Herping in Floyd County, Indiana

Cave Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Date:

March 21st to 27th 2015

Species Found:

1. Redback Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)
2. Five Lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus)
3. Southern Two Lined Salamander (Eurycea cirrigera)
4. Northen Zigzag Salamander (Plethodon dorsalis)
5. Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga)
6. Northern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus)
7. American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)
8. Northern Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans melanota)
9. Longtail Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)

Background:

I was looking for wildlife at my friend Garrett's farm over Spring Break. The farm is a 100 acre property, which is mostly deciduous forest with a few creeks and ponds. I spent a couple of days just walking through the woods, flipping logs and looking for animals.

The Trip:

The first herps I found were Redback Salamanders under a log near an old barn. I had seen at least a hundred of these before so I didn't bother taking very good photos. I was still pretty excited about finding an amphibian so close to a building, but that was because I didn't know that I would see another 100 of them later that day.

Redback Salamanders: PC Yatin Kalki

Redback Salamanders: PC Yatin Kalki

Shortly afterward, I found a juvenile Five Lined Skink under a piece of roof tiling. I could tell it was young by its blue tail. I had seen one of these before in Southern Illinois but I couldn't catch it and therefore had no photos of it. Luckily I managed to catch this one.

Five Lined Skink: PC Yatin Kalki

Five Lined Skink: PC Yatin Kalki

Five Lined Skink: PC Yatin Kalki

Juvenile Five Lined Skink: PC Yatin Kalki

Later that day, I found an adult Five Lined Skink and another juvenile under decaying logs. The adult was duller and didn't have a vibrant blue tail.

Adult Five Lined Skink: PC Yatin Kalki

Adult Five Lined Skink: PC Yatin Kalki

Juvenile Five Lined Skink: PC Yatin Kalki

Juvenile Five Lined Skink: PC Yatin Kalki

Under a log near where I found the first Skink, I found a Southern Two Lined Salamander. I had seen some of these before in Vermilion County, IL but it was still cool to find another species of salamander so close to the house. Later that day, when I was herping in a creek, I found around 50 more Southern Two Lined Salamanders under rocks. I also found a few larvae in small pools under rocks.

Southern Two Lined Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Southern Two Lined Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Southern Two Lined Salamander Larva: PC Yatin Kalki

Under logs on hillsides and under rocks by streams, I found some Zigzag Salamanders. I had seen these before at Snake Road but these had brightly colored zigzags which were much more prominent.

Zigzag Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Zigzag Salamanders: PC Yatin Kalki

For hours, I went on flipping rocks by the stream, finding Redbacks, Two Lineds and Zigzags but it all paid off when I found a Cave Salamander. I had never seen one before and it was really cool to see its bright orange body with black spots. I wasn't sure if it was a Cave Salamander or a Longtail Salamander so I sent a picture to Tristan and he confirmed that it was a Cave Salamander. After I took photos of it, I went to put it back under the rock I found it under and found another Cave Salamander!

Cave Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Cave Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Cave Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Just when I thought I was done finding all the salamander species I could find, I found a large Northern Slimy Salamander under a log along with 6 Redback Salamanders. I had also seen these before at Vermilion County, IL but it was cool to find so many salamander species in one place.

Northern Slimy Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Northern Slimy Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

On the way back to the house I flipped a rock to find a tiny Bullfrog. It jumped into the water but I managed to catch it and take some photos. Bullfrogs are some of the most common frogs but I just hadn't managed to catch one in the last six months. So it was good that I finally got one. I also netted some large Bullfrog tadpoles in a pond.

American Bullfrog: PC Yatin Kalki

American Bullfrog: PC Yatin Kalki

American Bullfrog: PC Yatin Kalki

Bullfrog Tadpole: PC Yatin Kalki

Bullfrog Tadpole: PC Yatin Kalki

The next day I found all of the same species, with the addition of a new one. I found a total of 6 Northern Green Frogs under large rocks in a creek. They mostly occurred in twos but two were alone. I had seen another subspecies of Green Frog in Southern Illinois called the Bronze Frog, but the Northern Green Frog was new to me.

Northern Green Frogs: PC Yatin Kalki

Northern Green Frog: PC Yatin Kalki

Northern Green Frog: PC Yatin Kalki

Northern Green Frog: PC Yatin Kalki

While looking in various water bodies, I repeatedly came across Wood Frog egg masses but I couldn't find any actual Wood Frogs. The eggs were present in HUGE concentrations at some places and unfortunately, many of the masses were on the banks of ponds that were close to drying up.

Wood Frog Egg Masses: PC Yatin Kalki

Wood Frog Egg Masses: PC Yatin Kalki

A couple of days later, I found Longtail Salamanders, too. The first one was under a large rock a few meters away from the creek. It was much bigger than any of the Longtail Salamanders I had seen befpre, about double the size. Like most Longtails, it was orange with black spots and had a really long tail. The other Longtail I found was severely wounded. Its whole tail had been cut off and it had a deep wound on its lower jaw. Salamanders are known to have amazing regenerative capabilities so I knew that he could very well make a recovery.

Longtail Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Longtail Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Longtail Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Longtail Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Injured Longtail Salamander: PC Yatin Kalki

Though I failed to find any of the infamous snakes that Garrett had told me so much about, I did manage to find a total of 9 species, 3 of which were new to me. My American Herp List now stood at 44 species.