Favoritos de rogerbirkhead

Adult male / Captured on Rabbit Path Rd in Alna Twp by Lynne Flaccus on 7/17/2018 / released at same location on 7/31/18 / collected nail samples for DNA / Habitat is mature hardwood forest bordered by shrubby powerline ROW

Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, subphylum: Vertebrata, Class: Reptilia, Order: Testudines, Species: Box Turtle.

The distinguishing features I saw was a broad flat body, legs splayed out and bent at the knee, and the scutes on the shell.

I observed this animal in Mountain Home, AR on April 24, about 1 in the afternoon. Seen among the rocks in the woods. It was on top of another turtle.

WARNING: This observation is Rated "5F" (another "Fossilized Foto From the Fingers Files"!), recently unearthed from the rich Cretaceous Period deposit that I call my basement, haha! This is me and my cousin Pete (@jdanch) as 16 year-old kids having an awesome day in the beautiful New Jersey Pine Barrens, finding 2 adult Northern Pine Snakes within a a few yards of each other. Both of us went on in our careers to contribute much understanding to and validation for the State Threatened level of protected status for this species in NJ - with presence/absence surveys, radio-telemetry studies, home range/hibernaculae/distance requirement assessments, and more. I have seen hundreds of individuals of this species in all growth stages, from egg to 6' 7" adults - (including a one-eyed, adult female wild albino!), and engaging in virtually all their behaviors in the wild - and after nearly 50 years, the thrill I get when I encounter this majestic member of the genus Pituophis in the field still (to paraphrase the old-school rock 'n roll band, "Foreigner") - "feels like the first time"! Hope some of you iNat herpers will get a kick out of this 40-some year old "blast from the past" encounter of mine!

We hiked the High Falls trail in Cheaha National Forest and at the falls there were thousands of centipedes!!! In the photos of the waterfall there are brown patches along the left hand side of the waterfall. Those are centipedes. There were also mats of centipedes in the water.

Old female found crossing a busy highway. There wasn’t much habitat left for her in the area, but we were forced to let her stay. She likely predates most of the major development that has occurred in the area.

"The Art of Mother Nature".

These images represent the brief but beautiful display we get on the first hard freeze of a winter--if we get such a morning at all at our latitude. We've had a few cold mornings just below freezing in Austin over the past few weeks, but this Arctic blast was enough to keep the temperature in the teens and 20's for several hours. The result for Frostweed is frozen sap which splits the base of the stem and comes curling out in fantasticly beautiful "shaved ice" forms. Botanical icicles. The shapes are as diverse as snowflakes.

Turtle with large, rounded shell. Turtle would retract into itself and appear to close off shell, a key characteristic in box turtles.

Wikipedia.org/box_turtle

Turtle was found grassland near multiple small ponds. Box turtles are common throughout the United States, including the State of Florida.

Kingdom: animalia
Phylum: chordata
Class: reptilia
Order: testudines
Suborder: cryptodira
Family: emydidae
Genus: terrapene