This Gladiator Treefrog was sitting quietly in a low shrub.
By Dick and Patti Bartlett

This big brown(ish) treefrog is, at an adult length of 5 inches, one of the largest hylids from Amazonas to Panama. Although both genders attain this length, males often are marginally the larger. The unveined orangish eyes help differentiate this common treefrog from other large species. The sides and dorsum bear dark markings that may be prominent or almost invisible. All four feet are webbed.

The Giant Gladiator Treefrog (Hyla (Boana) boans), is commonly seen in riveredge/streamedge shrubs and low trees, and less commonly on the moist shoreline.

The name of Gladiator was given for males at their breeding sites will grapple in territorial battles. These scraps are made the more serious due to the fact that the males have sharp, bony, thumb excrescences. It is usually the bigger male that wins.

Nesting depressions may be either natural small shore-edge puddles or a depression dug by the male. There is usually at least a small water-holding connection to the nearby permanent water source. It is through this that the tadpoles reach the permanent water in which they grow and metamorphose.

The Mexican Hook-nosed Snake is a tiny burrowing species from South Texas and Mexico.
By Dick and Patti Bartlett

Oh, OK, so it’s not a hog-nosed snake, but in profile, its sharply upturned rostral scale, sure makes it look like one. This is the tiny Mexican Hook-nosed Snake, Ficimia streckeri. A true miniature, it is adult at from 7 to 11 inches, but may, on rare occasions reach a foot and a half in length. The few that I’ve seen (it was Kelly Irwin who introduced Patti and me to this snake) have been under a foot long. In the USA this species is restricted to southern TX, but its range extends far southward in eastern Mexico.

In keeping with its preference for soils, often near water sources, through which it can easily burrow, this is basically a sand-tan to pale brown or sand-gray(ish) snake with an unpatterned head and a busy pattern of narrow darker bars or spots along the back. The lower sides are basically unpatterned. This little snake can be easily differentiated from hog-nosed snakes, all of which have keeled scales, by its smooth (=unkeeled) body scales. It is usually crepuscular or nocturnal when surface active.