Jason Poston - Field Herpetology - PA, WV, SC

Aug 19th Longtails

spllogics — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:09:47 +0000

Went to do a normal routine check of a Ravine Salamander spot and was going to pass though and try a new location, but I desided to do a little flipping around the Ravine spot first and with the 1st rock I flipped a Longtailed Salamander *Lifer. As much as I have researched this area the longtail was far from my mind of finding today. So I set up to take a photo…. Then my camera says No CF card. AH I left it at home. Now what? So I run back to the house grab my card and come back to take a few photos. Supriced by this find I started searching the area and came up with another longtail not far from the first one. Two in one day not bad for a lifer.

77F Cloudy

2 - Longtail Salamanders ****Lifer
5+ Northern Dusky Salamanders
1 Slimy Salamander
2 American Toads

Slimy:

Longtail one - 6.5cm

Longtail two - 12 cm

Aug 16th Westmoreland

spllogics — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:01:51 +0000

9 Pickerel Frogs
1 Northern Lepoard Frog
5+ Green Frogs

Pickerel Frogs

Northern Lepoard Frog

Westmoreland County Aug 01 08

spllogics — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:37:24 +0000

Myself and Bob C. meet up in Westmoreland County PA this evening for our targer species Northern Leopard Frogs. The 1st thing we spotted was a Pickerel and with in about 10 mins we finally caught it after it got away 10 diffrent times and hid under 3 diffrent logs.. We also saw another but were unable to get a photo. We also grabbed a Wood frog the 1st eaither of us have seen with in the area. And also a Mystery Snake which looked like a Earth Snake but far out of range. We will work the area again to determin this species at a later date.

For today:
5 Green Frogs
2 Pickerel Frogs
3 American Toads
1 Wood Frog
20+ Mtn Dusky Salamanders
5+ Northern Dusky Salamanders 1 with eggs
3 Twolined Salamanders
1 Slimy Salamander
1 Mystery Snake

Pickerel Frog

Wood Frog

A. Toad

Slimy Salamander

N. Dusky With eggs

June 22-26

spllogics — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:17:12 +0000

Just a few shots from the past few days.

Queen snakes

Painted Turtle:

Northern Waters:

DOR Rat Snake

Small American Toad

North WV - June 21 08

spllogics — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:25:05 +0000

A friend Will and I meet up down in Northern WV for a little herping to see what we could find in an area I have been to a few times in the past. I was wanting to check the area for Green Salamanders and Timbers but neither of those targets were aquired. Insted we did find a few things here an there that I have not found in this area yet.

1 Northern Water Snake
1 Ringneck Snake
4 Mtn Duskys Salamanders
3 Seal Salamanders
2 Northern Reds Salamander
1 Redback Salamander

Ringneck:

Mtn. Duskys:

Seals:

Reds:

Views:

South Carolina June 2008

spllogics — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:08:46 +0000

Headed down to SC with my daughter to visit my family. While I was there I got to get out and do some herping for a little bit here an there. Had some good luck. Most the target species I was aiming for I did not find as time was limited and the places were to far to work with during out stay. We were therr from May 31st - June 8th. Part of the week we went camping down near charleston, SC.

June 1st
Florence County
Out with my father for a few hours hitting a few landings and road crusing some areas.

1 marbled salamander
3 Southern Leapoard?
a few sliders
2 ground skinks,
1 5lined skink
1 copperhead
1 yellow rat
1 timber
1 dor racer
1 box turtle

Marbled Salamander:

Southern Leapoard:

Timber/Canebrake

Copperhead:

Rat Snake:

DOR Racer:

June 2nd
Clarendon County
Went out for an hour.

5+ 5lined skinks
2 ground skinks
2 narrowmouth Toads *Lifer
1 Southern Chorus Frog?
3 unided frogs jumping though the weeds. probably cricket
1 yellow-bellied slider

Southern Chorus Frog?

Narrowmouth Toad:

June 3rd - 6th
Charleston County
Things around the camp area.

1 Alligator
10+ Sliders
5+ Anoles
20+ Unided Tadpoles
Unided Frog (hopped away to fast)
A few Skinks
1 King Snake

Unided Tadpoles (Wood probably)

Eastern King Snake:

June 7th
Clarendon County
Went out with my friend Matt to a few spots.
Matt picked up ad DOR King and a AOR Glass Lizard on the way over.

Other than that we got
2 DOR rats
4 marbled sallys resently transformed
1 Narrow mouth toad
6 Water Dogs *Lifer
5 Dwarf Salamanders *Lifer
1 Green Tree Frog
2 Broadhead Skinks
5+ 5lined Skinks
5+ Racerunners
1 Racer

Marbled Salamanders:

Dwarf Waterdog and Dwarf Salamander:

Narrowmouth Toad:

Skinks and Glass Lizard

Eastern King Snake:

Memorial Day Weekend 2008

spllogics — Mon, 26 May 2008 05:49:17 +0000

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:

Queen Snake may 22

spllogics — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:04:07 +0000

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.

May 15th Allegheny County

spllogics — Fri, 16 May 2008 02:03:55 +0000

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:

Allegheny County - May 10

spllogics — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:12:31 +0000

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: