I hit a few spots around Allegheny and Westmorelands County this weekend from Friday to Sunday. Not a bad weekend for the most part. Went to some new spots found some new populations Queen Snake and Ravine Salamaner, Not far from others but always a good thing to see them in a new area I have not before.

Friday
Allegheny County
2  Garter Snakes
1 Ringneck Snake

Garters:

Ringneck:

Saturday
Allegheny County
10+ N Water Snakes
1 Queen Snake
1 Garter Snake
2 Ravine Salamanders

Northern Water:

Queen Snake:

Ravine Salamanders:

Sunday
Westmoreland County
1 Rat Snake
1 N. Water Snake
1 Garter Snake
TMTC Northern and Mountain Duskies
1 Spring Salamander
2 Two-lined Salamaners
1 Green Frog
5 Unided frogs

Funny thing about the Rat snake is he was right at the beginning of the trail and even when I was taking photos Noone that pasted even saw him. HE was RIGHT THERE. I come back after 2 hours an he is still there. Then the Little Norther water snake (probably the nicest looking juvie i have seen was right on the path and like 20 people walked by and didn’t even see him, not even when I was taking a photo, then one guy noticed it and showed his daughters and they were really cool about it. I did take him off the path so he wouldn’t be trampled or rode over by a bike.

Rat Snake:

Northern Water:

Garter:

Bug Eyed Mountain Dusky

Two Lineds

Spring Salamander Egg Mass:

Was a little on the cool side so i mainly scouted out some new areas, but most places turned up to be private so I stopped by my local Queen spot on the way home.

1 Queen Snake
5+ Northern Water Snakes

Temps 55f
Cloudy and Windy.

Went out for about 2 hrs today and had a nice little hike with the little bit of nice weather we had today.

Temp 65f
Partly Coudy

1 Queen Snake
6 N. Water Snakes
1 N. Slimy
1 Snapping Turtle
2 American Toads
tmtc A. Toad Tadpoles
3 Bull Frog Calls
10+ Bull Frog Tadpoles
and 3 Northern Orioles

Queen Snake:

Northern Water:

American Toad:

Snapping turtle:

Went out for a little while today to check if any Ravines were moving in two close by spots. The 1st spot I did not have any luck. The 2nds spot I found 2 Ravines and 2 Slimys. The areas was really wet from the rain last night. Also went and checked out along the creek and saw a good bit of Northern Waters, 1 Queen, and 1 Garter Snake that was in a tree, this is the 2nd time I have seen a Garter snake in a tree in that location. Not sure how common it is for them to be in a tree eaither.

Totals:
2 – Ravine Salamanders
2 – Slimy Salamanders
1 – Queen Snake
1 – Garter Snake
10+ Northern Water Snakes
1 unided frog.

Ravines:

What Ravines Eat-Carpenter Ants, Sow Bugs, and Harvest Mites

Slimys:

A Big one:

Queen Snake:

Garter Snake:

John and myself went up North for a trip to find some massasaugas. Location is not discolsed nor the people we meet up with. This was a great trip. 10 mins in to the walk John found the 1st one then one of the other guys found one shortly after that. All in all a good day to get to see two of these great snakes.

We also saw a few other things though out the day.

2-massasaugas
7-garters
8-redbacks
32-mt dusky’s
11-two lines
1-wood frog

Saguas:

Wood Frog:

5-6-08

8:30am – 2pm

John and I went down to Fayette County, PA on Tuesday to see what we could find moving in that area. We got a good bit of finds some nice stuff and some of the ol’ regular finds. We didn’t hit our main target that was copperheads but we did get a Northern Red Salamander and a few Spring Salamanders.

Inventory:
2-Two-lined Salamander
6-Newts
tmtc newt egg masses
2-Spring Salamander
1-N. red Salamander
7-N dusky Salamander
19-Mt dusky Salamander
6-Seal Salamander
11-Redback Salamander
3-Slimy Salamander
1-snapping turtle
green frogs (tmtc)
tmtc-wood frog tadpole
tmtc-American toad tadpoles and egg strands

Newt:

Spring Salamander:

Northern Red Salamander:

Slimy Salamanders:

Seal Salamanders:

Snapping Turtle:

Tadpoles: Wood frog – Green Frog

Green Frog:

A new project of mine that you can check out.

The PA HERP IDENTIFICATION project was developed as a guide for the Reptiles and Amphibians of Pennsylvania. The guides show Coloration and Pattern differences among species though out PA along with information on ID characteristics. The site had and ID page for each species that are found through out Pennsylvania that includes the characteristic information, detailed photos and range maps. PA HERP IDENTIFICATION project is an educational tool for the public on the herpetile found though out Pennsylvania. The project also aims to create knowledge to Pennsylvania residents not only through the internet, but also through interaction with the public, with the help of volunteers in the field to communicate with individuals on a personal level.

http://www.paherps.com