I first saw the snake in the photo as it was swimming in the shade of the willows at the edge of the Wetlands. It slowly crawled out of the water and onto one of the trees. Up it went until it found a limb to its liking and proceeded to follow it out to its end. I assume it was looking for bird nests in the willows, there’s much catbird activity in the area. Apparently finding no nest inRead more
Posts tagged: #Bullfrog
Give me Some Kind of Sign
signs of the season… Read more about Chip. There are so many signs that point to spring it’s difficult to zero in on just a few. Here’s two very obvious bird signals of the change that’s coming. The two geese in the photos below arrive at the Museum’s Wetland each February. I’ve been calling them Lucy and Goosey, Lucy’s the female. I typically don’t name birds, but these two have become so familiar that, well, why not! How do IRead more
Out and About in mid February
All photos shot on the balmy 18th of February. Read more
Spring at the Museum?
It’s December not April. What’s going on with the wildlife here at the Museum. Ranger Lew saw a Northern Water Snake on Saturday (12/3). Spring Peepers were calling and Yellow-bellied Sliders were out basking in the near 70 degree air of yesterday afternoon (12/6). Neither peepers or basking Turtles are unusual during this time of year though, a few days of warm temps is often enough to bring either of those herps out of hiding, even in the dead ofRead more
The Crayfish Among Us: Part II
Our Wetlands is Changing! In August I wrote about a pile of crayfish hatchlings that I found on the path in Explore the Wild. I also wrote about how those crayfish are not native to our area and how they may be completely changing the Wetlands. The crayfish that I see and capture in our Wetlands are Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). I first noticed these large crayfish with the red claws a little over two years ago. Then, it was unusual toRead more
Good Morning Frog!
As I walked up to the Butterfly House this morning I saw Emily staring down at the ground near the outside entrance to the Lep Lab. She was looking at a little frog on the storm drain in front of the doors. “Good morning frog!” ” Morn’n Emily!” Relatives of Emily’s little friend are quite active now, out in the Wetlands. Besides the very vocal treefrogs that are calling on these hot, humid, and thunderstorm prone July days, there areRead more
Big Bull succumbs to Big Blue
Last year around this time I saw a Great Blue Heron take a Bullfrog from the Wetlands. From capture to swallow, the whole process took approximately 13 minutes. On May 19 of this year the heron (or another just like it) took another big frog out of the water. This frog was dispatched in less than ten minutes. Just another day in the Wetlands.Read more
The Wants and Needs of a Snake
Alerted by a chaparone from one of the many school groups present that day (May 4) that a snake was swimming along the banks of the Wetlands, I saw Big Momma, a large female Northern Water Snake, swim by just a few feet off the shore. Moments later the snake had a frog in her jaws. The grip was a tenuous one as only the frog’s foot was in the snake’s mouth. Oddly, the frog didn’t struggle as much asRead more