The plight of the Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) across its range has been well documented, particularly in the midwest where it reaches it's western range limit. Here, it still occurs in small pockets of habitat in a fragmented and developed landscape. This is particularly true of Michigan, especially in the southeast part of the lower peninsula where the population center occurs. There are historic records for virtually every county in this region of the state, but because of urban sprawl most of these isolated populations have since become extirpated. Some property owners that I know in southeast Michigan had mentioned some peculiar looking turtles in the past and on a warm spring day, Jason Folt and I were given the opportunity to go check out the area. We were led to a large ephemeral wetland which was connected to a larger ditch. We split up and carefully checked the edges of the wetland for basking turtles.
Although spotties usually inhabit high quality fens and other wetlands in Michigan, they can also be found in temporary wetlands such as ditches and vernal pools. Usually these temporary sites which they utilize in the spring are close to a larger patch of habitat with a more permanent water source, but this was not the case with this particular area. This area is highly fragmented with lots of houses and agricultural fields, the only good source of water was the deeper ditch that this wetland connected to. It's likely that the turtles at this location stay active until the main ditch becomes dry and then simply estivate for the hottest parts of the year. As we were walking the edge of the wetland, I noticed the glare of a dark carapace basking near the edge of the wetland.
I gave Jason a shout and he made his way over to observe the turtle. It was an adult male, and probably a fairly old fella based on this completely smooth carapace. We took a quick look at him and then set up shop for a brief photo session. As you can see from the photo below, the majority of this area is a forest wetland with scattered logs and cattails.
Spotted Turtle - Clemmys guttata
A good looking turtle no doubt, but a more exciting find due to the area we were in. This was the third turtle that the property owners have seen this spring, all have been males. Earlier in the week, they had found a much younger looking animal in comparison to the one we found, which gives the hope that there could be some reproduction going on at this site.
A female or juvenile turtle would be an even more exciting find, but the fact that a state Threatened species exists in this fragmented area of southeast Michigan at all is exciting as well. It's also comforting that this small relict population exists a on property where the landowners are not only conscious about this species being here, but also passionate about preserving it. As always, I'd like to thank the property owners for their hospitality and allowing us to come out to see these animals, it was a real treat.
For the second year in a row, spring has been peculiar here in Michigan. In 2012, warm temperatures in the 80s arrived in mid March and were followed by a long, cold April which not only threw the herps for a loop, but also devastated crop yield for farmers. If that wasn't enough, the summer brought record high temperatures and one of the worst droughts the midwest has seen in more than fifty years. This year, it has been the exact opposite. Midway through the month of April, temperatures continue to be considerably lower than average and snow fell late this past week. The long term forecast shows cool, cloudy weather for the foreseeable future as well. It may be late April or early May until most of our snakes begin to wake up. But the cool, rainy weather we've had over the past few weeks has finally brought out the amphibians. We haven't had any huge migration nights, but sporadic movements of smaller numbers. On the last day of March, we had some light rain throughout the late afternoon which tapered off just before evening. I met up with a few friends to check a few locations in hopes of seeing tigers out and about. Although we didn't see any moving on roads, we did find a handful in a few breeding pools including this gorgeous gravid female.
This was a large individual, approaching ten inches in length and fat with eggs. She was sharing a decent sized pool with one or two other tigers and a handful of blue-spots. Cold weather returned over the next week or so, but last Monday a massive system began to move through the midwest and dropped heavy rain during the day. The rain tailed off during the day and turned to a light drizzle in the central part of the state after dark. After watching Michigan come up a little short in the NCAA national title game, I decided to go clear my head for a half hour or so. Temperatures were steady around 40 degrees with a light drizzle and I was suprised to find this male spotted salamander crossing a road.
Spotted Salamander - Ambystoma maculatum
It was nice to a salamander active this far north despite the reports of slow activity downstate. I ended up calling it quits shortly after because class in the morning. Tuesday brought more heavy rain to the northern reaches of the state, and it again tailed off right around sunset. My friend Joe, a geology major at Central, had been asking if he could get out with me one night so we met up and cruised for a little bit. We saw big numbers of Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica) on the roads and managed to cruise up two salamanders, including this large gravid female.
Spotted Salamander - Ambystoma maculatum
A nice looking salamander for this part of the state, but still not as nice as some I've seen downstate. I had been keeping an eye on a large storm that had moved across the plains and was forecasted to bring heavy rains to Michigan. Thunderstorms pounded the southern reaches of the state for the majority of the day, so I ended up driving to meet Jason Folt right around dusk. I decided to check out a vernal pool while I was waiting for him to arrive and managed to dipnet this adult male newt.
Eastern Newt - Notophthalmus viridescens
The jaw of this newt seemed a little odd in appearance, perhaps an old injury that just happened to heal in an odd position to give it a bulldog mug. Jason arrived a short time later and we spent a few minutes shining the edges of the pool for salamanders. We saw a handful of salamanders, including this stunner which I decided to grab for a few quick photos.
Spotted Salamander - Ambystoma maculatum
Many
individuals from southern Michigan exhibit the orange head spots seen
on this specimen, this was a really classic looking maculatum in my opinion. The spots were large and nicely arranged in two rows, sometimes you see this species with scattered small spots and they're not as nice looking. After shooting a few shots of this guy, we left to meet up with John Clare, a salamander enthusiast from Ohio to look for tiger salamanders. John is a fantastic photographer, check out his photostream. We drove west to some state land to check some pools there. Our first stop was at a large vernal pool that one of John's friends had told us about. We walked a short distance from the road and arrived at the pool, we ended up finding a few salamanders migrating towards the pond in the leaf litter during the light drizzle.
Spotted Salamander - Ambystoma maculatum
Unisexual Ambystoma - Ambystoma sp.
The spotted salamander was a unique find for Jason and I, as we spend a lot of time in this particular state recreation area and despite fantastic woodland habitat, had not seen a maculatum here until this night. We snapped a few photos and then moved on to a large wetland that Jason had been told about. Unfortunately, we only found two dead tiger salamanders. One had appeared to have been stepped on, while the other had minimal physical damage but had definitely been dead for a day or two. We decided to move on and check a small pool which we've seen tigers in the past and quickly turned up a few tigers and a handful of egg masses.
Despite being incredibly uncooperative, I managed to get this young male to sit still just long enough to fire this shot. It was late and we decided to part ways with John and his guys. As we were leaving, the rain began to pick up. Jason and I checked the radar and were elated to see a large thunderstorm system moving into the area. We decided to suck up the late hours and drive some new roads in hopes of seeing stuff on the move. The storm hit with force. Heavy rain and wild lightning dominated the rest of the night, and despite the temperature only being in the high 30s, we managed to find gummy lizards on the roads.
It was a late night that produced good numbers of these guys out and could be the last big hurrah of the salamander season in Michigan. We do have more rain in the forecast, but I'm holding out for a warm sunny day to get out for snakes. We shall see, this April has felt more like early March than anything else and the long term forecast doesn't look good. Stay tuned, hopefully winter will finally let go of the wolverine state for good.
A recent paper that was publishes in Conservation Biology attempts to reexamine the use of the minimum viable population (MVP) concept in terms of managing turtle populations. Shoemaker et al. 2013 addresses the prevalence of this model and it's role in making management decisions with endangered species, particularly the Bog Turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii). Shoemaker and his colleagues argue that the MVP thresholds may be 1-2 orders too high for long-lived organisms like turtles. They also assert that protection of small and fragmented populations may constitute a viable a conservation option for these species, especially in a fragmented metapopulation context. It's worth a read, leave some feedback and opinions about it.
Although we had a quick tease of the onset of spring here in Michigan about two weeks ago, winter seems to have a firm grasp on the Great Lakes basin for now. Yesterday marked the first official day of spring, and it was accompanied by high temperatures in the 20s with snow flurries. This is still normal by Michigan standards and I've simply become spoiled with the unusually early springs we've had the past few years. But before the spring hits Michigan and I get backlogged, I'd like to take a look back at my annual trip to Florida in the first week of March. I arrived to cool temperatures, in fact, the average temperatures during my visit were in the high 60s and low 70s, fairly cool for Florida at this time of the year. On my first full day in the state, I decided to head out to a coastal area that I've visited before in hopes of seeing an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.
Most of this area consists of coastal slash pine forests, coastal prairies, and salt marshes. The sandy soils in these habitats are ideal for the Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), a species I've seen plenty of times in the past, but was unable to see one outside of its burrow on this trip. Another species is also particularly common in this part of the country and also excavates its own burrow in the loose, sandy soil. While walking along a dense patch of saw palmetto, I heard movement and decided to stop and try and figure out exactly what was nearby.
This Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) emerged shortly after and was clearly foraging around the bases of the saw palmetto and small clumps of grass for insects and other invertebrates. Armadillos have poor eyesight, and as long as you don't make any sudden movements, they are usually fairly unaware to your presence. This guy came within a few inches of my left foot and then moved on. As I pressed on, the heat of the day began to pick up. I had a brief encounter with what I believe to be my first Eastern Coachwip (Masticophis flagellum), it was crossing the trail about 30 yards ahead of me and before I could even think about making a run for it, it disappeared into the brush off the side of the trail. No rattlesnakes were seen on this trip, likely due to the cooler temperatures. My good friend Chris Boguslawski arrived late that night to central Florida, and the next morning we were on our way to the southern half of the state. A brief stop to flip some cover north of the big lake yielded lots of these sharp looking lizards.
Many of the individuals we saw at this location were adult males that were sporting their breeding colors, like the one shown above. Many of the skink species which inhabit the eastern United States exhibit this "red-headed" look during the breeding season including the skinks we have in Michigan. A few more stops at flipping sites yielded nothing but fire ants and a few large rats, I'm not sure on what species they were. We arrived to the southern part of the state around 11am, and we set out. Chris's main targets for this trip were an alligator and a cottonmouth as he had never been further south than southern Illinois. We swung by a popular spot and got his first target knocked off the list.
American Alligators - Alligator mississippiensis
Chris was elated to see his first alligators in the wild, and was surprised with just how many we saw. This large wetland complex is home to large numbers of alligators and is also a large rookery for anhingas and double-crested cormorants. While we were exploring the area, we noticed our first snake of the trip taking shelter in the crumbling foundation of a foot bridge.
Brown Water Snake - Nerodia taxispilota
This large Nerodia species is among the largest water snakes which inhabit North America, the only other species which is larger is the Florida Green Water Snake (Nerodia floridana). I carefully extracted this snake for a few quick photos and then let him go right back to where we had found him. Chris had also mentioned interest about seeing crocodiles, so we headed further south to the mangroves. Along the way, we cruised up a large Everglades Racer (Coluber constrictor paludicola) which got off the road before we could get to it, but a short time later we cruised up this little snake.
Of the ribbon snakes which occur east of the Mississippi, this subspecies is probably the least attractive. Even so, they are always a cool little snake to see while in Florida. After a very brief photo session, we let the snake go and continued further south. The road was littered with DORs, likely due to the changing weather conditions, as a low pressure system was supposed to move in over night. When we arrived in the mangroves, it didn't take long for us to spot a few crocs.
American Crocodiles - Crocodylus acutus
American crocodiles have made a remarkable comeback in southern Florida thanks for conservation efforts and protection under the ESA. We also saw one or two patrolling a nearby canal but were unable to get any good photos due to the thick mangroves. It was now the mid afternoon and temperatures had risen above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, so we decided to explore some of the coastal prairies and mangroves in the area.
The coastal prairies and scattered brackish lakes and inlets provide excellent habitat for a variety of wildlife species. Several large snake species including Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes (Crotalus adamanteus) inhabit these habitats where they hunt rodents and rabbits. Unfortunately, the invasive Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus) also is known to haunt these areas as well. As we were walking a trail through a denser patch of mangroves, I was being sure to keep my eye on the patches of dappled sunlight at the base of the mangroves. As we rounded a corner in the trail, a large caramel yellow shape caught my eye. It was a massive Florida Kingsnake, a brooksi, the first one I had seen since my first trip to southern Florida back in 2008. I was somehow able to get the guys' attention despite being incredibly excited, and as I made a run for her she disappeared into some thick underbrush. After a few minutes of digging around in the dense stuff, Chris called out that he had a visual on her and he was able to flush her right into my hands.
Florida Kingsnake - Lampropeltis getula floridana
I love kingsnakes. But the kings that inhabit the southern tip of Florida are in a league of their own. The caramel yellow, faint banding, and highly speckled appearance are just incredible, photos do not do these snakes justice. This was a large female, probably over five in length, one of the more impressive snakes I've seen in the field over the past few years. This species is a large, powerful constrictor which primarily feeds on rodents, especially wood rats. They may occasionally take larger prey such as rattlesnakes. This snake was once more common in southern Florida, but commercial and private collectors have diminished their numbers due to their popularity in the pet trade. The snake is still locally common in some places, but it is not encountered as frequently as it used to be. We spent a few minutes simply admiring this beautiful snake and then let her on her way. In my opinion, these snakes are so much more impressive in their natural habitat than they are in a cage. If you see one, let it on its way. Went spent the next few hours traversing some more habitat but came up empty handed. The sun was starting to get low, so we set out for some road cruising. Just before sundown, I spotted this little garter snake peeking onto the road.
I like the look of garter snakes the further south you get in their range in comparison to the ones found in Michigan. We snapped some quick photos of this little fella and then continued on. We stumbled across a few DORs here and there right around sunset, and then just after dark, we cruised up our second AOR snake of the evening.
Yellow Rat Snake - Pantherophis quadrivittatus
Yellow rats are always a treat. This sub-adult was about two feet in length and was just beginning to lose it's juvenile patterning. Rat snakes from this region of Florida seem to feature more orange than their counterparts further north in the state. The Everglades Rat Snake (Pantherophis quadrivittatus rossaleni) was once recognized as a subspecies of the Yellow Rat Snake due to its bright orange coloration and lack of striping, but the validity of the subspecies came into debate soon after it was described in 1949. Either way, it was a sharp looking snake that was a lifer for Chris and an always welcome find for me. Shortly after letting this snake go, we cruised a handful of Nerodia including a large DOR Florida Green Water Snake (Nerodia floridana) and this guy, who was extremely sluggish but did not appear to have any physical trauma.
Florida Water Snake - Nerodia fasciata pictiventris
We saw a handful of others in a brief stretch of road. One of Chris's biggest targets for this trip to Florida was to see a cottonmouth. So we decided to get out on foot and walk some cypress domes in the dark in hopes of seeing a few, which I assured him would be no problem. After a few minutes of trudging around in darkness, my headlamp caught a bit of patterning coiled next to a cypress knee.
This large adult was more than happy to sit still for a few photos. The temperature had dropped rapidly due t the arrival of the cold front, so this snake was a little sluggish and did not attempts to gape even once. There was also a juvenile cottonmouth that was active in a small pool nearby, and we found two adults coiled underneath and overhanging bank near a small pool as well.
Temps dropped off enough the end activity for the night, so we packed up and headed back north to try our luck in central Florida the next day. Chris and I slept in a bit and then decided to poke around some areas in central Florida, the cold front had brought a chill once again and temperatures were only supposed to reach the high 60s. We started our day at a preserve in central Florida which contains a large wetland complex that is home to a myriad of bird species and a good amount of aquatic snakes. Here's a few photos of some various fauna we saw throughout the wetlands.
Peninsula Cooters - Pseudemys peninsularis
Purple Gallinule - Porphyrio martinicus
Blue-winged Teals - Anas discors
Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea
Green Heron - Butorides virescens
We didn't see any snakes at this location unfortunately, though I've seen many here in the past. While we were walking down an elevated dyke which separates two management tools from one another, we heard a loud cracking sound from above us. A large cypress tree that was at least forty feet in height came crashing down 10-15 feet in front of where we were walking. We had taken a few steps back as soon as we heard the cracking sound, not knowing what it was. I'm glad we did.
The sound of the crashing tree caused birds to scatter across the marsh. The fallen tree had made the trail impassible as you can see above, so we decided to head out and try our luck at a new location. The cool temperatures were pretty ideal for snakes to be out basking, just not for anything to be moving about too much. We did eventually get our hands on this racer which was basking at the edge of a large saw palmetto thicket.
Southern Black Racer - Coluber constrictor priapus
With the exception of this snake and the ass end of a gopher tortoise, we struck out at this location as well. We headed a little further north to some state forest land to walk some habitat and flip cover. We found a large amount of boards to flip, but we were unable to find any herps under cover or out in habitat. However, we did manage to flip this cool little arachnid.
Hentz Striped Scorpion - Centruroides hentzi
These small scorpions are one of a few species which inhabit Florida. This species gets its name from the three orange stripes which run down the middle of the body. Its sting is no worse than that of a bee, but it's still something I didn't want to experience first hand. Although the cool temperatures during the week had kept numbers of snakes to a minumum, I still had a fantastic time in the field with Chris. The highlight of the week was definitely the kingsnake, a truly impressive snake to meet in the field. March is drawing to an end here in Michigan and warm weather is on the horizon, stay tuned for the spring salamander migrations.
After returning from a week long trip to Florida; while I'll post about soon, signs of spring are beginning to show in Michigan. Temperatures over the weekend were in the high 50s and on Sunday night some rains moved through the lower peninsula. Though it wasn't heavy enough for big migrations, I met Jason Folt in the central lower peninsula for a night of poking around to see if anything was out and moving. After a quick look through the Michigan gazetteer and a look at the radar, we set out for the night. We had two companions for the night, Cid and Joy. Here's where Cid spent the majority of the night, eagerly watching the road between Jason and I around the center console.
The weather was fairly drizzly at first, but the rain intensifies as the night went on. We stopped at a few roadside pools to see if anything had moved in, but all of the ones we stopped at we're still frozen. We figured that if we did find any salamanders, it would where one was crossing a road. As we turned down a road, Jason spotted this sluggish blue-spotted thing out for a stroll.
Unisexual Hybrid Salamander - Ambystoma sp.
This little thing was extremely cold and made a slow exit off the road after we snapped a few voucher photos. We were on the board. We drove on in hopes of seeing several more out on the move, but the next few hours spent stopping for the occasional leaf which looked strikingly like a tiger salamander, our target species. A jaunt down a road which has a construction sign which read "Road Closed Ahead" turned to be quite treacherous as the snow melt had made the dirt road a quicksand pit. We pressed on through on and off rain and decided to throw in the towel and drive back to our rendezvous point where I had left my car. As we were passing through an open agricultural area at around 2:15 AM, we noticed movement ahead of us on the road.
We had hit paydirt, this lovely tiger salamander was making his way across the road. There was quite a bit of excitement outside of the car after since driving several hours with only a blue-spot thing to show for had been the way the night was going to end. The interesting thing about this salamander is that is was found crossing a road through an agricultural area of the corn desert of the southern lower peninsula.
Throughout their range, tiger salamanders are known to inhabit some dry, harsh environments. The grasslands of the Great Plains, the deserts of Arizona & New Mexico, and the corn deserts of the Midwest. The amount of land that has been cleared for agricultural operations in the Midwest has created vast areas of open land with low moisture, high temperatures, and high erodibility. This has created a man-made "desert" which tigers have been able to survive in just like they have elsewhere in their range. It seems that the tiger salamanders which are found in these areas are utilizing cattle ponds for breeding sites. The large size of the larva of this species makes them more adept at surviving in aquatic environments where small fish species are found. In some cases this specie may exhibit neoteny, especially in environments with low moisture availability. In any case, this salamander was a wonderful way to open the spring in Michigan. Stay tuned for more amphibian expeditions in the coming weeks.
