Year So Far in Florida (Updated)

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Noah M
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Year So Far in Florida (Updated)

Post by Noah M »

I typically don't post in here my finds; most of my pictures can be found in the SE chapter and I usually post them as I find them. Its been raining here like crazy for several days which has given me some free time inside instead of outside. So here are some of my photographs from the year. All are from Florida unless otherwise noted. Many of these were made possible from the help and guidance of friends and fellow herpers who use this forum. A debt of gratitude to them for making my year so far quite a success. I can only hope that the last few months of my year are as good. I hope you enjoy my collection of Florida species!

Mole Salamander crossing a road
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Dwarf Salamander
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Southern Spring Peeper
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Green Anole
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Ornate Chorus Frog, from one of the most southerly populations I know of (well south of the panhandle)
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Southern Chorus Frog
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Six-lined Racerunner
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Florida Scrub Lizard (does the rock in its nose make it a punk-lizard?)
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Coachwhip
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Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
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Florida Cottonmouth (a very small, very young one)
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Eastern Glass Lizard
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Spadefoot on a Barking Tree Frog (arranged by the photographer, though they were found mere inches apart)
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Barking tree Frogs in amplexus
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Brownchin Racer from the Apalachicola Region
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Three-lined Salamander
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Southern Copperhead
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River Frog
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Cope's Gray Tree Frog
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Gulf Coast Box Turtle
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An enormous Corn Snake
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Gulf Salt Marsh Snake
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Big Gray Rat Snake (5'+)
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Northern Scarlet Snake
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Decent sized Yellow Rat Snake
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Striped Crayfish Snake
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Southern Ringneck Snake (rather agressive little guy)
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Timber Rattlesnake (with a sword of a rattle)
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Glossy Crayfish Snake
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Common Musk Turtle
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Bullfrog
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Florida Swamp Snake
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Anerythristic Eastern Mudsnake
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Southern Black Racer
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Florida Green Water Snake
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Queensnake (from Indiana)
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Worm Snake (from Kentucky)
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Peninsular Ribbon Snake
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Florida Softshell
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The darkest Gopher Tortoise I've ever seen
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Alligator
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Soopaman
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Soopaman »

Cool stuff, Jack.

I really like the canebrake and the EDB! Keep finding more big rattlers!
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NewYorkHerper16
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by NewYorkHerper16 »

Awesome! I really like all the frogs, especially the river frog and that big beauty of a bullfrog. That canebrake is also stunning!
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

Somehow I missed these from the Keys in the first round.

Green Iquana
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Bark Anole
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Ashy Gecko
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Thanks guys. Rattlers were good to me this spring. Lots of young ones out and about, but that one was rather large, and it took some careful work getting it away from the road. The bullfrog was nice, and about as big as my hand.
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BillMcGighan
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by BillMcGighan »

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
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PrimitiveTim
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by PrimitiveTim »

Nice finds but dang your racers are busted looking! I guess they got it hard out there in nature.
Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Is there anything you haven't found this year?
I love the iguana and the green anolis. Great images.
Awesome river frog. Someday the herp gods will smile upon me and I will find one. I hope.
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

Is there anything you haven't found this year?
Actually quite a bit - Florida has much more to offer. I am missing:
Florida Brown Snake
Florida Red-bellied Snake
Sand Skink
A host of upland species (Southern Hognose, Short-tail, Indigo, any kind of Tantilla)
And many other salamanders (marbled, two-lined, slimy salamander to name a few)

These are exactly my targets for the fall and early winter. My goal this year was to find 100 species (native or non-native) here in Florida. I'm at 90 right now.
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

PrimitiveTim wrote:Nice finds but dang your racers are busted looking! I guess they got it hard out there in nature.
Yeah. Life for a racer is hard. Most of the ones I've ever seen are DOR. The few live ones are pretty rough looking too, unless they're a baby.
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Josh Holbrook
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Josh Holbrook »

There's nothing quite like the thrill of roadcruising an ambistomid (no, I'm not being sarcastic :beer: )

Was your clarkii south of Cedar Key? It looks like a N. c. clarkii x compressicauda, although I've admittedly found similar a short ways north of Cedar Key, CK is supposedly the "cutoff".
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

Josh Holbrook wrote:Was your clarkii south of Cedar Key? It looks like a N. c. clarkii x compressicauda, although I've admittedly found similar a short ways north of Cedar Key, CK is supposedly the "cutoff".
It was well north of CK - it was found with the help of a friend in Taylor Co.
There's nothing quite like the thrill of road cruising an ambistomid (no, I'm not being sarcastic :beer: )
Yeah, it was a cool (for Florida anyway), rainy January night, a day after the holiday. I was alone, wet, and hoping to find something to kick off the new year. The frogs were out en masse. I kept seeing these little shiny squiggles on the road, which I thought were worms or DOR frogs, and many of them were. But sometime after 1am when about all hope had been lost I checked another squiggle and hot dang it wasn't a worm. I was probably the only person jumping for joy in the rain that wet winter morning.
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

An update to this thread. A few finds from the fall, with hopefully more yet this winter. If you watch the SE chapter, none of these will be new.

Pinewoods Littersnake
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Cuban Treefrog
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Eastern Hognose
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Southern Hognose
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Rough Green
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Eastern Indigo
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Blue phase of an Eastern Garter Snake
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soulsurvivor
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by soulsurvivor »

Nice post. You've had a good year. As you know from previous convos, I am still envious of your varied sally finds! :cry:

~Bree
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

Virtually every sally I've found was the direct result of help from friends, in one way or another. I think understanding when, how, and where to look for salamanders is hardest thing in this state.
Carl D. May
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Carl D. May »

Some great photos Jack. That head-on shot of the Florida soft-shelled turtle is outstanding.
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

Thanks Carl. At the local pond they usually come right up to inquire about bread.
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FloridaSerpent
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by FloridaSerpent »

Awesome stuff especially the Coachwhip, Indigo, and hognose.
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

FloridaSerpent wrote:Awesome stuff especially the Coachwhip, Indigo, and hognose.
Thank you. The indigo was an exciting find. I plan to be near where I found it tomorrow, so cross my fingers, I'll find another one. The coachwhip was great too. I met Tim Warfel as a result.
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by ahockenberry »

Awesome Softshell photo !!
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Barry R »

good stuff :thumb:
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

Thanks guys. I hope to keep this list growing right up until the new year!
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

I went out with J. Scott today. He worked the dipnet, I worked the camera. Here are a few things we found.

Greater siren (S. lacertina)
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Peninsula Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens piaropicola)
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Narrow-striped Dwarf Siren (Pseudobranchus axanthus axanthus)
Image
Image
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Josh Holbrook
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Wait, you mean Jake worked his own dip-net? I thought that was what he kept me around for!

(Love those Pseudobranchuses....Psuedobranchii?)
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

Josh Holbrook wrote:Wait, you mean Jake worked his own dip-net? I thought that was what he kept me around for!

(Love those Pseudobranchuses....Psuedobranchii?)
Yeah, I feel bad about it. I haven't worked a dipnet in over 10 years and had forgotten how "in-depth" of work it was. I did not show up dressed for the part. He was rather polite about it and I appreciate that. Next time I'll be better prepared and will assume the role of muck fetcher.
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

Another dwarf salamander from around here.

Image
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida

Post by Noah M »

A few more things from yesterday

Southeast Slimy Salamander
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Greenhouse Frog
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Baby Yellow Rat Snake, in situ among some pine bark (my wife spotted this one while hiking)
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walk-about
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Re: Year So Far in Florida (Updated)

Post by walk-about »

Captainjack0000 - Loved the Ashy geck and big Iguana at the end of this post. FLorida Swamp snake and anery Mud are really cool. Seems like I have seen lots of these anery Mud Snakes (posted on FHF) from Florida over the years. Do you find them alot? I noticed the snout on that Musk Turtle is really long and pointy. I did not know if it was just the angle of the camera or if that is just 'typical' of FL Musk's? Great post as always sir.

Dave
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Noah M
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Re: Year So Far in Florida (Updated)

Post by Noah M »

Thanks for the kind words!

You're asking the wrong guy on some of these questions though :lol: I've spent my 3 years down here learning how to find these things, but not much time learning about them. I'll give it a try though.

Do I find anery muds a lot? The short answer is no, but I don't find muds that often either. It seems like anery muds are one of the more common variations among herps. I know of other people that have found them, but I would say they are not found with any regularity. Less common than an indigo, but more common than a rainbow. Somewhere in there.

Are Florida musk turtle snouts long and pointy? I'm just not the person to answer this. I know these can be found in numbers for those who snorkel springs and rivers and such, but I don't really do that. The one photographed was my first live one and it was just by chance that I found it crossing a road one night. Plus, I haven't ever found musk turtles anywhere else, so I don't feel comfortable trying to make a comparisons. Maybe somebody who has seen more of them can chime in.

The Ashy Gecko is probably one of my favorite finds for the year. I was down in Monroe County for a week with my wife on a vacation, and goodness am I blessed at how patient she is with me. I flipped every rock, log, piece of bark, and chunk of tidal wrack I could find when we were out and about. On the last full day we were down there I found two Ashy Geckos in a rock pile. I was SO excited! If/when I'm back down there I plan to check that rock pile again. :D
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