Ohio Reptiles and Amphibians, 2022

We had some good warm rains on New Years Day and evening, so I went out and did some amphibian looking. There were a number of critters out.

A Streamside Salamander (Ambystoma barbouri). This species is known to breed very early in the season.

A Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum).

A young Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum).

A Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana), with a leaf on its back.

The next time I went out was a night in early March.

A Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica).

An American Toad (Bufo americanus).

A Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum).

A Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica).

A Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer).

A Jefferson Salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum).

I saw a whole bunch of the “usual suspect” amphibians that night. The most impressive thing I saw was this massive Bullfrog(Rana catesbeiana) . One of the largest I've ever seen. The frog legs on this gal are definitely drum sticks.

A Jefferson Salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum).

I went for nice hike with a friend in the daytime on March 10.

Toad eggs seen in a pool. This is surprisingly early to see them. I assume they are American Toads (to be).

A Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) laying eggs during the morning. This is the first that I have ever seen this.

Mating Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens). Kind of reminds me of pro wrestling...

A Mountain Chorus Frog (Pseudacris brachyphona) sitting on the bottom of a shallow pool.

More mating Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens).

Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) larvae.

A pretty little waterfall. This is the last photo here from March 10.

A Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica), in one of our ponds.

In mid March, Roxanne and I made a drive over to south-central Ohio, with the goal of seeing Snow Trilliums. They occur in areas with lots of limestone. We wound up seeing many of them.
Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale).

Another Snow Trillium.

Yet another Snow Trillium.

A small waterfall in the limestone stream. It was a beautiful and unseasonably warm day. I was actually thinking that we had a decent chance of seeing a Queen Snake, or other reptile, out basking.

The next day, we were greeted with this:

The view out the rear window of our kitchen.

Later in March, I went for a nice hike.

The Cambria Furnace.

The furnace produced iron from 1854 through 1878. It is slowly being reclaimed by mother nature. It is more difficult than most of the old furnaces to get to.

A pool of water located directly down the hill from the furnace. It looked like it should be teaming with amphibians, but I saw zero. Makes one wonder if some lingering effects of the furnace operation are affecting the water chemistry.

A Siamese (conjoined) twin tree.

What goes up must come down. A mylar balloon, past its prime. It's amazing how many I see out in the woods. I pick up several every year. Please don't let these go outside.

Also, what I said about what goes up must come down is not completely correct. The helium in the balloon in so light that is not bound by the earth's gravity. It is lost forever into space.

A Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus) larva.

A Northern Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus porphyriticus) larva.

A closer look at the Spring Salamander.

A adult Northern Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus porphyriticus).

A nice patch of ramps observed in mid April.

A young Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber).

A closer look.

A mother Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) with eggs, as found under moss.

In mid April, I met up with some friends in West Virginia to search for a salamander that is unique to certain rugged portions of the Appalachian Plateau, Pletholdon pauleyi. The suggested common name is the “Yellow-spotted Woodland Salamander,” but I view this name as rather dumb, since the species is a rock outcropping specialist. I am going with “Yellow-spotted Wehrle's Salamander,” since it is very closely related to the more widely distributed and better known Wehrle's Salamander (Pletholdon wehrlei). Pletholdon pauleyi was recently described as a distinct species: “Re-evaluation of the Wehrle's salamander (Plethodon wehrlei Fowler and Dunn) species group (Caudata: Plethodontidae) using genomic data, with the description of a new species,” Zachary I. Felix, Jessica A. Wooten, Todd W. Pierson, and Carlos D. Camp, Zootaxa 4609(3), 429-448 (2019). My Ohio University colleague and friend Shawn Kuchta has also recently published a paper on this species group: “Disintegrating over space and time: Paraphyly and species delimitation in the Wehrle's Salamander complex,” Shawn R. Kuchta, Ashley D. Brown, and Richard Highton, Zoologica Scripta 47:285-299 (2018).

After it got dark, we made the long hike down to the habitat where we hoped to find the salamanders. The habitat is steep rock faces with lots of crevices. If the conditions are right, these salamanders will come out of their hiding places and be active on the surface at night. The “right conditions” for reptiles and amphibians tends to be a bit nebulous and you always have some uncertainty. In this case, the weather had been very dry for several days, but the temperature was mild and the air was very humid (borderline misting). These conditions seemed reasonable to me.

I happened to spot the first pauleyi. Did I mention that it was my birthday?

Another pauleyi.

A posed shot of a pauleyi. You can really see how flattened they are. This is no doubt an adaptation for living in crevices.

A pauleyi as spotted, peaking out from a crevice.

Another pauleyi as spotted.

A pauleyi, as spotted out on the crawl, on a nearly vertical surface. You can clearly see you the rear feet are webbed, which is an adaptation for crawling on vertical surfaces.

Another pauleyi, as found.

The conditions must have been good, as we wound up seeing 20 Plethodon pauleyi. We were out looking for them until well after midnight. Then we had to make the long hike back to the campsite. A great evening in the field with Adam, Jared, Jon, and Justin.

We stuck around in West Virginia and looked for other things. One thing we saw was a bunch of Red Trillium (Trillium erectum).

One species that we were hoping to see was the Black Mountain Salamander (Desmognathus welteri). We were unsuccessful in this, but we did wind up seeing several other species of Dusky Salamander, including the Northern Dusky (D. fusucus), the Seal Salamander (D. monticola), and the Allegheny Mountain Dusky (D. ochrophaeus). In southeast Ohio, we only have the Northern Dusky, so things were a little more complicated than usual for me.

A Seal Salamander (Desmognathus monticola).

The Itmann Company Store in Wyoming County, WV. It was built in the early 1920s by Pocahontas Fuel Company to supply their miners with food and other necessities (kind of like a Walmart these days, I suppose). This was at a time when the region was bustling with coal mining activity. The architecture is impressive, and it is built from local stone. At this moment (late 2022), it is apparently for sale.

We also wound up seeing a bunch of Black-bellied Salamanders in one creek. These are a large and aquatic species of Desmognathus. Interestingly, soon after this trip, the Black-bellied Salamanders were split into a number of new species: “Nomenclatural solutions for diagnosing ‘cryptic’ species using molecular and morphological data facilitate a taxonomic revision of the Black-bellied Salamanders (Urodela, Desmognathus ‘quadramaculatus’) from the southern Appalachian Mountains,” R. Alexander Pyron and David A. Beamer, Bionomina 27(1), 1-43 (2022). The species occurring in West Virginia is now known as the Kanawha Black-bellied Salamander (Desmognathus kanawha). The one shown here was a particularly colorful example.

This is it for the West Virginia trip. Also seen were Southern Two-lined Salamanders (Eurycea cirrigera), Northern Slimy Salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus), Cumberland Plateau Salamanders (Plethodon kentucki), Red Salamander larvae (Pseudotriton ruber), Green Salamanders (Aneides aeneus), a Southern Ravine Salamander (Plethodon richmondi), and Mountain Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris brachyphona). The latter species was not actually seen -- only heard.

Now we are back in Ohio.

A Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris blanchardi). I guess I can drop the crepitans now. This individual was seen only 11 miles from the West Virginia border. This species has apparently not been observed in West Virginia for several decades.

A Black Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra), as found under a board.

Another Black Kingsnake, as found under cover.

A young Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus). It is less than one year old.

In late April, we took a short trip to North Carolina and Virginia.

The Humpback Covered Bridge, located near Covington, Virginia. I do like to see the covered bridges.

Another look at the bridge.

Back in Ohio now.

A Common Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis), as spotted on a road.

A closer look.

A Black Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra), as found under a board.

A Black Racer (Coluber constrictor), as found under cover.

Another Black Kingsnake, as found under cover.

A Black Kingsnake, as spotted basking next to a board.

A pair of male Green Frogs (Rana clamitans) in our pond. I have no idea what they were up to.

Eight-spotted Forester (Alypia octomaculata), on our window.

In early June, my friend Ryan Wagner and I had a 44-snake day. Here is a selection of animals from that day.

A young Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum).

At one point, Ryan and were searching through some rubbish. We each found a Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae) within a couple seconds of each other. Here they are, posed on a roofing shingle. I like how the geometry of this shot worked out.

An attractive Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix).

A Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae) with nice reddish color tones.

Another Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae), as found under cover.

A large Black Racer (Coluber constrictor), as found under a sheet of carpet.

Another Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae) that appears to be in pre-shed condition.

This is it for the 44-snake day. Ring-necked Snakes, Worm Snakes, Black Kingsnakes, a DeKay's Snake, and a Common Gartersnake were also seen.

A Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina), as found on a road.

Some pretty summer wildflowers. All that is missing is a basking snake.

An Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus).

An attractive Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum) with some sort of an eye issue.

A pair of Black Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoleta), sort of as found under a board. The one that is in pre-shed condition, the one on the right, was basking next to the board at first, but it quickly crawled under the board.

A Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus), as found under a board. It is always very wet under this board. On other occasions this year, I found crayfish and a Longtailed Salamander under this board.

A Black Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra), as found under a board.

Another Black Kingsnake, as found under cover. This snake, and the previous one, were seen on June 12. I believe that both are gravid females, nearly ready to lay eggs. It is common to find gravid female Lampropeltis under cover this time of year.

An attractive Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina), found on the forest floor on a rainy day.

A Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), as found on the edge of a gravel road one night.

A Northern Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon) found on a road at night. I thought it was a Copperhead, at first. But the proportions weren't quite right. The tail was just too long.

A patternless American Toad (Bufo americanus).

A Black Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra) seen on a road in late June at 10:45 pm. This is the first time I have ever seen this species out after dark. I guess there is a first time for everything.

A Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae), posed on the board it was found under.

A Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum), as found under cover.

A Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) in a sea of Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta).

Mommy deer and two bambis in our backyard. The un-mowed area where the bambis are is a prairie experiment that we are trying.

Another Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae).

A Black Racer (Coluber constrictor), almost as found between folds of carpet.

A closer look. I love the alertness of these snakes.

A Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata) as found under a rock. I had not seen one in a few years. This species has a limited distribution in my area. The range maps show that this species is absent from the area around where Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia come together. My experience in Ohio indicates that this gap is real.

Rosepink (Sabatia angularis).

Roxanne and I found this adult Black Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra) one day in mid July. It had sustained and recovered from significant wounds in its rear abdomen area. Most likely a close call with a predator, but who knows. It had normal body weight and appeared to have normal strength and other functions. It is remarkable what wild animals are able to recover from.

You can see the scars here.

A closer look at where the wounds were. You can see a few mites here (red specks). It may be that the scars make the snake more susceptible to mites.

A close-up ventral view.

Bracted Plantain (Plantago aristata).

In mid July, Roxanne and I made a short to West Virginia to meet up with relatives.

A Wood lily (Lilium philadelphicum) seen at high elevation in West Virginia.

Back in Ohio now.

A Black Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra) and its powerline cut through some rolling hills. This really seems to be the optimal habitat for this species. I wonder how much Black Kingsnakes could spread their range to the north in Ohio, if there was just a suitable powerline right of way to help make it happen...

A Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae), as found under a piece of cardboard. I see a hint of longitudinal striping on this one.

A Dekay's Snake (Storeria dekayi), as found in some carpet.

A Stinkpot (Sternotherus odoratus) that turned up unexpectedly on a country road one evening. I had not see one of these in several years.

A young Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) found on a road. It appears to be almost two years old. I do not see young Box Turtles very often.

A clutch of Black Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra) found under carpet on August 7. On September 5, they had still not hatched. I did not check again until October 23, when they were found to have hatched with 100% success.

A Dekay's Snake (Storeria dekayi), as found under cover.

A Black Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoleta, left) and a Black Racer (Coluber constrictor, right), as found under carpet.

A Black Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra), as found under a board.

A clutch of Black Racer (Coluber constrictor) eggs, as found between folds of carpet on August 21. It is possible that this is a communal nest. On August 28, the eggs were found to have hatched.

Wild Potato-vine (Ipomoea pandurata).

Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense) with some Black Swallowtails (Papilio polyxenes).

A clutch of Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus) eggs seen on August 21.

A Black Racer (Coluber constrictor), in the process of hatching. Andrew and I found in a found a clutch of racer eggs in a folded furniture cushion on August 28. A racer also laid eggs here last year. Most of the eggs had hatched out already, but this one was just peaking its head out of the egg. I pealed the egg away a little bit, and Andrew took the photo. We then put the egg and the snake back the way it was. My experience with eggs that I have hatched is that the baby snakes slit the eggs open and then hang out in the egg for a day or two. As they are getting ready to exit for good they will stick their head out, like this one was.

A mud bath is one way to beat the August heat. A Box Turtle, as found.

On August 28, Andrew and I lifted a large carpet, revealing seven hatching Milksnakes (Lampropeltis triangulum). Four of them are shown here, almost as found. There were several holes in the soil under the carpet, where the the eggs these snakes hatched from must have been.

A Black Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoleta), as found under carpet.

A Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), as found in a pile of discarded wading pools and floaties.

Another look at the copperhead. I suspect that it is a gravid female, just about ready to give birth.

A Black Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoleta), almost as found under carpet. It is in pre-shed condition.

A Black Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra).

Ryan with a large Black Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoleta).

A Black Racer (Coluber constrictor), as found under a board. It is in pre-shed condition.

A Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum), as found under some carpet. When you start finding these under cover where you expect to find snakes in the late summer, it means the days of warm weather are about done.

A young Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae) that was probably born a few weeks prior to this photo being taken. It was right at 4” total length.

A Black Racer (Coluber constrictor), almost as found under cover.

A Laurel sphinx caterpillar (Sphinx kalmiae) that Aaron spotted. It is parasitized by wasp larvae, likely the genus Cotesia.

Another look. The wasp cocoons fell off of the caterpillar as a unit when the caterpillar moved.

A beautiful Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus).

A little metamorph Mud Salamander found near the previous one. Shown as flipped under a log. I conclude that these salamanders have a much more flexible spine than I do. It is hard to imagine that they would intentionally rest in this posture, but obviously they do.

An Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus), as found in a tarp.

A hatchling Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum), as found under a board.

A Black Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra).

For the most part, the second half of the summer and the fall were very dry here. Every once in a while -- like once every five or ten years -- we get the remnant of a hurricane in this time frame and that changes the rainfall situation considerably. These rain events will bring the Marbled Salamanders out in force. This was one of those years. On October 1, we had a long steady drizzle from the remnants of hurricane Ian, a storm that had caused catastrophic damage in Florida a couple of days earlier. My son Ryan and I did a little road cruising after dark.

A couple of attractive Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum) seen on the road.

Another Marbled Salamander. This one was much darker than normal. It also had purple hue. We wound up seeing around 100 Marbled Salamanders this night. That helps with the odds of seeing an unusual one.

A Jefferson Salamander (Ambystoma jeffersonianum).

That's it for road cruising in the hurricane remnant. Besides the 100 or so Marbled Salamanders and one Jefferson Salamander, we saw a few Spring Peepers, an American Toad, and a Newt.

A handsome Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum), as found under a board.

A Black Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoleta), as found crossing a country road one fall afternoon.

A Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) found on a road on a rainy night.

A Black Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula nigra), as found under a board. This was one of four snakes (two Black Kingsnakes and two Black Racers) seen on October 16. This is typically about the end of snake season in southeast Ohio. This is not to say that snakes cannot be seen later than this. But it does generally require some factors to be in your favor, such as warm weather and proximity to a hibernaculum.

A Northern Slimy Salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus), as found under carpet.

This year, warm weather persisted through the first week of November. This Dekay's Snake (Storeria dekayi) was found crossing a road in the late afternoon on November 3. Shown as spotted. It is undoubtedly moving from the field on the right to the hillside on the left where it will hibernate for the winter. This is actually the first live one that I have ever seen in Athens County, my home county. I took this photo with my cell phone. There was no way to take the photo without my shadow messing it up...

November and December turned out to be very busy with other things, so that's it for 2022.

Here is a summary of the live snakes that I saw in Ohio this year:

I cannot complain about that. Well yes I can. In 2022, I did not see any of the rarer snakes: the Redbellied, Eastern Hog-nosed, Rough Green, or Ribbon Snakes. It has been many years since I did not see at least one from this group.

We will see what 2023 brings!