Snake!!!!
- Thread starter Teegate
- Start date
Wow! A real Cottonmouth! We have fake ones here.Ours are not venomous but they definitely stink worse.Their musk is deadly.
Last time I seen areal one outside of a zoo was when I lived in Florida as a kid.It got into the river before I could catch it.I was not real smart as a twelve year old.Not much better now
Last time I seen areal one outside of a zoo was when I lived in Florida as a kid.It got into the river before I could catch it.I was not real smart as a twelve year old.Not much better now
Ro found this incredible clip about a frog species that is stone cold frozen in winter, with zero heartbeat, yet wakes up and lives come spring. She tells me species maps have it in Jersey.
Please see: <http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2...pr&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_content=03222014>
Please see: <http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2...pr&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_content=03222014>
Hi Johnny B ,
Thanks for sharing .Fascinating info . Yes Wood frogs are common in NJ , NY & PA , but not in the "core " Pines for some reason( My personal experience ) . Very common in NY , especially the Adirondacks .They are supposed to be common here in Monmouth County , have yet to see one for some reason . I would be inclined to believe they are probably found in Salem and Cumberland counties .Maybe the Pines are a bit too acidic ?? Maybe i'm wrong
Joe
Thanks for sharing .Fascinating info . Yes Wood frogs are common in NJ , NY & PA , but not in the "core " Pines for some reason( My personal experience ) . Very common in NY , especially the Adirondacks .They are supposed to be common here in Monmouth County , have yet to see one for some reason . I would be inclined to believe they are probably found in Salem and Cumberland counties .Maybe the Pines are a bit too acidic ?? Maybe i'm wrong
Joe
Wood frogs are quite common down here in mud puddles far from any perennial water and in hollow stumps with water in them.For some reason though I never hear them call.Never got a recording of them when Whip was doing the recording thing.Hi Johnny B ,
Thanks for sharing .Fascinating info . Yes Wood frogs are common in NJ , NY & PA , but not in the "core " Pines for some reason( My personal experience ) . Very common in NY , especially the Adirondacks .They are supposed to be common here in Monmouth County , have yet to see one for some reason . I would be inclined to believe they are probably found in Salem and Cumberland counties .Maybe the Pines are a bit too acidic ?? Maybe i'm wrong
Joe
Here you go Johnny B. Toads in solid stone still alive. makes you wonder how they lasted for millions of years.
http://paranormal.about.com/od/earthmysteries/a/aa011704.htm
Spring peepers and gray treefrogs can withstand freezing as well. I am not sure about this but it's possible that one or both of the chorus frog species do as well. IIRC, the mechanism begins with a response similar to an adrenaline rush, the liver converting glucose and firing it into the cell to act as antifreeze and reverse the pressure to suck water out. There are proteins outside the cell that act as nucleation sites so that ice crystals form. I recently read a book called 'Winter World' that talked about it. This kind of stuff blows me away, it's incredible.
many insects supposedly have chemicals in their blood that are used to make antifreeze.Thats how they can hibernate under flakes of bark and leaves without freezing and bursting blood cells.
Re previous posts about ring necked snake: I sent Karl Anderson the info about its being venomous, and he responded with some comments you may find interesting:
Ringnecked isnt a snake I've seen very often. Nice little creature. At one time or other I've had I think seven spp. of snakes as "pets" or as display animals at the nature center, but never that one. Constrictor and venomous too? Hmm. Seems to me that I've seen non-constrictors throw a loop of body over a prey item to just kind of immobilize it, but without applying any real pressure; I wouldn't call that constricting. But on the way to evolving the behavior. I would like to watch a ringnecked take down a lizard. But the venom? Ah, that's a new one on me. Never knew that. Should have known, its been known for a long time. Hog nose snakes have the same mechanism - grooved teeth in the rear of the mouth that channel a venom. No elaborate fangs like a pit viper. And out west there are at least half a dozen species - cat snake, night snake, etc, etc. as well as additional spp. of ringnecked and hog nosed that are rear-fanged. I would guess the venom is pretty specific to the prey. Short-tailed shrews have some similarly arrangement and I believe the venom is specific for earthworms.
Ringnecked isnt a snake I've seen very often. Nice little creature. At one time or other I've had I think seven spp. of snakes as "pets" or as display animals at the nature center, but never that one. Constrictor and venomous too? Hmm. Seems to me that I've seen non-constrictors throw a loop of body over a prey item to just kind of immobilize it, but without applying any real pressure; I wouldn't call that constricting. But on the way to evolving the behavior. I would like to watch a ringnecked take down a lizard. But the venom? Ah, that's a new one on me. Never knew that. Should have known, its been known for a long time. Hog nose snakes have the same mechanism - grooved teeth in the rear of the mouth that channel a venom. No elaborate fangs like a pit viper. And out west there are at least half a dozen species - cat snake, night snake, etc, etc. as well as additional spp. of ringnecked and hog nosed that are rear-fanged. I would guess the venom is pretty specific to the prey. Short-tailed shrews have some similarly arrangement and I believe the venom is specific for earthworms.
Our naturalist friend in NC, Signa Williams, just posted some snake pix from Merchants Mill Pond State Park, where some of us botanized last year, that are so good that, despite not being from our Pines, I felt needed to be shared here.
Top two: red bellied water snake, green tree frog, last: cottonmouth in pond (taken from kayak).
Nice pics Johnny. One way to tell the difference between water snakes and cottonmouths when swimming at a distance is that water snakes tend to swim with body submerged and head sticking out like a periscope whilst cottonmouths either swim on top like a float or they dive and go under water.No half way with them.
I love this herpetology thread! Outside of the pines, wood frogs are common in the Great Swamp NWS (as are spring peepers, green frogs, bullfrogs, Northern Water Snake, Garter Snake, Northern Brown Snake, Ribbon Snake, snapping turtles, spotted turtles and painted turtles).
I encountered a Timber Rattlesnake hiking with my son and dog last June above Buttermilk Falls in the Delaware Water Gap. It was hanging out right on the trail and was pressing into the rock, hoping we wouldn't notice him. We observed from a distance, snapped a few photos and left. Thank goodness my dog has no interest in cold-blooded creatures.
I encountered a Timber Rattlesnake hiking with my son and dog last June above Buttermilk Falls in the Delaware Water Gap. It was hanging out right on the trail and was pressing into the rock, hoping we wouldn't notice him. We observed from a distance, snapped a few photos and left. Thank goodness my dog has no interest in cold-blooded creatures.
my dog terrorizes box turtles. She picks them up weather live or dead and brings them to me and if I set them back down she picks them up again.Mommy (My Wife) loves turtle shells and praises her when she brings them to us so she is a box turtle/shell vacumn cleaner.I hear her scratching them from a distance and know one is about to come my way.I have a pile of shells at home.If It's alive I have to throw a stick and tell her "git it" and then set the turtle down and walk rapidly away from the area and she will forget about it.
Easy to see why so many people around here confuse the water moccasin with the northern water snake, very similar dark colors. Easiest way for me to differ is that we dont have the moccasins here, but people will swear we do.
Yes the bodies are very similar.The heads look nothing alike but most folks don't get close enough to see the head well befoe they have either killed it with a stick or their running the other way.Tip off for a Moccasin is the white stripe through the eye and the very triangular head also the attitude.A water snake will run given the chance where often a Moccasin will choose to stand it's ground and display it's signature Cottonmouth.And yes I have long since learned to quit arguing with folks who insist we have Water Moccasins.I once even goaded one into biting me to prove it was not a venemous snake and they claimed oh okay thats just a water snake but we still have Moccasins around here.PS it didn't take much goading