Italy

Well, it has been a while since my last post.  I have been tied up with all kinds of projects and whatnot, and honestly haven't had a whole lot of time to go out with my camera.  However, I just returned from a three-week trip to Italy last Friday, September 20th.  We travel a lot but never have I been away from home that long in my life (well, at least as long as I've been working - I did spend weeks on end in rural Georgia three times when I was a teenager).  In planning for the trip, I decided to spend some time field herping when possible.  Well, it turns out that I wasn't able to dedicate any serious time for that - long story.  But, I did take advantage of any and all time when I was in proximity to reptile habitat and kept my eyes open for local lizards.  I know that Italian wall lizards (Podardis sicula) are plentiful throughout the country, and did I ever find them, in all but one major stop in our travels.  I really wanted to find Western whip snakes (Heirophis viridiflavus), grass snakes (Natrix sp.), Vipera aspis, and even the common toad (Bufo bufo), among others, but alas, I wasn't able to get out to the right habitat the way I wanted to. I did manage to see a few species, and just being in Italy was an amazing experience.

Our first wall lizards were found on Isola di San Michele, an island cemetery just a short vaporetto ride from Venice.  Not only were there wall lizards, there were thousands of wall lizards - running about every which way as we strolled about the island.  And for every lizard, there must have been 50 mosquitoes.  We experienced these mosquitoes in the shaded areas of the cemetery, which were at a premium during the searing heat of the day.  I managed to catch one or two young lizards before the mosquitoes chased us out of there.  We paid the price with countless itchy bites wherever our skin was exposed.

Some areas of the cemetery were in ruins.  This is where the lizards were found in greater numbers.

Our next stop was the region of Tuscany, where we stayed in Florence, Pisa, and Sienna.  However, there were no opportunities for field herping.  After Tuscany, we headed to Rome, where our next lacerta friends were found, all in the Ancient Rome ruins.  It was very hot and all lizards were seen cooling off in the shade.

Some wall lizard habitat

Our next leg of the journey took us to the smelly, decrepit city of Naples, where no lizards were found but cockroaches fearing neither human nor sun thrived.  Nearby, on the island of Capri, however, they lived in luxury.  In addition, they were found basking on Mt. Vesuvius, even at the summit (at over 4,200 feet).  

Capri

This guy found what appeared to be colored pieces of pet food.  I think someone actually put these here for the lizards, because I watched as one lizard struggled to swallow a few of these pieces before giving up.

Mt. Vesuvius.  It is most definitely brewing in there...

Sicily offered a more rural landscape, and a more diverse array of herps.

What I believe to be a Mediterranean painted frog (Discoglossus pictus), found at the edge of an in-ground swimming pool in the mountains of northern Sicily.

A katydid found nearby

There were a number of nocturnal geckos present at various locations in Sicily.  I saw both Tarentola mauritanica and Hemidactylus turcicus).  This young one was found at a friend's house.

And these two large adults were found in a ruin atop La Rocca, Cefalu (about 900 feet).  This was as close as I could get without falling into the pit of death and becoming part of the ruins myself.

That pretty much covers the herptofauna I encountered on my trip to Italy.  I was kind of bummed that I didn't have more time to poke around in the mountains, but there is always next time.  Besides, I decided that because of the lack of time spent field herping Italy, I'll simply have to make up for it here before it's too late for the year.  I hope to make at least one more outing in search of reptiles and amphibians.  Stay tuned...

Desert of the East

Some photos of my trip to the Desert of the East today.

Mesic prairie as far as they eye can see - stunning.

Young praying mantis

 Rana pipiens, Northern leopard frog.  A "species of special concern" in Indiana.

Midland painted turtle, Chrysemys picta.  This turtle was found as it was moving from one pond to another.  Seems it has suffered both a seemingly debilitating injury to a front corner of its plastron and what look like burns to one of the bridges of its shell.  Everything appears healed and the turtle didn't seem impaired - more evidence that these animals are a lot more resilient than many make them out to be.

Xeric prairie - one of the most beautiful and calm places I have ever been to.  This location exemplifies the classic desert environment, only in the Midwest.

Small Eastern prickly pear, Opuntia humifusa.

 One of many clumps of this most intriguing plant.

The lone blooming plant - likely the last plant to flower this later into the season.  My goal on this trip was to find a flowering prickly pear, and this made me very happy to see.

Lead plant (Amorpha canescens)

Peace & Quiet & Mosquitoes & Ticks

I took a ride today to (code name) the desert of the East.  I intended to go herping and had my sights set on snakes, specifically Pituophis, Coluber, Lampropeltis, Heterodon, and Thamnophis.  I found none of the above, but instead the hordes of mosquitoes and many pesky ticks found me.  Before I left, I did manage to find all of two toads.  I want to return when the parasites die down a little because it was getting to be really irritating.  I was here two weeks ago and got rained out, but managed to do a little scouting which helped me to plan today a bit.

Woodland road that leads to sand dunes

A beautiful Fowler's toad (Anaxyrus fowleri)

They will always be Bufo to me...

Typical sand prairie habitat

Anaxyrus (Bufo) americanus toadlet

One of many seemingly endless backroads

Hey!

 A fitting end

Toads need love too.

"Public opinion has long stigmatized this disgusting beast, whose proximity revolts us...Everything about it, its very name is vile...It is surely the fortuitous product of dust and moisture...It seems corrupt in all its parts...It might be moulded from a coarse and clammy clay...Its huge belly is always distended...The angry glitter in its eyes is revolting.  It has legs, but they do not raise its carcase above the mire; it has eyes, but they do not welcome light, its bane.  Decaying or poisonous plants are its food, its habitation is filthy, its habits disgusting, its body deformed, its colour dingy, its breath foul; it opens hideous jaws when it is attacked.  It has the obstinacy of the stupid.  It would seem that Nature has only created the toad to emphasize the beauty and nobility of her other creations".  
                                                                - La Cépède, early French naturalist, 1802

Me and toads go way back.  Toads were some of the first amphibians I came into contact with, and due to their relatively indifferent demeanor, some of the first I caught and kept as pets as a very young  child.  I found toads to be extremely fascinating creatures.  The way they sat with that pugnacious look on their faces, the way they grudgingly hopped about when provoked, they way they lit up when offered bugs to eat, and the way they felt - that dry, bumpy skin covered in "warts".  Throughout my childhood I would catch toads, keep them for awhile, admire their nature, and then release them where I found them.  I even raised toad spawn - long, slimy strings of eggs coated in clear jelly - into tadpoles and then into toadlets.  Even though I have worked with so many exotic species over the years, my appreciation for the American toad, Bufo (Anaxyrus) americanus, have never waned.

This is why I have been concerned for awhile now about the status of these toads in the Chicago area.  Once fairly abundant, these animals have been very hard to find lately.  Their secretive nature doesn't help my case, but I know where toads are, I know their life cycle well and I know their habitat, and it seems the places I have been able to find them in in the past are devoid of them.  Most of the time, when I'm out hiking or field herping, I spend some time looking for toads even when that's not my goal.  It concerned me that I haven't seen a toad in the wild since probably the last time I posted a photo of one here (2011?).  What's going on with the toads?  Is it simply bad luck on my part, or are there environmental impacts affecting them?

The rapid decrease in the number of various semi-aquatic frog species (i.e. Rana sp.)in the Chicago area is duly noted.  I haven't seen sustainable populations of green, leopard, or pickerel frogs in a while but I blame tainted runoff and other anthropogenic factors affecting water among the top culprits.  Bullfrogs seem to thrive in spite of raw sewage and low oxygen; they are omnipresent.  But toads spend much less time in the water than the true frogs. I tend to believe that the animals are struggling in their larval stage - the only time they spend their lives completely underwater.  Due to the soaring bullfrog population, predation of the toad larvae by the voracious frogs is also likely.  I hope that my failure to find toads is due to bad luck or oversight.  I will continue to monitor the areas that have historically supported toads with the hopes that my notion that toads are disappearing is wrong.

With all this in mind, I am happy to report that while searching specifically for toads today, I found one.  Joined by my nephew Jeffrey (Peffers), and on a tip provided by him, a toad presented itself to us on the edge of a path alongside a creek in suburban DuPage County.  It was healthy, bright-eyed and alert - a sight for sore eyes for certain.

Having found my target species early, we were off to an all-too tempting hill covered in grass - grass long enough to lure garter snakes but short enough so that I could track any snakes that attempted to flee our presence.  Within a few minutes, my nephew sort of let out a deep shriek, paused, and looked to his side - he swore he "stepped on" a snake.  I approached and sure enough, there was a large plains garter snake (Thamnophis radix) quickly slithering away.  As I grabbed it, another garter showed itself before fleeing successfully.  I photographed this beautiful, most docile reptile as best as I could in situ and in hand - yes, I know I need a lot of practice, but I'm working on it!

Garter snake habitat

We ended up finding a number of garter snakes today, most we simply let crawl on their way as we trekked onward in our search for northern redbelly snakes.  We moved to a preserve in suburban Cook County where I know redbellies can be found.  We ended up at the "newt swamp", a large swamp I've been to before, and I thought I'd take a crack at finding a newt for Jeffrey to see for the first time.  I lifted a number of logs at the edge of the swap to no avail, finding plenty of worms, slugs, centipedes, beetles, and spiders, but no newts.  Now mind you, seldom do I show concern over my own well-being when looking for herps in this area.  There are no venomous species, and I have never hesitated lifting logs or other discarded items.  So this is why, when I lifted "that" log, I was surprised to find that I had disturbed a very active hornet nest.  In a split second I went from "Oh, crap.." to literally running away at full speed as far away as I could get from that hive, as we were being chased by a swarm of very defensive stinging insects.  Fortunately, Jeffrey was well ahead of me per my direct order, but I took the brunt of the hornets' angst, being stung a couple times.  The sting on my hand occurred immediately after I lifted the log that shielded the nest.  

Three hours later, from my cell phone.

We ultimately found a redbelly snake (Storeria occipitomaculata) at this preserve, but unfortunately it had recently met its end via an automobile on the access road.

We also did find a central newt eft (Notophthalmus viridescens louisianensis), and luckily it was alive and well.  It was very tiny and difficult to photograph - I still need to work on getting that macro lens.

A few more photos from the day.

Gypsy moth larva - unfortunately quite of few of these were seen.

Wetland habitat

Jeffrey is on top of the world!

DRCA snake survey - Day 1

There are snakes at DRCA - at least that's what I've heard from others who have seen, caught, and supposedly positively identified Chicago garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis semifasciatus).  With as much time I have have spent working at that site, out in the prairie and wetlands, I am surprised that I have never seen one.  Well, hopefully that changes soon.  With permission granted, I gathered up a few volunteers and collected a number of discarded wood boards at the trash heap in the back parking lot and strategically placed them in a quiet, unused portion of the site, in the grass along the edge of the wooded area.  Some of the boards are adjacent to areas prone to flooding and others were placed higher up in an area that remains relatively dry most of the year.  It is my hopes that these boards will attract the garter snakes and provide shelter for them.  I plan on returning in the near future and then regularly to check the boards.

Right now, there really is no rhyme or reason to document the snakes other than the fact that I love them and I love the fact that they are still found in the city.  However, in time, this project might grow and develop into something bigger - the possibilities are endless.  Perhaps I can build an independent research project focusing on the influence of development on these snakes.  I would like to evaluate the overall health of the animals, approximate a ratio of males to females on site, and determine what regions of the DRCA they prefer and why.  So, yes, this is a way for me to study snakes because I like to, but at the very least, my findings will constitute an on-site educational seminar or presentation.  Just like last fall's native herp exhibit I developed for and at the site, this could bring awareness of the site's ecology (which really isn't unlike surrounding ecosystems in the northeastern Illinois region - it's just isolated within the built-up urban environment that surrounds it on all sides).  The only difference is that I want to focus on what can be found at the DRCA, which isn't much, admittedly.  Another organization that occasionally works at the site insists there are frogs breeding in vernal pools located deep in the buckthorn jungle, but I doubt the existence of any anurans there (and very likely any amphibians).  The site, though beautiful, serene (for being in Chicago), and full of potential, is degraded to the point where only the toughest herps could thrive.

So I plan on using this blog to update the status of the boards.  Here are some habitat photos and of the boards in situ as of today.

This is the entrance point to the location of the boards.  They are well off the path, out of site, and out of the jurisdiction of any lawnmower.

A view of the location, before the boards were laid down.  

Some of the boards we collected.  Most of these are parts of discarded traffic barriers.

One of the boards just after being plopped down.

Thank you to Wojtek and Jose for their assistance!