Small rattles, big personalities

In the dark recesses of Aronoff laboratory, many are surprised to know that our lab has an entire room filled with rattlesnakes. In fact, most visitors don't believe us until we show them. Behind a plain, gray door lives a group of dusky pigmy rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri). This group of animals has been one of the main sources of data for our lab's efforts in studying pit viper venom and how it relates to these animals diets and behavior. This work is currently being done by our principal investigator, Dr. Lisle Gibbs, and current PhD student Sarah Smiley. 

Right now, one of our undergraduate students (Hardy Kern) is finishing a project examining how these snakes, which have been eating the same type of food for months (either mice or frogs), differ in their interest in other food items. Since some of the snakes were born in the lab, the question is pretty simple: do these animals prefer the only food they've ever known or do they have a preference? I'm sure Hardy will come by at some point to write about his project here, but until then I thought I'd share some photos of the pigmy rattlesnakes that we took as part of Hardy's graduation gift from the grad students. 

The photos show these venomous snakes as we see them: beautiful, gentle, and curious animals.

If seeing snakes in their natural habitat is more your thing, here are some photos of pigmy rattlesnakes we found last summer during a lab trip to Florida:

Wherever you see one, these reclusive snakes are always a treat.

A research lab that herps together, works together

Back in August before the semester began, a good portion of the Gibbs lab headed down to Florida for a week of science and reptiles/amphibians. We were visiting some colleagues/collaborators at Florida State University as well as helping Sarah Smiley catch pigmy rattlesnakes for her thesis research.

Believe it or not, I've just recently downloaded the photos from my camera. Here are some of the interesting things we did and interesting creatures we found:

I almost ordered two slices because I didn't believe that they were "as big as your head".

David and Lisle appreciating the alligators

Sarah took us swimming at Wakulla Springs. We were all brave enough to high dive. 

There I was, expecting a honky-tonk. What a disappointment.

A lifer for me: Pig Frog (Lithobates Grylio)

A handsome juvenile Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

Matt demonstrating the art form of laying out "rock snakes" to trick other cars searching for snakes at night. Classic.

The snake we were after: The Pigmy Rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius)

Sarah studies how these snakes' venom is locally adapted to their prey

Pigmy is a good descriptor. Here are four adult snakes at the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket.

Another lifer for me: Little Grass Frog (Pseudacris ocularis). I thought the first one I saw was an insect jumping through the grass.

Sarah gets the royal treatment during the half of the year she spends in Florida at Stetson University.

It was hot and humid, but we found snakes. Left to right: David Salazar, Sarah Smiley, Terry Farrell, Lisle Gibbs, Matt Holding, Rob Denton

Herpin' the Florida Panhandle

A few weeks ago I was in beautiful St. George Island, Florida on vacation with my family. A big part of vacations for me is running around searching for creatures. I was able to spend a good amount of time exploring Apalachicola National Forest and Tate's Hell State Forest. It was fantastic, and I wanted to share some of the species that I turned up.

First off, here is a Scarlet Snake (Cemophora coccinea) that was found while night driving. These beautiful snakes spend most of their time under the leaf litter hunting for eggs of other reptiles. 

A lovely Corn Snake (Pantherophis guttata) that was found just down the road from the Scarlet Snake:

Tate's Hell State Forest provided many opportunities to pull the car over and listen to a variety of frogs and toads calling. One of the loudest and most prominent members of this chorus were Barking Treefrogs (Hyla gratiosa):

Another common road-crosser, the Pine Woods Treefrog (Hyla femoralis):

There is a Pine Woods Treefrog on this bark, promise.

Here was a first for me, a River Frog (Lithobates hecksheri). I learned very quickly that the terrifying call I was hearing in the middle of the night was actually a river frog. 

Another Pine Woods Treefrog:

One of the most commonly seen and heard treefrogs in the southeast is the Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea):

One call that I immediately recognized was the sheep-like "BAAAA" of the Eastern Narrowmouth Toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis). In the second picture you can see one of the unique physical features of narrowmouth toads, the flap of skin on the top of the head that they can fold across their eyes to remove pestering insects.

Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephala), a species that I remember as "the laughing frog".

Here is an especially colorful Southern Toad (Anaxyrus terrestris):

Finally, here is an example from one of my favorite groups of reptiles in the Southeast, the Family Anguidae:

"Gotcha, I'm not even a snake"

It is an Eastern Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus ventralis)! So cool! This lizard is such a treat to find. I've seen them in South Carolina before, but they often disappear into pine needles way before I can get a hand on one. 

There is something so bizarre about seeing the head of a lizard on the body of a snake:

This trip was just a taster for the Gibbs' lab trip to Florida in August, when we will be assisting fellow grad student Sarah Smiley in finding Pygmy Rattlesnakes. I'm positive we'll be picking up quite a few other great reptiles and amphibians of the Southeast along the way.