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Post by Wheelgarden on Aug 1, 2020 15:32:38 GMT -5
Plenty of tree frogs, lizards, salamanders and turtles around, but I haven't seen any bullfrogs around lately. They were more plentiful in years past. Hope they come back. Here's a recent turtle visitor to the garden, one I'd never seen before. Larger than our typical box turtles:
...and a typical box turtle, munching on a crossvine bloom:
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Post by breezygardener on Aug 1, 2020 15:44:30 GMT -5
That first turtle is a Common Map turtle. There must be a body of fresh water nearby, as they're water turtles, but females can wander quite a bit afar to lay eggs, & their breeding season does run till end of summer. I hope it found its way back to water when it was finished.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Aug 1, 2020 17:26:31 GMT -5
breezygardener , there is indeed a stream and pond at the south end of my lot. I'm surprised I've never seen those turtles before. Better get my glasses checked ;) |
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Post by Mumsey on Aug 2, 2020 4:16:51 GMT -5
Wheelgarden, Your own pest patrol! Went fishing yesterday and found a toad living under one of the boats. He stayed in the same area all day. It must be his home. Then we noticed hundreds of tiny frogs, less than 1/2" long all along the mucky shore. Those things are quick. There was a giant spotted frog nearby in the water, probably a Leopard frog. We think the baby ones could also be Leopards. Plenty of bull frogs too, but those are harder to find. Snappers are plentiful as well as painted turtles. We rarely see a snapper out of the water, usually only see them when they come up for air.
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Post by James on Aug 16, 2020 10:37:17 GMT -5
Interesting. We do not get turtles here. Thanks for sharing.
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Post by Latitude33 on Dec 19, 2020 22:29:10 GMT -5
I moved back to where I grew up some years ago. As a kid, I used to find toads, tadpoles/frogs and a variety lizards along with other wildlife. Gone now are the toads, frogs, skinks, newts, snipes (really), gopher snakes, blue belly lizards, along with burrowing owls, and red wing black birds.
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Post by gardendmpls on Dec 20, 2020 0:27:09 GMT -5
Sounds like they drained and filled for building/housing construction. That will knock everything out.
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Post by Mumsey on Dec 20, 2020 6:41:20 GMT -5
Those are interesting creatures. Just watched on a show from the Bronx Zoo about them and their habitat. |
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Dec 20, 2020 13:01:24 GMT -5
I moved back to where I grew up some years ago. As a kid, I used to find toads, tadpoles/frogs and a variety lizards along with other wildlife. Gone now are the toads, frogs, skinks, newts, snipes (really), gopher snakes, blue belly lizards, along with burrowing owls, and red wing black birds. This brought back a lot of old childhood memories. We used to ride our bikes into the undeveloped areas to a place with an old abandoned barn, then scope it out as if we were explorers. The dirt roads on that route bordered small ponds, with musical accompaniment by some of the residents as we biked by, an occasional small wild animal (nothing much larger than a rabbit though), scampering across narrow roads, and the wonderful sense of being away from traffic, and out onto the back roads. It was almost culture shock to enter that area, and again when we biked back onto the paved roads. One area at which we always stopped might have been an old farm. There was a pump along the road, so we stopped there for water, and often wondered what kind of farm or other development had once been there at one time. The open area was massive. My father and I drove through that area a year or so before he died; it was changed so much. Many of the lots hosted houses, the sense of backcountry was gone in most places, and some of the roads had actually been paved. We felt like "strangers in a foreign land." Latitude33 , thanks for opening doors to old memories. |
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Post by breezygardener on Dec 20, 2020 18:23:22 GMT -5
Most of the Grey tree frog tadpoles I nurtured from eggs onward in two driveway puddles did morph, but unfortunately once serious frost/freezing hit, the last few that weren't even close to morphing, bit the dust. But I'm pleased that by watering those puddles every day I did make a difference in their mortality.
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