Ontario's Herpetofauna

The Eastern Hognose Snake is one of my favourite snakes in all of Ontario and is one that hogs a lot of my time spent herping. One of the reasons for this is the fascinating threat displays that the snake does when threatened, and let me tell you, it really grabs your attention. Generally the first defensive display that a hognose will do if it cannot hide is flatten in it's neck to make itself look like a venomous Cobra. Large Eastern Hognose Snake flattening it's neck - Norfolk County Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County Eastern Hognose Snake - North Carolina Sandhills Even the neonates (babies) will sometimes use this defensive strategy. Neonate Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County Although these snakes are venomous, they cannot inject venom in large animals such as ...

In Ontario it is fair to say that the most unique species of Salamander found here is the Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus). Unlike any other salamanders found in the province, the Mudpuppy is fully aquatic, has external gills throughout all life stages and is most active in the winter months when the water it is in is close to freezing temperatures. And if that isn't enough to make it unique from our other salamander species then perhaps the fact that it is able to grow to approximately double the size of our next biggest salamander is! Mudpuppies - Oxford Mills Recently, on November 25th to 27th , I had the great pleasure of going with friends to a well known location in Ontario to finally see a Mudpuppy for the first time. We ended up seeing 12 Mudpuppies in total, 8 the first night and 4 on the second. Although I will only be talking about the first night in this post as 3 of the 4 Mudpuppies on the second night swam away before I could photograph them. Also, because thi...