Our first calligaster this year, maculatum eggs and more!

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Gary2sons
Posts: 297
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 4:44 pm
Location: Camden County, Missouri

Our first calligaster this year, maculatum eggs and more!

Post by Gary2sons »

Our best piece of tin produced this prairie king yesterday. Checked our other AC and only found a few skinks. This tin is located in a grassy field and we had just checked a couple days ago

Only a quick pic before it tried to go down a hole.

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Caught it to get more pics

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Looked like it had just came up

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Almost all our tin had signs of rodents

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Couple pics of a deer mouse and I think a young vole

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Been a little dry this year so our pond as of yesterday only had 3 masses of spotted salamander eggs. We have only seen about 6 adults recently under tin around the pond. But with the rain today there should be a lot more tomorrow.

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Only one found yesterday

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Just a few backyard pics from last year

This ribbon snake and earth snake was found together under AC, completely in situ

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Found this little ribbon snake in mid July, only way I could get a pic was by holding it! :lol:

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I brought this next little turtle home to show the grandkids. Poor little guy had lost a leg!

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Took these next two pics using the old " Mcdonalds cup for a tripod method"

I need to do that more often! :lol:

Gray tree frog

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And finally a life lesson learned!

When you are showing your grandkids some cicada under a weeping willow tree NEVER shake a branch to make some of them fly! We were all under the tree when I thought how cool it would be to have some fly and make noise. Bad Idea!

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These were the 14 or 17 year cicadas and there were probably several hundred if not thousands in that tree! The noise was deafening when they all flew and I had two screaming grandkids, an upset wife, and a startled herper (me)! :lol:

I will know better next time! :)

Thanks for looking, the season is almost here!

Gary
SnakeDude
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Joined: July 14th, 2011, 9:18 am
Location: Denver, CO

Re: Our first calligaster this year, maculatum eggs and more

Post by SnakeDude »

nice king! we're still waiting on the herps up here, but they should be out in full force by next week. we have a W. terrestrial garter snake "den" around our backyard, so they don't emerge for a while, but when they do, you can't walk through the yard without stepping on one :lol:
luv the pics :thumb:
-Ian
mikemike
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 1:37 pm
Location: Ft. Smith, Arkansas
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Re: Our first calligaster this year, maculatum eggs and more

Post by mikemike »

That PK is gonna be awesome once it sheds! I love the amount of diversity you always post from your guys' property.
herpfriend
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Joined: June 10th, 2010, 7:59 pm

Re: Our first calligaster this year, maculatum eggs and more

Post by herpfriend »

Nice prairie king. Quite a bit of color for a mid Missouri specimen. With the weather going to be warm for the next two weeks, we may need to do a little herping.
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Gary2sons
Posts: 297
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 4:44 pm
Location: Camden County, Missouri

Re: Our first calligaster this year, maculatum eggs and more

Post by Gary2sons »

SnakeDude wrote:nice king! we're still waiting on the herps up here, but they should be out in full force by next week. we have a W. terrestrial garter snake "den" around our backyard, so they don't emerge for a while, but when they do, you can't walk through the yard without stepping on one :lol:
luv the pics :thumb:
-Ian
Thanks and that must be fun to have a garter snake den in your own backyard!
mikemike wrote:That PK is gonna be awesome once it sheds! I love the amount of diversity you always post from your guys' property.
Thanks and there is a good chance we will see this same snake later in the year. It was a nice one compared to most adult Missouri calligaster.
herpfriend wrote:Nice prairie king. Quite a bit of color for a mid Missouri specimen. With the weather going to be warm for the next two weeks, we may need to do a little herping.
Yes if this weather stays this warm it could really be an early season.

Gary
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Gary2sons
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 4:44 pm
Location: Camden County, Missouri

Re: Our first calligaster this year, maculatum eggs and more

Post by Gary2sons »

Forgot to update on the spotted salamanders.

After a rain last Sunday we failed to find any more egg masses as of Monday evening. I hope they are not done because in normal years we find upwards of a hundred adults with lots of eggs. It has been somewhat dry this Spring and we have only found about 7 adults under AC around the pond so maybe the next rain will do it! :)

Gary
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KingCam
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Joined: April 11th, 2011, 1:03 pm

Re: Our first calligaster this year, maculatum eggs and more

Post by KingCam »

That's great! The prairie is very attractive. Now I'm gonna have to go flip some boards XD
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