Weekend Work - Wood Turtles and Morgan County - Orleans Rd

On Saturday I headed up to my old Wood Turtle haunt. Caught two of the animals that were part of my thesis research and installed a trail camera. I look forward to a future where I can confidently know how many turtles utilize the study site. le sigh...

The only other herp out and about was a Northern Red Salamander under one of my coverboards. The Wood Frog and Spotted Salamander eggs were already laid in the vernal pools.

Northern Red Salamander

Powerline right of way

I spent some time on Sunday scoping out the only part of the state where Corn Snakes are found. I went out on Sunday and the weather was unseasonable hot at 85 degrees. I didn't see any snakes of the corny flavor nor any other flavor. I hiked around Eidolon Nature Preserve. I saw a Green Frog in a spring and a crayfish. Not a whole lot else to speak of. The preserve is on top of a mountain and while its very natural, it doesn't have much access to water. Therefore, I'm not sure how good its going to be for snakes in general.
The powerline right of way has more promise but will see when the May-June breeding time comes a-calling.

It looks like the next ten days are going to be a bit on the chilly side. Hopefully, herping will still be productive.

C&O Canal continued...

The weather was descent  today and the dogs were ready to go.

"Get in! There's no time to explain!"

We farted around some old ruined buildings, just south of Shepherdstown.

Scared some Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) out of a flooded quarry. The dogs eliminated any chance I would of had to get a shot of them.

Played around in a spring house.

There were some Two-Lined Salamanders (Eurycea b. bislineata) larvae, a Pickerel (Lithobates palustris), a Redback  (Plethodon cinereus), few unidentified salamanders I didn't get around to catching, and a bluish crayfish I also didn't get around to catching. It's a promising spot that I hope to return to when there's less dog shenanigans.

Dog shenanigans.

Larval Two-Lined Salamander

Skinny Pickerel

Redback Salamander

Also heard a raven calling from atop the railroad bridge...

It was a solid day, but the dogs didn't help much.

About Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum)

Comic credit goes to this site.

Spotted Salamanders are one of the most common ambystomids. I've only seen them run in the Eastern Panhandle once. It was on March 27th of the year. It wasn't a rainy night if I recall correctly, but it was pretty warm. I saw the spotties in a permanent pond in Sleepy Creek that just happens to be fishless (no connecting streams).
I've caught them in drift fences more often than any other ambystomid and almost as often as Red Efts (Notophthalmus v. viridescens).  But this next one was under a coverboard.

Spotted Salamander larvae (and most likely other ambystomid salamander larvae, and other candidates) also have  an interesting mutualistic relationship with  algae.
Now's the time to see these guys migrating to breeding ponds but if you miss that (awesome) event you can steal find the product of all that activity much easier.

Photo reference

Eggs are aggregated into globular masses that are surrounded by a clear mass of gelatinous membrane. The outer membrane will help you to determine if the egg mass if from Spotted Salamanders or Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus). Jelly on the outside = Spotted Salamander. Eggs on the edge of the mass = Wood Frogs.

C&O Canal in Maryland, Just across the river from Shepherdstown, WV

Went walking down along the C & O canal today. The weather was nice, and the sun was out, but there wasn't too much moving on the trails (besides the bikers and walkers). I heard a Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) croaking in a vernal pool.

Pinkish Wood Frog photographed a couple of years ago in Sleepy Creek WMA.

There was also what I think were Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) floating around in the Potomac River. A cormorant of some make or model flew over at some point as well. They have such a characteristic shape in flight. It's hard to mistake them for anything else.

Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)

Do these pixels resemble birds?

I'll probably need to invest in a better camera to do justice to the birds on the river.

On the topic of Corn Snakes (Pantherophis g. guttatus) in West Virginia....

A corny friend of mine.

Pantherophis guttatus guttatus
An attractive snake and one of the most common snakes kept in captivity. They're a dime of dozen animal, a normal hatchling can be purchased at a show for $15 or in wholesale lots for $3-4 each. In some parts of their range they are thick on the ground, much like Black Ratsnakes are in the Eastern Panahandle of WV. 
There are a grand total of 3 records for corn snakes in this WV. All of them in Morgan county, and all of them in the same general portion of the county. I've been roaming around the back roads of Morgan county at night for years, flipping stones along power line right of ways, and wading through dump sites, flipping mattresses and old lumber.  And I have yet to find the 4th record.
The corn snake is my white whale...

Don't let your eyes deceive you. This is a corn snake.

I've been publicly shamed for my failings when it comes to finding (or failing to find) this species of snake (Thanks, Dr. Pauley). I think this year might be my year. I' have a particular Nature Conservancy Park in mind that should be the jumping off point for my efforts. 

If anyone out there is reading this and has seen corn snakes in WV please email or comment.

Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis s. sirtalis): First snake of the season

My dog actually first stumbled across this snake. She was sitting in the horse field attempting to glean a little warmth from the sun. She was still running a little cold so she didn't put up too much of a fight when I went to pick her up. Usually garter snakes are quite flighty. She spent most of her time trying to hide her head, balling like a ball python. 

That tire that she fled into at the end of the video is covers the opening to a limestone conduit. Oh, the magic of karst!

Quagmire is the word that comes to mind when thinking of grad schools...

http://members.terracom.net/~dorothea/gradsch/straighttalk.html#tip1

If you read through the article, you will see why number three is a strong contender. The article is long but good.

Current top 3 contenders for grad school:
University of Florida - Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
University of Georgia - Ecology
A squishy place under a rock.


I just took my Evolution final today; my hand hurts.