A community portal about Amphibians with blogs, videos, and photos. According to Wikipedia.org: Amphibians are a taxon of animals that include all living tetrapods that do not have amniotic eggs, are ectotherms, and generally spend part...
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A community portal about Amphibians with blogs, videos, and photos. According to Wikipedia.org: Amphibians are a taxon of animals that include all living tetrapods that do not have amniotic eggs, are ectotherms, and generally spend part of their time on land. Most amphibians do not have the adaptations to an entirely terrestrial existence found in most other modern tetrapods. There are around 6,000 described, living species of amphibians. The study of amphibians and reptiles is known as herpetology. Amphibians are able to breathe through their skin, making them very sensitive to anything they come in contact with, including human hands. When observing amphibians, one should never touch them.
So you are in the market for a pet frog, toad or salamander and you are wondering what your first step should be? We can spell it out in one word: RESEARCH. Because there are literally thousands of amphibians to chose from, before purchasing one you need decide which one is going to work best for you. If you are thinking that an amphibian would make a great pet because they are low maintenance, think again. Some require specific temperatures, amounts of light, water among other things... Read Full Story
This entry documents the final chapter of my experiences with Jefferson Salamanders. For previous entries, begin here. “How many times do I have to tell you? Stop putting everything you find in your mouth!” You’d think they’d have the sense to know food from non-food, but my little salamanders seem to explore their world by mouthing it. Not a problem, as long as you can spit out what you don’t like. A serious problem, if you can’t. Last week, I peeked in the tank one morning to find two... Read Full Story
It’s hard to imagine, after last summer’s drought, that a rainy spring could be anything but wonderful. So many suffered in the dryness. And with spring growth, a season’s loss can be repaired. But even for me, amphibian-loving, frog-watcher that I’ve become—this rain is too much. Last week I arrived home from work to find a tree had swallowed my front yard. It had disappeared under the boughs of a locust. A Leaning Locust, native to the Ozarks and southern Appalachians, one of many... Read Full Story
Some things are learned by reading about them. Others, by doing. Of the lessons I’ve learned, the greatest, by far, has come from a combination of the two. The tank on the table is my latest learning adventure. Ten gallons of the finest vernal pool habitat—amber water-- a “tea” of sorts--and all that lives within, carefully carried in buckets from the shaded, oak-rimmed Wood Pool out back to its prominent location… a place at the kitchen table. From my seat, as light streams in from the... Read Full Story
The parade continues. To the waters, another wave of life. Tonight-- the tree frogs. And, as several peepers still cry out, though their numbers are far fewer now, five Cope's Gray Tree frogs gather, plump pads on long toes wrapping small stems just above the water's surface, and voice short raspy calls into a warm spring evening. This pool, in the weeks I have been watching, has shown me, each day, change. Its creatures, developing in the transparency of water. Their lives... Read Full Story
