Greene County Herp Blitz

Gray tree frog. 

Spring is a great time to keep your eyes peeled for amphibians. They are on the move, looking for love and laying eggs. Critters that are normally very difficult to find are emerging and making themselves heard. We joined Brandon Ruhe of the the Pennsylvania Amphibian and Reptile Survey and a group of enthusiastic nature lovers for a blitz survey in Greene County.

The mission of PARS is to determine the distribution and status of all the amphibians and reptiles in the entire state, and that means turning over rocks and logs, peering into vernal pools, sifting through leaf litter, and doing whatever it takes to discover who's out there. Brandon explained that Greene County was underrepresented in their data, so it was our goal to document the presence of as many species as possible. We visited a number of state game lands properties to search, and Brandon identified our finds. We saw some amazing animals, all of which were new to us!

The Northern slimy salamander. It's super cute! But watch out...it has a slimy secretion from its skin that is very hard to get off your hands if you pick it up without gloves. I expect predators would learn pretty quickly that it's super gross!

Eastern redback salamander. These are woodland salamanders that were very plentiful where we searched. They live their entire lives on land, but do not have lungs.

A wood frog egg mass. 

Wood frog tadpoles. We did not see the wood

Spring peeper. If you've heard their mighty voices, it's pretty
shocking when you first see how truly teensy they are!

Northern slimy salamander.

Eastern redback salamander.

Baby redback salamander.

Spicebush.

Red-spotted newt eft. Most salamanders have a larval stage and an adult stage, but red-spotted newts have a stage in the middle, in which they are "red efts". They spend their larval stage in the water breathing with gills. They develop lungs and emerge onto land in their eft stage. Eventually (accounts differ as to how many years this may be) they return to the water as breeding adults, but surprisingly do not grow back their gills. Their vivid color is a warning to predators that they secrete a nasty irritating toxin from their skin. 

Pickerel frog. 

Wooly worm.

Rattlesnake plantain.

Redback salamander.

Spring beauties.

Northern green frog.

Red-spotted newt eft.

Spring peeper.

Redback salamander.

Hepatica.

Eastern redback salamander in a "leadback" dark color phase.

Bluets.

The "gray tree frog" and the "Cope's gray tree frog" can only be distinguished by DNA tests, or by the distinct sounds of their different songs. Ours was not in a mood to sing. They spend most of their time in treetops and are very well camouflaged, so we were super lucky that one of our group spotted it!

Northern slimy salamander.

Northern green frog.

Coltsfoot.

Northern dusky salamander.

Pickerel frog.

The shell of an Eastern box turtle. 

Northern dusky salamander.

Northern dusky salamander. 

Northern two-lined salamander. These salamanders are very common
in Pennsylvania streams.

Northern dusky salamander.

Northern two-lined salamander.