Content tagged with "Reptiles and Amphibians"

This semiaquatic snake was once somewhat common in southeastern Missouri but is now probably extirpated. A heavy-bodied snake, it is greenish-brown with numerous small, obscure brown markings. The belly is dark gray with numerous, yellow half-moon-shaped markings. Watersnakes, although not venomous, do bite viciously to defend themselves and also secret a strong-smelling musk from glands at the base of the tail.

A chorus of crawfish frogs, amid the open, grassy flowerbeds of our native prairies, can evoke a profound sense of what our American forebears experienced as they migrated west in their wagons.

Of the seven types of watersnakes native to Missouri, the diamond-backed is the largest. The overall color may be light brown or dull yellow, with dark brown markings on the sides and back. This species is absent from the Ozarks but common in the southeastern corner and over northern and western Missouri. It does not occur in our extreme northern counties.

Northern map turtles are small- to medium-sized and have a low ridge along the center of the upper shell. This species used to be called the "common map turtle," but biologists recommend avoiding the word "common," since people might think it means these animals are abundant, when in fact they simply have a broad geographical distribution.