The Missouri Herpetological Association held its fourth annual spring field trip on the weekend of 8 - 10 May 2009 at Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, Iron County, Missouri, and nearby areas. The original field trip announcement will be retained for historical purposes.
Nine members, representing six different institutions, caught or observed more than 297 individual reptiles and amphibians, representing a total of 32 species. Several photographs are available of members and animals. Most collecting activity occurred on Sat 9 May 2009, but some individual animals were caught on Friday. The entire weekend was characterized by pleasant evening temperatures and warm daytime conditions. Saturday began cloudy and overcast, but the sun appeared late in the morning and the high temperature for the day approached 80oF. Habitats searched included woodlands, glades, streams, ponds, rivers, and roads. A thunderstorm with historic wind damage occurred on Fri 8 May 2009 and several trees in the park were uprooted or otherwise permanently damaged. Many local residents in the areas remained without power as the group left the area Saturday night or Sunday morning.
During the survey, a simple datasheet was used to record all finds and a list of guidelines and target species was provided to each of the participants. Copies of those documents are in the standard portable document format (PDF) created by Adobe. You must download and install the Adobe Reader to view them. Since some documents are large, we recommend that you download each to your hard drive (right-click, save file) and open it from there.
Several new localities were documented for Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, including an "open circle" county record (i.e., previously reported record that lacks a supporting voucher) (Great Plains Ratsnake (Pantherophis emoryi)) and three new county records: Pickerel Frog (Lithobates palustris), Southern Coal Skink (Plestiodon anthracinus), and Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). The Northern Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica) was not caught within the park boundary but represents a county record for Iron County. The total species list along with numbers of individuals can be seen below. Several species of anurans were well-represented with calling individuals. The counts below that are designated with a plus (+) symbol are minimum estimates of the number of individuals observed for those species. The North American Racer (Coluber constrictor) and Western Smooth Earthsnake (Virginia valeriae) were each represented by a single dead individual.
The MHA would like to thank the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for providing permission to use state park property for the field trip. Special appreciation is extended to Tim Turpin for his hospitality and for leading the group on Saturday.
| Species | Common Name | Number | Photos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salamanders (Caudata) | |||
| Notophthalmus viridescens | Central Newt | 1 |  |
| Eurycea longicauda | Long-tailed Salamander | 1 | |
| Plethodon albagula | Western Slimy Salamander | 9 | |
| Plethodon serratus | Southern Red-backed Salamander | 3 | |
| Frogs (Anura) | |||
| Anaxyrus americanus | American Toad | 16+ | |
| Hyla chrysoscelis | Cope's Gray Treefrog | 25+ | |
| Acris crepitans | Northern Cricket Frog | 23+ | |
| Pseudacris crucifer | Spring Peeper | 13+ | |
| Lithobates clamitans | Green Frog | 12+ | |
| Lithobates palustris | Pickerel Frog | 3 | |
| Lithobates sphenocephalus | Southern Leopard Frog | 16+ | |
| Lizards (Lacertilia) | |||
| Crotaphytus collaris | Eastern Collared Lizard | 12 | |
| Sceloporus consobrinus | Prairie Lizard | 100 | |
| Plestiodon anthracinus | Southern Coal Skink | 1 | |
| Plestiodon fasciatus | Common Five-lined Skink | 13 | |
| Scincella lateralis | Little Brown Skink | 14 | |
| Ophisaurus attenuatus | Western Slender Glass Lizard | 2 | |
| Snakes (Serpentes) | |||
| Carphophis vermis | Western Wormsnake | 3 | |
| Coluber constrictor | North American Racer | 1 | |
| Diadophis punctatus | Ring-necked Snake | 5 | |
| Lampropeltis getula | Speckled Kingsnake | 2 | |
| Lampropeltis triangulum | Red Milksnake | 2 | |
| Nerodia sipedon | Northern Watersnake | 1 | |
| Pantherophis emoryi | Great Plains Ratsnake | 1 | |
| Tantilla gracilis | Flat-headed Snake | 4 | |
| Virginia valeriae | Western Smooth Earthsnake | 4 | |
| Agkistrodon contortrix | Copperhead | 1 | |
| Crotalus horridus | Timber Rattlesnake | 1 | |
| Turtles (Testudinata) | |||
| Chelydra serpentina | Eastern Snapping Turtle | 1 | |
| Graptemys geographica | Northern Map Turtle | 1 | |
| Terrapene carolina | Three-toed Box Turtle | 4 | |
| Apalone spinifera | Spiny Softshell | 2 | |