Oh, The Places You'll Go...: May 2009

This course was AMAZING. It has three components: lecture, lab, field. So lecture is well, lecture, except I looked forward to it. We learned about the major groups AND got to watch Sir David Attenborough quite frequently. Who could ask for more?

Then there was lab. We got skins, skulls, and what we called pickeled herps.

skin: Broad-footed Mole, Scapanis latimanus

Picked Herps:

Gila Monster, Heloderma suspectum (cool name suspect em!)

sidewinder, Crotalus cerastes

Then we had the the field section. Every Friday we go out and tromp around outside and it was amazing. I get units for hiking and playing with happy little creatures? I love bio.

Psuedacris regilla! Pretty colors.

Another Psuedacris, the eye stripe gives it away

They come in all kinds of colors.

Out by one of the many cattle ponds looking for cool stuff!

Taricha breeding morph! ADORABLE

Taricha granulosa doing the unken. There are a lot of intermediate morphs between Taricha granulosa and Taricha turosa but one sure fire way is to see the Unken. granulosa always curls the tail.

The unken is a defensive posture to show the distinct colors and give warning to predators.

This is an Anedies lugubris, the arboreal salamader...look at those teeth!

Baby Crotalus orgenanus

Another Crotalus oreganus Jim picked this guy up and showed off the fangs. He almost stepped on one a couple minutes later.

Baby Pituophis catenifer. I caught this one!

Common King Snake, Lampropeltis getula, eating a Western Fence Lizard, Sceloperus occidentalis. The lizard was already dead when we found it, we aren't that mean.

Your standard Alan

most likely a truei, but I could be wrong

Hutton's Vireo we caught whilst mistnetting.

Spotted Towhee...see those eyes? The darker the red the older it is.

Then we had the last field trip which was an all day competition. Three vans on a mission: find as many species as possible. My crew went to Arrowhead Marsh, Del Valley, driving and stopping on the side of the road. We then went to Corral Hallow to find ourselves some baby barn owls and some night herping. Then Pizza and Beer! Good day. Enjoy the pictures.