SWCHR BULLETIN Volume 6, Issue 4 Winter 2016 ISSN 2330-6025 Conservation – Preservation – Education – Public Information Research – Field Studies – Captive Propagation The SWCHR BULLETIN is published quarterly by the SOUTHWESTERN CENTER FOR HERPETOLOGICAL RESEARCH 3600 FM 1488 Rd Ste 120-115, Conroe TX 77384 www.southwesternherp.com email: [email protected] ISSN 2330-6025 OFFICERS 2015-2016 COMMITTEE CHAIRS PRESIDENT AWARDS AND GRANTS COMMITTEE Tim Cole Gerald Keown VICE PRESIDENT COMMUNICATIONS COMMITEE Gerry Salmon Gerald Keown EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS COMMITTEE Gerald Keown [Vacant] BOARD MEMBERS AT LARGE NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE Toby Brock D. Craig McIntyre Gerald Keown Benjamin Stupavsky Robert Twombley Bill White MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE [Vacant] BULLETIN EDITOR Chris McMartin CONSERVATION COMMITTEE ASSOCIATE EDITOR Robert Twombley Tom Lott ABOUT SWCHR Originally founded by Gerald Keown in 2007, SWCHR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit association, governed by a board of directors and dedicated to promoting education of the Association’s members and the general public relating to the natural history, biology, taxonomy, conservation and preservation needs, field studies, and captive propagation of the herpetofauna indigenous to the American Southwest. THE SWCHR LOGO JOINING SWCHR There are several versions of the SWCHR logo, all featuring the For information on becoming a member please visit the Gray-Banded Kingsnake (Lampropeltis alterna), a widely-recognized membership page of the SWCHR web site at reptile native to the Trans-Pecos region of Texas as well as http://www.southwesternherp.com/join.html. adjacent Mexico and New Mexico. ON THE COVER: Balcones Barking Frog (Craugastor augusti latrans), Val Verde County, Texas (Kyle Elmore). With this photograph, Kyle won the SWCHR 2015 ©2016 Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research. The SWCHR Award for Excellence in Herpetological Photography. Bulletin may not be reproduced in whole or in part on any web site or in any other publication without the prior explicit written consent of the Southwestern Center BACKGROUND IMAGE: Gates’ Pass, Tucson Mountains, AZ (Bill White) for Herpetological Research and of the respective author(s) and photographer(s). SWCHR Bulletin 63 Winter 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS A Message from the President, Tim Cole 64 Synopsis of SWCHR Region Notes from 2016 Herpetological Review Issues, Robert Twombley 65 A Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei) County Record: the Story behind the Story (Lacertilia: Polychrotidae), Chris McMartin 67 Synopsis of Snakebite Cases in the Houston, Texas Area in 2016, Dr. Spencer Greene 74 Herping Regulations for States in the Southwestern Region, Part 2: California, Jim Bass 77 Book Review: Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition by Robert Powell, Roger Conant, and Joseph T. Collins, Review by Tom Lott 82 A CALL FOR PAPERS Are you a field herpetologist or a herpetoculturist (amateur or professional in either of those capacities) working with species native to the American Southwest? Do you have a paper or an article you have written for which you would like to find a permanent repository? Want to be assured you will always be able to share it with the world? Submit it to the SWCHR Bulletin for possible publication. Submitted manuscripts from SWCHR members, as well as non-members, will be considered. There are no page charges to have your articles appear in the SWCHR Bulletin, as some other publications now require. To be accepted for publication, submissions must deal with herpetological species native to the American Southwest. Such topics as field notes, county checklists, range extensions, taxonomy, reproduction and breeding, diseases, snake bite and venom research, captive breeding and maintenance, conservation issues, legal issues, etc. are all acceptable. For assistance with formatting manuscripts, contact us at the email address below. Previously published articles or papers are acceptable, provided you still hold the copyright to the work and have the right to re-publish it. If we accept your paper or article for publication, you will still continue to be the copyright holder. If your submission has been previously published, please provide the name of the publication in which it appeared along with the date of publication. All submissions should be manually proofed in addition to being spell checked and should be submitted by email as either Microsoft Word or text documents. Send submissions to [email protected]. SWCHR Bulletin 64 Winter 2016 A Message from the President Greetings! As 2016 closes out, I’m sure we are all thinking about what reptile-and-amphibian-related adventures lie ahead in the coming year. Looking back on the past twelve months, I hope you all have fond memories of being in the field and/or working with your animals. This issue of the SWCHR Bulletin features some familiar authors as well as new ones gracing our pages. We start off with Robert Twombley’s second annual recap of distribution records, natural history notes, and papers presented in this year’s issues of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles’ Herpetological Review which pertain to our six-state region of interest. Next, Bulletin editor Chris McMartin tells the “rest of the story” behind his own county-record submission to Herp Review. Reading Chris’s account and then referring back to Robert’s listings, it looks like our citizen-scientists in Nevada need to roll up their sleeves and start collecting more data! Being in the field, you never know what interesting and heretofore unreported species occurrences and behavior may be discovered. Dr. Spencer Greene then provides a synopsis of venomous snakebite in 2016 from southeastern Texas—bites seem to happen more often than you’d think, but fatalities nationwide are low, and thankfully nonexistent in Dr. Greene’s account. Continuing our state-by-state review of herp-related regulations for the SWCHR region of interest, Jim Bass provides our second installment addressing California. We round out this issue with another excellent book review by Tom Lott, this time examining the latest edition of the popular Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. SWCHR is always looking for people willing to author an article or two (or more!) for the Bulletin. Don’t worry if you think you lack the ability—your observations are important to share with our worldwide audience, and we can help polish up any rough edges in your submission. For details on the type of material we seek, see “A Call for Papers” on the Table of Contents page. The end of this year also marks the end of my term as President. I would like to thank the members and fellow board members for making it an enjoyable one, and I wish the incoming slate of officers well. Though I won’t have a leadership role I plan on remaining active in the organization as well as with all my other herp-related events and activities. I look forward to seeing you all at a show, festival, or in the field next year! SWCHR Bulletin 65 Winter 2016 Synopsis of SWCHR Region Notes from Saruomalus ater, Common Chuckwalla, Mono County (county record). (2) 2016 Herpetological Review Issues Xantusia vigilis, Desert Night Lizard, Mono County (county record). (3) Compiled by Robert Twombley Rena humilis humilis, Southwestern Threadsnake, Mono County (county record and northernmost localities for the species). (2) SWCHR publishes these abbreviated accounts of Geographical Rhinocheilus lecontei, Long-nosed Snake, Mono County (county Distribution, Natural History Notes, and Peer Reviewed record). (2) Publications, so our readers may be aware of these items pertaining to the herpetofauna of the American Southwest (Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and NEVADA Utah). Accounts are listed by state, then by class/order/suborder as follows: salamanders and newts, frogs (No distribution records published). and toads, turtles, lizards, and snakes. Only natural history notes observed in the SWCHR region of NEW MEXICO interest are included, though other observations may have been recorded from elsewhere in a given species’ range. Furthermore, Pseudemys gorzugi, Rio Grande Cooter, Chaves County (county this synopsis should not be considered authoritative—for the record). (4) full, original accounts, please see the four 2016 issues of Lampropeltis alterna, Gray-banded Kingsnake, Otero County Herpetological Review, published by the Society for the Study of (county record). (3) Amphibians and Reptiles (2016 was Volume 47 of Herpetological Review; issue number is appended to each listing below). TEXAS Geographic Distribution Hyla chrysoscelis, Cope’s Gray Treefrog, Medina County (county record). (1) ARIZONA Hyla squirella, Squirrel Tree Frog, Willacy County (county record). (3) Crotalus tigris, Tiger Rattlesnake, Pinal County (first record from Leptodactylus fragilis, Mexican White-lipped Frog, Zapata County San Tan Mountains). (2) (county record). (3) Micruroides euryxanthus, Sonoran Coralsnake, Yuma County Rhinella marina, Cane Toad, Willacy County (county record). (1) (county record). (4) Apalone spinifera, Spiny Softshell, Zavala County (county record). Phyllorynchus browni, Saddled Leaf-nosed Snake), Gila County (2) (county record). (2) Pseudemys nelsoni, Florida Red-bellied Cooter, Harris County Thamnophis eques, Mexican Gartersnake, Mohave County (first (county record; introduced). (2) records from the Big Sandy River and upper Bill Williams River