Southern Black Racer (Coluber constrictor)

    We found this snake underneath one of the metal coverups, which is exactly what you expect because snakes favor the metal covers because they are warmer and drier underneath.

    Like the name suggests the Black Racer is very fast as far as snakes go and they need to be because when they grow up to be adults they prey on animals such as nesting birds, squirrels and even rabbits.

    The Black Racer are nonvenomous but you should still be careful if ever handling one of these snakes because they have several teeth and will draw blood if they bite you. Also these snakes are typically very aggressive and may try to wiggle themselves out your hands so grip them tightly behind the head and the near the end of the tail.

Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus)

    You will know that you have picked up an Eastern Fence Lizard by the loose feeling on skin resulting from the arrangement of the lizard's scales which will also appear to be spikey. You will know that you have a male by the bright blue/green colorations on the throat and flanks on the underside of the lizard.

    Although sometimes the females can have slight colorations on their underside as well. The colored females are less desired by the males, but these females are often more aggressive and will sometimes be the one to initiate mating. The advantage for a male to mate with one of these colored females is that they typically have more "handsome" male offspring.

    These lizards can live a semi-arboreal life style living in wooded areas although they can also be found in grasslands. 

Eastern Five Lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus)

    Able to reach lengths of 20 centimeters, the Five Lined Skink is the second largest skink in North Carolina. They are named after the five yellow/cream colored lines which run down their body. The juveniles are more easily identified by their tail which is blue in color in order to force the attention of a predator on to that spot. If a Five Line feels threatened it will drop its tail which will remain twitching to keep the predator distracted while it runs away.

 Juvenile

    The Five Lined Skink live in wooded areas and many live a semi-arboreal lifestyle, but many also prefer to be in open areas such as a field or recently burnt section of a forest where they will be looking for insects to eat.

    

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.