Green tree frog: This is a cute little green tree frog (Hyla cine...

Green tree frog:

This is a cute little green tree frog (Hyla cine...: "This is a cute little green tree frog ( Hyla cinerea )found in the I'on swamp at the Francis Marion Forest. I don't know if it's a male or..."

black racer

This a black racer (Coluber constrictor)...another snake found at Donnely. It was more feisty than the Banded water snakes, so we had to take more care to get bitten, even though it wouldn't have really mattered because they are also not venomous. Unlike the Nerodia fasciata, this snake had very smooth scales. I can't remember if this one was a male or female. When we let it go, it really did race away. quenby sc

yay for snakes

Our last field trip was to the Donnely Wildlife protection area in the Ace Basin.
It was definitely the best, because we finally got to see some snakes. All of the snakes we found were in the traps when we got there (I'm pretty sure). Most of the snakes caught were like this one, which we decided was a banded water snake (Nerodia fasciata). I think we had 5 snakes total, and the majority of them were female, which we could tell be the tail length and the way it tapered. We knew they were not venomous by looking at the round pupil and the divided anal plate. It was so cool to hold them. You could really get a good look at the keeled scales and the awesome colors of their bellies. Only a couple of people were bitten, but they didn't mind. quenby sc

This is a cute little green tree frog (Hyla cinerea)found in the I'on swamp at the Francis Marion Forest. I don't know if it's a male or female, but it was exciting to find, because I'd been digging around all day with no luck. Then, I just happened to see the frog sitting on a leaf. He or she was very jumpy and difficult to hold at first. When we got a good look, we could see the large toe pads used for climbing and the white stripe down the sides, which helped us identify this guy.
quenby SC