Mattison covers all 49 families of frogs and toads but the majority of his book covers basic amphibian biology and natural history.

As a naturalist, a book like Frogs and Toads of the World can be applied in my every day teachings. For instance, I will definitely be applying my new knowledge the next time we find a frog on our nature walk. Did you know frogs were once used as a pregnancy test method? Did you know some frogs give live birth or carry their eggs in a pouch? How about the glass frogs, did you know that some frogs have clear skin that allows you to see their internal organs? These are just a sprinkling of fun facts found in this book. As a teacher, this book will become a very useful resource at my nature center. I highly recommend that you add this book to your library. This book is a great way to glimpse inside the secret lives of frogs and toads.

This review copy was provided by Princeton University Press.

Wordless Wednesday: Snake on a Log