Ontario's Herpetofauna

Well, it certainly has been a long time since I last posted on this blog. My last update was on a trip I had taken down to Florida with my good friend Taylor over the Christmas and New Years holidays of 2018. As you can imagine, a lot has happened since then. Since I was finally been able to find out how to log back into the blog, I have decided to fast-track it back up to the current date by summing up the last 3.5 years in a series of posts that recap large chunks of each year. I'll try to keep them short and sweet while still capturing key highlights. Without further ado, here is what happened in early Spring of 2018, after returning from Florida. It was mid-February when I was able to see my first herps of 2018, and it wasn't a mudpuppy! (An aquatic salamander more readily spotted in the depths of winter). All thanks to a crazy warm spell, we had an abundance of warm rain fall on February 20th which I knew would bring out some salamanders.  Sure enough, the night came and, ...

Following the adventures of finding garter snakes and some turtles the previous day, I set out for Norfolk County on Saturday April 15th to Norfolk County. I was hoping to find some early Hognose Snakes and possibly some Smooth Greensnakes or Eastern Foxsnakes. Unfortunately I came up empty handed in that regard but still managed to find a few herps. I turned up a few Eastern Gartersnakes in Norfolk and my first of the year Green Frog in Brant County on the way home. This Green Frog was exceptionally large but was very cold and lethargic so I decided it was best to take one in situ from a fair distance away in order to ensure it did not waste energy trying to "escape" from me. Green Frog - Brant County Determined, I set out again that evening to find more species to progress along in my Ontario herp challenge. This time I was searching for a specific species that I knew I would find. They had been calling for the past two days and I knew exactly where to go to fi...

This was a weekend for reptiles. On Friday march 14th Sterling and I went out to an area within the Niagara region in hopes of finding some elusive reptiles. When we got to the parking spot we quickly threw on our waders, got out our camera gear and started walking with our heads held high in great hopes of what we would see. Although I cannot tell you where we were hiking, I can tell you that it is very tough and tiring terrain to walk through in waders! So, after a good long walk to the site and another half hour or so of looking in water bodies we were starting to feel anxious that we may not find any herps, let alone our main hope/target for the day. Thankfully just then I heard a slither and our spirits were instantly lifted! Although it wasn't a target species of the day it was still my first of the year and it was great to see a reptile none the less. This beautiful creature was an Eastern Gartersnake. A dashing one at that. Eastern Garter Snake - Niagara Region ...