The Most Common Herp in Your Area

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Noah M
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The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by Noah M »

What is the most common herp in your area? Please post pictures of them :D
I thought this would be a fun and easy themed thread, but also a way to show the diversity of herps across the globe.

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I think for my area, the most common herp is the southern toad. Brown anole is a close second.

Recently metamorphed Anaxyrus terrestris
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MCHerper
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by MCHerper »

Here in Central NJ, our most commonly seen herps:

Snakes: Eastern garter (N. water snakes come in second)
Turtles: Painted
Salamanders: Red-backed
Frogs: Green frog (Fowler's toads also common)

In the NJ Pine Barrens, the most common herps (at least those commonly seen) are probably fence lizards and Fowler's toads.
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Fieldnotes
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by Fieldnotes »

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For me in Anaheim, California, its the Western Fence Lizard
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Hadar
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by Hadar »

In Corvallis area Oregon I would say the reptiles I find most frequently would be rubber boas and red-spotted gartersnakes. For amphibians it would be pacific treefrog, Dunn's salamander, and dicamps.

Northern Rubber Boa (Charina bottae)
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Red-Spotted Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis concinnus)
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Northern Pacific Treefrog (Pseudacris regilla)
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Dunn's Salamander (Plethodon dunni)
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Coastal Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus)
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When I lived in Starkville, Mississippi I would say spotted, marbled, and Mississippi slimy salamanders were the most common salamanders. I found at least one under every log, rock, leaf pile, etc. Since I worked in ponds for my research, I ran into turtles and snakes everyday as well. Difficult to say which species I saw the most. It would either be one of the many, many, many nerodia or the cottonmouth. We also had lots of frogs laying eggs in the fish ponds and tanks inside (including the sump). Sometimes they would even lay eggs on a sheet of plastic laying in the grass if it rained enough. We couldn't keep them in the tanks or they would be eaten and the fish were on specific diets for our research so we let the frogs metamorphose in extra aquariums or tanks and then they were free to crawl out and go wherever they wanted to afterwards. We would find them in the office, in the bathroom, in the drain, under your chair, etc.

Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)
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Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)
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Mississippi Slimy Salamander (Plethodon mississippi)
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Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)
Image Tadpoles
Image Swimming
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Image Temporary frog facility for the tadpoles laid in the fish tanks. The tank was open so they could crawl out.
Image Cute little tail
Image The ones who didn't leave after a day or two got moved out of the water and into another open tank with grass, leaves, and natural food (small insects). Some of the frogs took longer but they all ended up leaving.
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Image One of the newly metamorphed frogs who though living in the office was a good idea. They would crawl under the door to come inside. Helped keep the insect population in the office down.
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Image One of the adults who decided laying eggs in fish tanks was a good idea.
Image Inside a fiberglass tank
Image In the ponds
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Not green treefrogs but more tadpoles removed from fish tanks.
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Some of the tadpoles turned out to be narrowmouths
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Various turtles from the catfish ponds
Image Originally the staff at the hatchery would kill any turtles that were found in the ponds and ate them. I ended up finding a wildlife professor at the university to work on a project with me that involved the turtles so they became protected. These turtles are waiting to be identified.
Image One of the many softshells that occupied our ponds.
Image Snapping turtle with nice camouflage algae.
Image Larger snapping turtle. These were favorite soup turtles before I started at the facility.
Image I feel bad for the turtle he is sitting on.
Image We were able to identify individuals fairly well because a lot had deformities or injuries.
Image This is an example of a pond that the turtles were living in. Typical catfish pond, mud based and 1.5 meters deep. This one was being emptied so it could dry out between experiments.
ImageSome of the turtles or snakes would get stuck in the mud if they didn't crawl out before it dried.
Image Denoting the pond the turtle came from.

Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)
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chrish
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by chrish »

Tough to decide on most common, but for anurans it would be

Acris blanchardi

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or Incilius nebulifer

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For lizards, probably Sceloporus olivaceus

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For turtles, Trachemys scripta and Pseudemys texana are pretty common, but Trachemys are boring so here's P. texana

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Salamanders aren't common around here and crocodilians, obviously Alligators, but they aren't common this far west.

Snakes would be a three way tie -

Thamnophis marcianus -

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Pantherophis emoryi -

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Crotalus atrox -

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mtratcliffe
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by mtratcliffe »

My location is Tampa, FL

Toads - the Southern Toad is by far the most common. Spadefoot Toads are uncommon, and there are plenty of Eastern Narrowmouths, but they aren't really toads.

ImageDSCN7618 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Frogs - Several species are very common where I live, but I'd have to give a nod to Florida Leopard Frogs, which I see the most of. Green Treefrogs are the most regularly heard, but I'd wager that Squirrel Treefrogs are more abundant due to the diverse habitats they can be found in.

Here's a big momma Leopard Frog:

ImageDSCN6362 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr

And a more regular sized one:

ImageDSCN7625 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Snakes - a toss-up between Southern Black Racers and Florida Watersnakes. I see more of the later where I live, though I'd wager that Racers have higher numbers overall as they can be found almost anywhere.

Racer

ImageDSCN6856 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr

FL Watersnake

ImageDSCN5507 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr

ImageDSCN6218 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Lizads - discounting the non-native Brown Anole and the myriad of Gecko species, I'll go with Southeastern Five-lined Skinks. I rarely see Green Anoles unless I head out of the metro area.

ImageDSCN5918 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr

Turtles - a toss-up between Peninsula Cooters and FL Redbellied Cooters, but I'll go with the former.

ImageDSCN6205 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
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Owen
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by Owen »

Right now, the most numerous around me in Santa Clara Co., CA - Anaxyrus boreas halophilus

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reptologist
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by reptologist »

Here where I am from in southern NJ the most common turtle is the northern red bellied cooter.
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This is the most colorful example that I have seen.
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The most abundant toad is the fowler's toad.
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The most common frog is the green frog
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Fence lizards are the most common lizard
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The northern water snake is the one I encounter most often.
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The most often encountered salamander is the northern 2 lined. I don't have any pictures of them worth posting.
Coluber Constrictor
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by Coluber Constrictor »

.
Gordon C. Snelling

Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by Gordon C. Snelling »

Deliberate road kill.
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Jeff
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by Jeff »

My home in suburban Baton Rouge

Backyard

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Most common (only) salamander is the Three-toed Amphiuma

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Most common anuran is the Eastern Narrowmouth Toad

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Most annoyingly common is the vociferous bedroom window Squirrel Tree Frog

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Most common land shell is the Box Turtle

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But in the stream the most common is the Common Stinkpot, but for lack of photos here is #2, the ubiquitous Redear

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Most common Day-shift lizard is the Green Anole

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Night shift gets the Mediterranean Geckos in hordes

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The common stream snake is the Banded Water Snake, though neighbors are continuously working the numbers down

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Finally, the most common yard snake, the fearsome Dekay's Brown....

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My total amphibian/reptile yard list is 30 species -- always something to see and a great place to visit

Jeff
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cbernz
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by cbernz »

The correct answer for anyone in the Northeast who doesn't live in a salt marsh or on a beach is this animal:

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Redback Salamander is almost certainly the most abundant herp in the Northeast, and possibly the most abundant vertebrate as well. Virtually every square foot of forest and suburb that isn't completely dessicated has a population.

Redbacks are cool and all, but I would trade my entire yard list to have 3-toed Amphiumas on my property!
Barry R
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by Barry R »

For my area.....
Image105_5274 by Barry R, on Flickr
Two Lined Salamander

Image105_4467 by Barry R, on Flickr
Black Racer

Image105_4352 by Barry R, on Flickr
Despite the "Threatened" status, Box Turtles seem quite common
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Noah M
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by Noah M »

This is awesome. Thanks everybody. I'm curious about international examples as well. Keep them coming!!! :thumb:
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Kyle from Carolina
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by Kyle from Carolina »

central Alberta, Canada

I can't go to a wetland and not see or hear wood frogs, boreal chorus frogs, and plains gartersnakes anytime between May and September, when it's warm. The latter of which is probably there because of the first two species. The chorus frogs pop up anywhere. Next would be western tiger salamanders and boreal toads.
speedy
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by speedy »

I'll do an international one then. For where I work at Mount Isa in NW Queensland Ring-tailed dragons are most common during the day and Gehyra robusta at night.

ImageRing-tailed Dragon by Ryan Francis, on Flickr

ImageRobust Dtella with a mothfull by Ryan Francis, on Flickr


At my new home on the Darling Downs of Queensland it would be two skinks. Ctenotus robustus and Lygisaurus foliorum. I have only done a few nights and haven't found a great deal so I couldn't say what is the most common.

ImageEastern Striped Skink by Ryan Francis, on Flickr

ImageIridescent Litter-skink by Ryan Francis, on Flickr
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Noah M
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Re: The Most Common Herp in Your Area

Post by Noah M »

Thanks. I think this is amazing. The diversity of even common stuff is fun to look at. :thumb:
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