Field Guide

A small, olive-brown salamander with a fascinating life cycle, the central newt lives in and around woodland ponds and swamps in all but our far northwestern counties.

The eastern hog-nosed snake is a nonvenomous snake that is highly variable in color and pattern. It has an upturned snout and can hiss loudly and spread its neck like a cobra. If this defense fails, the snake may thrash around, open its mouth, roll over, and play dead.

The eastern long-tailed salamander and closely related dark-sided salamander are agile and can escape predators by using their tails for quick jumps. They live in the southern and eastern parts of Missouri.

The eastern yellow-bellied racer is uniformly tan, brown, olive, blue, gray, or nearly black on top, with a yellow, cream, or light blue-gray belly. It occurs nearly statewide. The southern black racer subspecies also lives in the southeastern half of the state.

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 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 green frog looks similar to a bullfrog but is smaller and has a ridge of skin along the sides of the back that is not found on bullfrogs. It is a game animal in Missouri.

The southern leopard frog is an excellent jumper and quickly leaps into water when startled. From March through July, the males make chuckling or quacking calls from shallow water. Occurs statewide except for the northwestern corner.

The bright green treefrog hides perfectly among cattail leaves, where it rests until evening. Then it begins hunting for insects. In Missouri, it occurs mostly in the Bootheel.

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.