Category Archives: Herpetofauna

Nature Notes (#514)-Nature is slow, but sure; she works no faster than need be; she is the tortoise that wins the race by her perseverance.~Henry David Thoreau

Join Nature Notes-What are you or have you seen and enjoyed in nature? It can be from your own backyard, the local park, out on a hike or anywhere. What plants and animals catch your interest? Do you garden? Have you read a good book on nature?

 

1. Secret Garden 5. Cloudia Honolulu 9. SCRYING POOL
2. Pat — Colorado 6. orchid( Japan) 10. craftygreenpoet
3. Pictografio 7. Shiju Sugunan    
4. Sallie (Full Time- Life)

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There are turtles around laying eggs and crossing streets. If you stop to help a turtle, place it in the direction it was going. Turtles do have a home range and know where they need to be which is why relocating them as some people do is a bad idea…

There are 11 species of turtles in New York. We have freshwater, saltwater for turtles. I won’t be seeing any sea turtles in the pond. 

I haven’t learned as much about them except for the common snapping turtle that I see during egg-laying season and in the pond on occasion. They do take a toll on young waterfowl

COMMON SNAPPING TURTLE

Geographic Range

The snapping turtle’s range stretches from S. Alberta and east to Nova Scotia in the north, extending south all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and into central Texas.

Habitat

Snapping turtles only live in fresh or brackish water. They prefer water bodies with muddy bottoms and abundant vegetation because concealment is easier.

snapping turtle in the pond

Food Habits-Snapping turtles will eat nearly anything that they can get their jaws around. They feed on carrion, invertebrates, fish, birds, small mammals, amphibians, and a surprisingly large amount of aquatic vegetation

common snapping turtle

Lifespan/Longevity-In the wild snapping turtles are estimated to live up to 30 years. Snapping turtles are most vulnerable as hatchlings. Once they reach a certain size there are few natural predators of snapping turtles, though they are often hit by cars when searching for new ponds or nesting sites. In captivity they can live up to 47 years.

common snapping turtle hatchling

The Common snapping turtle is remarkably cold-tolerant. Radiotelemetry studies have shown some individuals do not hibernate but remain active under the ice during the winter.Hibernating snapping turtles do not breathe for, in the northern part of their range, more than six months since ice covers their hibernating site. These turtles can get oxygen by pushing their head out of the mud and allowing gas exchange to take place through the membranes of their mouth and throat.



Behavior

Snapping turtles are not social creatures. Social interactions are limited to aggressive interactions between individuals, usually males. Many individuals can be found within a small range; snapping turtle density is normally related to the amount of available food. Snapping turtles can be very vicious when removed from the water, but they become docile when placed back into the water. Snapping turtles sometimes bury themselves in mud with only their nostrils and eyes exposed. This burying behavior is used as a means of ambushing prey.

snapping turtle returning to the pond after egg laying

Mating

Snapping turtles mate between April and November, and are most active in breeding during warmer months. They begin courtship by facing one another and moving their heads from side to side. Mating begins with the male mounting the female and adjusting his tail beneath the female’s to allow the cloacal openings to touch. A female snapping turtle may keep viable sperm in her body for several years, so that eggs are fertilized even in years when she does not mate.

Nesting and Incubation

A female snapping turtle will typically lay her eggs in early summer. She chooses a nesting site in an area of loose soil, sand, loam, vegetation debris or sawdust, where she digs a nest 4 to 7 inches deep. She will lay 20 to 40 soft-shelled, cream-colored eggs roughly the size and shape of a table tennis ball. Many snapping turtle nests are destroyed by predators such as minks, raccoons and skunks.

Hatching

Hatchlings will emerge from their soft shells 55 to 125 days after the mama snapping turtle lays the eggs. Hatchings emerge between August and October. Occasionally, hatchlings don’t emerge from their eggs until the following spring.

The hatchling snapping turtles are typically around an inch long when they emerge from their shells. Males reach reproductive maturity at around 5 years, when their upper shell, or carapace, reaches about 6 inches long. Females reach reproductive age at between 4 and 7 years.

Sex Determination

As with many reptile species, egg temperature during a critical stage of embryo development determines the gender of the snapping turtle hatchling. According to Scientific American, cooler temperatures at that stage produce males, while eggs incubated in warmer temperatures will produce females.

snapping turtle hatchling 2008

Have a wonderful nature-filled week! Please be safe.

 

 

Nature Notes (# 398)~How do frogs survive winter? Why don’t they freeze to death?

Join Nature Notes Tuesday at 12:00 am EST to Friday at 11:00 pm EST. More information can be found at the top of the blog on a separate page, but it really is easy. What are you or have you seen and enjoyed in nature? It can be from your own backyard, the local park, out on a hike or anywhere. What plants and animals catch your interest? Do you garden? Have you read a good book on nature?

Write a blog post with a photo, a story, a poem, anything goes because I love to see what Mother Nature is up to in your area. Please submit one blog post per week and link back to nature notes in some way..

 

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How do frogs survive winter? Why don’t they freeze to death?

From Scientific American….

Rick Emmer is the lead keeper of The RainForest at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and an avid observer of amphibians. He provides the following answer.Frogs are amazing animals. Despite their fragile appearance and inoffensive ways, they have countless strategies to deal with the most severe climates this planet has to offer. They can be found at the Arctic Circle, in deserts, in tropical rain forests and practically everywhere in between. Some of their survival strategies are nothing short of ingenious. Various frog species use two strategies to deal with environmental extremes: hibernation and estivation.

Source: How do frogs survive winter? Why don’t they freeze to death? – Scientific American

Hibernation is a common response to the cold winter of temperate climates. After an animal finds or makes a living space (hibernaculum) that protects it from winter weather and predators, the animal’s metabolism slows dramatically, so it can “sleep away” the winter by utilizing its body’s energy stores. When spring weather arrives, the animal “wakes up” and leaves its hibernaculum to get on with the business of feeding and breeding.

leopard frog

Aquatic frogs such as the leopard frog(Rana pipiens)and American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) typically hibernate underwater. A common misconception is that they spend the winter the way aquatic turtles do, dug into the mud at the bottom of a pond or stream. In fact, hibernating frogs would suffocate if they dug into the mud for an extended period of time. A hibernating turtle’s metabolism slows down so drastically that it can get by on the mud’s meager oxygen supply. Hibernating aquatic frogs, however, must be near oxygen-rich water and spend a good portion of the winter just lying on top of the mud or only partially buried. They may even slowly swim around from time to time.

green frog

Terrestrial frogs normally hibernate on land. American toads (Bufo americanus) and other frogs that are good diggers burrow deep into the soil, safely below the frost line. Some frogs, such as the wood frog (Rana sylvatica) and the spring peeper (Hyla crucifer), are not adept at digging and instead seek out deep cracks and crevices in logs or rocks, or just dig down as far as they can in the leaf litter. These hibernacula are not as well protected from frigid weather and may freeze, along with their inhabitants.

american toad

Estivation is similar to hibernation. It is a dormant state an animal assumes in response to adverse environmental conditions, in this case, the prolonged dry season of certain tropical regions. Several species of frog are known to estivate.

Two of the better-known species are the ornate horned frog (Ceratophrys ornata) from South America and the African bullfrog (Pyxicephalus adspersus).And yet the frogs do not die. Why? Antifreeze! True enough, ice crystals form in such places as the body cavity and bladder and under the skin, but a high concentration of glucose in the frog’s vital organs prevents freezing. A partially frozen frog will stop breathing, and its heart will stop beating. It will appear quite dead. But when the hibernaculum warms up above freezing, the frog’s frozen portions will thaw, and its heart and lungs resume activity–there really is such a thing as the living dead!

american toad

When the dry season starts, these frogs burrow into the soil and become dormant. During the extended dry season, which can last several months, these frogs perform a neat trick: they shed several intact layers of skin, forming a virtually waterproof cocoon that envelopes the entire body, leaving only the nostrils exposed, which allows them to breathe. These herpetological mummies remain in their cocoons for the duration of the dry season. When the rains return, the frogs free themselves of their shrouds and make their way up through the moist soil to the surface.

Nature walks are wonderful. But you don’t have to travel to special location to enjoy Mother Nature. There is so much to see in your own neighborhood or even in your own back or front yard. Get a guide-book of the wildlife in your area and learn the calls of birds and frogs and toads. So many times I hear a bird that lets me know what I am looking for in the trees.