Lab #9

Date: 3/30/16

Location: Lumber River Conservancy

Lab Activity: Radio Tracking Box Turtles

Habitat: Pine/Hardwood Forest

Temperature: 72.6 F

Wind: 2.4 mph

Humidity: 37.3%

    We used a technique known as radiotelemetry, which works by capturing a species and placing a radio tracking device somewhere on it, making sure that the tracker is only 5% of the individuals body weight or it will overburden the animal.

You then later come back to the site you believe your marked animals to be and use a radio tracking device. The device has a series of antenna and uses this detect the strength and direction of a radio signal. Basically you wave an antenna around and it beeps at you to tell you which way the turtle is.

    The box turtle is primarily a terrestrial species, which technically makes it a tortoise although they can spend a limited amount of time in the water. There are also some distinct features which differ between the males and females. The males typically have redder eyes than the females although females can also have red eyes so this isn't the best way to determine gender on a turtle; the best way is to turn the turtle over and look at the plastron, the males have a concave indentation in their shell for the purpose of supporting themselves when mounting a female. 

We tracked three turtles while out on this lab.

Turtle #152:

Y- 0650292

X-3863285

520 grams

147.2 mm carapace

Male

Turtle #191:

Y-3864245

X-0650494

520 grams

132 mm carapace

Female

Turtle #630

Y-3863834

X-0650585

570 grams

137.1 mm carapace

Female

Lab #8

Date: 3/23/16

Location: Lumber River Conservancy

Lab Activity: Searching for spotted turtles

Habitat: Vernal Pool

Temperature: 81.1 F

Wind: 3.5 mph

Humidity: 33%

    Myself and the rest of the Field Zoology class went out to the Lumber River Conservancy looking for spotted turtles, unfortunately we didn't find any.

Broad Headed Skink (Plestiodon laticeps)

    

    Able to reach lengths of over a foot the Broad Headed skink is the largest lizard that you are likely to find in North Carolina. They prey primarily on small insects but have been known to eat smaller vertebrates even other skinks.

    You can find these guys in pine and hardwood forests either in the trees r on the ground foraging for food or basking in the sun. The species however is primarily arboreal so if you see one and it runs away it will look for something to climb on. When we caught this female she actually tried to escape by climbing up my professor's leg.

Southern Cricket Frog (Acris gryllus)

    

    The Southern Cricket Frog, is a small frog and member of the family Hylidae which makes it a treefrog. You can find Southern Cricket Frogs in coastal plain bogs, ponds and in our case vernal pools. 

    They have a distinct linear "Y" shaped marking on their back, though often green the marking can vary in shade and color as well as pronouncement.

    Though they are called cricket frogs they mostly feed on smaller insects like mosquitoes, some crickets would actually be the same size as this frog and would prove difficult to swallow.

 

Lab #7

Date: 3/16/16

Location: Lumber River Conservancy

Lab Activity: Surveying fish with the use of fish traps

Habitat: Shallow freshwater pond

Temperature: 85 F

Wind: 12 mph

Humidity: 35%

    45 fish traps were placed in a pond and creek system at 10 AM on March 15th, 2016 and then collected the next day.

Numbers caught of each species:

Amphibians:
  Amphiuma 1
  Lesser Siren 1

 Fish:
  Red Finned Pickerel 1
  Chain Pickerel 3
  Pirate Perch 4
  Black Banded Sunfish 19
  Bluegill 9
  Blue Spotted Sunfish 30
  Lined Topminnows 22
  Mosquito Fish 11
  

Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis)

    Commonly mistaken for minnows the Mosquitofish is a member of the family Poeciliidae, the livebearers. This means that the Mosquitofish gives birth to live young rather than laying eggs. 

    You can find them as far north as Indiana and stretching south through the Mississippi River and east in the coastal plain.

They are important for controlling the populations of many insects which have an aquatic larval stage such as mosquitos, but they will also feed on zooplankton and small insects.

Lined Topminnow (Fundulus lineolatus)

    Found natively as far north as southern Virginia and as south as Florida, the lined topminnow is a member of the family Fundulidae. Although they have been introduced as an invasive species probably by people dumping their bait buckets into these freshwater systems.

    You can tell the difference between a male and a female by looking at the lines on their sides. The males have very pronounced vertical lines while the females vertical lines are equally noticeable to the horizontal lines which both genders have.

Bluespotted Sunfish (Enneacanthus gloriosus)

    A member of the sunfish family, Centrarchidae, the Bluespotted can be found in freshwater habitats such as ponds and lakes all over the eastern United States. They have been introduced in some new regions such as the Mississippi watershed. They prefer the still or sluggish water habitats such as a pond or an oxbow.

Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)

    Named for the blue marking on its gill the Bluegill is a member of the family Centrarchidae thus making it a sunfish. You can find these guys in freshwater systems from Quebec to Mexico.

    They typically eat small invertebrates such as snails and tiny crustaceans. However they wouldn't pass up a small fish such as a minnow if the opportunity were to arise.

    

Black Banded Sunfish (Enneacanthus chaetodon)

    The Black Banded are members of the family Centrarchidae and can be found in freshwater habitats everywhere from New Jersey to central Florida. They feed on typically on aquatic larvae, but they will also feed on small aquatic insects and zooplankton.

Pirate Perch (Aphredoderus sayanus)

    The pirate perch can be found in freshwater systems all the way from here in North Carolina to southeastern Texas. The can be found in lakes, ponds and rivers and the lay their eggs in borrows. It is the behavior of laying these eggs in borrows which gave rise to a strange anatomical feature. The pirate perch's anus is not located in front of the anal fin like most fish it is instead anteriorly located just between the gills. The purpose of this is so that when the pirate perches go head first into these holes, the fish can get them as far back as possible.

Chain Pickerel (Esox niger)

    The Chain Pickerel can be found in many of the same locations as the Red Fin Pickerel mentioned in another post entry. However the Chain Pickerel is typically in larger bodies of water than the Red Fin as they are larger in body size being able to reach lengths of up to three feet.

    You will know that you have a pike by its long and relatively slender body as well as its duck bill like snout. All pikes use this snout to prey on smaller fish.

Two Toed Amphiuma (Amphiuma means)

    Sometimes referred to as a Congo Eel or a Leggy Eel, the Amphiuma is actually not an eel at all infact it is an amphibian. It is a member of the family Amphiumidae and can be recognised by its long slender body and by its four small vestigial legs. The Amphiumas is actually the longest amphibians in North America, the two toed amphiuma reaches lengths of around 45 inches.

    You can find Amphiumas in freshwater systems such a creeks, ponds and rivers. They are often the largest and top predator in their territory. You can sometimes find these guys on land. The amphiuma will crawl on land to move out of one body of water in search of another.

Lesser Siren (Siren intermedia)

    The lesser siren is the smaller of the two siren species found in North Carolina, the other being the Greater Siren. You can identify siren by its long slender eel like body, with its little forelimbs and exposed gills.

    The lesser siren is an amphibian and a member of the Sirenidae; you can find them in various freshwater systems but often in ditches and narrow creeks. They are aggressive predators and like to feed on small arthropods and gastropods. 

     

Red Fin Pickerel (Esox americanus)

    Clearly named for the red coloration of their fins, the Red Fin Pickerel looks very similar to the Chain Pickerel although is a bit a smaller. One sure way to tell the difference if you are ever confused is to look at linear eye marking. A Red Fin has  a diagonal marking and the Chain has a vertical marking.

    The Red Fin can reach lengths of about 12 inches and is sometimes the larger predator in its habitat, preying almost exclusively on smaller fish. The Red Fin is however the smallest of all the pike species.  

    You can find these guys in small freshwater sheds such as a pond or a small stream. But you can find them in larger rivers and lakes, but this usually means that they have predators of their own.

Lab #6

Date: 3/2/16

Location: Lumber River Conservancy 

Lab Activity: Placement of motion camera and audio recorder

Habitat: Pine/Hardwood Forest

Temperature: Not Recorded

Wind: Not Recorded

Humidity: Not Recorded

Additional Information: We didn't take note of any animals while we were out there, with the                                                       exception of some amphibian eggs.

    This camera uses a noninvasive flash and uses infrared detection. In order to set off the camera, anything that passes in front of the detector would have to be large enough and would also have to show temperature contrast to the background. Because of the temperature contrast requirement, this camera does not pick up reptiles and amphibians.

    We set this camera up on tree only about 2.5 feet above the ground. We placed in an open area and placed bait in the form of corn and cat food in front oft, we also brought in a special concoction filled with all types of stuff like egg and deer liver as a scent lure which was buried underground. We also placed some food underneath some rocks, the purpose of that is to make it a bit harder for the animal to eat it and have it stay in front of the camera longer.  

    We put this recorder device in the back section of the conservancy in hopes that no cars would effect the recording and so that no one was likely to find and steal it. We placed it within a couple feet of a two vernal pools, as the goal is to record frog calls. The recorder itself was set to record sound for one minute at the start of every new hour during the later hours of the day.

    In one of the vernal pools we came across some amphibian eggs.

Everything below is an update made April 20th, 2016 which contains the findings from our camera and recorder put in the form of the list of the species observed.

 Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), bottom right next to the stick

White Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

  Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) I believe that this is a gray fox and not a red fox because of the tail. The tail on a red fox has a white tip and the gray fox has dark colorations on the end of its tail, like the one observed in the photograph. 

Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger)

American Crow (Corvus Brachyrhynchos) It is a bit hard to see in this picture but you will find it on the right side of the photo next to the corn kernels. I believe that this an American Crow and not a fish crow because it is holding its head up like an American soldier at attention, while Fish Crows typically lean forward like a fisherman leaning over a ship's railing to pull up a net.

Frogs recorded:

 Spring Peeper

 Southern Leopard Frog

 Green Frog