Needless to say I was hooked. I thought salamanders were interesting before...but going out to a spring, flipping rocks and finding these amazing creatures was incredible. I was surprised when my advisor told me that not everyone enjoyed fieldwork or salamanders for that matter. Salamanders are often overlooked because people generally don't encounter them unless they are looking for them. Occasionally, people will find terrestrial salamanders when moving rocks or logs in their yard, but most of the time you have to go looking for them.
Over the next few years I continued to conduct monthly fieldwork on the Georgetown salamander plus a little bit of work on the Jolleyville Plateau salamander (Eurycea tonkawae). Here are some pictures of these cuties!
This adds up to a lot of time spent outside, which resulted in several cool incidental encounters mostly with snakes and other amphibians. I don't remember exact stories from these picture but here are some cute baby toads, leopard frogs, and a skink found on surveys.
Some of the snakes I have seen (and been able to identify) include a red-stripe ribbon snake (Thamnophis proximus), a large Texas Gray Rat snake (Elaphe sp.), and a plain-bellied water snake. This last snake was about 5-6 ft long and was resting next to the stream, surrounded by butterflies:
That day was gorgeous, there were probably 100+ Red Admiral butterflies along the stream.
On one survey to a more remote site my last summer, we saw 2 turkeys, a road runner, a raccoon, a bunch of butterflies, a fox, a pair of red-tailed hawks (calling to each other), and a Wester Coachwhip snake. This raccoon did NOT look good. It was lethargic and did not even try to run away. We found a coral snake near by and wonder if the raccoon was playing with it and got tagged (bitten). The next month we found a skeleton about the size of the raccoon in the same place, so I don't think it was alive for long after this photo.
Spring 2013, when conducting surveys on Jolleyville Plateau salamander I was lucky enough to be less than a meter away from some Golden-Cheek warblers! They breed only in central Texas and are endangered. Unfortunately, I was ankle deep in the water with wet hands and did not manage to snag a picture, but here is a photo taken by Gary Lavaty:
I am looking forward to spending time in a new field site in Texas once again this summer.
Future adventures and critters await!
