Whether you know it by the American name of rhinoceros viper or the name of river jack that is commonly heard elsewhere, Bitis nascicornis is a magnificent snake that deserves the utmost respect.



It is easily determined whence came the American name, for this stocky viper has several pairs of moderately to greatly elongated scales on its nose. Although it can swim, the name of river jack seems a bit inaccurate. Rather than being actually a riverine species, the snake is known to be an inhabitant of the forests and rarely of the woodlands of West and Central Africa.

Those in some populations are among the world's most beautiful snakes while others are dull (especially the old adults) and of muddy appearance. Those from the northeastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (often referred to as the Ituri Forest or Ituri Rainforest) are often very brightly colored. This snake has a dangerously potent venom that is primarily haemotoxic but that also contains neurotoxins.

A live-bearing species, female rhino vipers may have from 10 to 36 babies. Normal adult length for this very heavy bodied viper is 25 to 36 inches with the females attaining a larger size than the males.

Despite its lethal potential this snake, popular with hobbyists, remains occasionally available at rather affordable prices.

We sure don't live in the country, but there is enough undeveloped land around us to support a few Florida box turtles, Terrapene carolina bauri.



This pretty subspecies of the eastern box turtle is variably but quite consistently marked with yellow striping against a black carapacial ground color. Most seen here are adults and although it is always a pleasure to see them, I occasionally wonder where these turtles nest and how can the babies remain so successfully hidden?

A couple of years ago, I got lucky. A gravid female Florida box turtle wandered up to the edge of a restraining board in our yard, dug her nest, and laid 4 eggs. I was able to watch the whole nesting and incubation sequence, and I happened to be nearby when three of the four eggs hatched (one appeared infertile). I decided to keep all and give them a "head start" before loosing them into the wilds.

As with other subspecies of the eastern box turtle, the carapacial color of the quarter-sized hatchlings was fragmented and the carapace itself was far less domed that of the adult. The hatchlings ate ravenously and at the end of the year I allotted for head start, they were more than one and half inches in length, carapacial doming was noted, and the carapacial markings were forming into the radiating stripes so typical of this turtle.

Although they have no identifying marks, I'll forever hope that at least some of the box turtles that I meet near my house are these babies, now grown.

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"Wow! Look at that old place."

"I'll be darned. That's a pump house, Jake. It's been a while since I last saw one of these."

I pulled the car onto the shoulder and we piled out to take a better look. Fond memories came flooding back. Pump houses, you see, were the rat snake meccas of a formative and much enjoyed yesteryear.



Occasional cars and trucks traveled Route US27 south from Clewiston, Florida to Miami. Then a two lane thoroughfare, US27 was lined for miles along the east shoulder and to a somewhat lesser extent along the west shoulder with Australian pines, willows and some Brazilian pepper.

Sod fields and sugar cane were just coming into their own and these crops were irrigated by immense gasoline pumps that were protected from the elements by roofing tin and 2x4 or cinderblock structures termed pump houses. And to these structures, seeking shelter, came the rat patrols of the crops, the Everglades rat snakes, the corn snakes, the peninsula and scarlet kingsnakes and the occasional barn owls. And, of course, to the pump houses and snakes came the seekers of snakes, both hobbyist and commercial. This seemingly normal progression of events continued for years, but eventually all things changed - modernized, if you will.

Route US27 is a now huge four to six lane road with traffic streaming steadily in both directions. In the widening (and return to native species) process, 95% of the Australian pines have been removed. Sod and cane fields have expanded exponentially, redesigning much of the south-central Florida land corridor.

Irrigation techniques have modernized and pump houses - the snake meccas - are no longer needed. Those that stood and acted as snake refuges for decades have, often with the help of careless snake hunters, toppled or disintegrated. They have become things of the past, merely memories to the elder snake seekers and totally unknown entities to the newer herpers.

It was little wonder that I was surprised to find this pump house still standing and in relatively good shape. Neither it nor the several others we found that afternoon contained snakes, but being as modernized as the surroundings they contained herpetological newcomers: Cuban treefrogs and African agamas. We were, however, saddened to find a fresh DOR corn snake on the road in front of one.

In those "old days" when traffic was light and when you could look westward from Route US27 and see waving sawgrass rather than waving sugarcane, when there were more snakes and far more snake habitat both natural and artificial, the many pump houses reigned supreme.

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Patti and I stood in front of the beautifully planted terrarium at the National Aquarium in Baltimore talking with Jack Cover. Jack, the General Curator, seemed justifiably proud of the success being had with the beautiful taxon we were watching: the Panamanian Golden Frog, Atelopus zeteki.



We watched as the frogs, yellow or yellow with black spots, moved slowly about their terrarium. Although they sometimes moved in short hops, more often they progressed in a deliberate hand-over-hand manner. Hand waving, a form of silent communication, was frequently used by the frogs.

Learning that this frog was almost extirpated in the wild (since 2007, no wild examples have been found) lent sadness to the beauty and enjoyment we were experiencing at the aquarium.

I first met the Panamanian golden frog, Atelopus zeteki, back in the 1960s when it was still a subspecies of A. varius and known as A. varius zeteki. At that time it was inexpensively, but only occasionally, available in the North American pet trade.

Through the years, the golden frog withstood not only the ravages of over-collecting, but of deforestation that resulted in habitat losses and increasing pollution of the streams along which it lived. But this frog, like many others, was not able to withstand the onslaught of chytridiomycosis, the now famous amphibian fungus disease that rose from virtual obscurity to formidable prominence in the 1990s. As researchers are wont to say, the disease (specifically Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) knew no boundaries, affecting and killing frog populations both in and out of protected areas.

But back to the aquarium now: We were encouraged to further learn that there are more than 4 dozen participating facilities in the recovery program for this endangered anuran. Still lacking, however, is a program to reintroduce this taxon safely to the wild; to the wild where the pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, is still lurking.



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Ranging in Atlantic versant tropical forests from Mexico southward to Panama, the spiny-headed tree frog, Anotheca spinosa, is a beautiful and unique hylid species.



It is the only species in the genus Anotheca. Although it may occasionally call from arboreal bromeliads, it is more often found and heard in treehole situations. It is easier to find by following the hollow-booping nocturnal calls to their source than by sight.

Interestingly, the eggs are deposited above the water level and take nearly a week to develop and hatch. The light colored larvae darken within a few days after hatching into typically dark tadpoles. The tadpoles feed on various aquatic organisms including unfertilized eggs produced at several day intervals when the female returns to the breeding site.

Laying of these food-eggs seems induced by nudging the female by the tadpoles. As an aside, this tree frog has now been bred in captivity, and it is from these captive breedings that we have learned much of the reproductive biology.

Anotheca is a relatively large hylid with adults varying between 2 1/2 and 3 1/4 inches. The pattern of variably sized dark spots and blotches against a grayish ground color produces a pleasing but easily overlooked camouflaged tree frog.

Metamorphs and juveniles lack the head spines from which both common and specific names are derived, but on adults the coronet of conical spines is very apparent.

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Kenny had a break in his scholastic pursuits and wanted to see a mink frog, Rana (Lithobates) septentrionalis.



I had a bit of time to spare, and the birding side of me wanted to see trumpeter swans and common loons and the herping side wanted more and better photos of the odoriferous little mink frog. Mink frogs are a green frog lookalike of the boreal climes that are named for their smell. The back and sides of this frog may bear large spots, small spots, or be reticulated.

We hopped in the car and started northward. Fifteen hundred miles later, we were at Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. A quick palaver with the refuge biologist and we were on our way to the first of four ponds that this little frog called home.

We slowed for a bend in the road and a half dozen trumpeter swans swam rapidly away from the shoreline. Tick. We stopped at pond one. Green frogs were abundant, but no mink frogs were in sight. We continued to pond two. Same scenario. Lots of greens, no minks. As we continued to pond three, we drove by an immense lake and, as if waiting for us, a pair of common loons floated on the near side of a bed of emergent vegetation. Tick.

Pond three, heavily vegetated, held a few green frogs. There, floating, one front foot on a lily-pad, about 3 feet from shore was a single mink frog. The trip had been a success. Now we had only the 1,500 miles back to Florida and we could take a breather.

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When I think of the tiger salamander-like axolotl (pronounced ax-oh-lot-ul), Ambystoma mexicanum, my mind drifts back to the 1960s and rather than the genetic oddities of today, it is images of albinos, leucistics, and normals that I first picture. In those days there were few breeders of this salamander, with the primary source being the research colony at Indiana University.



The species is now apparently known primarily (if not exclusively) from the Chalco wetlands region south of Mexico City where the wild examples are now at least marginally protected.

The axolotl is a neotenic (paedomorphic/perennibranchiate) salamander. Simply stated, it is a salamander that rarely metamorphoses, and is capable of attaining sexual maturity while in its larval state. As a larva, the axolotl retains its 3 pairs of bushy gills, has non-protuberant, lidless eyes, and has a noticeable vertebral fin and pronounced caudal fins.

Dermal glands of this aquatic salamander also differ from those of the rare terrestrial adults. Adult size is normally between 8 and 11 inches, but 12 inch long examples have been seen. Appendages such as feet, legs, and tail parts, can be regenerated if lost or damaged.

Hatchling and juvenile axolotls can be (and often are) cannibalistic and are best kept singly, but subadults and adults are relatively peaceful. A 2-gallon aquarium is large enough for an adult and as long as the water is kept clean (changed every day or two), filtration is neither needed nor preferred. Chloramines and chlorine should be removed from the axolotl's water.

Today, axolotls of many colors (several albino forms including the very beautiful gold albino, normal, melanic, piebald, and leucistic, GFP varieties that glow under black lights, and other genetic colors) are readily and inexpensively available. This morning I noticed axolotls of most colors and sizes being advertised on Kingsnake.com. No longer are hobbyists restricted to a single source.

For more information, I suggest that you peruse Susan T. Duhon's paper, Short Guide to Axolotl Husbandry. This helpful and easily understood paper may currently be found online here.

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Back and forth, back and forth, and then back and forth again. Jake and I were on a stretch of road that was new to us; a stretch of road that was known for the many hatchling Burmese pythons, Python (molurus) bivitattus, that had been found on and along it.



The day had been hot and very humid. We arrived at our destination early to spend a pre-dusk hour birding. With some bird species already queuing for their winter migration southward, that pursuit was successful. With sunset fading on the western horizon and dusk well upon us, a crossing Florida banded water snake signaled that it was time to turn our attention to herping. So we did.

During the following several hours, we saw dozens of green, banded, and brown water snakes, striped crayfish snakes, and corn snakes, while hoping all the while for a crossing hatchling python.

Garter and ribbon snakes became active and water snakes became super-active. By 10:00PM, we had seen no pythons and we began thinking about the air-conditioned comfort of the motel, but were loathe to give up. 11:00PM came and went.

Serpentine activity had waned and we were now counting pack rats, cotton rats, opossums, and raccoons. Although all of these small mammals have supposedly been decimated by the pythons, there were many visible on this night.

We were on what we had decided would be our last pass of the night, when Jake hollered "PYTHON!" We never did see any of the hatchlings we so eagerly sought, but the finding of this ten foot long, slightly skinny male, brought a satisfying closure to our many hours of road-cruising.

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Among the world's most beautiful snake species, the slender, tri-colored, ringed, Eastern coral snake, Micrurus fulvius (no subspecies today) is usually an easily recognized serpent.



Throughout most of its mainland range (coastal North Carolina to extreme eastern Louisiana, unless an aberrant example like melanistic or albinistic), the coral snake is of rather standardized appearance. The oft times heard ditty of "red to yellow kill a fellow, and red to black venom lack" aptly describes the snake.

The identification based on color can be a little tricky on the southernmost tip of the Florida peninsula and Key Largo. It was in those areas that the snake was and is of different enough color to have been once (but no longer) designated a subspecies that was called Micrurus fulvius barbouri.

The difference is that in southern Florida, the red rings are often noticeably widened and, except for the first well-defined yellow ring, the yellow rings are less prominent than on typical examples of the Eastern coral snake. In some cases, rather than being precisely delineated, the broad red bands may shade gradually to yellowish-red, a characteristic that can be confusing if unexpected.

Please compare the pictures included with this blog and rely less on the pattern and expected color to identify this dangerously venomous micrurine snake. As an aside, the red to yellow rhyme can lead you far astray in Latin America where very few coral snake species have the two caution colors (red and yellow) touching.

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