20 July 2008
Today was eventful. My parent's neighbor accidentally ran over a 47.5 inch timber rattlensake in her driveway. I hate to see it die but at least now I have a cool rattlesnake skin and rattle. The rattle has 11 sections, and they gain a new section each time they shed. That means this snake has shed 11 times in its lifetime. It was very exciting, as this is right across the street from my parent's house and this was the biggest wild rattlesnake I have ever seen.
Bog Turtles and Hognose Snakes
June 2008
The month of June was fairly productive. I heard tale of a secret Bog Turtle spot near my Grandpas homeplace up in Virginia and Jay, Stan, and I went in search of the critters. I managed to find the only one we saw that day but it was well worth it. These are highly endangered turtles with fragmented populations and it was great to actually find one.
My brother found a Hognose Snake under some tin beside my dads workshop. In the moonshine days of southern Virginia these snakes were called Spreading Adders. This refers to their unique ability to spread their heads out like a cobra in order to look menacing. They will also play dead. When they strike at you it is a bluff 99% of the time as they do it with their mouth closed.Shrew Project
23 April 2008
This is my poster I am presenting at the Student Research Day festival at ASU. It is about shrews. Check it.
Camping at The Old House
Spring Break 2008
So for spring break myself, Dale, Dustan, Siner, Jay, and Stan went camping at my grandfather's birthplace in Franklin County, Virgina in the town of Endicot. I collected a snake skeleton, a groundhog skeleton, a 4 point deer skull, a 4 point shed antler, a bunch of deer leg bones, a bunch of cool fungi (mostly polypores) one of which is gigantic, a bunch of shrew skeletons, and a whole dead shrew. We visited Alice Wagoner's old house and the guy that owns that property, Bobby, told me that bog turtles could b found nearby. These are highly endangered and this is supposedly the only place in Franklin or neihboring Floyd County where they can be found. It was a good trip.
The Shrew That Should Not Be
13 February 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2-B-z2UESI
Swampy South Carolina
What is a date anyway?
So I am a bit late in posting this but a couple weekends ago I went on a Herpetology field trip to Charleston, SC to camp for four days in the Francis Marion National Forest. This forest is named after Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox of the American Revolution. We basically walked around in the knee-deep swamp the whole time and found a huge number of different herptiles. I saw more venemous snakes on this trip than in my entire life previous to this. We saw 3 copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix), 7 cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus) of which I myself found 2, and I found the only rattlesnake of the entire trip, a hatchling (it only had a button on its tail) canebrake rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). The rattlesnake was curled up on top of a huge fallen tree that was rotten, beside a tiny tree that was growing up out of the huge one. It was the least aggressive of all the snakes we found. The copperheads would practically jump into the air, repeatledly, trying to strike you and the cottonmouths were fairly aggressive when approached. We also saw green snakes, thousands of anoles, lesser sirens, a stinkpot turtle, spadefoot toads, narrowmouth frogs, ringneck snakes, various salamanders, and a zillion different kinds of fungi. I found chanterelles for the first time. I also found a violet capped mushroom with a very viscid cap. The trip was really fun.
Bear Cubs in Boone, Woodland Jumping Mouse, Tooth Fungi Tastes Like Chicken Seafood
Monday 24 September 2007
So tonight as I write this from 3-4 black bear cubs running around in the woods behind my apartment. They are making this crazy weird noise that is really loud and I looked it up on the internet and it is a black bear cub distress call. They must have been separated from their mother but it is strange that they would be this close to town in the first place. Me and Jay tried to catch one of them but it was dark and thick woods and bear cubs run fast. Once we walked past it as it was in a tree and we didnt notice until we stopped and heard it behind us. I am totally amazed. The other day Jay and I were at Dale's apartment and Jay found a Tooth Fungi which we ate in class. It tastes like chicken with a texture like scallops. Jay also found a dead Woodland Jumping mouse in the parking lot. These are basically the eastern version of a kangaroo rat, but smaller and unrelated. They have big back feet for jumping ten feet and their tail is twice their body length.Skool Has Began Again
Tuesday 04 September 2007
So I am back in school now. This semester I am taking Herpetology, Mycology, Animal Physiology, and Environmental Ethics. They all seem like they are going to be very interesting. Meeting new people and making those vital connections for the future is also happening. I havent had much to update on having to do with wildlife lately as I\'ve been busy with other things but i did see a skunk on the side of the road the other night. I considered stopping but reconsidered after I remembered what it smelled like when I was little and my dog Scout got sprayed by one. Apartment life with Jay is nice. I have recently began a small experiment in botany which is doing well so far. More later, have a happy!
Another Great One Has Passed
Saturday 11 August 2007
Today my great grandmther Mamie Ma-Ma Cooper passed away from a brain tumor at the age of 93. She was a great person and grew up in the hills of Franklin County VA. She chopped her own firewood up until the tumor was discovered. She had about 30 semi-wild cats that lived in her barn and they were collectively known as Susies. I know that she lived a long and happy life so I am not sad that she is gone, just happy that she lived. She will be missed. In other news, I am going to Kansas soon to fetch a couch. School starts the 21st. Calculon out...
Highland Cow
Wednesday 01 August 2007
We are getting two of these soon, a Scottish Highland cow. My mom said she is putting it in with our goats. Im moving to Boone on Saturday to live with Jay at our new apartment. I found two shrews of a type I have never found before anywhere. They are Least shrews (Cryptotis parva), as best I can tell. I found them right up the road from my parents house which is weird because I hardly ever find shrews in this area, they are much more plentiful in areas near Boone. I also found a Pygmy shrew (Sorex hoyi). In total I have so far found Blarina brevicauda, Blarina carolinensis, Sorex longirostris, Sorex fumeus, Sorex hoyi, and Cryptotis parva. I also have two moles cooking (their flesh is dissolving in water in a pickle jar) so I can get their skeletons. I also found two cat skulls and an entire Opossum skeleton today at my great grandmothers house. Calculon Out...Florida and Snake Escape
Wednesday 25 July 2007
So I was in Florida for a week at Sanibel Island. Saw some cool wildlife; there were thousands of anoles. Bought a 100'000 year old Cave Bear fossil molar from Russia at a fossil store along with a fossil beaver tooth and a fossil horse toe bone, both of which came from Florida. I also got a display case from the store to put these and all of my other fossils in and it looks pretty cool. The part that sucks about the whole ordeal is that I get back home only to realize that my Ball Python named Petunia has escape from her cage. I have looked through the entire house and she has yet to be found. She probably wont be found. Oh well, at least she is free until she freezes to death this winter.Fawn Mole Snapping Turtle Lizard Eggs Mice Spider
Monday 18 June 2007
Two days ago I was at Pilot Mountain State Park and I walked up to within 10 feet of this tiny baby deer fawn. I probably would not have even seen it but it jumped up and ran away as I got close. The next day I caught a baby snapping turtle crossing the road and it likes to eat hot dogs. Earlier today I found a box turtle shell in the woods and around 12 or so mice skeletons in an old metal kerosene jug that was in my uncles barn. These mice skeletons are unique in that usually when they get trapped in bottles there is water in the bottles too and for some reason that makes mice skulls, which are very fragile, break apart. This means that usually mice skulls are found in pieces inside bottles. The ones I found today however are whole, all of them. This means there was never any water in the jug, which makes sense as it was under the shelter of a barn. Tonight at Siners house I was standing in his backyard and heard something scurrying through the grass. I got the flashlight and looked and it was an Eastern mole crawling on the ground. I picked it up with my gloves (Ive actually been bitten before by a mole that my dog dug up when I was little) and put it in a bucket with some dirt and a few earthworms to eat. I was outside looking under logs for more worms to feed the mole and under a log I found a Five-Lined skink with 9 eggs. I am not sure if the eggs belong to the skink or not as the skink seemed a bit small to have held all 9 tictac sized eggs. I also found (and destroyed) a Black Widow spider under a log. I am natures chosen one.19 Mice, 5 Blarina brevicauda, and 3 Sorex fumeus all in one glass gallon jug...
Wednesday 13 June 2007
The other day (June 5th) I was with Siner in Virginia. We had gone to see my Grandpas old homestead cabin. For years my family and I have used that cabin as a hunting cabin and as just a cool place to visit out in the woods. Ever since I can remember, probably since around age 5 or earlier, an old glass gallon jug sat in the grass beside the corner of the house for no particular reason. Well while we were there I naturally decided to check it for shrews. In all I found 19 mice, probably either House mice (Mus musculatus) or White-Footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus), 12 of which I have whole skulls for, 5 Northern Short-Tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda), and 3 Smoky shrews (Sorex fumeus). I also found an opossum skull+bones under a different old cabin. It was a productive day indeed.Moo Shrewster Moose Rooster
Thursday 24 May 2007
Today Siner and I saw:2 White-Footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus)
2 Eastern Cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus)
A mating pair of Eastern Fence lizards (Sceloporus undulatus)
A mating pair of Five-Lined Skinks (Eumeces fasciatus)
2 Broadhead skinks (Eumeces laticeps)
2 Black snakes, a Black Rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta) and a Black Racer (Coluber constrictor)
6 Wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo)
2 Weird domestic turkeys at Horne Creek Farm
10 Easter Gray squirrells (Sciurus carolinensis)
Siner saw what might have been a Fox squirrel (Sciurus niger)
Fox tracks
Heard some deer and many unglimpsable leaf litter dwellers
It was a very exciting and productive day indeed.
-=( And now kids dont forget to wear proper shoes while wading through rock strewn rivers or youll break your ankles )=- This has been a message from Old Man Sky Possum
Gonna get me some eggs...
Thursday 24 May 2007
So I was riding the four-wheeler the other day and I stopped by my uncles barn to see what I could see. As soon as I drove up to the barn door I saw a huge black rat snake lying stretched out on the barn floor. I ran over and caught it and put it in my snake bag and I was about to leave when I walked back to the same spot and saw ANOTHER black rat snake in a wooden box not 6 feet from where I saw the first one. I caught this one as well. One is a male about 5.5 feet long, and the other one is a female about 5.0 feet long. They either had already mated when I found them (they were heading away from each other I think) or were preparing to do so. I put them in the possum box and had to play mind games with Leon the goat in order to get the metal latch off of his barn door to put on the possum box; black rat snakes are excellent escape artists. After putting them in the box the male kept approaching the female and making jerky dancy movements while rubbing his body on hers. This is a cue from the male that he wants to mate. They have been doing this for a couple of days now. Im going to keep them together for a couple more days and then let the male go. Hopefully a few days later the female will lay me some snake eggs. Then I will let her go as well and raise the eggs myself in an incubator. Once they hatch Im going to let all but one or two go and keep the remaining as a pet. Baby snakes are totally independent from the time they hatch so this will not affect the survival of the offspringh, assuming I get them to hatch ok. I also saw a groundhog in a tree at Yadkin Islands State Park earlier the same day. I had no idea they would climb trees but I got to witness it first hand.More Shrews, Raccoon-Turtle Synchronicity, and Green Snakes
Saturday 19 May 2007
I have seemingly been cursed to find something really cool every time I go exploring in the woods. Last Friday I was in Boone for Caras sisters wedding and the NC Herpetological Society meeting at Grandfather Mountain. I found 17 shrews in 2 hours. One bottle had 7 Blarina brevicauda and one had a shrew and a mouse. Earlier that week I was riding the 4 wheeler with Dustan and I found a raccoon skeleton. Yesterday I was in the woods with Cara and I found another raccoon skeleton not 50 feet from where I found the first one, and I also found a box turtle shell. Today I found ANOTHER raccoon skeleton together with a bunch of squirrell and mouse bones, ANOTHER box turtle shell, and a black rat snake skin in the same place Ive seen the actual snake before. Also today I caught the coolest snake ever. It is a juvenile smooth green snake and its about 150mm long. These snakes are semi-arboreal, are bright green, pencil thin, have huge eyes in proportion to their body and excellent vision, are very docile and never bite, and they eat insects such as crickets and earth worms.Jiggity Jig
Thursday 03 May 2007
So I have moved back in with my parents for the summer. Im going to miss Boone and all the people that will still be there instead of here, but I plan on making frequent trips up there this summer, especially since I am still paying rent on the apartment. Im going to be volunteering at Pilot Mountain State Park this summer doing wildlife surveys. It will be very cool. I still need a job, I might be working for UPS, or maybe Dales Dad. We shall see. But it feels good to be home and I cant wait to go out in the woods exploring EVERY DAY. My uncle from Texas just bought about 80 acres that connects to my parents 10.5. We are slowly building an empire.
Speedwell Cave
Saturday 28 April 2007
Ok. So Ive made discoveries today. Went to Wytheville to see Brian before he goes to the army, and went to a cave in the small town of Speedwell. Saw 12 Pipistrelles, 2 Little Browns, and 1 Big Brown. Then we went back outside and into an upper entrance and I hit the mother load. As soon as we got to the entrance I smelled something dead. We went in and I found: 1 Vulpes skull + 1 mandible with a possible canine inflicted hole in the rear cranium, 1 Marmota skull, a carnivoran mandible not from the fox (too small), the mostly eaten remains of two rabbits, the mostly eaten remains of a recently killed groundhog (skin, feet, and partial skull left), a mauled but whole Blarina brevicauda that was probably killed today (it did not show any sign of decomposition nor did it smell), two scapulas from different animals, various misc bones, some very large from deer possibly, and a TON of some kind of poop, fresh and old. I also found a fat white tick laying on the floor of the cave. What was the collector of these things? Coyote? Bobcat? It smelled slightly skunky in the cave. Im going to try to identify the poop with a tracking field guide I have. Great day.
Cool Article
Bawls and Real Stuffed Animals
Friday 27 April 2007
So Ive been getting all my study skins done for the end of my mammalogy class and it has been a lot more work than I thought it would be. I was actually short one skin due to a last minute mishap. I gave my teacher a lot of shrew skulls as a bribe to try to make up for that.
I drink a lot of this. Jay had lots of money on his AppCard that was going to get lost so we bought like 40 of these things. Makes Red Bull seem like apple juice.Smithsonian Tour
I got to go on a behind the scenes tour of the Smithsonian Natural History museum last weekend. I got to hold a fetal blue whale, the largest animal to ever live as far as we know, in my hands in a jar. I saw a 3 eyed cow skull and Ling Ling and Sing Sing in a drawer. Saw genuine shrunken heads over 200 years old. Saw a broken AND healed walrus baculum or oosik. Went to the POETS meeting at the Division of Worms. POETS stands for "Piss On Everything, Tomorrow's Saturday" and there was lots of beer and merryment with REAL SCIENTISTS. It was absolutley amazing. Elephant shrews are the coolest. So are regular shrews. Did you know that Blarina brevicauda, the Northern Short-Tailed Shrew is the most common species I've found in bottles thusfar. This species also is VENOMOUS, has poison saliva, and it ECHOLOCATES!! They share these two adaptations with only bats, whales, and tenrecs for echolocation, and Solenodons as far as venom. A very unique animal to say the least.
This was the world record grizzly bear skull for almost 100 years.
Shrews found in bottles on April 17th. The top two rows were from only two bottles respectively. The larger is Blarina brevicauda and the smaller ones are Sorex fumeus, The Smoky Shrew.
Between the giant bear and the tiny shrews, surprisingly the shrews are the most vicious and deadly relative to their size. Grizzly bears like the one above actually forage and scavenge most of the time and only rarely hunt. The shrews however must eat every four hours or risk starving to death due to their record setting metabolism. They are constantly on the hunt for insects, earth worms, frogs, salamanders, and even mice who are usually bigger than the shrew. The shrews will bite their prey with their venomous saliva coated teeth and then store the paralyzed prey for days to eat later. If I were tiny I would notwant to meet a shrew.
Shrews
I recently collected 17 shrew skulls that I found in bottles on the side of roads. There are three species in two genera. There was Sorex fumeus(larger), Sorex hoyi The Pygmy Shrew(smaller), and Blarina brevicauda. I also got a bog lemming (Synaptomys cooperi) skeleton from a bottle and a groundhog (Marmota monax) skull that I found in a cave in a woodrat (Neotoma magister) midden.
