Herps of Arkansas: 2008 Fall Field Trip

Reports

Official Report (PDF Format), by Glenn Manning and Kory Roberts
Photo Report 1, by Brad Birchfield
Photo Report 2, by Glenn Manning

Finds of Interest

Caddo Mountain Salamander (Plethodon caddoensis) = Collected specimens will be used in an ongoing phylogeographic study where preliminary results indicate four distinct lineages.
Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus) = Pair found crossing a road were likely courting.
Arkansas Ouachita Mountains Endemic Slimy Salamanders = All four species were observed:
- Caddo Mountain Salamander (Plethodon caddoensis)
- Fourche Mountain Salamander (Plethodon fourchensis)
- Kiamichi Slimy Salamander (Plethodon kiamichi)
- Rich Mountain Salamander (Plethodon ouachitae)
Arkansas Pit Vipers = All five species were observed:
- Southern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix)
- Western Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma)
- Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)
- Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
- Western Pigmy Rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius streckeri)

Gallery

Photo Report 1, by Brad Birchfield

Man... I am just not feeling the usual gusto to write a novella about the weekend's activities...if you were'nt there...then the best way to find out what goes on is to show up and go herping with us! Had a great time, as always...animals were fewer...but the one's we did find were quality. And for us 'non academic' types...its always fun to participate in someone else's research. So thanks to Don & Kelly for lettin us kill ourselves looking for boring salamanders that barely exist on that 70 degree grade, rocky slope with knats and spiders. Yeah, that was fun. :scared:

But I digress... Here are some of my best pics.

This is a view of the Caddo Mountains looking north & west toward Mena.

The webmaster shooting pics of Indian pipe...a chlorophyll'less little plant that was abundant at this location.

I was very disappointed to see that Jeremy made it across this creek without slipping and falling in.

Found this black rat out sunning on a road.

My lame attempt at the wide angle/habitat/James Van Dyke special. Thats Tyler on the left and Ben on the right.

Ben flipped this Great Plains rat under a rock on Pigeon roost mountain.

Here's you a game...find the copperhead!

In case you didnt find it, this is what it looks like...

Saturday night salamandering with the group. L-R Ryan, Kory Tyler, Van Glenn

Ben- surveying some nice rattlesnake habitat.

Sadly, this was the closest we got to a timber rattler...but this must be one impressive individual!

The obligatory shot of jeremy eating a star crunch. I make make a collage of these images some day.

Kiamichi salamander...found about 300ft inside arkansas!

Fourche Mtn salamander. Finally.

Caddo salamander.

thanks for looking...fire away your comments! See you in the spring.

Photo Report 2, by Glenn Manning

I tried to load my pics to the SOA folder, but I was unable to do so. I think my problem is that my file sizes are too large (around 1 meg). If you have not checked them out, both Kory and Brad have put pictures in this folder.

I do not have much commentary. As always it was a good trip, even though I sucked it up. I personally found very little, but thankfully I was able to mooch off other folks finds. At least the company was good. Good to see the new face and all the old faces.

People:

Nonherps:

Herps: