This has been some really junky weather for snake hunting so yesterday I decided to go to a secret creek and see how the breeding season went for California Newts.
I was there for not even 2 minutes before I almost stepped on this little guy, i've only seen adults in the past.
They were all around the same size, about 2 inches.
I was able to somehow spot a few larvae, they blend in really well and are pretty fast.
Habitat
I also came across a few of these really nasty worms, i'm guessing it was some kind of parasite.
Pacific Tree frog?
This place was totally infested with newts, it's good to see there's still at least one area with a good population. Strangely enough I did not come across one adult, nor did I see any other frogs besides those two. I was there till about an hour after sundown and could hear a bunch of different croaking but never found any of the sources. Great day of herping on a crummy day!
Cold Day Herping
Moderator: Scott Waters
Re: Cold Day Herping
Some very nice shots, especially the newts. Love lighting in some of those.
That worm appears to me to be some sort of earthworm like annelid, I would guess non-parasitic.
That worm appears to me to be some sort of earthworm like annelid, I would guess non-parasitic.
Re: Cold Day Herping
Thanks man, I was actually really surprised with how some of the photos turned out. They were all taken with a crappy Coolpix Nikon camera which is absolutely terrible at focusing in on what you want to take a picture of. Thank god for Photoshop. Oh and thanks for the insight on the worm, i'm absolutely repulsed by parasites so after seeing that I completely avoided contact with the water.
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Re: Cold Day Herping
Your frogs are Baja treefrogs. Wish I could see newts without driving for hours... Newts are so cool... jim
- Natalie McNear
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Re: Cold Day Herping
Cool stuff! Yep, the worm is just an earthworm that got trapped in the creek and is looking for a way out. The only large, parasitic worms you are likely to find in freshwater environments are leeches and horsehair worms (the latter only parasitizes insects).