Field Guide

The eastern river cooter is a broad-shelled aquatic turtle with a seemingly small head. It is most abundant in the rivers and sloughs of southern Missouri but also occurs in some of our large reservoirs.

The three-toed box turtle usually has three hind toes. Its high-domed shell usually has a top ridge and is olive or brown with faint yellow or orange lines. Look for it in woodland habitats.

The northern map turtle is a medium-sized aquatic species with a low ridge along the center of the upper shell. A small yellow spot is present behind each eye. It occurs mainly in the Ozarks and the upper Mississippi River in northeastern Missouri.

The Ouachita map turtle is a medium-sized aquatic species with a prominent ridge down the center of the upper shell and bright yellow lines on the head and limbs. A large yellow marking behind each eye extends, narrowing, on top of the head. It occurs in southern and eastern Missouri.

Missouri has two subspecies of false map turtle. The northern false map turtle occurs in the Missouri River in central and northwestern Missouri and the upper Mississippi River. The Mississippi map turtle occurs in the lower Mississippi River, southern Ozark rivers, and southwestern Missouri.

The western chicken turtle is a small to medium-sized turtle with an oval shell and extremely long neck. It is endangered in Missouri, occurring only in the Mississippi Lowlands in the extreme southeastern part of the state.

The western painted turtle is a small, brightly colored aquatic turtle. The upper shell is smooth and has a red-orange outer edge. The colorful lower shell has a prominent pattern of brown markings. It is found nearly everywhere in the state except the southeast region.

The eastern gartersnake and red-sided gartersnake are Missouri's most common gartersnakes. The color is variable, but there are normally three yellowish stripes, one down the back and one on each side. There are narrow black bars between the scales along the upper lip.

A medium-sized, striped snake of wet prairies and marshes, the plains gartersnake occurs mainly in Missouri's north-central and northwestern counties, with isolated populations in and west of the St. Louis area.

Tiger salamanders occur statewide. They spend most of their time underground, often in burrows made by small mammals or under logs and rocks. Your best chance of seeing a tiger salamander is at night after a heavy rain.