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Skeeter’s Revenge

A few nights ago, on another of those warm, rainy evenings, I talked my sister into a second trip to wade around a slough, this time down the old tram road south of Van Buren.  We were looking for crayfish, Cambarus diogenes and Procambarus acutus, but came up with nothing other than a few small Orconectes […]

It was a dark and stormy night,

nearly 60°, warm for early March, with light rain and distant lightning providing a portent of things to come.  When I stepped outside about 8:00 pm the Spring Peepers were going insane and I thought that was a good sign that the warm, rainy night might have the local salamander population heading towards fishless waters looking […]

Green Treefrog

According to “The Amphibians and Reptiles of Missouri,” the Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea) doesn’t occur in Carter County. Supposedly, other than an introduced population in Camden County, it’s limited to the southeast lowlands. My three year old niece Lauren would beg to differ since she found one today.

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Spotted Salamander

My basement has two windows that are below ground level and each has a recessed area around it lined with 6×9 railroad ties. I was cleaning the leaves and other assorted detritus from one of them today when I noticed a Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) trying to dig into the clay and find some cover.

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Jeepers. Peepers!

Just going by the amount of noise they make, Northern Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer crucifer) are quite numerous here around the pond and edges of the yard, yet I rarely see them. But twice this spring they’ve made appearances.

The first I saw was a female on my downstairs door following a night of […]