Monthly Archives: April 2012

Skunk Cabbage

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The first thing you notice about Skunk Cabbage is how surprisingly big it is. Walking through the forest and coming across this large, leafy plant makes quite an impression. It is easy to recognize, with its huge leaves rising directly from the ground.

Skunk Cabbage is a low growing, foul smelling plant that prefers wetlands. It flowers early in the spring when only the flowers are visible above the mud. The stems remain buried below the surface of the soil with the leaves emerging later.

Breaking or tearing a nearly two foot long leaf produces a pungent odor, which is the source of the plant’s common name. The foul odor attracts pollinators and may also discourage large animals from disturbing or damaging the plant.

Many fly species, as well as some butterflies, bees and beetles pollinate Skunk Cabbage. In the fall, Skunk Cabbage leaves fall over and begin to rot. Small animals, including slugs, millipedes, and pillbugs eat the old leaves, but Skunk Cabbage leaves are poisonous to mammals (including us). The large fallen leaves also provide shelter for small animals.

In late winter and early spring, Skunk Cabbage has a remarkable ability to produce heat that allows it to emerge and bloom even when the ground is still frozen. When temperatures are freezing, the flower buds can warm up to 70 degrees, which melts the snow around the plant. The flowers are characterized by a mottled maroon hood-like structure.

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A Blue Green Frog

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There has been much talk in recent years of amphibian declines and it is indeed a serious issue. Research efforts are being made to try to get a better understanding of this worrisome problem. Depsite this, there are some amphibians that seem to be doing quite well. One of these is the Green Frog, it is an amphibian found over much of the eastern United States (including my backyard).

Male and female adult Green Frogs can easily be determined by the size of their eardrums. For males the tympanum (that circle you see behind the frog’s eye) is significantly larger than the eye. For females, it is about the same size as the eye. Almost any permanent body of water can be habitat for Green Frogs. Ponds, marshes, lakes swamps and the slow parts of creeks and rivers can be homes to these amphibians.

Green Frogs tend to stay close to the water’s edge, ready to leap in (and often give a squeak) if they sense danger. Warm, rainy nights will often induce young Green Frogs to make overland migrations. During these times, they are sometimes forced to take up residence in puddles or ditches until the next rain comes along. Every year I have Green Frogs make their home in my outdoor turtle enclosures, even though they have wire-screened tops. Here’s one from a couple of years ago.

Like most wide-ranging reptiles and amphibins, Green Frogs are variable in their appearance. They make be green, brown or olive – or various combinations of these colors. In some cases, males can have quite a bit of yellow color on the chins. On occasion, Green Frogs with blue coloration turn up, like this one that I found today.

At this point it seems that Green Frogs are well adapted to succeed in a world that’s becoming increasingly modified by humans. It’s quite possible that in some places Green Frogs have increased in places where other frogs have declined. There are undoubtedly many factors that determine whether a species will succeed or decline. That’s why it is essential to study common species along with troubled ones, to better understand the ecological problems species face and how they solve them. There is still much to learn about this very common and flourishing frog.

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Alligator Lizard Eggs

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Alligator Lizards get their name from the square-shaped scales that they have on their back. They’re a relatively common lizard in the western United States. I’ve found quite a few of them in Northern California. A few years ago I brought three of them back home and set them up in this terrarium.

I was pretty sure that I had a male and two females, but I’ve never seen any breeding activity. Today was a nice day to put the lizards on the deck in a screened enclosure, so they could get some fresh air and natural sunlight.

While they were outside, I cleaned the lizards’ tank and I found eight eggs! I now have them in an incubator. If they hatch, it will be the first time I’ve ever produced Alligator Lizards.

If you’d like to see some photos of wild Alligator Lizards, check out my Herping California Pics.

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Question Mark Butterfly

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A few of these orange and brown butterflies were seen fluttering about today. The Question Mark Butterfly gets its name from a little silver marking on its wings which you can see when it has its wings folded in its resting position.

The color of the top of the hindwing changes depending on the time of year. In the summer, it is mostly black with a short tail, the winter form has a lot of orange and a longer, violet-tipped tail. The underside is light brown; hiding in cracks and crevices of wood, they remain inactive through the cold months. Their colors help keep them hidden and safe.

The Question Mark is found primarily in wooded areas that have open spaces, such as city parks and fence rows. Adult males will sit during the afternoon hours on tree trunks waiting for females. They’ll leave their perches to chase away other insects and even birds. Some adults stay in the northern United States to hibernate, while others migrate south. Butterflies that hibernate are among the longest lived butterflies in Ohio.

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Flowering Dogwood

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Although the woods are mostly brown today with only a few trees sprouting leaves, there’s still plenty of beauty to be found, especially in the showy blooms of Flowering Dogwood.

Flowering Dogwood is fairly small, usually 20-30 feet tall. It is a useful tree not only for its eye-catching appeal in the springtime, but its berry-like fruit is eaten by many bird species as well as other animals in the autumn.

The dogwood sprouts tiny greenish-yellow flowers in clusters, with each flower surrounded by four large white bracts (often incorrectly labeled as petals). It is considered by many the most spectacular of the native, flowering trees.

There is much Christian religious folklore surrounding this tree. The blooms often appear in the shape of a cross, with holes in the tips of the pedals signifying the nails that were driven into the cross. If you look closely at these holes you can notice a faint red stain representing the blood. In the center you will find a green bloom symbolizing the crown of thorns placed on the head of Jesus.

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Russian Rat Snake Eggs

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It can be difficult adjusting to being back in the Greater Cleveland Area after 10 days of vacation in California. Especially with the two days of snow we had earlier this week. A nice “consolation prize” was my first clutch of snake eggs this year. This clutch was from a Russian Ratsnake.

These are active and personable pets that are among my favorites. They typically have a dozen eggs. If you’d like to learn more about Russian Rat Snakes, check out my article in “Reptiles” magazine titled Black Russians.

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Chitons

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I decided to check out these west coast tidal pools today and saw some odd organisms.

The Chiton is a mysterious creature with eight protective shell plates and a muscular foot, which anchors it to a rock. It is impossible to pry it off the rock with your bare hands.

Chitons are generally sluggish and many are nocturnal and remain concealed under rocks during the day. Their food mainly consists of algae scraped off the rocks, but some also consume animal matter. Its shell plates are often broken, but it can repair such breaks. When exposed to air during low tide, a Chiton can breathe oxygen from the atmosphere.

Recently it has been discovered that this armored relative of snails is unique among living animals, because it sees the world through lenses of limestone, and its eyes literally erode as it gets older. Chitons may be the only living animals with rocky eyes of this sort. Another group of extinct oceanic animals – the trilobites – had lenses made from calcite, another form of limestone.

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San Francisco Garter Snake

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One of the most rare and elusive snakes in North America is the San Francisco Garter Snake. Not only are its numbers greatly reduced, but it is a wary reptile that usually flees when approached. I’ve been wanting to see one for most of my life.  The snake’s preferred habitat is densely vegetated ponds near open hillsides, where it can sun, feed, and find cover. Adult San Francisco Garter Snakes feed primarily on California Red-legged Frogs, which are federally listed as “threatened.” I was walking around this habitat, a pond near the California coast, and on the lookout.

And there it was – the San Francisco garter snake has often been called “the most beautiful serpent in North America.” This fantastically colored snake with a bright orange head, combined with black and red stripes, and turquoise sides was a sight to behold.  It’s one of the snakes that I specifically search for when visiting California, and after many years of trying, today was the day for finding one.

It has been officially designated as “endangered” on state lists in 1966 and was on the first Federal Endangered Species List established in 1973. This snake is primarily active during daylight. It is a good swimmer and often escapes into water when threatened. It was awesome to finally see this snake in the wild.

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Northwestern Salamander

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Hiking through the woods in Northern California, I came across this large, dark amphibian along the edge of the trail. It was the largest wild salamander I’ve ever seen – a Northwestern Salamander. 

Like the Spotted Salamanders and Jefferson Salamanders from Ohio, these are “mole salamanders,” which spend much of their adult life underground. They can get up to 9-3/4 inches in total length.

Unlike their eastern counterparts, Northwestern Salamanders are mildly poisonous and have glands like a toad that secrete poison when the amphibian feels threatened. They are harmless to people (unless you try to eat one). Finding this big salamander, the first I’ve ever seen, was the highlight of the herping day.

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Los Gatos (Bobcat)

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I’m staying in the city of Los Gatos (The Cats) California. Today, while walking along the edge of a lake, a large creature jumped out from the tall vegetation and ran about 30 yards, concealing itself. Can you see it in the tall grass?

It was the first ever Bobcat I’ve ever seen in the wild. Fortunately it was just as curious about me as I was about the wildcat, so I also managed to get the photo below.

It was an unexpected and welcome nature sighting.

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