Variable green tree frogs, grey tree frog, turtle to ID

[jamesp]

Two are like a pair, the other 10 feet away.



Right frog



Left frog twice




10 feet away frog



Grey tree frog. Way less common on the farm than the green one.





No butt



slider turtle, about a quarter of large Florida sliders have alligator teeth marks in their shell. This Georgia girl with out a mark.




Ornery. No red ears, guessing a yellow belly slider-Trachemys scripta. not Pseudemys concinna

[rockjunquie]

Very cool- the frogs are gorgeous. I really like frogs.

Don't mean to sidetrack your thread, but the turtle reminded me of a story my son told me yesterday. He was biking down a busy street when he saw a large turtle crossing the road. Very large and old, like the a foot across or more. Probably a snapper from a nearby creek/ditch. Cars were slowing down. My son got off his bike and was making his way out to see what he could do for the turtle when this BI*CH in a big SUV came flying around the slowed cars, almost hit my son and ran over the turtle. The impact threw the turtle about 10-15 feet where he was then accidentally hit by other cars. He was completely smooshed. All I could think was how long that old turtle lived there in that ditch only to be killed - most likely on purpose - by some low life. Some people.

[jamesp]

Hope she feels better. Comes around goes around usually catches up with that sort. Let's hope so.
Bet you would have delivered a brick to her windshield for endangering your son.
Find out where she lives and put a snapping turtle in her SUV over night. It will tear every bit of carpet and most of the upholstery out of it. serious

[rockpickerforever]

Jun 10, 2016 16:25:44 GMT -5 jamesp said:

No butt

Buttless!  LOL!

[grayfingers]

James , you have some cool critters!

rockjunquie , That would make me mad too...Though I hunt and fish, I often release spiders to the outdoors as opposed to squishing them. I only kill things I can eat or that are trying to kill/harm me.

“He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”
― Immanuel Kant

[jamesp]

ID channel discusses tendencies of abusive criminals being cruel to animals often at youth.

[jamesp]

Definitely buttless. But sure can jump rockpickerforever.

Been trying to catch a 5-7 foot Black Rat snake for photos. I see him, he scoots under a heavy steel stack. Smart one.

No butt has a baby snail on his foot. Also been smoking a blunt, note eyes.

The plant the frogs are on is Lizard's Tail Saururus cernuus. Has a wild efforvesent odor when dividing the roots.
I think it is a frog aphrodisiac. It also had hairy white caterpillars eating it as usual at this time of the year.

No mention of chemistry:

Medicinal use of Swamp Lily: Sedative. An infusion of the roots has been used as a wash in the treatment of rheumatism. The root is roasted then mashed and made into a poultice to treat sore breasts. A boiled extract of the roots is used as a poultice to heal flesh wounds. The dried leaves can be made into a tea and drunk for the treatment of back and breast pains, it is also used in treating stomach ailments.

Dang tiger moths:

[rockpickerforever]

I see that (baby snail on foot)! He has some big pink fingers attached to him, too. Lol. Looks like a left hand, is that the one you mangled by BMW? Yes, they most certainly can jump!

I had a pair of black rat snakes, both about 6 foot long. The male was a real sweetheart, the female was about the most mean and obnoxious snake I ever owned. She made my Emerald Tree Pythons look tame, like pussycats!

Only had one other snake with such a nasty temperament, a male Honduran Milksnake. When I realized just how nasty he was, he was kicked out of the breeding program and sold.

ETA - you added that about the blunt, so I missed it.  I didn't know they were Jamaican?  Maybe you can catch him if you play some Rastafarian music?

[jamesp]

Jun 10, 2016 17:30:06 GMT -5 rockpickerforever said:

I see that (baby snail on foot)! He has some big pink fingers attached to him, too. Lol. Looks like a left hand, is that the one you mangled by BMW? Yes, they most certainly can jump!

I had a pair of black rat snakes, both about 6 foot long. The male was a real sweetheart, the female was about the most mean and obnoxious snake I ever owned. She made my Emerald Tree Pythons look tame, like pussycats!

Only had one other snake with such a nasty temperament, a male Honduran Milksnake. When I realized just how nasty he was, he was kicked out of the breeding program and sold.

ETA - you added that about the blunt, so I missed it.  I didn't know they were Jamaican?  Maybe you can catch him if you play some Rastafarian music?

Same way here. Have caught docile Rat Snakes, and some real ornery ones. They strike different, not in a coil, but from a sort of sinusoidal bunched up arrangement.

[Peruano]

Your green frogs are green tree frogs (Hyla cinerea in my day). One is hot and one is not (hence the difference in color). I used to keep one in an aquarium in my mom's kitchen. That frog could sense a change in the barometric pressure and would start calling a couple of hours or so before a thunderstorm.
Your grey frog is (are you ready?) a grey tree frog. I'm too lazy to look up whether you have Hyla versicolor (diploid), or Hyla chrysosecles (tetraploid). Yes one has twice as many chromosomes as the other and hence bigger cell sizes and calls at a faster rate (a distinctive warbling trill that once you learn what it is you will hear them almost every humid night in the right time of year). Yes they call in big choruses in the event of a good spring rain, but they also call individually on just about any summer night (perhaps as a territorial or opportunistic mating call). My second date with my first (and only) wife was focused around collecting these grey tree frogs in Illinois). That was well over 50 years ago, and I impressed her father when we returned with frogs. He opined, "I'll be damned they did go for frogs".

Rockjunquie started it so I've got to tell my fav turtle joke.
A high power astrophysics scientist was giving a lecture on the origin of the universe and all thing pertaining to earth, and finally asked for questions from the audience. An elderly lady stood up and said " young man, I mean no disrespect, but you are wrong . . . the earth rests on the back of a giant turtle". The speaker being as polite as possible replied "well lets just imagine for a moment what that turtle might be resting on . . . To which the lady replied "Another turtle of course". Okay replied the speaker but . . . when the lady interrupted and replied "You might as well give up young man, it's turtles all the way down." Having spent a good part of my professional career studying turtles, I fell that way. Its turtles all the way down!
Oh and by the way, it was riding to the Illinois river as a 10 year old kid with my grandfather who was going to purchase a truck load of live carp and catfish for his farm pond that cause the fishermen to give that bug eyed kid a few red eared sliders that started a life long interest in turtles and resulted in a pretty damned interesting career. Please forgive the nostalgia but turtles rock. Tom

[Deleted]

Yeah, what Tom said.

I have seen them turn stark white! They usually walk away from a light bulb before then. But sometimes. When he did walk away, I picked him up. Hot as a lizard to the touch.

Nice pics. As always, thanks for sharing.

Peruano There are two species of greys. Copes Grey and Common Grey. Only distinduishable by the call,.

Yep. Me too. Dont remember and too lazy tp look up the latin. Hyla copeii and the other escapes me.

[Garage Rocker]

Good stuff. Never met an animal, or insect - I took entomology also- that I didn't want to learn more about.

[Garage Rocker]

Another tree frog

And a golf frog

[jamesp]

Jun 10, 2016 18:08:37 GMT -5 Peruano said:

Your green frogs are green tree frogs (Hyla cinerea in my day). One is hot and one is not (hence the difference in color). I used to keep one in an aquarium in my mom's kitchen. That frog could sense a change in the barometric pressure and would start calling a couple of hours or so before a thunderstorm.
Your grey frog is (are you ready?) a grey tree frog. I'm too lazy to look up whether you have Hyla versicolor (diploid), or Hyla chrysosecles (tetraploid). Yes one has twice as many chromosomes as the other and hence bigger cell sizes and calls at a faster rate (a distinctive warbling trill that once you learn what it is you will hear them almost every humid night in the right time of year). Yes they call in big choruses in the event of a good spring rain, but they also call individually on just about any summer night (perhaps as a territorial or opportunistic mating call). My second date with my first (and only) wife was focused around collecting these grey tree frogs in Illinois). That was well over 50 years ago, and I impressed her father when we returned with frogs. He opined, "I'll be damned they did go for frogs".

Rockjunquie started it so I've got to tell my fav turtle joke.
A high power astrophysics scientist was giving a lecture on the origin of the universe and all thing pertaining to earth, and finally asked for questions from the audience. An elderly lady stood up and said " young man, I mean no disrespect, but you are wrong . . . the earth rests on the back of a giant turtle". The speaker being as polite as possible replied "well lets just imagine for a moment what that turtle might be resting on . . . To which the lady replied "Another turtle of course". Okay replied the speaker but . . . when the lady interrupted and replied "You might as well give up young man, it's turtles all the way down." Having spent a good part of my professional career studying turtles, I fell that way. Its turtles all the way down!
Oh and by the way, it was riding to the Illinois river as a 10 year old kid with my grandfather who was going to purchase a truck load of live carp and catfish for his farm pond that cause the fishermen to give that bug eyed kid a few red eared sliders that started a life long interest in turtles and resulted in a pretty damned interesting career. Please forgive the nostalgia but turtles rock. Tom

Thanks Tom. Looked up the grey. Answered questions regarding their color variations. Because many have so much green.

"There are two species of gray tree frog: Hyla chrysoscelis and Hyla versicolor, both of which look identical and can only easily be told apart by their call. In captivity they both require the same care. Adults reach a size of around 2 inches (5 cm). As their common name suggests, most are predominantly gray, although their ventral side is a light white, and on the inside of their hind legs there are two bright orange or yellow flash marks. Gray tree frogs have the ability to change color depending on temperature, humidity, light intensity, and the color of their surroundings. They can range from bright green, to pale white, to dark brown, although most of the time they remain gray. Juveniles are generally green in color and develop their gray adult coloration as they mature."

When the photo of the two greens together was taken I had to pull the foliage away from the darker one on the right, it was shaded.
The yellower on the right was in straight hot sun. Looked like a blob of melted yellow/green butter.

The green tree frogs often have a lot of yellow spots. Some heavily covered.
I see many variations as there may be a dozen different hatches occurring in any one greenhouse.
Many breedings and resulting many adults. I could tell you a list of aquatic emergents that the adults hang out in.

As they have been hanging out in the same plants for 25 years. And they pick plant colors and features that provide the best coverage.
Rate them with a high IQ and repeatability for choice of foliage to hang out in. Perhaps some attract their favorite bugs...
When working in each variety of plants I have no choice but to know where green tree frogs are present as the are stuck all over me.
Canna-Thalia species-Sagitaria species-Varigated green/yellow rush, etc. Most with a yellower green foliage similar to their skin.

One day I shot these tree frog photos at a container in the greenhouse full of Sagitaria. Only a few adults, not much variability.

www.flickr.com/photos/67205364@N06/sets/72157635091723486

[jamesp]

Dangerous location

[jamesp]

Forgot to mention, when these catterpilars are present, tree frogs are also. Must be tasty.
These are devestating catterpilars, move very fast and float on water to other plants.

Dang tiger moths:

[snowmom]

eating one of those caterpillars must be like swallowing a toothbrush. yyyyeeeeeech!