Monthly Archives: April 2013

Western Yellow-belly Racer

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Western Yellow-belly Racer_1622

Racers are slender and agile snakes. Adults are uniformly pale blue, bluish-green, olive-green, gray, or brown above. As you might expect, the belly is cream to bright yellow in color.

Western Yellow-belly Racer_1612

Young racers are marked with brown blotches which disappear as the reptile grows. Racers are a family of snakes that can be found across the United States, living in abandoned fields, sparse brushy areas and clearings in woodlands.

This species is active by day and will take shelter under rocks, brush or in animal burrows if pursued. As the name implies, they can move very fast – especially through tall grass or brush.

Western Yellow-belly Racer_1619

This snake averages about three feet in length and does not constrict its prey, rather it simply overpowers it. The racer’s food items includes frogs, lizards, snakes, small rodents and birds.

Western Yellow-belly Racer_1620

I enjoy coming across them in the morning when the weather is cool and they are somewhat easy to catch. Their large scales have a satiny shine and their alert, curious nature gives them a special appeal.

Third Eye Herp
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Jerusalem Cricket

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The Jerusalem Cricket is impressive. Many people are startled when they see a one; it is a large insect. The creature’s odd physical appearance has been cause for fear and superstition and it has been given a variety of monikers.

In California, they are known as “potato bugs,” due to their tendency to nibble on potatoes and other crops grown in direct contact with the soil.

They are slow moving. For defense, Jerusalem Crickets can bite with considerable force if handled. They also can kick with their spiky legs as a method of keeping an attacker at bay.

Jerusalem Crickets are distributed throughout much of western North and Central America, where they live in a variety of habitats – from coastal and desert sand dunes to mountains and tropical forests.

This insect spends most of its life underground. Its large, almost humanoid head supports the necessary muscles that assist the jaws in digging in the soil and feeding on plant material.

Throughout their range Jerusalem Crickets are a paradox – being familiar, yet exotic, insects; due to their secretive nature, not a lot is known about them.

Third Eye Herp
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California Poppy

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As I travel through the northern part of the state, the hills are alive with the vibrant colors of wildflowers. The California Poppy was designated the state flower in 1903.

Early Spanish explorers called this flower copa de oro – meaning “cup of gold.” California Indians valued the poppy as a food source and for the oil extracted from the plant. The Golden State celebrates it by having California Poppy Day every April 6.

This is a small plant, with one flower per slender stem. A mature plant may be as short as two inches, yet the hardy seeds can spread far and wide and take root in sandy, difficult soil where other plants’ seeds may fail.

The California Poppy is the most well known flower in the state and even schoolchildren are taught to recognize it. The satiny 1-3 inch wide petals form a shallow cup-shaped flower that is vivid golden orange in color.

The flowers bloom on plants with have bluish-green parsley-shaped leaves, usually wider than they are tall. The flowers can be seen from February to September.

At the base of the flower is a distinctive expanded rim which looks like a circle. This allows for easy identification if this plant at times when it is not in bloom.

Third Eye Herp
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Coast Range Fence Lizard

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Are you ready to spend a week in sunny California? Let’s see what wildlife is stirring at this time of year.

First up is this Coast Range Fence Lizard. Fence Lizards have overlapping, pointed scales and are part of a large family of reptiles known as Spiny Lizards. They are also commonly called “swifts” because of their speed.

Largely based on temperature, individuals can lighten or darken considerably; when individuals darken, their markings become difficult to see.

This lizard is conspicuous and common. It’s usually found on or near the ground, in rock and wood piles, tree trunks, and the lower branches of shrubs. And of course, basking on wooden fences.

Males have iridescent blue throats and bellies and do “pushups” flash the bright color to court females or defend their territories from males.

Adult Coast Range Fence Lizards measure about six inches in total length. They seem to prefer elevated basking sites where they can keep an eye on their territory and watch for insects. Here’s a couple of babies that hatched last year.

These reptiles may be beneficial to man in a way other than eating many insects. A protein in their blood kills the bacterium that causes Lyme Disease. Further studies of this reptile may result in a eventual cure to Lyme Disease.

Third Eye Herp
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Spotted Salamander

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Though it’s rather large and has a wide distribution, the Spotted Salamander is actually pretty hard to…spot. These stout-bodied amphibians spend most of their lives underground. They are usually found in low-lying hardwood forests.

Because of their subterranean lifestyle, they are seldom seen except in March. During an especially stormy night on March 11, many of these salamanders could be seen migrating after dark during the rainstorm.

They make their way to fish-less pools of water, but even then, they are only active at night. In their underwater courtship dance, the male swirls around, turns about and nudges the female.

Since it became so cold the days after the migration occurred, the amphibians have been in a sort of “suspended animation,” buried in the mud at the bottom of the pool. It warmed up in the last few days though and they are “back to business.”

Here’s what one of their fist-sized egg masses look like. The eggs expand after the salamander lays them. They are coated with a thick jellylike substance that holds all the eggs together, anchored to vegetation in the pool.

Visually striking, these eye-catching salamanders are grayish-black with two irregular rows of yellow or orange spots from head to tail. They range from 6 to 9 inches in length. This is an oddly patterned individual that I saw migrating last month.

Spotted Salamanders eat earthworms, snails, slugs, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, pillbugs and insects. In the wild, they typically live for about 20 years, though some have been reported to be as old as 30.

I look forward to seeing Spotted Salamanders each year; not only is it a chance to observe a large number of amphibians, but it is also a sign that a few months of nice weather is just around the corner.

Third Eye Herp
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