Reptiles and Amphibians

“Dill said striking a match under a turtle was hateful.”“Ain’t hateful, just persuades him- ‘s not like you’d chunk him in the fire,” Jem growled.“How do you know a match don’t hurt him?”“Turtles can’t feel , stupid,” said Jem.“Were you ever a turtle, huh?”– Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird This is a large freshwater […]

Everything has its shadowy side.  — Tennessee Williams, The Night of the Iguana lso known as the black spiny-tailed iguana or just spiny tailed iguana, this is a large terrestrial species of iguana that is found in Mexico and Central America.  Notably, it has been introduced to Florida, which has more than its share of exotic

he grass divides as with a comb,A spotted shaft is seen;And then it closes at your feetAnd opens further on ——Emily Dickinson, The Snake This is a common snake within its range, averaging 42-72 inches in length, with a diameter at the widest section of its body of 1.5 inches and typically weighing 1 – 5

Great horny toads!!  — Yosemite Sam Generally known as horned toads or horny toads, these are small, squat lizards that have short tails with spines on the head and fringed scales on the sides of the stomach.  Nostrils are present in the front of a blunt snout – the tail is about one third of the

Hellbenders are the largest salamander in North America.  There are two subspecies -the Allegheny and the Ozark hellbender.   Some taxonomists (splitters) believe they are two are separate species, but recent DNA work indicates otherwise.  The Allegheny hellbender is found in a number of Mid-Atlantic/southern states from southern New York to Georgia.  The Ozarks subspecies is