NEWSLETTER OF THE

MINNESOTA

HERPETOLOGICAL

SOCIETY

AUGUST 1995 VOLUME XV NUMBER 8 BELL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY to CHURCH STREET SOUTH EAST MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55455-0104

Do you ever have a question about one of your herps and wonder who might be able to provide an answer? 1vlost people who keep pets of any kind have been is this situation at one time or another. A group of MHS members has volunteered to provide assistance. Listed below are the people and their specialties. Please be reasonable about the time of day and how frequently you call,

Large pythons and constrictors Terrestrial turtles and tortoises Glen (Jake) Jacobsen 757-8268 John Moriarty 647-1334 Karl Hermann 730-6265 Ann POlwoll 489-7853

Othel' Snakes Glen (Jake) Jacobsen 757-8268

John Meltzer 263-7880 Aquatic Turtles John or Connie Levell 374-5422 Gary Ash 753-0218 Jeff LeClere 488-6388 John Levell 374-5422

Amphibians Minnesota Herps John Meltzer 263-7880 John Moriary 647-1334 Greg Kvanbek 533-7723 Greg K vanbek 533-7723

Jeff LeClere Lizards

488-6388

434-8684 Crocodilians Nancy Haig Bill Moss 488-1383 Jeff Lang (701) 772-0227

Adoption Contact Education Contact Sean Hewitt 935-5845 Glen (Jake) Jacobsen 757-8268

The purpose of the Minnesota Herpetological Society is: to further the education of the membership and the general public in care and captive propagation of reptiles and amphibians; to educate the membership and the general public in the ecological role of reptiles and amphibians; and to promote the study and conservation of reptiles and amphibians,

MHS VOICE MAIL PHONE NUMBER: 624 - 7065

MHS BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY RECORDING SECRETARY TREASURER NEWSLETTER EDITOR MEMBER-AT-LARGE MEMBER-AT-LARGE MEMBER-AT-LARGE MEMBER-AT-LARGE MEMBER-AT-LARGE

Bill Moss Greg Kvanbek George Richard Randy Blasus Marilyn Brooks John Levell Gary Ash Dan Bergquist Barbara Radanke James Rea Siri Rea

SNAKEBITE EMERGENCY

HENNEPIN REGIONAL POISON CENTER

MINNESOTA POISON CONTROL SYSTEM LOCAL OUT OF STATE

(612) 347-3141

(612) 221-2113 (800) 222-1222

(612) 488-1383 (612) 533-7723 (612) 623-7620 (612) 925-4237 (612) 925-4237 (612) 374-5422 (612) 753-0218 (612) 624-7065 (612) 291-1132 (612) 457-8107 (612) 457-4636

@ Copyright Minnesota Herpetological Society. The contents of this newsletter may be reproduced for inclusion in the newsletters of other herpetological societies provided that the material is reproduced without change and proper credits are given to the MHS Newsletter, citing, volume, number, and date.

MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Newsletter Volume XV Number 8 August 1995

CONTENTS

EditoriaL........................................................................................... 1 Upcoming Meeting Highlights by Greg K vanbeek.................................... 2 News and Notes.................................................................................. 3 Meeting Review by Randy Blasus....................... ............ ........... ............ 5 Why Do Bootleggers Make Good Conservationists? by Dr. Whit Gibbons..... 6 The Herpin' Lifestyle: A Road Trip to Texas by Dav Kaufman..................... 7 Calendar of Events.............................................................................. 13 MHS Business................................................................................... 14 Classified Advertisements.... .................... ............................................. 15

"Tis" The Season!

No I really haven't lost my mind (yea right!) or even all sense of time, and no I really don't think that the year end holiday season has descended upon us all three or four months earlier than normal. Never the less, the fact remains that August is easily one of the busiest month's of the year, at least from a herpetological standpoint anyway. Besides the usual society meetings, field work, vacations, etc., August is also the season for the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, the giant Reptile Breeder's Expo in Orlando and, of course, the MHS's own annual picnic. Despite having to attempt to "shoe hom" three months worth of events into one 30 day period, all the normal everyday monthly tasks, including producing this newsletter, must also be completed. Fortunately, producing this edition of the MHS Newsletter was a relatively painless job, due in large part to the tremendous effort and assistance of everyone involved in this publication. The timely submissions from numerous contributors, including most notably; R. Blasus, D. Keyler, G. Kvanbeek, J. LeClere, D. Kaufman and, of course, Whit Gibbons, has allowed this editor the all too rare lUXury of having almost enough of a backlog of material to actually produce next month's issue. While it is impossible to adequately express my gratitude to not only these individuals, but to the entire membership of the MHS, I must take this opportunity to say "thanks ya'll." Keep those cards, letters and articles coming, and I'll see you next month. Thanks Again! JPL

Next Newsletter Deadline: September 8, 1995

Send all submissions to: MHS Editor

Bell Museum of Natural History 10 Church St. SE

Minneapolis, MN 55455-0104

1

MRS Newsletter Volume XV Number 8

Upcoming Meeting Highlights

September Program: The Herpetology of Uruguay Guest Speaker: Alvaro Garcia

It's not very often that we get the opportunity to have speakers that give a program on tbe berpetofauna of otber countries. Wben we do, it is almost always presented as a travelogue sort of tbing by someone who has only visited that country. Those types of programs are really fun, but for our September meeting we have someone who will tell us about the herpetology of his home country.

Alvaro Garcia was born and raised in Montevideo, Uruguay, and has been interested in amphibians and reptiles his entire life, pretty much. He is currently working on a Ph.D. in animal nutrition here in Minnesota. Alvaro will be going over the herps native to Uruguay, where and how they are found, and he will also tell us wbat the country is really like.

Wben most of us tbink of South America, we usually envision the Amazon Basin, rainforest, babitat destruction, and so fortb. Well, Alvaro is going to tell us that Uruguay is nothing like tbat. The habitat is fairly dry and there is very little vegetation. It is probably a lot like Wyoming or someplace, maybe a little warmer and more sub-tropical. Most of the vegetation is around rivers, so tbere is really not mucb to "deforest." Tbe primary land use is cattle ranching, whicb doesn't bave a real severe effect on the herps or otber wildlife. Alvaro says tbat Uruguay is a real berpetological paradise. In his talk, he will cover tbe topography, geology, ecology, and the climate of various regions of the country.

Ampbibians are not that abundant in Uruguay. There are no salamanders and only a few species of frogs and toads. Tbis, of course, is due largely to the lack of water and overall dry conditions. Likewise, there are only a few types of turtles. However, there are many species of teiids and other small lizards, and there are also many varieties of snakes.

I believe tbat it is important for us, as amphibian and reptile enthusiasts, to learn as mucb as possible about the environments that our animals are found in. The purpose in having speakers like Alvaro is not just to entertain our members, but to belp develop an appreciation for tbe animals in their native environments. The membersbip of the MHS bas changed quite a bit in the last few years, to reflect the growing interest in keeping amphibians and reptiles in captivity. But while most of us want to learn as much as we can about how to keep these animals, in so doing we become somewhat detached from the fact that these animals were originally designed to play an intricate role in the workings of their ecosphere. Each species has a niche ofit's own and it is very

2

valuable for us, as hobbyists, to understand that. By understanding these animals in their natural world we not only learn better ways of keeping them, but we develop a greater appreciation for tbe berps tbemselves, both wild and captive. One of my goals in baving Alvaro speaking about bis native Uruguay ampbibians and reptiles, is perhaps to have all of us better appreciate our native Minnesota herps. As the Minnesota Herpetological Society it is our job to ensure their place in the wild.

I tbink that we will all learn a lot from having Alvaro speak on the herps of Uruguay, and I'm also trying to line up more speakers to talk about herps from otber places, some exotic and some closer to horne. So as not to conflict witb anyone's big Labor Day plans, the MHS general meeting will be held the second Friday in September, which is the 8th. See you there. ----- Greg

September Meeting

Location: Borlaug Hall, U of M SI. Paul Campus Time: September 8, 1995 - 7:00 p.m.

Please Note: September's General meeting will be held on tbe 2nd Friday of tbe montb rather than on the 1st as regularly scheduled. Tbe meeting will be in tbe usual Borlaug Hall location on tbe SI. Paul Campus of tbe University of Minnesota (see map below). All regular meeting activities including; Critter of the Month and Adoptions will be featured as usual.

UNIVERSITY Of 1>'INNESOTA_ ST. PAUl.. CAMPUS

,+.. to Ht,.,.Ja -.JII LARPEIITEUR

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j\1HS Newsletter Volume XV Number 8

NEWS AND NOTES

Turtle Talk

Minnesota's rivers and lakes seem to be full of them, turtles of various kinds. But the largest is also the toughest; the snapping turtle.

Adult "snappers" will average 10-35 pounds. A possible record might be a snapper found with a shell 17 inches long, and from head to tail was 48 inches long.

Snapping turtles especially like to live in ponds and slow streams where the vegetation is fairly thick. They're not picky eaters, and will prey on fish, crayfish, snails, clams, insects, frogs, toads, some water plants and even other turtles. They are also scavengers, and will eat whatever dead animals they fmd. They've been known to snap up a duckling once in a while, too.

In Minnesota, female snapping turtles lay their eggs in late May and June. The female will dig a nest cavity on land, somewhere near the water. Then she will lay anywhere from 20 to 40 eggs. She covers the eggs with earth before heading back to the water. The young hatch in late summer and fall. While the young might be fairly safe to handle, it's best not to mess with an adult. A snapper has an amazingly quick strike and strong jaws, and releases a strong pungent odor when agitated. Unless you're not especially attached to all of your fingers and toes, it's best to give these turtles a wide berth.

Editor's Note: The preceding article written by Ron Schara, appeared in the July 16, 1995 edition of the Mpls Star Tribune's Sunday Outdoors section. It is reprinted here by pennission. JPL

Sex, the Single Lizard, and the Missing Parent

A bizarre all female species of shiny lizard found in the West Indies and South America reproduces without male contact, laying unfertilized eggs that develop into identical females generation after generation. Such lizards dervive from hybrids of two species that reproduce nonnally. Herpetologist Charles J. Cole of the American Musuem of Natural History and his colleagues identified the parents of this species, Gymnophthalmus underwoodi, by unraveling its genetics.

Supported by a National geographic Society grant, the team found that half the genes in the female subjects came from G. specious, but the other balf did not match any known lizard species. "We knew everything about the otber parent, but we'd never seen it," says Cole.

Allan Markezicb, a biology professor at Black Hawk College in Illinois, read of Cole's searcb and

3

scnt him lizards he collected in Venezuela. Their genes matched the prediction; the missing parent is a lizard named G. CI)'p/llS.

Editor's Note: The preceding article, author unknown, originally appeared in the August 1995 issue of National Geographic magazine.

Marine Turtle Conservation

Of the world'S seven remaining species of sea turtles, six inhabit the waters of Southeast Asia. A shared assest of all nations in the region, these turtles are today endangered because of heavy hunting to provide food locally and to supply international markets for tortoiseshell and other products. A tremendous rise in coastal development along nesting beaches had added to tbe peril. At the tirst Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Symposium on SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION, organized by WWF in December 1993, a framework emerged for regional cooperation to conserve tbese highly migratory and endangered species. The six ASEAN nations agreed to launch new cooperative efforts to conserve the sea turtle.

Editor's Note: The preceding article, author unknown, was originally published in the JanlFeb 1995 edition of Foeus, the newsletter of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as part of the WWF Highligbts of 1994. JPL

Which Gopher is it?

Minnesota might be the Gopber State, but few folks know which gopher. The "official" gopber is a little brown-and-white striped, chipmunk-like animal commonly seen on roadsides and golf courses.

It's commonly called a gopher. But it's really a 13-lined ground squirrel, a member of the gopber family. The stripes - and there reaUy are 13 of tbem­probably help to break up the outline of the squirrel's body, making it harder for predators to spot.

Ground squirrels will "freeze" rather than run away wben alanued. They're eaten by many critters: badgers, hawks, weasels, faxes and bull snakes, among others.

Editor's Note: The preceding article written by Ron Schara, originally appeared in the July 16, 1995 edition of tbe Mpls Star Tribune's Sunday Outdoors section and it bas been reprinted here by pennission. One question however. Does this make "Ground Squirrel Snake" the actual common name of Pituophis catenifer sayi? JPL

MHS Newsletter Volume XV Number 8

August Critter of the Month

Greg Kvanbeck Striped Mud Turtle Kinostertwn baurii

John Levell Red-footed Tortoise Geochelone carbona ria

Vince Jimerson Female Neonate Homo sapiens

Jody & Roger Statz Red-footed Tortoise Geochelone carbol/aria Yellow-footed Tortoise Geochelone denticulata

Emily Harris Bearded Dragon Pogona vitticeps

Kathy Boron Tiger Amevia Amevia sp_ Northern Leopard Frog Rana pi pi ell" Ball Python Pytholl reguis

Jeff LeClere Blue Spotted Salamander Ambystoma laterale Four-toed Salamander Hemidactyfum scutatum Central Newt Notophthalmus virideseells

Jake and Donna Jacobsen Burmese Brown Tortoise Manouria emys

DavKaufman

Pancake Tortoises Malacoehents tomieri Two Headed Pine Snake Pituophis mefanofeueus

TIMBER RATTLESNAKE LIMITED EDITION PRINT

By Dan Keyler This original pen & ink drawing is limited to an edition of 141 signed and numbered prints_ Prints cost $15.00 each and can be personalized upon request. Anyone interested in purchasing a print should contact the artist at MHS meetings or by calling (612) 374-8760 (w) or (612) 933-2055. Proceeds will be used to further Timber Rattlesnake research in Minnesota. Order soon -they won't last long.

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Dan Bergquist

Dean Bowman

Alligator Snapping Turtle Macroc!emys temminickii Star Tortoise Geoehelone elegans

Jon Schraer Gold Dust Day Geckos Pile/suma latieauda

New Tortoise Found After 30 Year Quest

UIt's very rare to discover a new genus among vertebrates," says the University of Utah's John M. Legler. He and his Australian colleague, John Cann have classified their find, the Mary River Tortoise, not only as a new Australian species but as a new genus - Elusor, "to escape notice."

In 1963 Cann found unfamilar tortoise hatchlings in Sydney pet stores. where did the adults live? The retailers wouldn't talk, first because they feared competition, then later because the trade was outlawed. Eventually Cann located the sole supplier, in Queensland, who was incubating eggs from the Mary River, where Cann found an adult in 1990. He asked Legler to help write the scientific description, which notes a l5 inch long shell and an unusally long, thick tail, half the body length.

Editor's Note: The preceding article; written by John.L_ Eliot, appeared in the August 1995 issue of National Geographic magazine.

11lhAimual . Midwest Herp[JiolOglcal

sympOSIUm oclober20-22,1995

Walter Auffenbe",; Ph.D. MIoro Gooq,..phyoflhe ""_ \fIpef3 01 PaJdsI8n and Egypt

Sandra Barnett Husb8ncky 8IId Bl89ding of Polson Dart Frogs at the National Aquarium

Stephen aarten, DVM Ptrysic8i Examination of Rep(iles

WInston Card Overview of Res&en::h In the DaJJ,gs Zoo RepliJ& lJepaJtment

Michael Com, Ph.D. HsIPS of Costa RIca

Carl H. Ernst, Ph.D. OWMewof Freshweterenci Teaestria/ Turtlas of Iha United States

Gary Foget Keeping and Breeding CcniyIkJ Uzardsln captivity

Nell Ford, Ph.D. Natural History of Gerter Snakes of Notth Amerlc8

For fu1tIet k1bm.ItIon (:(r'Ila(t CHS

2000 N ctan: 8t ChIo:aoO tl60014

708120i-1428

Bteeder and Supplier Inquiries Welcome

Clarion Hotel O'Hare 6810 N Mannheim Rd.

Rosemont, Illinois 60018 7081297-8484

Hosted by the Chicago Herpetological Society

MRS Newsletter Volume XV Number 8

General Meeting Review By Randy Blasus Recording Secretary

Our subject for the month of August was North American Turtles and Tortoises, which was presented by Ron Humbert. The presentation was formatted to address tQe nutritional aspects, conservation and mortality of turtles in captivity.

Ron began at the very beginning of turtle evolution, as far as science has followed them anyway. The fossil records for turtles and tortoises do not go back far enough to find a certain common ancestor. A few more ancient fossils have been touted as a stem ancestor, but these are still very controversial in nature. There are two basic types of turtles, the Hidden-necks, such as the Common Snapper, Chelydra serpentina serpentina and the other familiar North American forms, and the Side-neck turtles.

Next were outlined some of the species be considers to be good captive animals. The Common as well as the Alligator Snapper, Macroclemys temminckii, are easy to keep in captivity. The main liability is that the Alligator Snapper, whicb Ron considers to be intelligent, needs to live in a very large enclosure as it matures. Tbe animals tend to be intelligent and seem to lose tbe desire to bite after kept in captivity for a wbile, especially wben obtained as hatchlings. The captive care for tbese animals is relatively simple as they will accept most food and can tolerate water conditions that are less then perfect.

Various Mud Turtles were mentioned and their captive care conditions vary from what one would normally expect. The Eastern Mud Turtle, Kinostenwn subrubrum sub rub rum, for instance, is a nocturnal creature. Other animals of this species may require a basking perch. All, however, need to be kept clean and warm as tbey are not as tolerant as the snappers. A hide box is also belpful as they are somewhat sby. Care needs to be taken that wbatever is placed in the aquarium will not trap the animals underwater as tbey root around their home.

The musk turtles like the Razorback Musk, Stenlothems carinatus, do well in captivity. The Flattened Musk, Stenwthel'us depressus, however, is a federally protected animal and should not be kept in captivity. Ron feels that this is true of any of tbe genus Clemmys, or any other protected turtle, as most of these animals are having a hard time surviving in the wild and some species may no longer have a viable wild population. These animals, he feels, should be left in their wild state.

However, the care of several protected species was mentioned as some people still keep them, hopefully under a permit, and the animals habits are_still interesting.

5

One such animal is the Bog Turtle, Clemmys muhlenbergii, which is very habitat selective. These are believed to be relic animals as their habitat, which was more prevalent in ancient times, is slowly changing. They are also a fairly delicate animal as the acidic habitat they prefer helps to keep them free of infection. They also need UV light and are insectivorous.

Another is the Wood Turtle, Clemmys insculpta, a hardy animal that is active most of the year. These animals are a food generalist, eating whatever is most abundant at that time. Therefore, in captivity a wide variety of foods should be fed. These animals are very easy to approach and are personable which makes them vulnerable to human collection. Canoe activity also factors into this as their favorite habitat is also receiving pressure from this special interest group. Wood turtles are very territorial and perform male combat rituals. Occasionally, a male may loose his tail in combat or other activity and is then unable to mate. The mortality of this species in the wild is staggering. Ninety-nine and one-half percent of the eggs never leave the nest alive. In Michigan, one person has a head start program to release turtles after being hatched in captivity. The program has many critics as the possibility exists that this may prove harmful to the existing population through disease or other factors such as genetic pollution.

Some health problems of captive animals were also mentioned such as shell rot. Being that ecdysis (shedding scutes), cannot be reproduced in captivity, bacteria and fungus can cause this malady. Cleaning the animal with betadine and allowing it to dry off can help this problem, as can adding malachite green to the water at twice the suggested dose. Or, it may be as simple as providing a basking spot for the animal to dry off.

Ron emphaSized that animals should be kept in as natural and as large an enclosure as possible. Outdoor cages are ideal as long as the animals natural climate matches its new one fairly closely. Care must be taken to provide a secure home safe from invaders such as Raccoons, Procyonlorol', and overexposure from the elements such as the Sun.

This very informative meeting was not to be missed if you have any interest in turtles at all. Only a portion of the infonnation could be provided in this column because of the large volume given.

MRS Newsletter Volume XV Number 8

ECOVIEWS

Why Do Bootleggers Make Good Conservationists?

By Whit Gibbons

We watched the tiny TV screen, no bigger than a deck of playing cards. Everyone was silent as we peered at the eerie light and saw the walls of the tunnel go by. The image on the screen showed a tum in the tunnel and beyond that a long, straight stretch. At the far end a dark form came into view.

Someone said in a soft voice, "What's that? Up ahead, at the end of the tunnel."

No one spoke for a moment as the form began to enlarge on the TV screen and then someone else said, "It's a tortoise! Look, it's moving."

A cheer went up from beneath the blue plastic tarpaulin we had used to shield the equipment from the sunlight. All ten of us spoke at once pointing to the image on the screen. The burrow camera had worked. We had found a gopher tortoise in its underground tunnel. They are impressive in their ability to dig their own burrows.

A burrow camera is a simple device in terms of modem technology, but its value for studying the secret lairs of animals that live beneath the ground is immeasurable. The device itself consists of thirty feet of fiber optics cable about the size of a garden hose with a camera on one end and a monitor for viewing on the other. The camera is equipped with tiny infrared light sources so that the natural darkness in the deep tunnel appears fully illuminated, but only to the eye of the camera.

Many animals cannot see infrared light and may be unaware that their privacy has been invaded. Humans cannot see infrared either, but the camera can. The reflected light is converted into a picture visible to us in the form of images appearing on a TV monitor. A dark-as-a-cave burrow can look like a brightly lit room. We found the tortoise in the fourth burrow we examined with the camera at an active gopher tortoise colony.

These imposing turtles are officially protected in most regions of the Southeast where they still occur. Gopher tortoises are known as a keystone species, a plant or animal that controls the character of an ecological system. Keystone species can dramatically alter the structure and dynamics of a habitat in direct and indirect ways. Gopher tortoises do so by modifying the landscape in the sandy soil habitats where their burrows serve as refuges not only for themselves but for many other animals.

A burrow may be more than thirty feet long, and as wide and high as a full-grown gopher tortoise. The domed shell of big ones are over fourteen inches

6

long, and their hind feet look like they should belong to a miniature elephant. Gopher tortoises are the most terrestrial of the eastern turtles, living a peaceful life grazing on grasses and other vegetation, and spending the off hours of darkness or cold weather underground.

Our excitement at seeing the gopher tortoise went beyond the thrill of using a piece of military­like technology that allows one to see in the dark. We were jubilant because this was the first COnflffiled sighting of a live tortoise at the recently discovered longleaf pine-wiregrass habitat, a rarity in itself. So unusual, in fact, is the habitat and its colony of tortoises that arrangements have been made by a conservation organization to purchase the land and preserve the system.

The colony was special to us because it represented the northernmost one known to exist for this fast-disappearing species. But perhaps the greatest thrill of all, from an environmental standpoint, was that the newfound colony differed in another way from others reported in past decades. Almost without exception, a report about a gopher tortoise colony has been one of disruption or local extinction from such causes as development, agriculture, highway construction, and the capture of individuals for pets or food. Despite official protection, colonies still are gradually giving way to the expanding human population, especially in Florida.

How could such a discovery even be made in today's world? How could a colony of animals the size of volleyballs go unseen by passersby, or a longleaf pine-wiregrass habitat go untampered with? I like the answer. The land had been owned, and protected from outsiders, for several generations by bootleggers.

Their short-term impacts on people were special, but their long-tenu impact on environmental preservation was even more so.

Editor's Note: The preceding article is the March 26,1995 instaliment of Dr. J. Whitfield Gibbons' weekly New York Times Regional News syndicated column; Ecoviews. Dr. Gibbons, who is probably best known for his books; Their Blood Runs Cold, Life History and Ecology of the Slider Turtle and Keeping all the Pieces among others, has kindly provided this article for publication in the MHS Newsletter. 000000000000

MHS Newsletter Volume XV Number 8

THE HERPIN' LIFESTYLE: A ROAD TRIP TO TEXAS By Dav Kaufman

Just a little side-note here before I begin. From now on I'm going back to using my real name. which is Day Kaufman, not Dav Lydon. Just to clear up any confusion that you might have had. The name Lydon is my stage and pen name (when I get a part in something, they seem few and far between nowadays), and not a name I should have used for everyday situations. Okay, now that that has been said, on with the herps.

Three weeks before we actually left, my phone rang. It was Greg K vanbek. As I was trying to get my male Western Hognose to eat after a week out ofbrumation, Greg was confiding in me as to how sick he was of winter. I was more than in agreement. I went on to complain about how I'd ratber shave my head with a cheese grater than spend another day at my job. Greg also agreed. I could tell right from that point that we both had tbe disease. A disease that could only be cured with a good long dose of road trip. When Greg suggested the Rio Grande, the rest of the country visually disappeared. I told him that I would have to make some phone calls and get back to him the next day. Witb that I bung up the phone and started thinking to myself, "Can I afford this?" Then a voice in the back of my bead said "Who cares, you're going," and then "1 wonder if! can get the time off of work?" And then tbe voice "Who cares, you're going." Usually, listening to that nagging voice gets me in more trouble than I care to remember, but this time it paid to succumb to it's suggestions. I grabbed the cordless phone and on my way down to get the mail I called my employer. Mter a good half hour of trying to explain to him that I was going from one end of the country to the other to catch reptiles, he asked me if I was feeling alrigh4 called me weird, and told me that if I brought back a bunet, of antique looking crap that said "Texas" on it to put on the walls of the restaurant as decorations (for those of you who don't know, I work in a Tex-Mex restaurant) I could graciously have the time off to go. What a guy, huh? As a side note; as much as I try, Ijust can't worry about the fact that Greg and I never even looked for any of the stuff my boss wanted.

Anyway, I opened my mail box and to my surprise, the U. S. government had actually done something to please me (an act as rare as tbe Comal Blind Salamander). My tax refund had arrived. Not an hour after the idea had been suggested, I c<llled Greg and told him I was in.

We left on my birthday, Thursday, March 23rd. I wasn't too excited about leaving on my birthday, but then I thought, "How many times have I ever been in at least four different states on my birthday?" So, at 6:00 am on the day I became 26 we were up and ready to go. Naturally, as the unwritten law of road tripping states, we weren't on tbe road until 1:00 pm. As for my birthday; well, after listening to Greg sing "happy birthday" to me all the way to Des Maines, I really didn't want it to be my birthday anymore.

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The first herps we encountered on this trip were in northwestern Missouri. We had heard a maddening chorus ofCborus Frogs, Pseudacris Iriseriara, calling from a roadside ditch when we stopped to eat at a Dairy Queen. We drove on until we bit Wichita, and stayed there for the night.

The next morning as we headed south into Oklahoma, we made a minor discovery. Neither of us had sexing probes with us. Of course, we wanted them because if there was an accident and we did catch a pair of snakes we wanted to bring home, we wanted to make sure of their gender. So we made a little pit-stop in Oklahoma City at a reptile shop to pick up a set. We hoped tbat would be our only pit stop that would steal any time from us (hindsight really is 20120). From there we were back on tile open road with the sun roof open, the windows down, and the wind in our hair (or, what hair Greg has). We were free, we were like Thelma and Louise, like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, like Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, we were pulled over for speeding. Mter the cop told us that they were pretty lenient on speeding in Oklahoma and he Ilad pulled us over for following too close to another car, he issued us a waming and we pulled off the higllway for a wllile to do some herping.

Our first stop was at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area in the Arbuckle Mountains in southern Oklahoma. In the hour and a Ilalf that we spent tllere, we Ilad seen seven species of herps. The fIfSt turtles of the trip were seen basking along the drainage ponds of the Wildhorse River. These were tile ever popular, and ever abundant Red-eared Slider, Trachemys scripta eiegans. The third herp of tile trip was a single basking OuacMa Map Turtle, Graplemys pselulogeographica ouachitensis. These turtles have been found in southeastern Minnesota along tile Mississippi River in small numbers, but in the rest of tile country it has an even bigger range stretclling into aimost every tributary of the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Minnesota, and is more plentiful than the nominate form; Graplemys pseudogeographica pseudogeographica, the False Map Turtle.

Tile next herp to be seen was done so by just looking down as we stood along the water gazing at the turtles. Blanchard's Cricket Frogs, Acris crepilalls, were out in force. This little frog, some small enough to sit on your thumb nail, were tile most abundant frog we saw on tllis trip. It ranges from Texas, up the great plains to Minnesota, east to Ohio, and down to northern Tennessee. However, in recent years it just doesn't seem to like us Minnesotans anymore.

From there we went hiking into the fry (cactus studded prairies that make up the footllills of the mountain range), and under the fIfSt rock flipped on the trip, I founda Prairie Ringneck Snake, Diadophis punctallts amyi. This is the same subspecies tllat is found in s.e. Minnesota. A

MRS Newsletter VoZume XV Number 8

cool snake, but not a lot of time was spent on him and he was simply released. Just as I was releasing him, Greg yelled that he had caught a snake. His was a little better; a Western Smooth Earth Snake, Virginia valeriae eZegans. These are small secretive snakes that are incredibly hard to identify. They were once thought of as rare, but that was probably due to their incessant secretiveness and, as a result, nobody ever saw them. I feel sorry for the person who has to take on the taxonomic nomenclature duties of this genus. After putting him on video and taking a series of pictures, he was also released.

Things went dry after that. For the next half hour nothing was found until Greg saw a streak of red shoot through the grass. He chased it and carue back with a little Ground Skink, Scineella lateralis. This species may possibly be the most common skink in its range. It can literally be found anywhere in the South, even in towns and city parks. I was personally introduced to this lizard on a heIping trip to Florida back in 1993, and I still think they're the most beautiful skinks I have yet seen. After I was finished putting him on video, and while Greg was taking pictures of him, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Another lizard, and this was one that I had never seen before. I approached it, and it stood still. I moved in for the catch, and it sped down the hill. Now, I'm still not sure what this guy was thinking because it sped down the hill directly toward me. Not the wisest thing for a lizard trying to escape a predator to do. We identified him with the help of the Conant and Collins (1991) bible. It was a Northern Fence Lizard, SeeZoporus undlilatus hyaeilUhinlis. This is the only spiny lizard occurring throughout most of its range. The species usually runs for the nearest tree and climbs up the opposite side from that which you are facing. When you go around the tree it moves to the other side, but higher up as one specimen we found did. This lizard was released after being video taped and photographed. Those were all the heIps that we found in that park, and we decided to once again hit the road.

The heIps of OkJahoma didn't stop there, however. The next stop in the state provided us with one of the most beautiful snakes of the trip. A blue sign on the side of the road read "REST AREA I MILE." Greg asked if I wanted to stop, and whenever we had the chance to, I said yes because Greg wouldn't let me smoke in his car. This rest area was about four miles from the state line of Texas and, of course, I looked around for things to fUp as I puffed tenaciously on my cancer stick. About a hundred yards from the main building of the rest area lay a huge rusty metal culvert that to our luck was turnable. It took both of us to turn it and on the count of three, we pushed. I think we both saw it at the same time, because we both screamed "copperhead" at the same time! She just stood there staring up at us as if she was supposed to be there, as if she had expected us to find her. She didn't spook, she didn't try to run, she just stood there staring at us. Greg ran back to the car to get the cameras. and I stayed there with the snake.

8

I stood there watching her for the time Greg was gone, thinking that this was it, this is what it's all about. That beautiful snake before me was the complete personification of everything pleasant in life. We found a copperhead. I could have been at work that day instead of going on this trip, and would have had to superficially smile at people and bring them anything they wanted for the promise of a three dollar tip left when they leave. No, that isn't what it's all about. We found a copperhead. We were on the road, exploring the world. We were free, we could go where we wanted, do what we wanted to do. We found a copperhead. That's what it's all about. That moment, that two minute moment that I looked down upon one of the most beautiful creatures on the planet, was a total metaphor of life. A total rearranging of your ideals and thoughts as they pertain to who you are and what you want to do with your life. And then the snake lunged out and bit me just above my ankle. Okay, I'm kidding, that never happened, I was just getting too deep there for a moment. But I will never forget the feelings I felt there, and the promises I made to myself. It will be something I will remember for the rest of my life. It'll become an anecdote I'll tell my grandchildren. That copperhead is famous in my life. I wonder if she knows just how important she is.

Greg returned with the carueras and I took nearly fifteen minutes of footage of her. We looked her up to see what subspecies she was, and it turned out to be a Broad-banded Copperhead, Agkistl'Odon eontortrix laticinetus, a subspecies with a small range found only in central Texas and OkJahoma. It intergrades with the Trans-Pecos Copperhead, A. e, pietigaster, and the Southem Copperhead (the nominate form), in Texas and southern Oklahoma, and with the Osage Copperhead, A. e. phaeogaster, in northern OkJahoma. After photos, videos, and a lengthy admiring session, we released tbe metaphor back under the culvert.

On into Texas! Our first stop in The Lone Star State was at an abandoned weight station where not a lot of time was spent because the wasps and hornets had taken over the building and were dive-bombing us like airplanes around King Kong. We did manage to find a small, secretive Flathead Snake, Tantilla gracilis. Flathead Snakes are in the same genus as the Blackhead Snakes, and this snake is basically a Blackhead Snake without a black head. The smooth scales and pink belly caused us to misidentify this snake as an Earth Snake, Virginia sp., a major problem in trying to differentiate between the species.

From there we went almost directly to Dinosaur Valley State Park, with the intention of finding a sporting goods store the next day because we had to purchase small game hunting licenses which are required by Texas law to heIp in the state. We camped there for the night, and the next morning set out to look for the fossilized dinosaur footprints that have been found in the park. We walked along a trail that had signs leading us to the footprints.

11th Annua\ . , to'o2,ca ~idwalt Harp!"

sympOSiUm 95 octobar 20-22 , 19

Nationally Recognized Speakers

Walter Auffenberg, Ph.D. Florida State Museum

Department of Natural Science Gainsville, Florida

Michael Corn, Ph.D. Professor of Biology & Dean of Students

Col/ege of Lake County Grayslake, fllinois

Gary Fogel Chicago Herpetological Society

Chicago, Illinois

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CA?TIVE RREl> HER? SALE

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Carl H. Ernst, Ph.D. Professor of Zoology

George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia

Winston Card Senior Keeper

Department of Herpetology Dallas Zoo

Neil Ford, Ph.D. Professor of Biology University of Texas

Tyler, Texas

Sandra Barnett Senior Herpetologist National Aquarium Baltimore, Maryland

Stephen Barten, DVM Vernon Hills Animal Hospital

Vernon Hills, flii/wis

~teIO'Hare 6810 N Mannheim Rd. Rosemont, Illinois 60018

24 Hour Free Shuttle Service to O'Hare Airport Plenty of Free Parking Indoor and Outdoor pools Convenient to everything Chicago has to offer

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ANNUAL MEETING

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Hosta::d by tha:: Chicago Ha::rpa::tologicaI Socla::ty

11th Annual

Midwest Herpetological Symposium Hosted by the Chicago Herpetological Society

October 20 - 22, 1995 Rosemont Illinois

Registration Form

To register: please complete this form and mail it with payment to Chicago Herpetological Society, 1995 Midwest Symposium, 2.0(,0 N Clark Street, Chicago IL 60614. Make check or money order payable to CHS.

Name __________________________________________________________________ _

Address ________________________________________________________________ __

City ____________________ ~ ____ S.tate _______ Zip Code ____________________ __

Phone numbers Day Evenin9 ____________________________ _

Local Herp Club/Society _________________________ __

No. of Persons Event Price Total Please list names on a

separate sheet

Symposium $50

Symposium $55 (after October 1)

Banquet $22

Banquet (after October 1)

$25

Total

Check here for vendor information Yes, send Information

• "Dry Goods Store" (Open all weekend. Friday night, open to the public.)

• "Captive Bred Herp Sale" (Captive bred animals only. Friday night only. Open to the public.)

Hotel Registrations:

CHS has reserved a block of rooms at the O'Hare Clarion Hotel, 6810 N. Mannheim Road, Rosemont, IL 60018. You can reach the hotel directly by calling 708/297-8464. Do NOT SEND HOTEL REGISTRATION TO CHS. When making reservations, please indicate that you are a Midwest Herpetological Symposium attendee. You should receive a rate of $65 for a single and $75 for a double. The O'Hare Clarion Hotel is located 5 minutes from Chicago's O'Hare Airport and provides free shuttle service 24 hours a day. It is also easily accessible from all major highways.

Rooms will be held for us only until October 1, 1995. After that they are released for general use, so it is strongly recommended that you make your reservations early.

When we got to a sign that read "1RACK" with an arrow pointing down, we stopped and looked around at our feet for the fossils. We looked around for at least five minutes from every angle and still couldn't see the tracks. I stepped down into a two foot deep pool along the river. I still couldn't see any tracks. Greg said there was a sign back on the trail that said that some of the tracks might be underwater. I then realized where the tracks were, I was standing in one. We expected to see little tracks fossilized in the rocks, we didn't expect them to be the size of a swimming pool. The coolest things about these submerged tracks was that there were many Cricket Frogs tbat bad set up camp in the warm shallow water tbat filled the track.

The rest of that day was spent primarily in the car, as we beaded down to San Marcos (stopping at every town in between looking for a place to buy our licenses) to try our luck at finding at least one of the Cave Salamanders that are native to just this portion of Texas and nowhere else in the world. Our first attempt was for the San Marcos Salamander, Eurycea Ilalla. This salamander is only known from one location; the SOurce of the San Marcos River. By tbe time we found tbe source of the river, in a park on the campus of the University of South Texas, it was getting to be evening making a dark two-inch long salamander very difficult to see. As a bonus, however, we caught two turties, one that we had not yet seen on the trip so far; a Common Musk Turtle, Sternotherus odoratus. The interesting thing about this turtle is that it is very easy to determine the gender of the animal just by glancing at it's plastron. On the male's plastron, the scutes are separated by large areas of skin, such is not the case with the females. The turtle that we caught was a female. We also caught a Red-eared Slider that had swam out from some submerged bushes and crashed into my leg while I was wading in the river. This specimen was older than dir~ and had a strong infliction of melanin over it's shell and body. As these sliders get older, they have a strong tendency towards melanism, but this specimen was almost completely black. Pictures and videos were taken of them, and then they were both released.

We decided to stay in the area that night and look for other spots for other species of salamanders the next morning. So, to Guadalupe State Park we went to camp for the night. It was there, the next morning that the only species of toad for the trip was caught; a Gulf Coast Toad, Bufo va/[iceps. In my opinion, these are one of the prettiest of all North American BUfo. The cranial crests are strongly developed, and the dorsal coloration can vary from having touches of bright orange to yellow or white spots, and a predominant white stripe runs the length of the back bone. Like all the others, he was admired, photogmphed, and released.

That entire day from there on in was spent trying to locate caves that would be possible carriers of salamanders, with the only exception being trying to locate a sporting goods store to purchase our hunting licenses. We knew that once we got further west we would really need·them,

9

MHS Newsletter Volume XV Number 8

because of the recent poaching stings going on in the Big Bend area that we had heard too much about. Anyway, back to the cave salamanders. We decided that the cave with the easiest access would be Cascade Caverns, a tourist trap just outside of San Antonio. When we arrived at the front desk in the middle of the Cascade Caverns gift shop, a short man sporting buck teeth and a tall Stetson hat was standing behind it. It appeared that he hadn't shaved or brushed his teeth in days. The gift shop smelled of soiled cat urine and sold all sorts of junk, most of it not pertaining to the cave at all. When we told the guy behind the counter our intent, he looked at us as if we had green skin and eight eyes. He told us that ever since they made the cave suitable for tourists with walking paths and fog lights, he hadn't seen many salamanders around. I began to wonder if this guy could add two plus three. He told us that he sees a lot of them in the lower part of the cave, but there was no way for us to get down there without the owner's permission. I asked to speak with the owner, but he said that they were out of town for the week and had left him in charge. I suggested to him that we pay the touring fee and that he take us into the lower level, but he said no because of insurance purposes and that there was no way we were getting into that portion of the cave. I then offered to pay double the entrance fee, which he thought about before again saying no. It was apparent after a few rounds of verbal ring-around-the-rosy with this guy that we were out of luck. By now we figured that we had wasted enougb time trying to locate these salamanders, and headed into San Antonio to fmd our licenses. It was the fifth store we visited that finally had licenses, and the fifteen minute transaction actually cost us over two and a half hours of searcbing time. We paid our $25 and, now legal, headed west.

We arrived at Seminole Canyon State Park wel! after dark. We were now in the extreme eastern portion of the Chihuahuan Desert. Sleeping in a tent in the desert is like sleeping on a dirt road, and trying to keep a tent up in the powerful wind gusts the desert has to offer is about as easy as trying to balance a refrigerator on your nose. Our tent must have blown over that night at least eight times and we (mostly Greg) had to get out in the middle of the night to set it up again. We did manage to get some road herping in earlier that night, but the tempemture had fallen well into the fifties so nothing was seen. The next day the temperature only got into the mid sixties so nothing was found in the park, and we didn't stick around very long to try to find anything.

We then headed to Langtry and hunted around some old abandoned buildings, finding nothing but beetles and scorpions. The temperature remained cold and so did our hopes of finding any reptiles until we got to the little one­horse town of Dryden. Three new species were found here; two lizards and a snake. The fIrst herp found was yet another skink; the Short-lined Skink, Ellmeces tetragrammus brevililleatus. This skink is more closely related to our two skinks of Minnesota than to the Ground Skink we had caught earlier. This is, in my opinion, a rather drab lizard. It possesses four lines starting at the

MHS Newsletter Voilime XV Number 8

head, and disappearing into a unifOim gray or brown body. The young do possess the bright blue tails that are noted within the Eumeces family. The second lizard caught at this stop was a Southern Prairie Lizard, Sceloporus ulldulatus consobrinus, a small species of the dry, brushy flatlands. The males, which was the gender we caught, have beautiful metallic blue blotches on their underbellies. Photographing these two lizards was quite difficult because as soon as they were put back on the ground, they were more or less a lightening bolt to the nearest cover. The snake that was found at this spot was a true test of our ability to key out species in the field. At first glance, this snake appeared to be nothing more than another Earth Snake, however we knew that the range of the Earth Snakes was further east from where we were. This was a small, unifomn slate gray to brown colored snake, with no markings on it anywhere. We began to count scales with a library of field guides at our side. It turned out to be one of the most variable snakes found in it's range; the Ground Snake, SOIwra semiannulata. This snake can be as drab in coloration as the one we found, all the way through to boldly red in coloration with black bands across its body. Five color variations are known in it's range. ground Snakes are a chiefly insectivorous species, feeding on centipedes, scorpions and the like. In the warmer months of the year it has a tendency to become nocturnal. I video taped him as Greg took pictures, and he was then released.

Our next spot was another four hours and 175 miles later on Highway 118 leading down into the Big Bend National Park. We stopped at one of the only creeks in the area that actually had water in it. Living in Minnesota, every bridge that goes over a water source whether it be a creek, river or stream will actually have water running under it. However, in Texas there will be signs on the bridge that name the water source under it, and upon looldngdown, all you see is a dry canyon. So, needless to say, when we actually saw water in this creek, even though there was just a few big puddles here and there where the creek used to be, we stopped and did some herping.

There is something to consider when herping Texas; it is 96% privately owned and almost everything is bordered with barbed wire fences. This creek was no exception. The barged wire fences actually ran across the muddy creek bed, giving access to only the portion of the creek that was under the bridge that carried 118 over it. Even though this portion was shaded by the bridge, we did manage to fmd two species here; our first Leopard Frog and our first Garter Snake. The Leopard Frog was the Rio Grande Leopard Frog, Raila berlandieri. From what we could ascertain, this species is not as common as our Northern Leopard Frog, Rana pipiens, obviously due to the lack of water, and hence lack of good breeding sites. However, I'm sure these frogs are found in great numbers in places were they were never suspected to occur when it ralns. These frogs, like any other frogs and toads of the deser~ are well adapted to an arid lifestyle. They are explosive and opportunistic breeders taking advantage of anyplace to breed, including cattle tanks. They may breed at any time during the year when excessive rains make good areas to

10

spawn. The garter snake found is a species that I looked forward to tinding from the beginning of the trip, a Checkered Garter Snake, Thamnophis lnarciallus. Although Greg found the only one of the trip, I was just as intrigued by just seeing one in the wild. As the name suggest, the snake had a checkerboard pattern running down its back coupled with a vivid white dorsal stripe. Surprisingly (for a Garter Snake), it made little attempt to bite, and hardly musked at all. Something else in this spot that was interesting to note was the amount of frog eggs in these fast drying puddles. It is truly captivating to see the race against evaporation first hand, knowing that not only do these eggs have yet to hatch, but they have to go through the larval stage before these puddles are nothing more than a mud flat. Something we don't see too often with the Leopard Frogs in Minnesota. Pictures and videos were taken and on we went.

We stopped at a small town called Study Butte that lies just outside the park. At the edge of town, en route to the National Park, we visited what was left of the Desert Dragon Gator Fann and Dinosaur Museum. The building, an old abandoned house, was torn and tattered and appeared as if no one was living there. A huge, smiling paper mache dinosaur with its body missing, revealing the mesh skeleton underneath, greeted us as we pulled up. We looked around the premises, and found the 'gators. Five juveniles in a tank no bigger than a horse trough. We later found out that the owner of the fann was doing time in prison for drug trafficking, and the gators were being attended to by his wife who did not live on the premises. The grounds were littered with boards and metal sheets, so we helped ourselves to a little flipping. One snake was caught; a juvenile Western Coachwhip, Mastieopltis flagellum testaeellS. A beautifully marked snake with dark cross lines, and black splotching on a bleach white venter. A lot of video footage and few photos were taken, and then it was released. As for the gators, there wasn't anything we could do for them, it was a totally helpless situation. We entered the park.

The first noticeable thing about the scenery in the park was the dense lushness of the plant life. From Langtry to here all we saw was privately owned land with herds of cattle grazing every plant down to the dirt, except for the various yuccas. Here in the park, we counted several species of cactus ranging from the numerous Prickiy Pear cactus to the Cholla (the cactus that Tetra-Terrefauna sells as hide boxes). Other wildlife in the Park consisted of dashing Roadrunners that crossed the road in front of us, usually with a lizard or snake dangling out of their mouths. Coyote were ever presen~ and serenaded us to sleep each night with their benevolent howling. Cactus Wrens were present, however, from what I could ascertain, not common. These are the largest members of the Wren family, and a species I looked forward to seeing in the wild. And there were Turkey Vultures, or Buzzards as they're referred to in Texas. At any given time, you COUldn't look in the sky without seeing at least a dozen of them circling around some poor animal on the ground that was having a bad day. A Cougar had been spotted the

previous week, but we unfortunately did not encounter one. I'll bet that a dozen or so were watching us in the two days we spent at the Park without us even suspecting their presence.

It was early spring in the deser~ so not a lot of wildflowers had begun to bloom. A species of cactus, the Claret Cup Cactus, was in full bloom with the most spectacular flre red flowers I have yet seen in the wild. A rule not to ignore when herping the Chihuahuan Desert is that every plant has either thorns or spikes, and I, like a naive Minnesotan in the deser~ wore shorts everyday and have the scars to prove it. The entire decor of the desert was like a huge gravel road with thorny plants growing out of it, and huge barren mountains separating it from the horizon. A trnly beautiful place. And with ten species of amphibians, thirty species of snakes, twenty­two species of lizards, and four species of turtles, all in a 1,252 square mile park (bigger than the state of Rhode Island) to look for these herps in, it was a magnificently beautiful place to be.

We set up camp less than a hundred feet from the Rio Grande, and that night Greg and I actually waded across the river into Mexico. No herps were found there, so we waded back into the U. S. The next morning I was awaken to the sound of something large hitting the roof of the tent. At frrst I thought it was a branch that had fallen from a tree in the wind storm that had been going on for the past two days (we actually had to tie the front and back of the tent to picnic tables to keep it from blowing over). When I got out of the tent to see what it was, I was shocked to flnd a huge Turkey Vulture trying to balance himself on one of the tent poles! He flew off, and I looked around the site. I counted twelve Vultures sitting around the camp site. I tried to wake Greg to tell him that we had a fan club out there waiting for us to die, and he mumbled something about Marine Toads and fell back asleep. I went to the back of the car, and dug around in the cooler. I found two stacks of bologna that had gone bad, and fed the Vultures breakfast. There was something symbolic about this, back home I'd be throwing bread to ducks and geese on Lake Minnetonka, and here I was throwing bad meat to buzzards in the desert. Somehow, I liked this better.

That day more herps were seen than any other day of the trip. It was still cold when we set out into the heart of the Park, but that was quickly remedied as the temperature soared into the high eighties within the next hour. Soon every bush and cactus had lizards running out and into them. And these lizards were fast. I don't mean fast like a speeding car, I mean fast as in all you saw was a streak of black lightening running from cover to cover. Most of these lizards were Whiptails (Cnemidophorus ssp.), but a few held still long enough for us to identify them as Desert Side-blotched Lizards, Uta stansbllriana stejnegeri. Okay, there's a weird scientific name. Some others even caimed down enough for pictures to be taken of them; like the stunning Southwestern Earless Lizard, Cophosallrus texanus ScilUlus, known by locals as "the lizard with the

11

MRS Newsletter Volume XV Number 8

green pants and pink shirt." A checklist of the reptiles and amphibians of the Park list four species of Whiptail Lizards to be known in the Park, of which only two species stopped long enough for us to identify them. I stopped trying to catch them when it was quickly discovered that attempting to was just about as easy as reciting the alphabet with your tongue stapled to your cheek. And besides, I was getting a little tired of Greg laughing at me as I'd go crashing through cacti trying to stop one of them.

We left this spot and headed down to the river bank. The frrst herp we spotted as soon as we arrived was the Big Bend Slider, Trachemys gaigeae. The specimen we saw was still relatively young because it still had vivid orange markings on it's carapace. Adults, especially males, have a strong tendency towards melanism. Whiptails were running everywhere as we walked down the banks of the Rio Grande, and it was here that we saw the highest concentration of Rio Grande Leopard Frogs. The interesting thing about this was that we saw these frogs in tadpole form and adult form, and every form in between, in he same pool of water. Sunning themselves along the rocks on the Mexican side of the River were two Texas Spiny Softshell Turtles, Apaione spinifera emoryi, one of two subspecies of the Guadalupe Spiny Softshell.

As we were walking back to the car, Greg spotted a lizard that wedged itself between two rocks thinking it was safe, but giving us a complete view of him. Even though we had such a good view of bim, he turned out to be sort of a mystery lizard. We knew right away that it was a whiptail, but the mystery was what species? The park has four species of whiptail running around in it's borders, three of which both Greg and I could identify on site, however, this one we COUldn't and we were left to believe it was that fourth species, the Rusty-rumped Whiptail, Cnemidophorus sca/aris. Now, the reason why this was a mystery lizard is because it was only listed in the little pamphlet of the herps of the Park that we had bought and was not listed in Conant and Collins (1991), The Reptiles and Amphibians of Texas (Garrett and Barker, 1987), or in Stebbins' Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians (1985). We looked at all the scientiflc names in these books, and studied each picture, and this lizard was nowhere to be found. If we weren't looking right at one, we could be inclined to think that the National Park Service had screwed up. It still remains a mystery to us as to just what that lizard was.

We decided as we were driving away from that spot to find somewhere to get lunch. Greg simply suggested that we eat what was left of the bologna in the cooler, and I simply stated that we no longer had it. He didn't believe me when I told him that I had fed it to the buzzards that morning, and at random intervals during the remainder of the trip, he kept asking me if I was kidding. 1 wonder if he still doubts it. Anyway, we drove the forty miles back into Study Butte for lunch and a bit of herping. Along the way, just outside the Park, I noticed a large wooden sign that had fallen, and was laying face down on the side

MRS Newsletter Volume XV Number 8

of a hill. We made tbe U-turn to go flip it. Three unidentified lizards (read tbat "ligbtening oolts") sped out from under the board. However, one ran around the post that originally supported the sign, and ran under my boot. We set the OOard down and I couched down and held my hand open at the side of my boot. I carefully lifted my foot, and before I could slap my hand down, he was back under the OOard. We again lifted up the board and he just stood there. I went in for the catcb, but he was gone. I watched as he raced down the hillside and with a flying leap, I was upon bim. I caught him just as I was about to crasb head first into a cactus, but it was okay as a large rock tbat my knee slammed into stopped me just short of it. Greg laugbed, and I limped over to him with a Cbeckered Whiptail, Cnemidophorus tesselatus complex. A species complex because it is made up of a number of unisexual specimens, of which each is independently derived from hybridization between tbe same "parental" species, and none of whose relationsbips, distributions, and natural histories are clearly known (Conant and Collins, 1991). This is the largest of the U. S. Wbiptails, and very common in the area we were in. He was put on video and Greg took a few slides of him, then be was released unharmed back under the OOard.

Later tbat night, it was still very warm. On most of the otber nights, as soon as the sun went down, so did the temperature. This nigbt the temperature stayed rigbt about seventy. We decided to do some road cruising before we beaded back into the Park. The four herps that were caught that night were some of the greatest of the trip, and all of them were nocturnal species and could have only been encountered at night. The first herp encountered we almost dismissed as a twig in tbe road, but as I jumped out with flashligbt in band, I saw that it was in fact a small snake. Greg got out of the car as I took it to the beadlights. We bad found a small Texas Nigbt Snake, Rypsigien(1 torquata jani. This is a small rear-fanged snake that as an adult will only see about a foot and half in length. Tbis is a lizard eating species, and is almost strictly nocturnal. I think that the most intriguing feature aOOut this snake was its slate gray eyes with a black elliptical pupil. Like always, photos and videos were taken and he was released.

Just as we were driving away from where we released the snake, I saw something scurry across the road. I thought it was a scorpion. I walked up to it with my flashlight and was pleasantly surprised to fmd I was wrong. I grabbed the little creature in my hand, and walked back to the car. I looked at Greg and smiled. I had found one of the species that I wanted to fmd down here. A Texas Banded Gecko, Coieonyx brevis. This is a gecko witb functional eyelids, and no toe pads. They superficially resemble hatchling Leopard Geckos. This was a male, and not a mile later, a female was caugbt as she crossed the road. Tbese were the only herps that left Texas with us.

An hour had passed and nothing else was seen until off to the side of the road, just coming onto the flattop, was the biggest snake of the trip. Greg whipped a U-turn and I

12

jumped out to grab the snake. It was a beautiful Kansas Glossy Snake, Arizona elegans eiegans. The Glossy Snakes are closely related to the Gopher, Pine, and Bull Snakes, but differ in that they are nocturnal or crepuscular, have smooth scales, and only two prefrontal scales were the snakes of tbe Pituophis group have four (or most of them anyway). Truly an excellent way to end our time herping in Texas. Tomorrow we would spend tbe day in Ciudad J arez, Mexico, and tbe next two days would be spent getting home. We stopped at the Wbite Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico, but only found one lizard tbere as the temperature plummeted well into the fifties. The lizard was a Southern Prairie Lizard, Sceloporus wululatus consobrinus. Pictures were taken of him, and we watched as he darted across the bleach white sand into cover. An hour north of the. Monument we would see snow, and that killed any bope of fmding any more species of the berps that New Mexico has to offer.

All in all we caugbt andlor saw thirty-three species of herps. Not too bad for a spur of tbe moment, unplanned trip so early in the season. On the way borne, talk was made aOOut future berp trips. Salamanders in tbe Appalachians, Pine Snakes in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, Herpin' the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, and Costa Rica, Peru, and the Middle East. And as it always bappens, we will know tbat we're going within weeks before we actually leave.

Literature Cited: Conant, Roger and Collins, Josepb T. 1991. A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, 3rd edition. Hougbton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA.

Garrett, Judith M. and Barker, David G. 1987. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Texas. GulfPubl. Co. Houston, TX.

Stebbins, Robert C. 1985. A Field Guide to western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd edition. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA.

REPTILES AMPHIBIANS

,

CAGES SUPPLIES

COLD PETS ,FOR COOL PEOPLE

12601 Chowen Ave. So Burnsville. MN

-(612) 894-2305

MHS Newsletter Volume XV Number 8

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Sept. 2, 1995 MHS "Hands On" Program at the Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis. Mn. 55455-0104. 11:00 am - 4:00 pm. For more info Contact: Sean Hewitt (612) 935-5845.

Sept. 16-17, 1995 Mid-Allanlic Reptile Show. Baltimore. MD. Contact: Tim Hoen, clo Maryland Herp. Soc., 2643 N. Cbarles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-4590 (410) 557-6879 or 235-6116.

Oct. 20-22, 1995 Midwest Herpetological Symposium. Clarion Hotel O'Hare. Rosemont, IL. Contact: Cbicago Herp. Soc. - Midwest Symposium, 2001 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60614 (312) 281-1800.

Oct. 29, 1995 MHS "Hands On" at the Bell Museum's Annual "Halloween Haunts" Program. Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN. 55455-0104. Plan on attending this fun event in which the exhibitors wear halloween costillnes. 1:00 - 4:00 pm. For more info Contact: Sean Hewitt (612) 935-5845.

tlERRETOLOG~ TITLES AVAILABLE FROM I(RIEGER REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN VARIANTS: Colors, Patterns, and Scales by H. Bernard Bechtel

.•...... TIRES IftPttEP~A1tOrt

Orig. Ed. 1995 224 pp. $64.50 ISBN 0-89464-862-4

GECKOES: Biology, Husbandry, and Reproduction by Friedrich-Wilhelm Henkel & Wolfgang Schmidt Translated by John Hackworth 1 st English Ed. 1995

SNAKES AND by Carl Kal1ffeJ Orig ..

995 286 pp. $29.95 ISBN 0-89464-936-1

UNITED STATES AND CANADA: Keeping Them Captivity - Vol. 2: Western Area

V. Rossi & Roxanne Rossi 1995 342 pp. $74.50 ISBN 0-89464-808-X

KRIEGER PUBLISHING COMPANY P.o. Box 9542 • Melbourne, FL 32902-9542 (407) 724-9542 • Direct Order Line (407) 727-7270 FAX (407) 951-3671

13

Domestic orders, please add $6.00 for first book, $1.50 each additional to cover shipping charges. Foreign shipping costs available upon request.

MRS Newsletter Volume XV Number 8

Board Meeting Highlights By Randy Blasus, Recording Secretary

The monthly meeting of the MHS Board of Directors was conducted on August 5th at Marilyn Brook's home. A quorum was present. The board took the following action:

Barb Radanke was appointed as member-at-large to fill the position vacated by Liz Boulds.

Due to discussion at the last general meeting in concerning the Minnesota Zoo's "man eating" reptile television commercial regarding the new Komodo Dragons and it's inappropriate message (they wouldn't dare say that about tigers), MHS President Bill Moss will draft a letter of protest to the Zoo.

MHS has two panels on the Washington Ave. Bridge that volunteers will paint with our logo in September.

It was voted and approved to increase the speaker budget for this year.

Other items discussed were: bus rental for a Reptile Gardens trip would cost $2,500, the 1997 Midwest Herp Symposium budget, adopting a highway, and the use of Dan Keyler's print on a t­shirt.

Presented and accepted were: Treasurer's Report, Membership Report and Board Meeting Minutes.

August Raffle Donors

J.P. Levell Becky Helgesen Bill Moss Fred Bosman Liz Bosman

Assorted Magazines & Pogs Reptile Vitamins Stuffed Iguana & Pogs Snake Bite (Liquor) Magazines

Revenue generated by raffle ticket sales help finance a variety of society functions, including the MHS Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Fund, Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone who donated items and/or purchased raffle tickets.

Adopt a Highway

MHS is considering participation in the program to clean up roadside litter. You can help. The program requires 3 pick-ups per year, therefore, the closer to the metro area the more convenient. Unfortunately, most metro segments are already assigned, so if you know of a two mile stretch of highway that may be a candidate please phone Karin or James Rea at (612) 457-8107. We will then check it out with MNIDOT. A highway sign would be erected to recognize the efforts of our society.

14

Treasurer's Report Prepared by Marilyn Brooks, MRS Treasurer

Beginning Checkbook Balance: $2,560.36

Income: Membership Raffle Sales Donation Library Fines Other

Total Income:

Expense: Newsletter Mise Print/Post Program Library Books Supplies Refreshments Other

Total Expense:

Net IncomelLoss:

235.00 63.00 166.18 35.66

2.00

354.90 12.51

100.00

\5.00 201.66

501.84

684.07

Ending Checkbook Balance:

(182.23)

2,378.13

1,320.00 1,058.13

Dedicated Funds: Funds Available:

P.O. Box 581 B

ANIMAUA EXOTICA, INC

Breeder Owned & Operoted

Handfed Baby Birds Reptiles, Other Exotics

882-0337 1939 W. Burnsville A<wy

Burnsville, MN 55337

MRS Newsletter Voilime XV Nllmber 8

Classified Ads

1.0.0 = male, 0.1.0 = female, 0.0.1 = unsexed c.b. = captive bred, o.b.o. = or best offer

For Sale

0.0.1 Savannah Monitor, 2 yrs. 1.5 ft. Eats anything, $50. Call Dan (612) 772-9315.

Mice and Rats. Call Little Critters (612) 421-0097

1995 c.b. Boids; Hog Island Boas from exceptional adults, $325. Brazilian Rainbow Boas from iridescent orange adults, $225. Colombian Rainbow Boas from iridescent, high contrast adults, $75. Unrelated pairs available. Can deliver to Twin Cities. Can Mark Wendling (319) 857-4787.

HERP CLASSlFlED (fonnerly Fauna Classifieds). Monthly classified for herpetofauna, food, supplies, literature, societies, much more .... Excellent infonnation source, worldwide circulation, pub!, since 1983. Send .32 stamp for sample. $14/year, $2612 years, 1st class. MCNisa. Great Valley SerpentariuIn, 2379 Maggio Circle, Unit C Ladi, CA 95240, (209) 369-7737, Fax (209) 369-7737.

l.1.0 Colombian Boas, adult $150 ea. !.l.0 albino corns $35 ea. l.l.0 Bnrmese Pythons best offer. Call Mark (715) 262-3158.

African Spurred Tortoises (slilcata), variety of sizes. Also Leopard Tortoises, c.b. hatchlings to adults. Call Mark Domaka (612) 822-7996.

1995 HERPETOLOGICAL DIRECTORY. Valuable info source containing private & commercial breeders, wholesalers, foreign exporters, US/foreign societies, food sources, supplies, publications, more ..... $15. MCNisa. Great Valley Serpentarium, 2379 Maggio Circle, Unit C Ladi, CA 95240, (209) 369-7737, Fax (209) 369-7737.

Solomon Island Boas, Candoia carilUlta paulsolli, c.b. subadults, feeding well on dead mice, $75-175. Neonates born 1/4/95. Call Steph Porter (612) 690-2589.

95 Hatchlings Albino N. Pines $95, Hetero N. Pines $45, Corns $15, Fox Snakes $15, W. Hognose $35. Surplus Stock l.l Cape Baja Gophers $165 pr., 0.1 Albino Speckled King $50, 1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat $75,1.1 Corns (Proven Breeders) $85 pr., 1.0 Albino patternless Yellow Rat S50. Asst. Aquariums and accessories $5 - $40. Dav (612) 550·9855.

15

1994 C.B. SNAKES - Ball Python, "Bessett Bloodline" $50. Baird's Rat Snake $40. Nonnal Corn Snake $20. "Okeetee" Corn $25. Call: The Exotic Dead Corner (612) 545-5127.

GREAT V ALLEY SERPENTARIUM, a private museum and breeding facility offering a wide selection of c.b. colubrids, boids and lizards. Open to the public. Write or fax for free price-list. Great Valley Serpentarium, 2379 Maggio Circle, Unit C Ladi, CA 95240, (209) 369-7737, Fax (209) 369-7737.

Wanted

ALL THE SHED SNAKE SKINS IN THE WORLD, Always, to use at hands-on programs to give to kids. Bob Duerr (612) 541-0362.

Will fmd or provide "homes" for any and ail unwanted venomous snakes. For more info contact: The Exotic Dead Comer (612) 545-5127.

Herp related news clippings, original articles, artwork, cartoons, etc. for publication in the MHS Newsletter. Authors and artists will receive compensation in the fonn of volunteer hrs, good towards one "priceless" MHS coffee mug. Send submissions to: MN Herp. Soc.l Editor, do Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455·0104.

Miscellaneous

BREEDING INVENTORY SURVEY: Everyone keeping live reptiles and amphibians is asked to contribute to this annual report. Please subntit the following info current Jan. 1st of each year: (1) Inventory of collection, list numbers and sex, (2) list of all species bred during the previous year, (3) any longevity records, (4) please print clearly; your name, address and telephone number as you want them listed, (5) please do respond. Send info to: Frank Slavens, P.O. Box 30744, Seattle, WA 98103. Fax: (206) 546·2912.

SEA TURTLE SURVIVAL LEAGUE, announces its' line of eco·promoting sea turtle merchandise, for a free catalog write: Sea Turtle Survival League, P.O. Box 2866, Gainesville, FL 32602-2866 or call (800) 678-7853.

MHS Newsletter Voilime XV Number 8

MHS Rodent Sales

Mice: pinkies $6.00 dozen fuzzies $6.00 dozen adults $9.00 dozen

Rats: pups $10.00 dozen adults $12.00 six

$24.00 dozen

For pickup at monthly meetings only. Orders must be placed at least one week in advance of date of meeting at which frozen rodents are to be delivered. Place orders with Terry Scheiber (612) 440-7482.

JOHN & RUTH MELTZER (612) 263-7880

WE HAVE A GREAT SELECTION OF CAPTIVE BRED

HERPS.

CAlL FORA COMPLETE LISTING!

~~~J?!1r~Irbo!-,E ~ ERICTIiISS

(612) 470-5008 FAX (612) 470-5013

464 5eGOnd Street. Excelsior, MN 55331

Reptiles. Amphibians. Invertebrates. Small Mammals· Fish. Birds· Complete Line of Cages, Food, Books & Supplies for ALL AnImals

&

2363 University Ave. W., SI. Paul, MN 55114 (612) 647- 4479

16

MHS Merchandise

MRS offers an assortment of herp related sales items including; books, magazines, posters, t-shirts, notecards, buttons, stickers, decals, and patches. Look for the merchandise sales area at the far right side of the meeting room. Transactions can be handled before the meeting, during the break, or after the meeting as time permits. Selected items also available for purchase by mail order (see below).

MRS Painted Turtle Logo (blue on white)

stickers, decals, and patches $1.50 each postpaid

Treefrog Notecards

(above design on light green stock) $3.00 per package postpaid

All proceeds from MRS rodent and merchandise sales go toward the operating costs of the society such as; speaker fees, library purchases, charitable donations, etc. The MRS is a completely volunteer run, non-profit organization.

CLASSIFIED AD INSTRUCTIONS: Ads are run as a free service to paid members. MHS takes NO responsibility for legality or health of animal advertised here. Ads may be run for three consecutive months at which time ads may be re-submitted. The editor reserves the right to omit ads when space is limited so as to allow all members a chance to advertise. Size of ad is limited to four (4) typed lines or one (1) standard size business card. DEADLINE for all newsletter items is one week before the general meeting.

NON MEMBER & EXPANDED SIZE ADS: Line ads:$.10 per word. Business Cards: $5.00 per month.

Quarter page ads: Half page 'ads: Full page ads:

One month only $10.00 per month $20.00 per month $40.00 per month

Three or more months $7.50 per month $15.00 per month $25.00 per month

Six or more months $5.00 per month $10.00 per month $15.00 per month

Send all newsletter items to: Minnesota Herpetological Society Newsletter Editor, Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church Street South East, Minneapolis, MN 55455.

MEMBERSHIP AND T-SHIRT ORDER FORM

MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY

NAME(S) ______________________________________________________________ __

ADDRESS~ ________________________________________________________________ __

CITY __________________________ __ STATE ______ __ ZIP CODE

PHONE __________________________ __ LIST IN MHS DIRECTORY? YES NO __ __

DRIVERLIC# DATE OF BIRTH __________ __

HERPRELATEDlNTERESTS: ________________________________________________________ _

TYPE OF MEMBERSHIP? NEW ____ RENEWAL __ __

MEMBERSHIP LEVEL? ____ SUSTAlNING ..... $60.00

____ CONTRIBUTlNG ..... $30.00

~NSTITUTlON .... $25.00

____ ~BASIC. ... $15.00

Are you currently ( or will be ) a University of Minnesota student? __ (check if yes)

HOW DID YOU HEAR OF MHS? __________________________________________________ _

NewDesign Bull Sna'<e T-Shirts

($14.00 each includes postage) Indicate how many of each size

SMALL___ MEDIUM ___ LARGE___ X-LARGE ___ XX-LARGE __ _

Please enclose payment. MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: Minnesota Herpetological Society. Membership is for 12 months from date of joining. A receipt will be sent only on request. Allow 6-8 weeks for processing. MAIL TO: Minnesota Herpetological Society, Bell Museum Of Natural History, 10 Church Street South East, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0104

MINNESOTA

HERPETOLOGICAL

SOCIETY BELL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

10 CHURCH STREET S. E. MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55455·0104

ADDRESS CORREGnON REQUESTED

+ +

+

1174 ~12/99 G At~n: tJlHS Recording Seci~e"c.ary

3224 Idaho Avenue S St. LOuis ParK: HN 55426

DELIVER BY AUGUST 30,1995 +

Non-Profit Rate U. S. Postage

PAID Mpls.MN

Pennit No. 2275