The black dot on both sides of each ventral scute are a surefire way to identify a Kirtland's snake.
just read a short poem by Taylor West about the little natricid known as the Kirtland’s snake, Clonophis kirtlandi.

In her poem, a mere 8 short lines, she referred to a food (slugs), habitat (burrows of mudbugs (crayfish)), crepuscular habits, and the ample supply of musk manufactured and spread by the snake when it is handled.

In other words, it was accurate wording to portray a wonderful and poorly known little (rarely more than 20” and often less than 18”) snake that calls the states of IL, IN, and OH home but that does extend its range a bit beyond the borders of those states.

I’ll take this opportunity to add a few sentences about Kirtland’s snake.

The habitat of the Kirtland’s snake is of a broader scope than just mudbug burrows. I have found them beneath discarded newspapers, paper bags, and cardboard in vacant lots in suburban neighborhoods, under debris in city parks, and under riverbank rocks. They have also been found in pastures and other grassy habitats, again most often beneath debris, and where they occur the ground is usually damp.

Besides slugs this little snake feeds readily on earthworms and one I was photographing disgorged a large leech.

The ground color of Kirtland’s snake may vary from gray to reddish brown and a lighter vertebral stripe is often present. Two alternating rows of black spots range along each side and the head is black with white lips and chin. The coral to terra cotta belly is lightest anteriorly and is bordered on each side by a row of small black spots.

This snake, once considered a water snake, is now protected throughout its range. And yes, like many (if not most) snakes, Kirtland’s snake is not at all reluctant to smear a handler with musk that is produced in glands just inside the cloaca.

Thanx for that poem, Taylor.

2 baby Brazilian horned frogs, always ready to eat and growing fast.
With good reason, Neotropical horned frogs of the genus Ceratophrys have long been hobbyist favorites. Over the years the species availability has varied. In the 1960s the Colombian horned frog, C. calcarata, was available to hobbyists. In later years the Amazonian, C. cornuta, Cranwell’s, C. cranwelli, and ornate, C. ornata, horned frogs were (and still are) readily available to hobbyists. In fact these latter three are not only available, but have been hybridized to a point where actual species identification of captive bred examples is difficult. Between these three there are at least 15 different hobbyist produced color phases now being offered! Although rare, Stolzmann’s, C. stolzmanni, and Caatinga, C. joazierensis, horned frogs have been occasionally available. And finally (at last!) the big, fabled, and coveted Brazilian horned frogs, C. aurita, are now occasionally offered (the single never-available species is the Ecuadorian C. testudo).

But rather than a generalized article about horned frogs, this is primarily about the Brazilian rainforest species, C. aurita. This species occurs in the Brazilian coastal states of Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul, and in some areas of the inland state of Minas Gerais.

At least one person has described this taxon, ostensibly the largest of the horned frogs, as “mythical.” But, although their adult size may be a bit exaggerated, a myth they are not. Adept at remaining in ambush positions while camouflaged by forest floor litter, this frog is often thought to be uncommon. But like many frogs, when gathered in breeding congresses, the Brazilian horned frog may be seen in reasonable numbers. Females are the larger, attaining a body length (and often width) of 8 to 10 inches. They are said by some to reach a length of 12 inches. Males are the smaller being 5 to 7 inches in length.

In keeping with the reputation of these frogs for being biters, the Brazilian horned frog can, will, and does bite. To this habit, as they leap forward, they add a disconcerting bark. And yes, in addition to their strong jaws they have teeth. And, yes, they invariably surprise and occasionally hurt.

Most old images depict this frog as being patterned in forest green and variable brown. A glance at the attached photos will show this to not always be the case. his species from southeastern Brazil occurs from the State of Bahia, south to the State of Rio Grande do Sul, and inland to the State of Minas Gerais.

The Brazilian horned frog, a “myth” come true.

Small snakes, variable bush vipers are adult at from 18 to 24 inches in length.
Meet Africa’s non-eyelashed, muilticolored viperine answer to the crotaline Eyelashed Pit Viper of Central and South America! This is the variable bush viper, Atheris squamiger. An arboreal species, this 18 to 24 inch long viperine is most at home in forest shrubs rather than canopy reaching trees.

Although in some populations the color of the variable bush viper may be a rather standardized olive-green, in other locales the variations in coloration are nothing short of remarkable. In these latter the little snakes may be of some shade of green, orange, russet, cinnamon, blue, yellow, charcoal, or brownish. Some may even be of one color dorsally and a second color laterally. And on any of these colors the snake may or may not bear a vague or prominent dorsal pattern of dark-edged, darker than ground color, dorsal saddles or chevrons. The belly may vary from immaculate to heavily spotted. Have I yet described a variability sufficient to warrant the name? I would certainly think so.

Atheris squamiger occurs in tropical West and Central Africa

This snake will bite if threatened and envenomation has resulted in human death.

A typical mole salamander, tigers spend most of their life underground.
Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day! Those are 10 words you'll probably never hear Jake or me say. We like amphibians, amphibians like moisture, therefore we welcome rain with the proverbial open arms. Not that we actually have much choice anyway. But on 14 December a wonderful frontal system decided we needed moistening. It pulled into the region on silent feet (meaning very little thunder and lightning) at 0200 hrs and slowly moved over us for the next 30 hrs, dumping as it passed up to 4" of water. So on the evening of 15Dec we went amphibian-ing. We were hoping to see and photo (our cameras love hard rain---not!) at least 3 target species--southern chorus frogs, ornate chorus frogs (more on these 2 anurans in later blogs), and tiger salamanders. We went, we looked, we succeeded--and that was noteworthy because we had failed on earlier occasions. The wonderful eastern tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum, is the largest terrestrial caudatan in the east. Although it has an immense range, occurring from Long Island, New York to Northwest Minnesota, southward to East Texas and Northwest Florida, over much of this range it is of local distribution and the suitable habitats, containing the ephemeral ponds preferred as breeding sites, are being reduced by drought and construction on an almost daily basis. The reduction of the needed habitats, combined with commercial collecting for biological supply houses and the pet trade, can have disastrous and long term results on this species.

Besides the above mentioned problem, increased vehicular traffic has made access to their breeding ponds more hazardous, and in some cases nearly impossible, for tiger salamanders. Speaking for the Florida situation, recent observations seem to indicate that the breeding populations are now comprised of fewer adults, making each remaining individual of paramount importance to the continued success of the increasingly vulnerable populations.

If any of their variable colors could be considered normal, it is this phase with the mossy green ground color.
I have always been enamored of arboreal vipers, be they of the America’s, Africa, or Asia. I was so infatuated with them that at one time Patti and I kept and bred, or at least tried to breed, 30+ species. But, truth be known, although I found all of interest and beautiful, over the years two of my favorites became and remained, 2 of the more commonly seen Central and South American species, the 2-lined forest pit vipers, Bothriopsis bilineatus, and the eyelashed pit piper, Bothriechis schlegelii. Why these 2? I just don’t know. But even between the two I favored one over the other, this being the eylashed species.

Perhaps it was the ease with which this variably colored snake could be housed, fed, and bred. Or perhaps it was the overall hardiness. Then again, I guess that it could have been the remarkable and entirely natural variability of color. You like ‘em green, the eyelashed viper comes in several naturally occurring phases that vary from a dusky forest green to pale green. If you like something different and don’t mind searching a little, you will likely be able to find an orange –red, a yellow-orange, a bright yellow (the latter is known as the “oropel” phase), or a yellow with greenish or dusky bands (the “tiger” phase).

It was many years after I had acquired my first trip of eyelashed vipers that Patti and I had an opportunity to meet this snake in the wild. We went to Costa Rica. Patti called it a Honeymoon. I called it a herping trip. On the first afternoon, after walking a rainforest trail and marveling at poison frogs and minute geckos, as we walked back to our hotel I glance at a small banana tree that edged the path and stopped dead in my tracks. I was looking at a small grayish B. schlegelii! I hadn’t even known they came in that color.

Since then I have seen a few others in the field. Admittedly, not many, but among those seen have been an oropel and one of mossy green. What wonderful snakes!

This snake has an interesting defensive display during which it opens its mouth widely and faces the perceived threat. The snake will bite if threatened and envenomation has resulted in human death.

Coloration alone indicated that this snake was Bothriechis supraciliaris.
This occurred in those “good old days,” in the days when, believe it or not, snakes (including this one, but usually baby boas), mouse opossums, tarantulas, and other creatures were imported by accident in shipments of fruit and especially in bananas. This snake arrived with bananas at a fruit vendor in Boston in the early 50s and rather than killing it the Boston Museum of Science was notified. The snake was gathered in due haste by researchers from the Museum’s Herp Dept.

Back then it was identified as an eyelash viper, Bothrops (now Bothriechis schlegelii (this was 1954, the same year that B. supraciliaris, the blotched palm viper was described, but back then very few folks knew of the existence of the latter). For reasons that were unknown to me then and remain so today, rather than being preserved the snake was maintained in the live collection and when a year or so later I saw the beautiful snake and got excited about its existence it was given to me. I kept it for years, photographed it (as best I could in those days) and after its death the snake was disposed of in a now forgotten manner. From time to time I have published its photo. For years nothing was said, but in recent years I have been told that the snake, rather than a schlegelii was a supraciliaris. Others steadfastly maintained it was a schlegelii.

Nothing remains of this snake but its old photos. Its identification has not really been settled. Although I’ll probably never know for certain, Just for the record, I have since seen snakes that were very similar to my questionable snake, and that were definitely supraciliaris. I’m still leaning in that direction and always shall.