First few hots of the year!!

I scored my first herp of 2011 with a small Rough earth snake (Virginia striatula) on February 8th and have been at it pretty hard since. As of yesterday, I am up to 35 species/subspecies of herps from northwest and west central Arkansas as well as east central Oklahoma. Up until a few days ago, however, I hadn't found anything venomous yet. That changed starting Wednesday the 6th.

Wednesday afternoon I went and hit a couple spots and found some of the usual culprits as well as my first hot of the year, a Western cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma) that ended up slinking away before I got my camera on him. The day still turned out pretty good though, and I did score a couple other firsts for the year.
Here are some finds from that day.

Carphophis vermis - Western worm snake (This is a photo from the previous week, as I didn't shoot any of the 20 or so I found that day)


Gastrophryne carolinensis - Eastern narrowmouthed toad


Plethodon angusticlavius - Ozark zig zag salamander


Chelydra serpentina - Common snapping turtle







Thursday I went with some herper friends into eastern Oklahoma to look for Crotalus atrox. We managed a male and female coiled together. The male went approximately 66" and the female went about 54" or so. This pair made hot species number two for the week.

Crotalus atrox - Western diamondback (Male and female, in situ)


The female


I also found this 74" Masticophis flagellum flagellum (Eastern coachwhip) in a crack along some bluffs. (Just a voucher shot for the NAFHA database)




Friday night turned out to be the first decently warm night of the season and another friend invited me to go roadcruising with him for a bit after work. We ended up scoring a single snake on the first pass, but it's a snake I have yet to tire of, and made for hot number three. With the temps starting to drop, I didn't want to waste much time shooting it, so I just snapped a couple vouchers and we went on our way...

Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix - Southern copperhead



After not getting pics of the cottonmouth, I've been adamant on finding another soon, especially since the only pics I've gotten of any cottons are the cell phone pics I posted late last year of the two males in combat, so I really wanted to get some good, clear voucher shots. Last night I decided to cruise up to a small lake I know of that I knew had cottons in the area, as well as copperheads and Crotalus horridus (Timber rattlesnakes). Another species that has evaded me since I moved out here last summer...
Anyhow, I got up there in the middle of a frenzy of calling male Dwarf American toads (Anaxyrus americanus charlesmithi) and Spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer).

While walking along the shore shining the water, I saw a snake take off into the water and keep swimming. I snapped a couple voucher shots, but that's it for that one...

Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma - Western cottonmouth


With seeing that one, I figured there would be more than one in the area, so I continued walking and shining. No more than 2 or 3 minutes later, I came upon this individual foraging in shallow water, maybe a foot off shore.





Here's what I have found between February 8th and April 10th:
Anything preceded by * is a lifer. Something that I have found for the first time this year.

Snakes

Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix - Southern copperhead
Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma - Western cottonmouth
*Carphophis vermis - Western Worm snake
Crotalus atrox - Western diamondback rattlesnake
*Diadophis punctatus arnyi - Prairie ringneck
*Masticophis flagellum flagellum - Eastern coachwhip
*Pantherophis obsoletus - Texas ratsnake
Storeria dekayi wrightorum - Midland brown snake
Tantilla gracilis - Flatheaded snake
Thamnophis proximus proximus - Orange striped ribbon snake
Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis - Eastern garter snake
Virginia striatula - Rough earth snake



Lizards

*Plestiodon anthracinus pluvialis - Southern prairie skink
Plestiodon fasciatus - Five lined skink
Sceloporus consobrinus - Prairie lizard
Scincella lateralis - Ground skink


Turtles/Tortoises

*Chelydra serpentina - Common snapping turtle
Graptemys pseudogeographica kohnii - Mississippi map turtle
Trachemys scripta elegans - Red eared slider


Frogs/Toads

Acris crepitans blanchardi - Blanchard's cricket frog
Anaxyrus americanus charlesmithi - Dwarf American toad
Gastrophryne carolinensis - Eastern narrowmouthed toad
Lithobates sphenocephalus utricularis - Southern leopard frog
*Pseudacris crucifer - Spring peeper
*Pseudacris fouquetti - Cajun chorus frog


Salamanders/Newts

*Desmognathus brimleyorum - Ouachita dusky salamander
*Eurycea multiplicata - Many ribbed salamander
*Eurycea tyrenensis - Oklahoma salamander
Notopthalmus viridescens louisianensis - Central newt (Eft stage)
*Plethodon albagula - Western slimy salamander
*Plethodon angusticlavius - Ozark zig zag salamander
*Plethodon fourchensis - Fourche Mountain salamander
*Plethodon ouachitae - Rich Mountain salamander
*Plethodon serratus - Southern redbacked salamander

Nice, thanks for sharing. The rattle on the female c. atrox looks like it was in high-speed motion - blurred and held up.

I took that shot at 1/80 sec just for that reason. She wasn't too happy at that point. haha

Grat pictures Mike, mostly I like the in situ shots of the atrox, really nice !

Thanks for sharing Mike, great pictures.

That Eastern coachwhip is stunning. I really like how the colours change.

If you have any more pictures of them I would love to see them.

Owen, that was my first eastern coachwhip, so unfortunately, that's the only animal I have shots of. He was a screamer in person though. Much different than most I see pictures of..

Thanks for the compliments guys! It's been a great season so far.

Mike Spencer wrote:

Owen, that was my first eastern coachwhip, so unfortunately, that's the only animal I have shots of. He was a screamer in person though. Much different than most I see pictures of..

Thanks for the compliments guys! It's been a great season so far.

It sure is a stunner. I was looking through google images and cannot see one that has such a drastic change in colour from head to tail.

It is a species I am not all that familiar with.

Realy nice shots. My favourite is Eastern coachwhip. Owesome snake.

Best regards, BKK

Thanks Bostjan

Here's another contortrix from yesterday: