#herps — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #herps, aggregated by home.social.
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Soeben ist mir endlich Amphibert das erste Mal dieses Jahr des Weges gekrochen. Ich hätte auch nicht gedacht dass der Anblick dieses warzigen kleinen Hinterns mich gar so froh machen könnte. 🎉
Hatte mir schon so große Sorgen um meinen Mitbewohner am #klexenhaus gemacht!.
#herps #toad #kroete -
Soeben ist mir endlich Amphibert das erste Mal dieses Jahr des Weges gekrochen. Ich hätte auch nicht gedacht dass der Anblick dieses warzigen kleinen Hinterns mich gar so froh machen könnte. 🎉
Hatte mir schon so große Sorgen um meinen Mitbewohner am #klexenhaus gemacht!.
#herps #toad #kroete -
Soeben ist mir endlich Amphibert das erste Mal dieses Jahr des Weges gekrochen. Ich hätte auch nicht gedacht dass der Anblick dieses warzigen kleinen Hinterns mich gar so froh machen könnte. 🎉
Hatte mir schon so große Sorgen um meinen Mitbewohner am #klexenhaus gemacht!.
#herps #toad #kroete -
Soeben ist mir endlich Amphibert das erste Mal dieses Jahr des Weges gekrochen. Ich hätte auch nicht gedacht dass der Anblick dieses warzigen kleinen Hinterns mich gar so froh machen könnte. 🎉
Hatte mir schon so große Sorgen um meinen Mitbewohner am #klexenhaus gemacht!.
#herps #toad #kroete -
This was the big exciting find from my day #herping in Mojave National Preserve, my first chuckwalla! Wow they do live in the desert areas I'm used to hiking in, I've never actually seen one. After finding six other species of lizards in the same morning, I decided this would be my day to find a chuckwalla.
As I was driving through the Preserve, I spotted a low, basalt escarpment above a dry wash. Everything I'd read suggested that was perfect chuckwalla habitat.
I walked a quarter mile across the desert and then down to one end of the escarpment then all the way back up to the other and then on the way back down, I saw it! This handsome critter was surveying its domain from its perch about 15 feet up the cliff. Conveniently, it posed for a while before dipping out of sight.
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Based on californiaherps.com, I believe this is the Western side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana elegans.
Saw several of these in the rocks where I found the chuckwalla, Mojave National Preserve. -
I also saw a tiger whiptail, zebra tailed lizard and lots of desert iguanas. I don't feel bad about not getting good photos of any of these, because there are tame individuals of these species in my yard in Arizona 😆
Edit: looks like the whiptail is a Great Basin whiptail, Aspidoscelis tigris tigris according to CaliforniaHerps.com, as opposed to what Tucson Herpetological Society calls tiger whiptail, Aspidoscelis tigris. 🤔
This is the first time I've ever seen zebra-tails or desert iguanas outside of town, where I guess they must be a little more used to people. These ones would bolt full sprint 50 to 100 feet away from me. The ones in town are highly skittish, but you can generally get a little bit closer to them.
If you want to see pictures of these species, just look back at the hashtags in my profile.
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Another "life lizard" from my day #herping near Kelso Dunes, Mojave National Preserve. Long nosed leopard lizard. It sat there letting me photograph it for a while, then got bored and disappeared into a hole.
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Today's #LizardReport is a little different because I am on a road trip. Camped out at Kelso Dunes and spent the morning herping in Mojave National Preserve.
7 species of lizard, 4 of them "life lizards"! Here's the first, Phrynosoma platyrhinos, a horned lizard. Look at that camo! They're sooo cute!
(It's intermission at a live theater performance, so I'll post more later or tomorrow in this thread.)
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CW: very large toad
friends, don't let anyone tell you that animals are dumb.
this ginormous cane toad found its way into my room and into the cats' water dish - apparently the only little pool of water it could find during a recent dry period.
it started coming back night after night.
at one point, i put on my garden gloves, put it in a bucket, and dumped it in my azolla pond outside.
the next day, it was back.
i put the cats' water dish up on a table next to my bed (these toads don't really hop up high).
the next night, i saw it near where the water dish used to be.
that toad was learning, thinking, strategizing, remembering, and being sneaky.
so yea, next time you read some news article that's like "can you believe it?? animals can remember things!!", just shake your head because animals HAVE to be smart and learn and remember where resources are in their environment if they want to survive. and not just resources - where the threats are, etc.
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CW: very large toad
friends, don't let anyone tell you that animals are dumb.
this ginormous cane toad found its way into my room and into the cats' water dish - apparently the only little pool of water it could find during a recent dry period.
it started coming back night after night.
at one point, i put on my garden gloves, put it in a bucket, and dumped it in my azolla pond outside.
the next day, it was back.
i put the cats' water dish up on a table next to my bed (these toads don't really hop up high).
the next night, i saw it near where the water dish used to be.
that toad was learning, thinking, strategizing, remembering, and being sneaky.
so yea, next time you read some news article that's like "can you believe it?? animals can remember things!!", just shake your head because animals HAVE to be smart and learn and remember where resources are in their environment if they want to survive. and not just resources - where the threats are, etc.
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CW: very large toad
friends, don't let anyone tell you that animals are dumb.
this ginormous cane toad found its way into my room and into the cats' water dish - apparently the only little pool of water it could find during a recent dry period.
it started coming back night after night.
at one point, i put on my garden gloves, put it in a bucket, and dumped it in my azolla pond outside.
the next day, it was back.
i put the cats' water dish up on a table next to my bed (these toads don't really hop up high).
the next night, i saw it near where the water dish used to be.
that toad was learning, thinking, strategizing, remembering, and being sneaky.
so yea, next time you read some news article that's like "can you believe it?? animals can remember things!!", just shake your head because animals HAVE to be smart and learn and remember where resources are in their environment if they want to survive. and not just resources - where the threats are, etc.
-
CW: very large toad
friends, don't let anyone tell you that animals are dumb.
this ginormous cane toad found its way into my room and into the cats' water dish - apparently the only little pool of water it could find during a recent dry period.
it started coming back night after night.
at one point, i put on my garden gloves, put it in a bucket, and dumped it in my azolla pond outside.
the next day, it was back.
i put the cats' water dish up on a table next to my bed (these toads don't really hop up high).
the next night, i saw it near where the water dish used to be.
that toad was learning, thinking, strategizing, remembering, and being sneaky.
so yea, next time you read some news article that's like "can you believe it?? animals can remember things!!", just shake your head because animals HAVE to be smart and learn and remember where resources are in their environment if they want to survive. and not just resources - where the threats are, etc.
-
CW: very large toad
friends, don't let anyone tell you that animals are dumb.
this ginormous cane toad found its way into my room and into the cats' water dish - apparently the only little pool of water it could find during a recent dry period.
it started coming back night after night.
at one point, i put on my garden gloves, put it in a bucket, and dumped it in my azolla pond outside.
the next day, it was back.
i put the cats' water dish up on a table next to my bed (these toads don't really hop up high).
the next night, i saw it near where the water dish used to be.
that toad was learning, thinking, strategizing, remembering, and being sneaky.
so yea, next time you read some news article that's like "can you believe it?? animals can remember things!!", just shake your head because animals HAVE to be smart and learn and remember where resources are in their environment if they want to survive. and not just resources - where the threats are, etc.
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Looks like snaky snek, the big gopher snake I caught the other day is hanging around. Went out to the back yard and found it hunting along the back wall where some of the salvage lumber is stored.
I really wish I had a mouse to feed it (sorry, mouse!). It would be fun to make friends with a big wild snake. How cool would that be? Go out in the yard and whistle like I do for the lizards and have a big ol' snake crawl up and hang out?
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The little tiger whiptail came by the back door again today and ate its fill of mealworms while sitting on my hand.
Then it did this strange behavior I've never seen any other lizard do: it sprawled out on its belly with its hands and feet raised off the ground. It's a little hard to tell in the photo, but it has its fingers and toes raised.
It came back for more food, then went a few feet away and did this odd maneuver again.
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Right after letting the snake go, though, I had a bit of a fright. It hadn't occurred to me before, but I know snakes will eat lizards. I haven't seen Donna the iguana all day and at that point I hadn't seen Bill the spiny lizard all day. (I saw him on his wall a little while later.) I haven't seen stubby in three days.
I was quite concerned about my lizard friends! So I wrote to my herpetologist friend and he assured me that gopher snakes far prefer rodents and that there's no evidence of one ever eating a spiny lizard. Also, most lizards are too fast. So I am relieved.
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Right after letting the snake go, though, I had a bit of a fright. It hadn't occurred to me before, but I know snakes will eat lizards. I haven't seen Donna the iguana all day and at that point I hadn't seen Bill the spiny lizard all day. (I saw him on his wall a little while later.) I haven't seen stubby in three days.
I was quite concerned about my lizard friends! So I wrote to my herpetologist friend and he assured me that gopher snakes far prefer rodents and that there's no evidence of one ever eating a spiny lizard. Also, most lizards are too fast. So I am relieved.
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Right after letting the snake go, though, I had a bit of a fright. It hadn't occurred to me before, but I know snakes will eat lizards. I haven't seen Donna the iguana all day and at that point I hadn't seen Bill the spiny lizard all day. (I saw him on his wall a little while later.) I haven't seen stubby in three days.
I was quite concerned about my lizard friends! So I wrote to my herpetologist friend and he assured me that gopher snakes far prefer rodents and that there's no evidence of one ever eating a spiny lizard. Also, most lizards are too fast. So I am relieved.
-
Right after letting the snake go, though, I had a bit of a fright. It hadn't occurred to me before, but I know snakes will eat lizards. I haven't seen Donna the iguana all day and at that point I hadn't seen Bill the spiny lizard all day. (I saw him on his wall a little while later.) I haven't seen stubby in three days.
I was quite concerned about my lizard friends! So I wrote to my herpetologist friend and he assured me that gopher snakes far prefer rodents and that there's no evidence of one ever eating a spiny lizard. Also, most lizards are too fast. So I am relieved.
-
Right after letting the snake go, though, I had a bit of a fright. It hadn't occurred to me before, but I know snakes will eat lizards. I haven't seen Donna the iguana all day and at that point I hadn't seen Bill the spiny lizard all day. (I saw him on his wall a little while later.) I haven't seen stubby in three days.
I was quite concerned about my lizard friends! So I wrote to my herpetologist friend and he assured me that gopher snakes far prefer rodents and that there's no evidence of one ever eating a spiny lizard. Also, most lizards are too fast. So I am relieved.
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CW: Snakey snake!
Big news today was seeing a 4 foot long gopher snake patrolling the yard! This one was quite docile when I picked it up. I should've taken more close-up photos. They can be bitey and sometimes will coil up in "strike" position, shake their tail, puff out their cheeks and try to convince you that they are in fact rattlesnakes.
This is a form of Batesian mimicry where, in this case, rattlesnakes went through the long evolutionary expense of developing both venom and signaling, then the gopher snake shows up in a Spirit Halloween "Dangerous Rattlesnake" costume and hopes you won't be able to tell the difference.
But this one was chill and after handling it for a few minutes I set it next to the house and it zipped through a hole into the crawlspace, the same place I had removed a rattlesnake from recently.
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When I lifted up the tarp that we've been throwing all the remodel debris on, I found the most adorable little Mediterranean house gecko! Hemidactylus turcicus.
They are so cute! I see them on the porch frequently at night, looking for bugs by the lights. I've never really tried to tame them.
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When I lifted up the tarp that we've been throwing all the remodel debris on, I found the most adorable little Mediterranean house gecko! Hemidactylus turcicus.
They are so cute! I see them on the porch frequently at night, looking for bugs by the lights. I've never really tried to tame them.
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When I lifted up the tarp that we've been throwing all the remodel debris on, I found the most adorable little Mediterranean house gecko! Hemidactylus turcicus.
They are so cute! I see them on the porch frequently at night, looking for bugs by the lights. I've never really tried to tame them.
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When I lifted up the tarp that we've been throwing all the remodel debris on, I found the most adorable little Mediterranean house gecko! Hemidactylus turcicus.
They are so cute! I see them on the porch frequently at night, looking for bugs by the lights. I've never really tried to tame them.
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When I lifted up the tarp that we've been throwing all the remodel debris on, I found the most adorable little Mediterranean house gecko! Hemidactylus turcicus.
They are so cute! I see them on the porch frequently at night, looking for bugs by the lights. I've never really tried to tame them.
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Well, there is much to report on the #LizardReport front. Donna, the big iguana (first pic) has been strangely skittish the last few days. She'll come and eat mealworms from my hand, but doesn't seem interested in climbing around on me or hanging out for very long. Was it something I said?
I haven't seen Stubby, the little desert spiny lizard who hangs out by the gate below the mailbox, in three days, which is concerning.
Bill and Cutie are at their usual spots in the backyard, plus Bill moves between his territory in the front yard and backyard pretty regularly.
There is a little desert spiny (Sceloporus magister; second pic) who has been coming up and hanging out on the porch and seems to like coming into the house when the door is open.
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Well, there is much to report on the #LizardReport front. Donna, the big iguana (first pic) has been strangely skittish the last few days. She'll come and eat mealworms from my hand, but doesn't seem interested in climbing around on me or hanging out for very long. Was it something I said?
I haven't seen Stubby, the little desert spiny lizard who hangs out by the gate below the mailbox, in three days, which is concerning.
Bill and Cutie are at their usual spots in the backyard, plus Bill moves between his territory in the front yard and backyard pretty regularly.
There is a little desert spiny (Sceloporus magister; second pic) who has been coming up and hanging out on the porch and seems to like coming into the house when the door is open.
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Well, there is much to report on the #LizardReport front. Donna, the big iguana (first pic) has been strangely skittish the last few days. She'll come and eat mealworms from my hand, but doesn't seem interested in climbing around on me or hanging out for very long. Was it something I said?
I haven't seen Stubby, the little desert spiny lizard who hangs out by the gate below the mailbox, in three days, which is concerning.
Bill and Cutie are at their usual spots in the backyard, plus Bill moves between his territory in the front yard and backyard pretty regularly.
There is a little desert spiny (Sceloporus magister; second pic) who has been coming up and hanging out on the porch and seems to like coming into the house when the door is open.
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Well, there is much to report on the #LizardReport front. Donna, the big iguana (first pic) has been strangely skittish the last few days. She'll come and eat mealworms from my hand, but doesn't seem interested in climbing around on me or hanging out for very long. Was it something I said?
I haven't seen Stubby, the little desert spiny lizard who hangs out by the gate below the mailbox, in three days, which is concerning.
Bill and Cutie are at their usual spots in the backyard, plus Bill moves between his territory in the front yard and backyard pretty regularly.
There is a little desert spiny (Sceloporus magister; second pic) who has been coming up and hanging out on the porch and seems to like coming into the house when the door is open.
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Oh boy! Tiger whiptail is back! Whiptail is back!
It immediately remembered me. Or at least remembered that the whistling hairless ape has free food. It ran right up to me when I whistled for it.
Now, anyone who spends time out here in the desert knows that it's hard to get within 20 feet of a whiptail. They are very fast and very skittish. This one, on the other hand, when I first met it, was climbing all over me after tossing it four or five mealworms.
I want to try making friends with other whiptails to see if that level of food-friendliness is a species-level characteristic or if I just met a friendly one.
Latin name: Aspidoscelis tigris
#LizardReport #Lizard #Lizards #SonoranDesert #herps #Herpetology.
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Oh boy! Tiger whiptail is back! Whiptail is back!
It immediately remembered me. Or at least remembered that the whistling hairless ape has free food. It ran right up to me when I whistled for it.
Now, anyone who spends time out here in the desert knows that it's hard to get within 20 feet of a whiptail. They are very fast and very skittish. This one, on the other hand, when I first met it, was climbing all over me after tossing it four or five mealworms.
I want to try making friends with other whiptails to see if that level of food-friendliness is a species-level characteristic or if I just met a friendly one.
Latin name: Aspidoscelis tigris
#LizardReport #Lizard #Lizards #SonoranDesert #herps #Herpetology.
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Oh boy! Tiger whiptail is back! Whiptail is back!
It immediately remembered me. Or at least remembered that the whistling hairless ape has free food. It ran right up to me when I whistled for it.
Now, anyone who spends time out here in the desert knows that it's hard to get within 20 feet of a whiptail. They are very fast and very skittish. This one, on the other hand, when I first met it, was climbing all over me after tossing it four or five mealworms.
I want to try making friends with other whiptails to see if that level of food-friendliness is a species-level characteristic or if I just met a friendly one.
Latin name: Aspidoscelis tigris
#LizardReport #Lizard #Lizards #SonoranDesert #herps #Herpetology.
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Oh boy! Tiger whiptail is back! Whiptail is back!
It immediately remembered me. Or at least remembered that the whistling hairless ape has free food. It ran right up to me when I whistled for it.
Now, anyone who spends time out here in the desert knows that it's hard to get within 20 feet of a whiptail. They are very fast and very skittish. This one, on the other hand, when I first met it, was climbing all over me after tossing it four or five mealworms.
I want to try making friends with other whiptails to see if that level of food-friendliness is a species-level characteristic or if I just met a friendly one.
Latin name: Aspidoscelis tigris
#LizardReport #Lizard #Lizards #SonoranDesert #herps #Herpetology.
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Oh boy! Tiger whiptail is back! Whiptail is back!
It immediately remembered me. Or at least remembered that the whistling hairless ape has free food. It ran right up to me when I whistled for it.
Now, anyone who spends time out here in the desert knows that it's hard to get within 20 feet of a whiptail. They are very fast and very skittish. This one, on the other hand, when I first met it, was climbing all over me after tossing it four or five mealworms.
I want to try making friends with other whiptails to see if that level of food-friendliness is a species-level characteristic or if I just met a friendly one.
Latin name: Aspidoscelis tigris
#LizardReport #Lizard #Lizards #SonoranDesert #herps #Herpetology.
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Wow, lots of news here in the yard.
Donna the iguana's new friend showed up today and took meal worms from my hand (pics). Such a cute little lizard!
Then I saw another somewhat large iguana in the backyard. It ate mealworms that I threw to it but didn't quite know what to make of me and eventually sauntered off across the alley. Three iguanas in the yard! Funny thing is, I've never seen them in the wild.
I saw two little whiptails, but I was in the middle of a project and didn't have time to go get some mealworms and get their attention. One of the least scared lizards of all was the tiger whiptail last summer. I can't tell them apart, so the only way I'll know if this was the same one is if it responds to me whistling.
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A four-toed salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) hiding all of their toes from you.
As always, be extra gentle around them so they don’t drop their tail (that keeps wiggling to distract the predator). They may also play dead as a defense mechanism.
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A four-toed salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) hiding all of their toes from you.
As always, be extra gentle around them so they don’t drop their tail (that keeps wiggling to distract the predator). They may also play dead as a defense mechanism.
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A four-toed salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) hiding all of their toes from you.
As always, be extra gentle around them so they don’t drop their tail (that keeps wiggling to distract the predator). They may also play dead as a defense mechanism.
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A four-toed salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) hiding all of their toes from you.
As always, be extra gentle around them so they don’t drop their tail (that keeps wiggling to distract the predator). They may also play dead as a defense mechanism.
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*squeeeeeeee!!!*
New iguana! The smaller one in the background. The one in the front is Donna.I'm out of mealworms, so I went to the fridge and got some greens. Donna was about 20 feet away and took a couple steps toward me when I whistled, but stopped. The little one, on the other hand, kept coming right up to me and eventually took some of the green leaves out of my hands. Very unexpected! It makes me wonder if maybe the fact that Donna was being so chill led the little one to feel safe enough to approach. Or maybe it was just so hungry it didn't care.
I also observed something I've never seen other lizards to: on several occasions, the little one lightly licked the tip of Donna's tail. I'm presuming this is some sort of courtship behavior. I'm thinking it may turn out that Donna is actually Don.
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Wow, this is extremely early for the Sonoran Desert toads to be out. I think it's a combination of the early season warmth we've been having and the fact that I was watering the pomegranate tree and forgot to turn the water off, so it probably soaked the ground enough that the toad thought it was the monsoon rains happening.
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CW: Bitey snake
Bitey snake in the bucket. Such a handsome guy. Western diamondback. They're very common around here.
The black-and-white stripes are to help call visual attention to the rattle and the sound that the snake is making. Rattlesnakes are generally reclusive and rarely aggressive. The purpose of the rattle is to warn you off.
This is a form of aposematism, a very clear warning that this animal is not good to eat or mess with. Is it fascinating evolutionary adaptation. Wikipedia has a good discussion of it. Worth following some of the links too!
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This is Lazarus. He is celebrating the eve of his feast with me on the backyard swing.
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Today is #WorldFrogDay. There are around 8,000 known species of #amphibians. An est. 40% of all #frogs face extinction Their main threats are #deforestation for #palmoil #meat. Help our froggy friends, be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #herps https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/04/02/spiny-headed-tree-frog-triprion-spinosus/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer
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What's on my mind?
#amphibians
More precise, #AlpineNewtsIn a bucket, because we carry them to their pond across tram tracks.
Photo from last year, now they are still hibernating..
#newt #herps #herpetology -
Wenn mal wieder Gelassenheit angebracht ist - ich hab da mal was vorbereitet.
Handgemalter #wandklexschmuck, eh klart. Zu finden auf https://www.wandklex.art/product/20-12-der-laubfrosch-handgemalte-aquarellminiatur-zen-frosch-in-anhaenger-gold-oder-silberfarben-in-eichenblatt-form-druckknopf-wechselsystem-475423.
#miniaturepainting #herps #frog #watercolor #art #artShop #fediArt #mastoArt #creativeToots -
Newest episode of herphighlights is about smooth snakes and vipers!
https://herphighlights.podbean.com/e/225-smooth-snakes-vs-vipers/ -
#Buntfug to go, gekommen, um Farbe und Liebe in die Welt zu pinseln. ☺
Handgemalte #wandklexschmuck Miniaturen, 40mm, jetzt auf https://www.wandklex.art/product/originalaquarell-bunte-froesche-gefasst-in-edelstahl-handgemalt-malerei-in-anhaenger-522717.#miniaturepainting #herps #art #artShop #watercolor #watercolour #frogs #mastoArt #fediArt #creativeToots #artforSale