Amphibians and the like

[pugle1]

Received this in a nice little package from the Toronto Zoo. The package included a nice full sized wall poster and an audio CD of various calls. Although the package came a little late for the "Spring Toad Festival" (our toads already had their festival and we're over-run with toad puppies and toad kittens...LOL) it was nicely put together. Here are a few scans of some of the pamphlets and laminated card. Thought some of you might be interested.

Do any of the regions you folks live in have programs like this? I'd like to hear from you.

 

[Mmathis]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[j.w]

Neat pugle................so you have a lot of different types of those critters in your area. How many have you seen?

 

[pugle1]

Neat pugle................so you have a lot of different types of those critters in your area. How many have you seen?

I've seen american (brown) toads a plenty, grey tree frogs, and last year we were visited briefly by a bull frog. I think it was only here for one evening then moved on. I've seen quite a few tutrles in the wild, but none in my yard. Mostly snapping turtles and I've seen a northern map once or twice. I think I made a post a while back about red eared sliders. They don't belong here, but if you went to Burlington bay near Hamilton, ON you'll see large numbers of them. Mature adults that are just absolutely huge.

As for the snapping turtles, sadly you see many that have been hit by cars. They like to come out of wetlands along side the road to make their nests by digging into the gravel shoulder of the roadway.

 

[cnyle]

@pugle1 I see by the turtle poster that most all of them are threatened or endangered. You may or may not know the status here in the US, but is this the same for all turtles? I never realized they were in such a decline.

 

[pugle1]

@pugle1 I see by the turtle poster that most all of them are threatened or endangered. You may or may not know the status here in the US, but is this the same for all turtles? I never realized they were in such a decline.

I think a lot of the decline in Ontario is the fact that wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate due to development. Also introduced species like the red eared slider (an native of the southern United States) used to be sold in pet stores here. Many people who had them didn't realize how big the could get and released them into the wild here. Luck for the red ear, but sadly for the native turtles, they seem to thrive in our cooler climate and sub-zero winters. They badly out-compete our native varieties. Sorry, but I don't know the status of American native species. I imagine in areas where wetlands are threatened by development, the situation could be the same for some.

Thanks for your interest cnyle

Paul

P.S. As an aside, to my knowledge, our Ontario snapping turtles are the same as the so-called alligator snapping turtle. They just have a very broad range and in the south they don't need to hibernate, so they just get massive in size. One at the Toronto Zoo weighs in at over 200 lbs and is estimated to be about 100 years old. Don't quote me on this as it's been a lot of years since I was at the zoo, but I seem to recall reading that on the info plaque.

Actually I stand corrected on my P.S. Here's a wiki about the alligator snapper >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_snapping_turtle

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Very cool. Looks like you have almost the same species of frogs & turtles that we have here in Wisconsin, give or take a few.

 

[Mmathis]

We have a lot of reptile & amphibian species in Louisiana, and a lot that cross boundaries. Plus the ones that are coastal that I'll never see here 'cause I live inland. I'll have to see if our DWL & F has a cool guide like that one. @fishin4cars do you know of an official guide [printed] of Louisiana's reptiles & amphibians? (It could come in handy next time I teach the REPTILE & AMPHIBIAN STUDY merit badge.)

The main amphibians I personally have visit my yard are Southern Leopard frogs, toads that are probably Fowler's toads judging by their call, and this little cutie....Cope's gray tree frog (can tell the difference between it and the regular gray tree frog by its call). This is a baby, and it didn't want to get off my hand, LOL!


Of course, my favorite reptiles..... These are Eastern Three-toed box turtles.

But we have lots of turtle species in the area -- soft-shelled, snappers, sliders....
BTW, box turtles aren't water turtles -- I was letting these guys soak in the pond while their habitat and bog were temp unavailable for them.

And these guys, too, but fortunately, around here I mostly only see them in confined states [like this pic from Bass Pro Shop when I was there over the w/end].

 

[pugle1]

Very cool. Looks like you have almost the same species of frogs & turtles that we have here in Wisconsin, give or take a few.

I imagine that Wisconsin, Michigan and the states bordering the great lakes and St Lawrence all share several species with Ontario. It's nice to share after all

 

[pugle1]

We have a lot of reptile & amphibian species in Louisiana, and a lot that cross boundaries. Plus the ones that are coastal that I'll never see here 'cause I live inland. I'll have to see if our DWL & F has a cool guide like that one. @fishin4cars do you know of an official guide [printed] of Louisiana's reptiles & amphibians? (It could come in handy next time I teach the REPTILE & AMPHIBIAN STUDY merit badge.)

The main amphibians I personally have visit my yard are Southern Leopard frogs, toads that are probably Fowler's toads judging by their call, and this little cutie....Cope's gray tree frog (can tell the difference between it and the regular gray tree frog by its call). This is a baby, and it didn't want to get off my hand, LOL!
View attachment 74783

Of course, my favorite reptiles..... These are Eastern Three-toed box turtles.
View attachment 74785
But we have lots of turtle species in the area -- soft-shelled, snappers, sliders....
BTW, box turtles aren't water turtles -- I was letting these guys soak in the pond while their habitat and bog were temp unavailable for them.

And these guys, too, but fortunately, around here I mostly only see them in confined states [like this pic from Bass Pro Shop when I was there over the w/end].
View attachment 74784

Nice pics I love seeing the different varieties from all over.

 

[fishin4cars]

We have a lot of reptile & amphibian species in Louisiana, and a lot that cross boundaries. Plus the ones that are coastal that I'll never see here 'cause I live inland. I'll have to see if our DWL & F has a cool guide like that one. @fishin4cars do you know of an official guide [printed] of Louisiana's reptiles & amphibians? (It could come in handy next time I teach the REPTILE & AMPHIBIAN STUDY merit badge.)

The main amphibians I personally have visit my yard are Southern Leopard frogs, toads that are probably Fowler's toads judging by their call, and this little cutie....Cope's gray tree frog (can tell the difference between it and the regular gray tree frog by its call). This is a baby, and it didn't want to get off my hand, LOL!
View attachment 74783

Of course, my favorite reptiles..... These are Eastern Three-toed box turtles.
View attachment 74785
But we have lots of turtle species in the area -- soft-shelled, snappers, sliders....
BTW, box turtles aren't water turtles -- I was letting these guys soak in the pond while their habitat and bog were temp unavailable for them.

And these guys, too, but fortunately, around here I mostly only see them in confined states [like this pic from Bass Pro Shop when I was there over the w/end].
View attachment 74784

This is the best one I know of, it covers a lot more than Louisiana but it's guide does show if a reptile or Amphibian lives in your area or not and it cover's our complete area. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides)

 

[Mmathis]

Nice pics I love seeing the different varieties from all over.

Yes, me too! I will never forget one ski trip we took to Colorado. We were riding up a chair lift and there happened to be a young-ish ski instructor on the lift with us. Just trying to make conversation, I asked about some of the local fauna, and in particular, the herp population (since I'm a fan of turtles, froggies, and to some extent, snakes.....). I was told in no uncertain terms that "there were no reptiles or amphibians" living in that area. OK, well, me thinks, I live in an environment that's roughly 200' above sea level -- what do I know about life at elevation.....so I didn't question her. Anyway, she probably wasn't a year-round resident. And she probably thought I was pretty stupid to even ask such a question! She's obviously never heard of SNOW SNAKES, LOL! (But for the rest of the lift ride, all I could think about was, "I wonder just what life is safely buried under ground, beneath the snow, waiting to emerge in the spring....").

So, out of curiosity, for those of you who live in the higher elevations, what kinds of reptiles & amphibians do you see?

 

[HARO]

And these guys, too, but fortunately, around here I mostly only see them in confined states [like this pic from Bass Pro Shop when I was there over the w/end].
View attachment 74784

Yeah, we get those in Ontario, too! Every time some idiot decides to get rid of his oversized pet in the local pond. The latest was only about a month ago. A caiman, actually, but close enough.
John

 

[pugle1]

Yeah, we get those in Ontario, too! Every time some idiot decides to get rid of his oversized pet in the local pond. The latest was only about a month ago. A caiman, actually, but close enough.
John

I remember that.... in one of the duck ponds at High Park in Toronto. Here's the Toronto Star's article on it with some pics and a link to a youtube video. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/07/07/alligatorlike_creature_spotted_in_high_park_pond.html

And CTV's news clip... http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/captured-alligator-like-caiman-in-toronto-pond-1.1902824

 

[pugle1]

John, you forgot about the Canadian arctic croc ...... ummmm it's mostly white with tough horny ridges just above the eyes for busting up through the ice. OH YES!!! I forgot to mention that it loves basking for warmth in the full moon of those long arctic nights. I've seen video of them taking polar bears.... scary!


John's right! ... To many idiots releasing foreign creatures. I think that's how the Great Lakes ended up full of gobys and the Mississippi and it tribs with Asian carp. I think it's inevitable too that they'll end up in the Great Lakes as well. Sad. We're dealing with some invasive species already such as zebra mussels and sea lamprey which were accidentally introduced. One in a ships ballast and one when the St Lawrence Seaway opened in the 1950's. Both of those are and have been decimating the natural fish stock.