Turtles

Today we're going to talk about turtles. I love turtles. Actually, so do most other people. For whatever reason turtles have been spared the negative reputation that most other reptiles must face. A turtle generally brings good feels and smiles while people tend to kill snakes out of fear and disgust. People only kill turtles to eat them. Or accidentally with their cars. But that's another story.

Then there are the sea turtles. Also known as the worst turtles. Everyone loves sea turtles, but there are only seven species of sea turtle out of the ~300 species of turtles that exist in the world today. The remaining ~293 species is where I think the real beauty lies, specifically within the freshwater turtles. But of course, these don't classify as charismatic megafauna so nobody will ever care and they will all die. That might be a slight overstatement, but again, that's another story.

This picture was taken in the small parish of Boston. 

Anyway, let's get acquainted with our first turtle: the painted turtle, Chrysemys picta picta, which is the most abundant reptile I've seen by far. Seriously, I counted over 40 individuals in a single instance. If I had a dollar everytime I've seen a painted turtle, I'd have over 40 dollars.

Imagine if Monet painted turtles instead of lilypads. If only. 

I count twenty-two in this heavily cropped and edited picture of poor quality and this is only a portion of the whole picture so there are probably about fifty more, give or take a hundred. Which leads me to my next point. I've been trying to get a really nice closeup while they're basking, but so far success has been lacking. As any professional photographer would do, I'll blame it on my gear, or lack thereof. But seriously, I think I'll need a longer lens because these darn things are really wary and won't let me get close enough for a crisp head shot.

I'll be back!

So I've been visiting this pristine turtle haven, located within meters of a baseball field, at various times to study the routine of these lovely creatures. I've discovered that like myself, these guys are early risers starting to bask at 6:30 in the morning. Also like myself, they do not appear to enjoy junior league baseball as they seem to promptly disappear at 1:00 after the first kickoff or however it is baseball games are started.

I'll spare the exciting sports details for my sports blog, but there are events more thrilling than America's favorite pastime to write about. One day I was pleasantly surprised to find this monstrosity in place of the usual horde of painted turtles.

One of these things is not like the others.

A snapping turtle! A large one at that, but despite its gargantuan size it was still a scaredy cat and immediately plummeted into the muddy depths as soon as I inched closer for a better shot. I thought all these icky creatures were out to get humans and bite them, not run away from them. Last time I listen to the general public about the intricacies of reptile behavior and biology. Luckily the next day I came across a juvenile who so kindly let me take his portrait.

Smile! You've probably read way more about turtles than you expected to today!
Wasn't that enlightening/fun/painless/edifying?!

Alright, so I probably ruined its day by picking it up and putting it on a rock and shoving a camera in its face, but speaking of disturbing wildlife I did the same for another species of turtle: the highly famed musk turtle. 

If you've made it this far, I applaud you and hope I haven't bored you to death. 

Fine, you've probably never heard or even seen a musk turtle before. Actually, even I've never seen one in the wild, so as you might imagine I was as gleeful as a little schoolgirl when I found this guy. I did raise a hatchling of this species as a pet for five years until the turtle plague took away two of my dearest companions so tears were shed in remembrance. RIP, Turtle Durden. 

Why are they called "musk turtles?" I'm glad you asked! These turtles excrete a foul smelling substance to deter predators lending this turtle its species name, Sternotherus odoratus. I'm lucky to have taken a whiff of this odor once and it was not pleasant, but I think the garter snake from the other day takes the musky cake. The pictured individual was particularly shy and did not exude any musk at all. Or I've lost my sense of smell. Either way, I'm extremely happy to have seen this species in the wild.

Thanks for reading!

So that makes three species of turtles from three different families all occurring in close proximity to one another. How cool! There are also box turtles, who share a family with the painted turtles, so stay tuned. Until next time. To be continued. Coming soon to a theater near you. 

Snakes

Snakes. What are snakes? We'll never know.

I've largely avoided snakes my entire life because my mother is deathly afraid of them so I never bothered seeking them out. But even when I went out to look for them I could never find any. That, or they were running away from me. They might have well have been girls. In my expansive lifetime of twenty-something I'd only seen about a grand total of two garter snakes and a water snake or five. It wasn't until I went down south and accidentally noosed a viper that I started to look deeper into the mystery that is "snakes." Turns out, they're reptiles too!

While I've learned a little bit more about snakes in the past year, my snake-finding skills are still subpar at best. Will I ever find snakes?! Yes. On a return trip to Skink Mountain, I unwittingly almost stepped on a five-foot long black racer basking in the afternoon sun. I quickly chased it and it quickly turned around ready to bite my face.

Ready to bite my face. Or more reallistically my shins. 

Instead of placing my face near the snake's jaw I neared my shoe towards the serpent which it struck and then FLEW off the mountain top. Literally. Not really, but it is quite comical to see a cylindrical object with no appendages somehow propel itself at such high speeds. They're onto something, these snakes.

Rejuvenated by this encounter I thought to myself "Gee, it sure would be great to run into another black racer to get a picture from a different angle!" and then this thing slides right in front of me:

"Lee me alon."

Except this wasn't a black racer, but a black rat snake. They're totally different, I swear. Totally unperturbed by the large hulking mammal following it, the snake decided to climb up a tree. This was an extremely impressive feat for something with no... feet.

"Look mom! No hands!"

And then my camera battery died. After mourning the loss of the power source and the chance for a beautiful picture of a snake in a tree, I reveled in my fortune. Two species of snakes in a single day! That's a new world record, I think! Could my luck be repeated the next day?

Snakes?????? 

No. All I found was that conveniently placed snake skeleton in the shape of a question mark.

But the next day, I found two more species of snakes under the same abandoned piece of tarp by a riverside. Snakes love abandoned pieces of tarp.

"$%#@, I can't see %#$@!"-Snake

First up we have a garter snake which proceeded to expel piss and musk all over my hand while I helplessly attempted to take a picture with the other. Its eyes normally aren't that cloudy and this indicates that it's going getting ready to shed soon. Had to throw in at least one science fact in here. I don't know to what extent this alters the snake's vision, but I think it's funny to imagine a visually impaired snake bumbling through the grass, cursing whenever it bumps into anything.

Ol' blue eyes. 

And here we have what I first thought was a "brown garter snake," but I think it's just the completely different "brown snake" or Storeria dekayi for all you snake aficionados. I didn't handle this one too much because I had recently reached my quota for getting pissed on by animals for the day.

In conclusion, wow. Two instances with two species of snake. Double double snake days. Good things always come in threes so this can only mean I'll find a copperhead and a rattlesnake on my next adventure. Here's to hoping I don't get bitten by both and die. Where else would you guys get mildly entertaining, subpar prose and amateur photography on the internet?!

Things people say to me.

"You look like a horticulturist!"

"Do you work for the environmental department? Can I get an internship or something?"

"Lizards? That sure is an interesting hobby. SCOFF!"

Many of these comments are instigated by the fact that I dress like a grade-A doofus, refusing normal shorts and t-shirts for adventure pants and fishing shirts.

To be continued. 

Official Managerial Business and Logistics of the Highest Order

Hello all. Thank you for your loyal viewership. This will be an official announcement for the tumblr I started two weeks ago. The decision to branch out into other forms of social media was spurred by my friend in the art community, who convinced me that tumblr was not solely a place where hormonal pre-teens dwell and post their angsty pictures and diary entries.

My audience on this new website is small, but loyal. And apparently growing. Indeed, I posted a picture of a swallowtail butterfly which garnered two "likes" from two complete strangers! Yeah, they were both porn tumblrs specializing in pictures of naked woman bums and titled "assfans" and "myfantasticass," but I'll take it! Beggars can't be choosers, they say.

This was probably due to the fact that I used the hashtag "hairy."
It really is a hairy butterfly though!

Anyway, the point of the tumblr is a personal challenge to produce a "good" picture everyday as a means of working on my photography skills and to track my progress as I shoot for the stars, or closer to earth, National Geographic, or more realistically, 10 faves on flickr. Also, these are all going towards a project of sorts I'm tentatively dubbing "The Magical Temperate Northeast" (sarcasm in title).

"Wow! Look at that interesting beetle! It sure is interesting. I had no idea it lived in my backyard!"- Anonymous denizen from the northeastern United States.

For the normal human being (not you crazy nature people) a temperate woodland is seemingly far from magical. They're right in your backyard and don't have the allure of hyper-diverse tropical rainforests, but life is everywhere and if you look a little closer (or at my pictures!) it can be quite beautiful. Plus, there are a few things that are more diverse at higher latitudes than at the tropics, like salamanders and turtles!

"Who needs poison dart frogs when you have this?!"-Blogger in denial

This is also part "ode to my childhood" (or rather entire existence as I still trudged around swamp with a net throughout college) as I revisit my old stomping grounds with camera in hand instead of net. Oh, who am I kidding, I still bring a net. In addition to old favorites like mayflies and tadpoles, I plan on adding some new species to the list like lizards and rattlesnakes and map turtles, oh my! Apparently there are lot of online services to create a photobook, so perhaps my pictures and sarcasm may someday exist in printed form. Coming soon to a theater near you.

Relevant links for the hyperlink blind:
Tumblr: http://johannsioux.tumblr.com/
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johannsioux/

Sincerely,
Johannes J. Sioux the First

Rattlesnake Hill

Now that my lizard habit has been quelled for the time being, I am focusing my efforts into finding another group of organism: Lizards. But not just any lizards. Snakes. But not just any snakes. Rattlesnakes. Technically speaking, all snakes are lizards, for the same reasons that birds are actually reptiles. And we are fish. If you don't understand, you can go get a degree in biology and learn what a paraphyletic group is. Alternatively you can figure it out from the below diagram or Wikipedia. Either way, you'll be a hit at your next dinner party.

Note the position of birds and snakes.

Taken from Suh et al. 2014; A Semantically Correct Vertebrate Tree of Life.

Unfortunately, my new lizard quest was off to a rocky start. Not only was the mountain I was trying to get to presumably full of minerals and ores, I got lost driving there. Eventually a combination of cursing the country backroads and Google maps led me to my destination. Finally, I could hike up to the trail named "Rattlesnake Hill" which I hoped was named for its abundance of rattlesnakes. Or maybe it's a hill that's shaped like a rattlesnake. I wouldn't know because I got lost again and ended up at a reservoir instead of this mystical landmark. But the trouble didn't end there.

Right before I walked towards the body of water to sulk I crossed paths with a rampant dog. This was a relatively harmless dog, besides the fact that it was a dog, and I left unscathed. But this was only the beginning. I sat down by the lake, angry at the lack of rattlesnakes on my hike, when suddenly I was surrounded by a pack of five dogs. Five wet dogs who decided to shake off their dank fur right next to me while trying to steal my sandwich. Of course, the two owners of this vile horde just said "Oh, they're just so friendly!" and that instantly excuses these vermin to do whatever they want.

Needless to say, I was pretty discouraged at this point. If you don't know me, I should explain. Not that I'm biased or anything, but I don't have much love for mammals, especially untrained, overly-affectionate canines. Anyway, while recovering from that traumatic event I noticed this thing in the water:

I wonder if he knew he would end up on the internet.

An eastern newt! I mean, Notophthalmus viridiscens. They're basically water lizards. They were extremely abundant too, flitting around beneath the surface and resting on rocks. I even watched the pictured male try to mate with another newt. Males develop enlarged hindlimbs, visible above, which they use to lovingly strangle the female newt. Newts sure like it rough. There have been way too many boring facts in this post so I'll end with pictures of hatchling painted turtles that were also in the reservoir.

So cute!

While my current obsession is with lizards, I still firmly believe that there is nothing cuter than a baby turtle. And there is nothing cuter than a whole swarm of five of them going about their day between the shallow water pond vegetation.

Still cute!

All in all a good day. But I'll be back for the rattlesnakes. Remind me to wear dog repellent. 

Lizard Quest: Round 2

If you've ever read this blog you may know that I like lizards. If you really love me and actually read this blog, you might remember how I tried to find them in my native homeland of seemingly lizard-less New York state last summer. I never finished the "thrilling conclusion" to that subpar story" to find introduced Italian wall lizards, but long journey to a cemetery in Queens short: I found them. Here is photographic proof:

Wow! Look at that Podarcis sicula in its "natural" habitat.

That's all for this charming lizard for now, but you haven't seen the last of him. I'll make a trip back to the graveyard soon to see if he is still there.

It is cool to see a lizard from Rome all the way out here, but what about the lizards that naturally occur in New York? It turns out there are three native species of lizards here, two of which are within relatively close proximity to me. I planned on committing to a prolonged and arduous expedition that would span the entire summer to find these reptilian gems, but I ended up finding both of them yesterday. So instead of an extensive account here are some pictures that I wished turned out just a little bit sharper. I guess I'll have to go back. Oh the horror!

No touching!

First up, we have the eastern fence lizard, or more commonly known as Sceloporus undulatus. It's a widespread lizard found throughout most of the United States, but there are five disjunct populations at its most northernmost range in New York where it is threatened. This means I cannot collect every last one and start my own lizard zoo. Darn.

How babby is formed.

I only managed to find four of them, including two large gravid females ripe with eggs and a single cute juvenile that was probably one of last year's babies.

So cute! 

While my appetite was satiated with a single species of lizard, I managed to find a bunch of male five-lined skinks as well. Males develop reddish heads during the breeding season because they are so angry and fight each other, and apparently ladies might find the color red attractive. But not a single lady skink was in sight. I would guess that the females are all being good mothers, but I'll save my breath and let this popular nature man explain it to you more eloquently.

Plestiodon fasciatus, because I know people read this blog mainly for scientific names. 

Before leaving I was outwitted by a juvenile skink with its pretty blue tail, but I have no picture to show you, so who knows if it really happened. I also encountered a milk snake, but alas no pictures. Looks like I'll have to go back.

We have to go back. 

Leafhopper? Spider?! I barely...

Welcome back. I've been busy graduating from college, but fear not! I have not acquired one of those pesky "jobs" so in between my allergy medication-induced naps I plan on spending as much time outside being a naturalist and improving my photography skills. I've got some exciting ideas around good ole upstate New York, but yesterday I stayed close to home. Literally. Due to my fatigued state (and lack of a car), I spent a good chunk of time running around my yard and lying in the tick infested grass, taking pictures of whatever I could find. Here are a few pictures of what I found.

Wow! Look at those antennae! 

And we're off to a good start. Apparently that monstrosity is called a fishfly. The description in my field guide states that "these large insects are easy to capture because they fly so slowly and are so poorly coordinated." Poor guy. He was probably last pick in gym class.

This is a leafhopper nymph. I wish this photo was just a little bit sharper, but it's pretty cool how the lawn looks like a forest of its own. One day that little guy will grow up to be the slightly less tiny insect shown below.

Actually, I'm not entirely sure if those are the same species, but the first picture is definitely an immature individual. You may have not seen these bugs this close before, but you have definitely seen them if you've ever walked across a lawn and noticed a small swarm fleeing from your footsteps.

Before you get bored or creeped out by all the weird things, here's a less offensive insect.

Everyone loves butterflies!

Followed by one of the most reviled arthropods: a spider surrounded by all its leftovers. 

Everyone's favorite animal, second to snakes.

Thus begins my journey to document the fauna of the exciting temperate northeast.