Field Guide

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.

Although well equipped for an aquatic existence, the Mississippi mud turtle spends as much time wandering about on land as it does in water. Look for it in the Mississippi Lowlands of Missouri’s Bootheel.

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.

Blanchard's cricket frog is a nonclimbing member of the treefrog family. It lacks the adhesive toe pads associated with treefrogs. It occurs statewide. The call is a metallic “gick, gick, gick.”

Prairie ring-necked snakes are easily recognizable by their small size, uniform dark color on the back, bright yellow-orange belly, and distinct yellow ring around the neck. Secretive, but common nearly statewide.

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 Ozark zigzag salamander is small and slender, with a narrow, somewhat lobed back stripe that can be yellow, orange, or red. This woodland species lives in Missouri’s southwestern counties along the Arkansas border.