Have You Seen Us?

Have You Seen Us? Smooth Green Snake Eastern Hog‐nosed Snake found in grassy places where their color makes them difficult to see found in sandy, gravely soils such as open fields, river valleys, pine forests Photo from www.herpnet.net Photo from http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/reptiles/pages/hognose.htm Eastern Ribbon Snake below Found in wet meadows and fields, especially near the edges of lakes, ponds, streams, and marshes. Photo from www.uga.edu Eastern Musk Turtle left and right: found along muddy slow moving rivers Photo left and right from fwie.fw.vt.edu Spotted Turtle: found in shallow well vegetated wetlands Northern Leopard Frog : found in floodplain areas Photo from dnr.wi.gov www.jamesriverpark.org Photo from www.montgomerycountymd.gov PLEASE NOTE: Below is the Northern Garter Snake, it looks a lot like the Ribbon Snake doesn’t it? How to tell the difference? Generally, A Ribbon Snake has A thin body. Garter snakes’ bodies are described as “stockier” when compared to ribbon snakes. A long tail. Ribbon snakes’ tails are one-third or more of their total length; garter snakes’ tails are generally one-quarter or less of their total length. Narrower heads than garter snakes’ heads. Side stripes on the third and fourth scale rows. Most garter snakes have their side stripes on the second and third scale rows; some have them on the second, third and fourth scale rows. Unmarked labial scales. Ribbon snakes’ lips are pure white; garter snakes have dark marks along the edges of each labial scale. A white spot in front of the eye; garter snakes don’t have one. Photo from http://vbsf.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=13122 Below, an excerpt taken from http://www.gartersnake.info/articles/001690_telling_garter_snake.phtml : “ In 2003, while taking part in a survey of a population of Spotted Turtles in and around a provincial park,2 we encountered a young Northern Ribbon Snake, Thamnophis sauritus septentrionalis, and a young Eastern Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis, in close proximity to one another: The ribbon snake is below and facing right; the garter snake is above and facing left. You can see some of the differences: the narrower head and body, for example, and the cleaner pattern (ribbon snakes usually don’t have markings between their stripes). But when we take a closer look at their heads, you can see even more of the characteristics that tell them apart. As you can see, the garter snake does not have a white spot in front of its eye. And take a look at its labial scales — i.e., the scales along its upper lip: dark markings between the scales that make each scale stand out. The ribbon snake, on the other hand, clearly has a white spot in front of its eye. (Racers also have this, by the way.) And there are no dark markings on its labial scales at all. I think that it’s their faces, more than anything else, that make it easier to tell these two species apart at a glance. After all, garters can be skinny and ribbons can get fat (or at least pregnant), and snakes can always lose parts of their tails, but garters won’t grow white spots in front of their eyes and ribbons won’t grow dark marks along their lips.” Below is the Pickerel Frog, it looks a lot like the Leopard Frog doesn’t it? How to tell the difference? Take a look at the spots, the Pickerel Frog has spots that are more rectangular in shape as opposed to the Leopard Frog that has circular spots. Photo from http://www.pbase.com/rcm1840/image/32058497 .

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