1 Day, 1 County...

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Andy Avram
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1 Day, 1 County...

Post by Andy Avram »

The objective: One day, one county, as many herp species as possible. Visual and audible records count and photographs are gravy. A tentative goal set at 20 species, out of 41 known documented species (1 extirpated) for the county.

May 12, 2012.
I started late and didn’t get out to the door until 10:00am, and didn’t get to my first location until a little after 10:30. I herped hard until 5:30pm and then went out again from 7:30-9:00pm. I herped a total of 8 locations within one county. I was joined in the field by my dog, Timber.

Animals will be viewed taxonomically by major groupings.

The Frogs.
Northern Green Frogs (Rana clamitans melanota) were common at many of the stops. A few were heard calling as the day warmed up.
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Many American Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) were mixed in with the Green Frogs, as shown here. There is one Green Frog and two bulls.
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At the first location a handful of these little Pickerel Frogs (Rana Palustris) were seen.
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Here is another one.
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The Salamanders.
It has been relatively dry and salamanders were not easy. In fact, it wasn’t until the last hour that I saw an Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), but it escaped as I was preparing the camera.

Mountain Dusky Salamanders (Desmognathus ochropheaus) are the most common salamander in the county and a few were located.
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Northern Dusky Salamanders (Desmognathus fuscus) are very uncommon in the county, but common in adjacent counties. A visit to a known in-county local turned one up.
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The first stop yielded this red eft, the juvenile phase of the Red-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens).
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A stop by a productive seepage stream gave me one larval Northern Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber ruber). Too bad I didn’t get an adult.
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The Turtles.
Wasn’t able to get good or any pictures of the turtles, but here is one of a ton of Eastern Spiny Softshells (Apalone spinifera spinifera) lined up on a bank, with one Northern Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica) mixed in. Can you figure out which is the map?
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It is the 2nd one from the left, he is slightly behind a branch.

The Snakes.
In this category I kicked butt. A total of 39 snakes were seen of 8 species. The only species known from the county that I missed are Black Rat Snake, which are pretty common, and Northern Black x. Blue Racer intergrades, which are extremely uncommon. The most common snakes in the county are Eastern Garter Snakes, Northern Water Snakes and Brown Snake intergrades. It took me awhile to find them and I got the difficult ones over with quickly.

First snake of the trip was at the first local. This is a pretty good spot for Queen Snakes (Regina septemvittata) and this day didn’t disappoint.
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Timber stood guard while I took photos.
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And the only habitat shot of the trip, where I caught the Queen.
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A nearby pond quickly produced this locally uncommon snake.
Northern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus septentrionalis).
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While I was setting the ribbon up for his photo shoot, I made the dog sit nearby. Well a couple of minutes later Timber stands up and starts pawing at the grass. As I was about to yell at him I see a baby Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum) crawl out from under his paws.
The proud dog with his first solo snake find.
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The snake.
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Another Eastern Milk Snake seen later on. This time in adult phase.
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At this point, I had 3 snake species and none of the common ones. Could my luck last?
Yup! In my corner of Ohio, Northern Ring-necked Snakes (Diadophis punctatus edwardsii) are hard to come by, only known from a few small pockets. Today one hillside I find them on regularly gave up four snakes. Here is the first one found, and only photographed.
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Then the streak ended and I started finding Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis). At one time I found 11 under the same board. Here is one from a board that contained 4 garters and the adult milk pictured above.
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At another area of the same spot I flipped a chunk of concrete under some power lines. There were two garters, but also one Northern Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata). This was only the 3rd one I have ever seen in this county and the first one I was able to photograph! Score!
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At this point, my only snake goals were to knock off the common ones. It wasn’t too long before I found a pair of Northern Water Snakes (Nerodia sipedon sipedon) , but I was only able to get this lousy picture before they escaped. I should have seen more of this species.
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Then it was either Brown Snakes (Storeria dekayi) or Black Rat Snakes. As mentioned, I missed on the rats, but after a stupidly long search I was finally able to get my hands on this little brown.
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So there you have it. In the end I had a total of 24 species of herps, with a few unexpected finds and a few stupid misses.

If you are keeping score, here is the overall list:
1. Northern Green Frog
2. American Bullfrog
3. Pickerel Frog
4. Spring Peeper - heard only.
5. Red-spotted Newt
6. Spotted Salamander – one adult in a hole, but it quickly retreated.
7. Jefferson Salamander – larvae only.
8. Northern Dusky Salamander
9. Mountain Dusky Salamander
10. Northern Two-lined Salamander – embarrassing, that only larvae were seen.
11. Eastern Red-backed Salamander
12. Northern Red Salamander
13. Common Snapping Turtle – just the head was seen in a pond.
14. Map Turtle
15. Midland Painted Turtle – embarrassing, but only one was seen.
16. Eastern Spiny Softshell
17. Eastern Milk Snake – 3
18. Eastern Garter Snake - 26
19. Northern Ribbon Snake – 1
20. Northern Water Snake – 2
21. Queen Snake – 1
22. Northern Brown Snake – 1
23. Northern Red-bellied Snake – 1
24. Northern Ring-necked Snake – 4

Biggest miss: Eastern American Toad should have been a gimmi, but I unbelievably failed to find one. I mean, heck, they live in my yard.

Andy
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justinm
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by justinm »

So is this a county you don't have experience in? If so I really like this idea, the challenge and absolute novelty of it. I so often go to the places that I long ago found to be my good spots, and I just don't run out for new ones as much as I used to.
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Andy Avram
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by Andy Avram »

Justin, unfortunately no. It is a county I have extensive experience in and took everything I knew to get those species numbers. Now that my most herped county is under the belt though, for my next phase I want to try this on a few other counties where I have much less experience and see how the numbers compare between them.
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David O
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by David O »

Ha. When you went from Pickerel Frog to Salamanders I scrolled back to see how I missed the toads. Isn't that just the way.

Cool little project. Geeky, but cool. I may hit the western lakeshore tomorrow. You working?
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Hunter-MX
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by Hunter-MX »

Would love to see what you can turn up from Ashtabula County!
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Jeff
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by Jeff »

Andy

That's a neat way to spend a day, and with amazing results. I have 90 species of amphibians and reptiles in my Parish, and my best day got only 21, and that included hoop nets and minnow traps placed the day before!

Jeff
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Andy Avram
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by Andy Avram »

David, is every aspect of this herping-thing a little geeky? It was a fun day though. Be interesting to see what you could come up with if you tried it in your home county.

Hunter, that county is the next one over and I have seen a number of choice species there over the years. Maybe I'll give it a whirl in the next couple of weeks.

Jeff, We don't even have 90 herp species in all of Ohio! I imagine someone could rack up quite a day list with some effort from one of those southern states.
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Trey
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by Trey »

Looks like you had a fun day. Love the fact that your dog found that little Milk. Too cool!
hellihooks
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by hellihooks »

Cool idea... but not something that could be done in my County... it's the largest in the continental US, and is home to about 90 herps. It's a 5 hr drive from one end to another... give me a week... :crazyeyes: I wonder which Co in the US has the most herps? :shock: jim
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David O
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by David O »

Be interesting to see what you could come up with if you tried it in your home county
Hmm. And I just bought a mask and snorkel so I could even try for the 'puppies.
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Fundad
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by Fundad »

Awesome Stuff Andy... :thumb:

Congrats to you.., and your dog. :thumb: :lol:

Much of my herping over the past three years or so have been the same type of thing, with the NAFHA database needing entries from so many different counties...

It is a blast to visit new places, target as many species as you can, and then enter the data to the database. About the only time I go back to the same places anymore is to visit my study sites, and to take friends and kids herping..

I did this in Mexico a couple of times too..

It is a lot of fun..

Way to go.. :thumb:

Fundad
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Andy Avram
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by Andy Avram »

Trey, it was a fun day. I have mixed feelings about the dog finding snakes. In my area we are pretty much venomous free but if I travel with him I may not want him to paw at a snake. He finds toads in my backyard for me too.

Jim, that made me look up county data for you. That is crazy! Bigger than Costa Rica! You could only scratch the surface in a day there. Your other question is pretty interesting too. I would imagine it has to be a county in a state that touches Mexico.

David, let's do it. I need to herp your area more.

Brian, thanks! Lately I have been trying to get out to newer areas more, but the nature of my job also means I visit the same spots a lot too.
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Hunter-MX
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by Hunter-MX »

I used to know a great place for spotted turtles in Ashtabula County about 35 years ago. Google earth shows it hasn't changed much. Killer area for artifacts to, if you're in to that.
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by mikemike »

Awesome idea, Andy.
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peterknuteberg
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by peterknuteberg »

Andy, first, this was a cool post and a great idea. I have often set about to see how many species we can squeeze in on a weekend in S. IL. So, far the record for me is 40, and that is over several days and with other people. For you, it was one day and just you. Timber doesn't really count as a herpers, although, it sounds like he might be quite helpful and could even be trained to help you find more. I think you are on to something with him. So, in summary, I think you were doing some amazing field work and had to work hard and really focus to accomplish it.

The area looks beautiful. Love the Queen snake habitat. Also, what is the species that is extirpated from the county? Timbers?

Nice work. Perhaps we'll see you in October down at Snake Road.
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David O
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by David O »

Dude. Just tell me when. (Although my milk snake boards have recently been compromised.)
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Andy Avram
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Re: 1 Day, 1 County...

Post by Andy Avram »

Mike - Thanks. Glad you enjoyed.

Peter - Yeah, if I stayed in N. Ohio for a weekend I could probably push it to 40 species. As for the dog, I am on the fence if I want him finding snakes, purely for if I travel with him to venomous country. He would probably end up getting bit. For the extirpated species - it is Blanding's Turtles, but I do have an old pioneer account of killing rattlesnakes. Everything fits I am pretty sure there were Timber's here in the past, but no official documentation.

I wouldn't mind going to Snake Road again this year. It has been awhile, David O, you in? We can herp your county and SR this year.
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