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B838: the Amphibians and Reptiles of Maine Malcolm L The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Bulletins Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station 7-1992 B838: The Amphibians and Reptiles of Maine Malcolm L. Hunter Jr. John Albright Jane Arbuckle Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_bulletin Recommended Citation Hunter Jr., M.L., J. Albright, and J. Arbuckle, eds. 1992. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Maine. Maine Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 838. This Report is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Bulletins by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Tbe ~ ,Amphibians I and Reptiles of Maine The Amphibians and Reptiles of Maine edited by Malcolm L. Hunter, Jr. John Albright Jane Arbuckle Illustrated by Mark McCollough THE MAINE AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE ATLAS PROJECT In collaboration with the Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Maine Audubon Society Maine Natural Heritage Program Department of Economic and Community Development The Nature Conservancy, Maine Chapter Wildlife Department University of Maine Bulletin 838 July 1992 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION UNIVERSITY OF MAINE ORONO ME 04469 Available from: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife State House Station 41 Augusta Maine 04333 Proceeds from the sale of this book will be used for reptile and amphibian conservation work in Maine. Suggested citation: Hunter, M.L., J. Albright, and J. Arbuckle (editors). 1992. The amphibians and reptiles of Maine. Maine Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 838. 188pp. Copyright is claimed on the illustrations in the present work. ©Mark McCollough, 1992. All rights reserved. CONTENTS Preface ............................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgments ........................................................................... 2 Introduction An Introduction to Amphibians ...................................................... 5 An Introduction to Reptiles ............................................................. 7 Maine's Environment as Habitat for Amphibians and Reptiles ............................................................................... 9 A Checklist of Maine Amphibians and Reptiles .......................... 11 The Range Maps ............................................................................. 13 Salamanders Mudpuppy ...................................................................................... 15 Blue-Spotted Salamander .............................................................. 19 Spotted Salamander ....................................................................... 25 Eastern Newt .................................................................................. 29 Dusky Salamander ......................................................................... 33 Two-Lined Salamander .................................................................. 36 Spring Salamander ......................................................................... 39 Four-Toed Salamander .................................................................. 42 Redback Salamander ...................................................................... 46 Frogs and Toads American Toad ............................................................................... 51 Gray Treefrog ...................................................... ........................... 56 Spring Peeper .................................................................................. 61 Bullfrog ............................................................................................ 66 Green Frog ...................................................................................... 70 Pickerel Frog ................................................................................... 74 Northern Leopard Frog ................................................................. 77 Mi nk Frog ......... ............................................................................... 82 Wood Frog ...................................................................................... 86 Turtles Snapping Turtle .............................................................................. 92 Common Musk Turtle .................................................................... 97 Painted Turtle ............................................................................... 101 Spotted Turtle ............................................................................... 105 Wood Turtle .................................................................................. 108 Blanding's Turtle .......................................................................... 112 Eastern Box Turtle ............. ........................................................... 116 Marine Turtles of the Gulf of Maine .......................... ................. 120 Snakes Racer ......................................... ..................................................... 125 Ringneck Snake .......... .......... ........... .. .......................................... .. 128 Milk Snake ............................................................... ..................... 131 Northern Water Snake ............................................... .................. 134 Smooth Green Snake .................................................................... 138 Brown Snake ......................... .............. .......................................... 141 Redbelly Snake ................... ................ , .... ..................................... 144 Ribbon Snake ................................................................................ 147 Common Garter Snake ................................... , ............................ 150 Timber Rattlesnake .................... .............................................. .... 154 Finding and Conserving Maine's Amphibians and Reptiles Finding and Enjoying Amphibians and Reptiles ........ ............ ... 158 Hypotheticals, Accidentals, and other Oddities .. ...................... 160 Methods of the Maine Amphibian and Reptile Atlas Project, MARAP ..... .............................................................................. .. 163 The Distribution and Abundance of Amphibians and Reptiles in Maine .................... .................................................. 166 Conservation of Maine's Amphibians and Reptiles ................ .. 170 Appendices Literature Cited and Bibliography of Maine Herpetology ....... 175 Glossary ........................................................................................ 187 Wanted: More Information about Maine's Amphibians and Reptiles .............................................................................. 188 PREFACE These foul and loathsome animals are abhorrent because of their cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive voice, squalid habita­ tion, and terrible venom; and so their Creator has not exerted his powers to make many of them. This statement by Carl Linnaeus, perhaps the most famous biologist of the 18th century, may seem long on strong adjectives and short on facts, but it clearly shows that amphibians and reptiles were not well regarded in Linnaeus' day. How much has changed in 200 years? Despite the popularity of Kermit the Frog and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, most people harbor little affection for these creatures. Even the collective nickname currently used by naturalists-"herps," from herpetology-seems to echo the foulness suggested by Linnaeus. Ignorance breeds contempt, which breeds further ignorance. We know little about herps because we find them contemptible; it is easy to dismiss them as contemptible because they are often nocturnal or subterranean, thus we rarely see them. It was ignorance about the herps of Maine that, in 1984, catalyzed the efforts that ultimately produced this book. That year Maine's biologists were faced with decisions about which of Maine's vertebrate animals should be listed as endangered or threatened under the state's new Endangered Species Act. It was obvious that there was not enough information about Maine's herps to make informed decisions so John Albright, Jane Arbuckle, and I decided to initiate the Maine Amphibian and Reptile Atlas Project, or MARAP, with the support of our organizations (the Natural Heritage Program of The Nature Conservancy, the Maine Audubon Society, and the University of Maine Wildlife Department, respec­ tively) and the assistance ofthe Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund of the Maine Department ofInland Fisheries and Wildlife. Patterned after the recently completed Maine Breeding Bird Atlas Project, this effort would use volunteers distributed throughout the state to document the distribution of herps over a five-year span. The project was successful. Over 250 people responded to our call for volunteers, received an instruction man ual, "A preliminary guide to finding and identifying the amphibians and reptiles of Maine," and were soon mailing in cards recording where and when they found herps. The first two years were the most productive, and we were able to make some reasonable decisions about which species should be listed as endangered or threatened. In the last three years of the project the number of record cards submitted declined,
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