Northern California Herps

[Namio]

Hi fellow frog lovers. I would like to share some of the cool herps and critters that I have come across in northern California early this year. The specific location where these wonderful animals were found was in a place called the Angelo Reserve in the Mendocino county of California, about 7 miles inland from the Pacific coast.

First night out, we located a scorpion underneath a rock. Thank goodness that my friend Ryan had a black light on him (how random, I know, but I was glad that he did), and the scorpion GLOWED under the black light. So cool! The second picture is the very same scorpion under regular lighting.



Then the next day we found several western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) sun bathing in a rocky area next to a river.

Looks like a male... Here's a closeup for the post anal scales


The only native turtle species here locally, western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata), was found over wintering on land under an oak tree. I swear normally it's a good looking turtle... when it's clean swimming in water.


I lumped all the snakes together...

Lets start with a garter snake (Thamnophis spp.) that looks like an T. elegans, but could be the common garter aka
T. sirtalis
A juvenile racer (Coluber mormon), and my friend Adam was holding it.
I was holding a cute sharp tailed snake (Contia tenuis)

and a full grown ring necked snake (Diadophis punctatus)
when your a snake this small, I guess you can always eat slugs... yes, this snake is a slug specialist


On a rocky slope, is where black salamanders (Aneides flavipunctatus) were found



a male ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii)was also found with his cute puppy face



Here're western skinks (Plestiodon skiltonianus), unfortunately one dropped its tail (second photo) when we startled it, but it's a good example of autotomy, the broken piece seriously wiggled for a couple of minutes.


My friend Adam, caught a southern alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata), and it was huge and feisty. Adam stands 6"4' and has a big hand, so the lizard actually appeared smaller than what it'd look in real life.


Pacific chorus frogs (Pseudacris regilla) are always a welcomed sight


Foothill yellow-legged frogs (Rana boylii), this first individual is a HUGE female yellow-legged. They don't really get any bigger than this girl.

A little staged picture
That's right, I'm a frog whisperer. Shhh, it IS still alive!

Here's a juvenile yellow-legged
Can you find the yellow-legged frog?

I found a big western toad under a BIG log near where we camped.


A shrew mole. Drowned.


Here's a "newt ball," basically a mating event of the rough skinned newts (Taricha granulosa), during mating seasons these terrestrial newts become fully aquatic. These mating events can go on for hours, I'm talking about for hours and hours... they are NOt in a hurry...

Here's a fully aquatic aka slimy male I picked out of the water


An unken reflex, a defensive posture showing me that the bright orangeness = deadly tetrodotoxin. When I poke it then he unkens so I could snap a shot real quick.

Look at the swollen vent, indicating sexual maturity

Baby rough skinned newts, fully terrstrial

Thank for watching! I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

[John]

Very nice finds! I was in your neck of the woods in March. Saw much of what you found and a few other things. Saw tons of migrating Taricha (torosa, rivularis and sierrae).

[Namio]

Very nice finds! I was in your neck of the woods in March. Saw much of what you found and a few other things. Saw tons of migrating Taricha (torosa, rivularis and sierrae).

Nice! I see you pulled a little Taricha hat trick! May I ask where were you specifically, John?

[John]

For the Taricha? The Torosa and rivularis were Sonoma County I believe. The Sierrae were somewhere east of Oroville or Chico.

[UncleChester]

Thanks for sharing!

I don't know much about lizards, so I'm wondering what's the purpose of the surprisingly bright blue scales on the underside of that otherwise drably fence coloured fence lizard?

[KingCam]

Awesome finds, and great photos! Thanks for sharing. Gave me the itch to get out in the woods soon :P

[Namio]

John, you were everywhere, man. That's some ground you covered during your time in California. I hope you had some good wine in Sonoma county

Thanks for sharing!

Hey Brian,

I don't know much about lizards, so I'm wondering what's the purpose of the surprisingly bright blue scales on the underside of that otherwise drably fence coloured fence lizard?

I don't really know either, but my guess would be sexual selection? By having a brighter blue belly attracts more female attention? Although female Sceloporus also have the same pattern and coloration, they are not as striking. But it's strategically located in the underbelly so aerial/other predators can't see it while the lizard can choose to show it whenever it wants to, so perhaps natural selection played some role in it as well.


Cam, you should make your way up Pacific northwest when you get a chance. For a cooler place, you'll surprisingly see a plethora of herptofauna. I mean, besides nature there are many other excuses to come, too