In our neck of the woods... A few herps

A few cool critters I've found near the house recently. The first photo is one of the prettiest GRAY TREEFROGS I've seen. As you might guess, gray treefrogs are usually gray in color, Their mottled pattern makes them look like lichens on a tree. However, especially around their breeding season, many of them turn green, like this one. Gray treefrogs typically eat insects, but when they get larger, they will feed on anything that moves, including smaller frogs. Around our house, whenever it rains, the gray treefrogs start singing (singing in the rain!).

The second photo is a FIVE-LINED SKINK I found hiding under a rock. Five-lined skinks are common in Missouri, though they are secretive. If you are walking in the woods and hear something scuttling away in dry leaves, it's probably a five-lined skink. The juveniles of this lizard species have bright blue tails, so some people call them blue-tailed skinks. But this name is confusing because many types of skinks have blue tails as juveniles. When a predator attacks a juvenile skink, the skink's tail will break off and wriggle around—the bright blue wriggling thing distracts the predator, allowing the young skink to escape.

The third photo is a RED-BELLIED SNAKE. It's probably obvious how it got its name. These harmless little snakes like to snarf up slugs, snails, and earthworms. They have a special adaptation for eating slimy snails—extra-long teeth. These teeth allow the snake to grab a snail's soft body and pull. The snail eventually grows tired of the fight, and the snake actually pulls the snail's soft body out of its shell to consume it. These snakes also have an odd habit of flaring their lips out, which is probably a behavior that exposes their teeth to better hold on to their slimy prey.

Isn't it awesome that so many amazing little critters are hanging around underfoot and in the trees above?

Photo Credits:
All photos by Stan C. Smith