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happyTopic: Articles
Yesterday was the Splash into Fall Festival at Camp Cullom near Frankfort Indiana. It was a load of fun. Unfortunately I experienced some technical difficulties with my camera (I think I may have dropped it too many times in the field) so I didn't get any photos. I was invited to set up a table with some live frogs, toads, salamanders and turtles and answer questions and talk about them. I was in the Wetland Discovery area. The weather sounded as if it might get a little ugly according to the meteorologist, but the day turned out to be beautiful. I had many people come check out the animals and some great questions and stories. My son caught a cricket frog (Acris crepitans) that we included in the display, and let go after wards. I also heard a spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) call during the day!?!? I think he forgot to flip a few months on his calendar! One of the Cub scouts that were there camping for the weekend found a small snake and brought it to show me. I'm pretty sure it is a midland brown snake (Storeria dekayi), but I still need to check a few more places. Speaking of snakes, "Snakehead Ed" Ferrer had two shows during the day. This was his first trip to Camp Cullom, and he sounds like he's ready to come back. He said he was very impressed by the event, the camp, the kids, he just had a wonderful day. I heard many of the kids talking about how great the shows were as well. Ed is also the president of the Hoosier Herpetological Society, as well a good friend that I go herping with when the opportunity arises. We recently went to Carbondale IL for the Midwest PARC meeting and got in a little herping while we were there. I'm starting to get away from the point here. The Splash into Fall Festival was put on by the Clinton County Soil and Water Conservation District. They did a superb job in the event. I was very impressed by the planning that went into this and the success of the day showed just how hard they worked. There were many crafts and games, a slide show about National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife Habitat program. There were also displays and activities about how wetlands work and how to protect our environment and waterways. Smokey Bear was even there. I am very excited to be able to say I was a small part of such a wonderful event. I can't wait until next year!
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Here is an exclusive look at Buffy's first bust after an extensive training period. The photos and article were sent to me by Sarah Fyyfe, the dingo trainer that taught Buffy how to be such an asset to the fight against the invasive Cane Toad. The copyrights belong to her and cannot be used without permission.
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Another beautiful herping day in Clinton County. The temp was between 67 and 69 and it was partly cloudy with eminent rain waiting, just the way I like it! We spent the afternoon hiking and herping at Bryan Woods Nature Preserve, Clinton County's only State Preserve looking for herps, but particularly the marbled salamander. We started off finding a shrew or vole under a log, I was excited abut the prospects of seeing a snake by this, I know they are there, but I have yet to see any reptile there. We found a toad right off. A handsome little fellow. It was a hybrid, mostly americanus, but some spots looked fowleri. We went to where the large vernal pool is located. There was no standing water. Here we have found what I thought were smallmouth salamanders, later to discover after showing the photos, they were most likely a hybrid of some sort. JJL maybe? I have also seen salamander egg masses at this spot in the spring as well. It is kind of strange looking around at all the vegetation and the fallen trees remembering how I walked out on those to look into the water just a few months ago. Here we found our first salamander of the day. I think it was a smallmouth (A. texanum), but I can't say for sure. We then found another toad, this one full B. americanus. Both toads seemed to be a few years old by their size. I was a bit surprised we didn't find any metamorphs this time. Then our big find was under a large log about 4 feet long and maybe 24" in diameter. Three sallies all under the same log! They were very pretty. If we lived farther north, I would be sure they were blue-spotted salamanders, but given our location is in the hybrid zone, your guess is as good as mine. I wish there was a noninvasive, inexpensive method to swap them and check them. These seem very similar to the ones we found earlier in the year that I have received different ideas from different experts. The bottom line seems to be that it is impossible to tell for sure from a photo, the chromosomes need to be checked. This leaves some questions about protection here in Indiana. The ones at Bryan Woods are protected no matter what they are because it is a State Preserve, but what if they are found nearby at a construction site. The blue-spotted (A. laterale) is a 
species of special concern, but if it gets changed to endangered, this could be a big problem. Are hybrids protected, are they truly hybrids? There are many questions about this species complex, even the name is a misconception. Most refer to it as the jeffersonium complex, but there have been members without the J chromosome. The laterale seems to be the only one that is always there, so it would make a better name. I'm getting away from the point here. It started to cloud over a little more so we pressed on rather quickly. We found one more that looked very similar to the other three. The camera was being fussy so the photos of the last one didn't turn out very well. The rain started just as we made it back to the car. I used my Furmont "Stump Ripper" and this is the first time I can remember that my back doesn't hurt after flipping logs. We saw no reptiles or marbled salamanders, but it was a wonderful afternoon, all five of us had a herp find, I believe this is the first time that has ever happened. My kids are getting very good at this, they are much more excited about it when they make a find. Another oddity I noticed is that all five of the salamanders had a SVL of 57mm. I expected it with the three that were together, but 
the other two surprised me a bit.
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