FLORIDA
December 2002
2 of 2
FLORIDA
December 2002
2 of 2
In addition to what we find in the field, there are also herps hanging around my mother’s house. Besides the
innumerable Brown Anoles (Anolis sagrei) we also find Cuban Tree Frogs in the bushes and on the walls.
On occasion my mother also finds Ringnecks by her front door, but our biggest surprise comes when my
nephew Ben makes the completely unexpected discovery of a Racer in the backyard.
Later in the week we make our annual pilgrimage to the Anhinga Trail, in Everglades National Park, where the
usual cast of herps is posing for the tourists.
The real show-offs, however, are the birds who sit for their close-ups as if they are getting paid for their time. In
a sense, I suppose they’re staff as much as the rangers.
Finally, Ron and I take Ben out for a day of herping with us overgrown kids. Unfortunately, it’s still sort of cool,
so we don’t find much, unlike the Red-Shouldered Hawk who takes off not 25 feet from us ― with a Garter Snake in
its talons!
Still, we do find a few things. The first is this Tropical House Gecko, a recent colonist from Africa by way of
Brazil.
Cruise another area, which produces a pair of Ringneck Snakes under cover, but the best catches are crawling
and hopping on the road at night. The first is an uncommon red-phase Green Water Snake, the first I’ve ever seen.
The last is simply a common Southern Leopard Frog, but the smile on Ben’s face after he catches it all by himself
puts this one in a special category.
.
Cuban Tree Frog
Osteopilus septentrionalis
Florida Redbelly Turtle
Pseudemys nelsoni
American Alligator
Alligator mississippiensis
Brown Water Snake
Nerodia taxispilota
Tropical House Gecko
Hemidactylus mabouia
Green Water Snake
Nerodia floridana
Southern Leopard Frog
Rana utricularia
