Dmmetler Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 But are exactly what DD wanted-two backyard finds from this afternoon-virginia strialata (rough earth snake) and bufo fowleri (fowler's toad). We've been finding frogs and tadpoles and turtles for about a month, but this is the first wild snake of the season (she was starting to get worried that she wouldn't be able to do the more active phase of her research). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 AWesome!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Cool finds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Wow, I have played with those toads all my life. I never knew the name of them--just called 'em toads! This is so cool! I'm glad for your daughter. I found a snake that looked like that when raking leaves in the early Summer once and kept a snake that looked like that for a secret pet. I'm surprised that they could be out already in another state. (I'm in FL). He was named Ropert (rope + rupert)--he escaped his fish bowl habitat and it made for an interesting conversation with my parents about why I needed them to evacuate the room for a bit. My mom was not even one tenth as laid back about this whole thing as you are so you, mom, rock more than a house boat in high waves! Kudos to you both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Tell her I've found as many as 14 of those earth snakes in my garden. I quit tilling because I was so afraid to chop them up. Beautiful, fun little snakes. I had them identified. Very cool. The last time I went out to double dig a bed I just carried a bucket and every time I found one, I dumped it in. Some of them were quite "robust" for a little snake. We are in the Arkansas River Valley area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Catching snakes was a favorite childhood activity, and one I eagerly taught to my kids. Unfortunately we don't see many in our yard anymore--only the ones the cats kill :( I wonder of anyone has studied the impact of domestic cats on local snake populations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy G Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 SWEET! This reminds me of many years ago when my daughter, dressed in her Easter dress, went out in the yard and came to the door with a garter snake in each hand- wanting to be let in the house. Such fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Actually, I just finished listening to a lecture on feral cat populations in our town, and part of the study was to investigate the prey of those cats.. seems that lizards and snakes and frogs are a MAJOR prey item for cats. So the effect of cats on the reptiles and amphibian populations in our area is probably even more significant than the impact on birds. Being cute and feathered, the birds are a concern, and not a lot of people are thinking about the snakes, lizards, frogs and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2bee Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Actually, I just finished listening to a lecture on feral cat populations in our town, and part of the study was to investigate the prey of those cats.. seems that lizards and snakes and frogs are a MAJOR prey item for cats. So the effect of cats on the reptiles and amphibian populations in our area is probably even more significant than the impact on birds. Being cute and feathered, the birds are a concern, and not a lot of people are thinking about the snakes, lizards, frogs and such. I have an uncle who is terrified of snakes. He's always gotten cats with the express hope/desire/intention of them keeping the snake population down. I know that my cats would really get into a snake hunt! Even leave food at the chance to kill a live snake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 Feral cat populations are a BIG concern to field herpetologists-there are a lot of cases where scientists will go to the trouble of implanting tracers in an animal, only to find the signal coming from a cat! Toads carry enough bufotoxins that usually they are able to avoid being eaten (or, at least, a given cat only makes that mistake once) -but can still be killed by cats quite easily. One of the big problems with cats is that even well fed, pet cats (or maintained feral colonies) still hunt small animals-they just don't necessarily eat them. Even fairly large North American snakes and venomous snakes (copperheads, rattlesnakes, rat snakes, etc) can be killed by domestic cats, and the little snakes and lizards are easy prey. And cats will sit on the edge of frog ponds and actively hunt frogs and salamanders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 And when you think about the fact that these little animals can't get away as well as a bird, and add to that the fact that they have restricted ranges, I would not be at all surprised to find out that the impact of cats on these populations is huge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 I honestly did not know that about cats and snakes. We have lots of cats roaming our neighborhood but still have a lot of snakes (they even get in my house.) It also makes me thankful for the cats because I wonder how many snakes and lizards we would have without them. We're in Florida and it's just something that seems normal now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 We have a huge problem with cats here because they eat all the native birds which don't fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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