MinnesotaHerpetologicalSociety

November 2012 Volume 32

the newsletter of the

Number 11

C o n t e n t s

Speaker: Glenn “Jake” Jacobson on his trip to the GalapagosOctober Speaker Recap: Amphibians and Reptiles Native to Minnesota

Board Elections are Here!

B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S

PresidentChristopher E Smith 651.315.7760president@mnherpsoc.com

Vice PresidentDāv Kaufman 612.669.4567vicepresident@mnherpsoc.com

Recording SecretaryEllen Heck 763.593.5414recsecretary@mnherpsoc.com

Membership SecretaryHeather Clayton 612.886.7175 memsecretary@mnherpsoc.com

TreasurerNancy Haig 763.434.8684treasurer@mnherpsoc.com

Newsletter EditorChristopher Rueber 952.594.0101newslettereditor@mnherpsoc.com

Members at LargeJeff LeClere 651.488.6388memberatlarge4@mnherpsoc.com

Jacob Mee memberatlarge1@mnherpsoc.com

Beth Girard 612.616.8431memberatlarge2@mnherpsoc.com

Peter Tornquistmemberatlarge3@mnherpsoc.com

C O M M I T T E E S

AdoptionSarah Richard 612.781.9544RealSarah@aol.com

EducationJan Larson 507.263.4391jan.skunkhollow@juno.com

LibraryNancy Haig 763.434.8684nanchaig@citilink.com

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;

• Educate the members and the general public in the ecological role of reptiles and amphibians;

• Promote the study and conservation of reptiles and amphibians.

TheMinnesotaHerpetologicalSocietyisanon-profit,tax-exemptorganiza-tion. Membership is open to all individuals with an interest in amphibians and reptiles. The Minnesota Herpetological Society Newsletter is published monthly to provide its members with information concerning the society’s activitiesandamediaforexchanginginformation,opinionsandresources.

GeneralMeetingsareheldatBorlaugHall,Room335ontheSt.PaulCam-pusoftheUniversityofMinnesota,onthefirstFridayofeachmonth(unlessthereisaholidayconflict).Themeetingstartsat7:00pmandlastsaboutthree hours. Please check the MHS Voice mail for changes in schedules or cancellations.

SUBMISSIONS TO THE NEWSLETTER

Ads or Notices must be submitted no later than the night of the General Meetingtobeincludedinthenextissue.Longerarticleswillbeprintedastimeandspaceallowsandshouldbeinelec-tronicfileformatifpossible.See inside back cover for ad rates. Submissions may be sent to:

The Minnesota Herpetological Society -or- newslettereditor@mnherpsoc.comAttn: Newsletter EditorC/OBellMuseumofNaturalHistory10ChurchStSEMinneapolis,MN55455-0104

Stay informed! Join us on our forums!And,youcanstillleaveusaVoice Mail:612.326.6516

SNAKE BITE EMERGENCY

HENNEPIN REGIONAL POISON CENTER 800-222-1222

©Copyright2012,MinnesotaHerpetologicalSociety.Exceptwherenoted,contentsmayberepro-ducedfornon-profit,non-commercialuseonly.Allmaterialmustbereproducedwithoutchange.Propercreditwillbegivenincludingtheauthor/photographerandtheMinnesotaHerpetologicalSocietyNewsletterciting:volume,numberanddate.

C/OBellMuseumofNaturalHistory,10ChurchStreetSoutheast,Minneapolis,Minnesota,55455-0104

November 2012 Volume 32 Number 11

Cover Photo Credit: Christopher E. SmithUpperLeftisaMinkFrog(Lithobatesseptentrionalis)

UpperRightisanEasternGreyTreefrog(HylaVeriscolor)BottomisaCopperhead(AgkistrodonContortrix)

The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society November 2012 Volume 32 Number 11

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General Meeting Presentation - Friday, November 2nd-Startingat7P.M.UniversityofMN-St.PaulCampus,BorlaugHall,Room335

John Moriarty will be presenting on...

A Trip ot the Galapagos

And,incaseyoumissedtheSeptembergeneralmeeting,hereisarecapjustforyou!

Amphibians and Reptiles Native to MinnesotaBy Ellen Heck

ThespeakerforOctoberwasJohnMoriarty,along-timeMHSmember.In1994,alongwithBar-neyOldfield(aformerMHSmember)Johnpub-lishedthebookAmphibiansandReptilesNativetoMinnesota.Itwas,asthetitleimplies,devotedtothe reptiles and amphibians found in Minnesota. However,sinceitwaspublished,datahasbeenupdated and new species discovered. For the last severalyearsJohnhasbeenworkingwithCarolHalloftheDepartmentofNaturalResourcesonanupdatedversion.Thisbook,tobecalledAmphib-iansandReptilesinMinnesota,isscheduledtobepublishedinthespringof2014.

Sincethepublicationoftheoriginalbook,severalnew species have been discovered. These include thefour-toedsalamander,whichwasdiscoveredinItascaCountythesamemonththebookwaspub-lished. The spotted salamander was discovered a few years later. The common musk turtle has also beenaddedaswellasthepondslider(akared-earedslider)althoughneitheroftheseisconsid-erednative.Theyarepetreleases,buttheslideratleasthasestablishedpopulationsinMinnesota,although it remains to be seen if they can breed effectively this far north.

Another reason for updating the book is that so manyspecieshavebeenrenamedand/orre-clas-sified.There-classificationisdueinlargeparttoDNAtesting,re-establishinglinksbetweenspeciesgenetically instead of empirically. There is also a trend towards abolishing sub-species. Animals are

eitherconsideredonespecies,iftheyaresimilarenough,orbrokenoutastheirownspeciesiftheyare not. It has also been determined that the spe-cies and sub-species cannot have the same name; hence a lot of name changes.

ExamplesofthisarewhatisnowknownastheBlanchard’scricketfrog,theplainshognoseandthesnappingturtle,nolonger“common”.The“common map turtle” is now the northern map turtle,asfurthersouththesouthernmapturtleismorecommon.Amajorchangeisthere-classifi-cation of ratsnakes. As they are found all over the world,inNorthandCentralAmericanelaphehasbeen renamed pantherophis.

Thedistributionchartsarealsobeingupdated,doing away with old records and incorporat-ingnewerones.Forchartingrecords,thelargernorthern counties have been sub-divided to put their area on par with the smaller southern coun-ties.Identificationchartshavebeenexpandedandmanynewphotoshavebeenadded,showingnotjustadultspecimensbutjuvenilesaswellastheirhabitat.

Morehistoryhasbeenincluded.InthefirstbookJohn and Barry started in the in early 1930’s. However,turtleandrattlesnakedepictionsarefound in Minnesota petroglyphs and evidence of turtle shells found in graves dating back 8000 years or more. There is also more information relatedtotheearlyexplorersoftheeighteenthandnineteenth centuries.

The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society November 2012 Volume 32 Number 11

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October Adoption ReportPostedbyBethGirard,WrittenbyChrisRueber

1AmericanAlligator,1Frog,2BeardedDragons,1FenceLizard,1Sulcata(large),4Red-earedSliders,1CaliforniaKingsnake,1BallPython,1CornSnake

Returning from foster care:2CommonBoas(apx6-7’),2CornSnakes,1BallPy-

thon,2GreenIguanas

Webmaster Needed!

The MHS is seeking 1-2 people familiar with website maintenance. People should havesomehtmlexperience.ExperienceusingDrupalisaplus!Pleasee-mailChriswithquestions.

Library Help Needed!

Wearealsolookingforhelpwith the library during the monthly meeting.

President@mnherpsoc.comwww.mnherpsoc.com

Banquet Help Needed!

The MHS Holiday Banquet is upon us! Help is needed! Please contact Chris Smith for details and to volunteer!

Meeting Minutes / Financials Notice

NoboardmeetingwasheldinOctober.Financialswereunavailable,butwillbe

posted in an upcoming newsletter.

MHS Committee Reports Due

Committee Chairs should submit their year-end reports to the MHS President by February 1st.

Thanks!Chris Smithpresident@mnherpsoc.com

Minnesota Herpetological Society Membership ApplicationNew

Renewal

Membership #

Type

Check#

Active Memberships: Sustainin ($60/year)Contributing ($40/year)Basic ($20/year)Printed Newsletter($5/yearplusmembership)

Corresponding Memberships: Commercial ($25/year,2businesscardads/year)

Requiredcheckinfo.DriversLic# State DOB

Please enclose the proper payment with your application. Make checks payable to MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY.Membership is for 12 months from the date of approval. A receipt will be sent only upon request.Mail To: Minnesota Herpetological Society, C/OBELLMUSEUMOFNATURALHISTORY,10ChurchSt.SE,Minneapolis,MN55455Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing.

Name

Address

City,State,Zip

PhoneEmailListinMHSDirectory?YesNoContactinformationonly?YesNo

Herp related interests

Advertising Policies

MHS Ad Policy:TheMHSassumesNORESPON-SIBILITYregardingthehealthorlegalityofanyanimal,orthequalityorlegalityofanyproductorservice advertised in the MHS Newsletter. Any ad mayberejectedatthediscretionoftheNewsletterEditor.Duetospacelimitations,unpaidandcom-plimentaryadvertisementsaresubjecttooccasionalomission.

Classified Ads: All active members are allowed a classifiedad,runfreeofchargeasspacepermits.Adsmayberunthree(3)consecutivemonths,afterwhich time they may be resubmitted.

Submissions: All advertisements should be submitted to the MHS Membership Secretary at the general meeting or mailed to: Minnesota Herpetological Society, C/O Bell Museum of Natural History. 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Deadline is the night of the General Meeting for inclusion in thenextnewsletter.Makecheckspayableto:Min-nesota Herpetological Society.

Advertising Costs

Size Cost BusinessCardSized $5/monthor$55/year*1/4Page $10/monthor$110/year*1/2Page $20/monthor$220/year*FullPage $40/monthor$440/year*

Forpick-upatmonthlymeetingsonly.Ordersmaybeplacedthe following ways

1. At the meeting for the following Month2. Onlineathttp://mnherpsoc.com/content/rodent-orders3. CallingtheMHSvoicemail:612.326.6516

OrdersMUSTbeplaced10DAYSINADVANCE of the date of meeting in order to guarantee availability.

MICE WEIGHT PRICE Pinkies 2-3grams $7/dzFuzzies 5-7grams $7/dzHoppers 8-11grams $8/dzAdults 25-30grams $10/dzJumboAdult 45+grams $14/dz

RATS WEIGHT PRICE Weanlings 40-50grams $17/dzSmallAdults 50-60grams $18/dzMedAdults 125-150grams $24/dzLargeAdults 200-240grams $30/dzJumbo 250-350grams $36/dz

Rodents! Order online!Did you know you can

order online? By phone? See below!

NextMeeting:

Friday - November 2nd - 7:00 pmRoom335BorlaugHall,UofMSt.PaulCampus

MHS Voice Mail:612.326.6516

MHS Web Page:www.mnherpsoc.com

MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETYC/OBELLMUSEUMOFNATURALHISTORY10CHURCHSTSEMINNNEAPOLIS,MN55455-0104

This newsletter is printed on recycled paper