Group Editor: John F. Taylor (The Herp Father) Managing Editor: Dr. Robert G. Sprackland Exec. Director & Design: Rebecca Billard-Taylor

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2 Group Editor: John F. Taylor (The Herp Father) Managing Editor: Dr. Robert G. Sprackland Exec. Director & Design: Rebecca Billard-Taylor This ezine article is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ezine article may not be resold or given away to other people for free. If you would like to share this ezine article with another person, please buy an additional copy for each person. If you re reading this magazine & did not buy it, or it was not bought for your use only, then please return to herphousemag.com & buy your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors. Herpetoculture House Magazine 2014 All content ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This magazine contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written consent from the author / publisher.

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4 Herping the Carolina Sandhills Steve Atkins takes us to the area known as the Carolina Sandhills this month and not a moment too soon either as I needed some reminders that warmer climes than 0 degrees Fahrenheit exist. The Carolina Sandhills are a unique and interesting habitat that are home to a number of different herp species. The Sandhills are hilly, unconnected bands of sand left from the ocean dunes during the Miocene Epoch. There is a confluence on flora and fauna from the mountains, foothills, low country, and coastlines present in the sandhills, plus some unique species, not found anywhere else. It is the only area where I have seen Spanish moss growing on Mountain Laurel.

5 Yellow Belly Slider There are many aquatic turtles that call the waterways of the Carolina Sandhills home. One of the most common turtles is the Yellow Belly Slider, Trachemys scripta scripta. This is a picture of a young Yellow Belly Slider basking on a lily pad. Female Yellow Belly Sliders can reach just over a foot in length, with males being slightly smaller. Yellow Belly Sliders can be identified by two large black dots located at the front of their plastron (bottom shell). Yellow Belly Sliders eat a variety of things as they grow, including fish, snails, tadpoles, and frogs. As they age, their diet slowly becomes almost exclusively vegetarian.

6 Copperhead Snakes love the Sandhills. Abundant prey, plenty of cover, warm climate, what's not to love. Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, can be found commonly anywhere in the sandhills. You may find the Northern Copperhead, Southern Copperhead, or a hybrid of the two, depending on where you are specifically. Copperheads are a member of the pit viper family and like all pit vipers, copperheads are venomous. They feed on a variety of prey, including frogs, toads, lizards, even cicadas. Baby copperheads, like their cottonmouth cousins, have a green tip to their tail that they use as a lure to bait small lizards and frogs. You can see the green tail pictured here.

7 Barking Tree Frog Barking Tree Frogs, Hyla gratiosa, are common throughout parts of the southeastern United States, and the Carolina Sandhills are no exception. Barking Tree Frogs are the largest native tree frog in the US. Their colors and patterns are quite variable, ranging from a plain gray or green, or covered in large black spots. Barking Tree Frogs have been known to bury themselves in the sand, or call from the tops of the tallest pine trees. They get their name from their dog like barking call.

8 Marbled Salamander You would not expect to find a salamander living in the dry sandy habitat offered by the sandhills, but quite a few manage to call the sandhills home. One of the most interesting salamanders living in the sandhills is the Marbled Salamander, Ambystoma opacum. Marbled Salamanders spend most of their lives underground, surfacing only during heavy rains and to breed. Marbled Salamanders come out to breed in fall and early winter, when the female will dig a small hole to lay her eggs in dry depression that are likely to fill up with water during winter rains. This strategy gives the Marbled Salamander larvae a head start compared to all the other amphibians which will not breed until the pools fill with water. The bands on female Marbled Salamanders tend to be grayer while the bands on the male tend to be whiter.

9 Cottonmouth If you are anywhere near a water source in the sandhills, there is a good chance you are close to a Cottonmouth. Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are a venomous, aquatic pit viper that can be very common near fresh water sources in the southeasten United States. Cottonmouths have a false reputation as being mean and aggressive. While a bite from a cottonmouth can certainly be dangerous, the last thing a Cottonmouth wants to do is a bite a human. When encountered, Cottonmouths will first try to escape, often releasing a powerful musk. If the snake continues to feel threatened after releasing it's musk, it will begin to hiss incredibly loudly. On many instances, I have heard and smelled Cottonmouths before I have seen them. If the snake still feels threatened, it will begin gaping its mouth exposing the pure white inside, from where it gets its name.

10 River Frog The River Frog, Rana heckscheri, is a large frog that used to be common throughout the sandhills. River Frog populations are declining and are believed to be extinct from North Carolina. They can be locally common in certain areas of South Carolina and other parts of its range. Adult River Frogs can grow very large, almost as large as common Bullfrog. The most interesting thing about River Frogs is the tadpole stage. River Frog tadpoles are HUGE. The have bright red eyes and congregate in large schools. The skin of the tadpoles is toxic, protecting them from would be predators, like water snakes and Cottonmouths. When River Frogs tadpoles transform into froglets there is a mass emergence from the water. Thousands of rather large, red eyed froglets leave the water in unison, I have seen the froglets leaving the water in such great numbers that we were scared to walk for fear of stepping on them.

11 textcommon Musk Type to enter Turtle Common Musk Turtles, Sternotherus odoratus, are a small (up to 5 inches) aquatic turtle that are mostly nocturnal. Common Musk Turtles are opportunistic feeders that will eat dead fish, tadpoles, plants, algae, or about anything else it can fit in its mouth. Musk Turtles are commonly called Stinkpots because when they are handled, they often release a phenoalkalinic acid from special glands that create a very strong musky odor. This one pictured here is a small hatchling found in the South Carolina sandhills.

12 Water Snake Nerodia, or water snakes, are very well represented in the Sandhills. Northern, Banded, Redbelly, Midland, and Brown Water Snakes can all be found in the Carolina Sandhills, depending on where you are. The big stinker pictured here is believed to be a hybrid between the Red Belly Water Snake and the Banded Water Snake. My son and I have been able to locate this individual 3 years in a row. Water Snakes are often mistaken for Cottonmouths and therefore brutally murdered by hateful, ignorant, shortsighted idiots.

13 Rat Snake Rat Snakes, Elaphe or Pantherophis(depending who you ask), can be found rather commonly throughout the Carolina Sandhills. The Black Rat Snake inhabits the more northern sandhills and the Yellow Rat Snake is found in the sandhills located further south. Rat Snakes are large, non venomous, powerful constrictors that can occasionally grow to over 7 feet long. Rat Snakes eat a variety of prey items, including small mammals, birds, small lizards, and eggs. Their love of eating eggs has earned then the nickname of "chicken snake" because they are often found in chicken coops throughout the Southeast.

14 Mud Snake The Mud Snake, Farancia abacura, is a beautiful snake that is rarely encountered. Mud Snakes are shiny, smooth snakes that are mostly nocturnal and aquatic. They are primarily black on their back and their bellies are red and black checkered. They prefer cypress swamps where they hunt their favorite food, the Amphiuma. Amphiumas are large, eel-like salamanders that inhabit the same muddy habitats. For a snake without venom or the ability to constrict, a large slippery prey item like an Amphiuma might prove to be a difficult challenge to overpower and consume. Fortunately, for the Mud Snake, it is equipped with a sharply pointed tail that it will stab the large amphibian with. It can than hold it place well enough to begin the process of swallowing it alive.

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