Update on Ludwigia...

[decterlove]

The ludwigia in Rohnert Park is looking very, very dead from the frost we has in December. Was wondering what it looks like in the Laguna in Sebastopol.....plus Took a somewhat boring bike ride yesterday until I turned east on RP expressway & took a glance over the sothside of the first bridge. I saw six turtles sunning & swimming in a section of DEEP clear water there! I see turtles a lot on my ventures but two of these were huge...at least 10 " carapaces...one of them old & shedding plates which I forgot turtles do. AND.....THREE SPECIES! Two them invasive but hey....it turtles, c'mon! At least two were local W Pond.....another two were red eared sliders escaped from the pet trade AND ONE....was a Map Turtle, I'm pretty sure! I was looking straight down on them & the MT was about six inch carapace with very strong ridges & peaks on carapace. They show up in the pet trade occasionally in the pet trade but I've never seen one in the wild. Ludwigia took quite a hit from the frost....hope it stays dead!

[Bird Watcher]

What good news about the turtles in RP! Referring to the theory, that is, that the presence of amphibians and reptiles in native environments means that the particular area is in a good state of ecological health. Canaries in a coal mine, maybe. I've been happy to see lizards and snakes around my property throughout the years... indicates that the ecology isn't out of balance. Connected or not (and seems probable), good riddance Ludwigia!!

[Dixon]

What good news about the turtles in RP! Referring to the theory, that is, that the presence of amphibians and reptiles in native environments means that the particular area is in a good state of ecological health. Canaries in a coal mine, maybe. I've been happy to see lizards and snakes around my property throughout the years... indicates that the ecology isn't out of balance. Connected or not (and seems probable), good riddance Ludwigia!!

I think amphibians are much better "coal mine canaries" than reptiles, because they have very permeable skin unlike the scale-covered skin of the reptiles. Thus they absorb much more of whatever's in the environment. It's great that your local lizards and snakes are doing okay, but what's more indicative of the health of your environment will be the presence or absence (and numbers) of your local froggies, toads, and salamanders.

[Dixon]

It's great that your local lizards and snakes are doing okay, but what's more indicative of the health of your environment will be the presence or absence (and numbers) of your local froggies, toads, and salamanders.

P.S. If a lot of your local amphibians are two-headed, legless, etc. that may give you a clue about the toxicity of the environment too.

[decterlove]

Yes reptiles and amphibians are pretty good indicator species....especially snakes as snakes can seldom survive any environment that's been altered significantly. Small ones such as ringneck snakes can live in older suburban neighborhoods...they feed on slugs mostly and just need good rocks or wood to hide under....much like alligator lizards....

What good news about the turtles in RP! Referring to the theory, that is, that the presence of amphibians and reptiles in native environments means that the particular area is in a good state of ecological health. Canaries in a coal mine, maybe. I've been happy to see lizards and snakes around my property throughout the years... indicates that the ecology isn't out of balance. Connected or not (and seems probable), good riddance Ludwigia!!

[Dixon]

I love me some snakes--beautiful creatures. In fact, my wilderness name is Snake.

[Sara S]

(Hi, Decterlove!) Yeah, I love these guys in my garden, because they eat all the bugs!

Yes reptiles and amphibians are pretty good indicator species....especially snakes as snakes can seldom survive any environment that's been altered significantly. Small ones such as ringneck snakes can live in older suburban neighborhoods...they feed on slugs mostly and just need good rocks or wood to hide under....much like alligator lizards....

[Geoff Johnson]

I live in an older suburban neighborhood in Santa Rosa, on the edge of an island of several undeveloped acres of good habitat.

We used to see a good number of snakes, including sizeable king snakes, but no rattlers.

These days we still have lizards, but hardly ever see a snake.

Yes reptiles and amphibians are pretty good indicator species....especially snakes as snakes can seldom survive any environment that's been altered significantly. Small ones such as ringneck snakes can live in older suburban neighborhoods...they feed on slugs mostly and just need good rocks or wood to hide under....much like alligator lizards....

[Bird Watcher]

My guess is that the drought affects the snakes more than it does the lizards, but that's an uneducated guess. All I know is that here in the Southeast, we had plentiful rain this past year and I saw more snakes than usual, among them a beautiful rainbow snake. A king, which I saw disappearing into a hole under our concrete driveway apron, apparently gave birth to a clutch--a juvenile was out floundering in the run-off one morning last spring. The king and black snakes will fortunately fight off (and eat) the rattlers and other venomous species, so I told her she was welcome to stay.

As Dixon noted, the amphibians are surely much more at risk from environmental effects, man-made as well as naturally occurring. I remember uncovering wiggly spotted (Tiger?) salamanders (the blotches were peach-colored rather than yellow) when moving some decaying railroad ties in the garden I used to have in Sebastopol. Felt terrible and tried to relocate them to another damp spot. Hopefully they dug in and survived.

Pam

I live in an older suburban neighborhood in Santa Rosa, on the edge of an island of several undeveloped acres of good habitat.

We used to see a good number of snakes, including sizeable king snakes, but no rattlers.

These days we still have lizards, but hardly ever see a snake.

[decterlove]

Those Rainbow snakes must be really pretty....never saw on live.....but still have the image burned in my mind of one in the guidebook for snakes....seminal book of my childhood.

My guess is that the drought affects the snakes more than it does the lizards, but that's an uneducated guess. All I know is that here in the Southeast, we had plentiful rain this past year and I saw more snakes than usual, among them a beautiful rainbow snake. A king, which I saw disappearing into a hole under our concrete driveway apron, apparently gave birth to a clutch--a juvenile was out floundering in the run-off one morning last spring. The king and black snakes will fortunately fight off (and eat) the rattlers and other venomous species, so I told her she was welcome to stay.
...

[decterlove]

Amphibians are definitely better than reptiles as cmcs....regarding chemicals and pollution as reptiles such as turtles can live in semi polluted environments. Oddly enough, one of the best habitats for endangered reptiles in the southeast now are nuclear power plant areas....the warm water effluent combined with the restricted access is allowing many species to thrive. Snakes are pretty good indicators for an unspoiled "wilderness" tho...if you have a good population of any snake species....you are living or hiking in a relatively unspoiled area.

I think amphibians are much better "coal mine canaries" than reptiles, because they have very permeable skin unlike the scale-covered skin of the reptiles. Thus they absorb much more of whatever's in the environment. It's great that your local lizards and snakes are doing okay, but what's more indicative of the health of your environment will be the presence or absence (and numbers) of your local froggies, toads, and salamanders.

[Geoff Johnson]

I had never heard of, much less seen, a rainbow snake; and now I understand why.

Pam wrote, "here in the Southeast, we had plentiful rain this past year and I saw more snakes than usual, among them a beautiful rainbow snake."

I was thinking Southeast Santa Rosa, or Sonoma County, but Pam apparently moved from Sebastopol to the American Southeast.

The snake's distribution is "the Coastal Plain of the southern United States from southern Virginia to eastern Louisiana". https://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/farery.htm

... All I know is that here in the Southeast, we had plentiful rain this past year and I saw more snakes than usual, among them a beautiful rainbow snake. ...

[Bird Watcher]

You're right, Geoff, I live in NE Georgia now after 23 years in Sebastopol (and 56 years in Northern Calif.; I keep up with West SoCo on Wacco as a source of news). I didn't add the image of the rainbow snake to this post [- Barry], but the one I saw was nearly as beautiful. Trade the black stripes for forest green and the white for tan.

A "murder" of crows was fooling with something at the bottom of our lane one day as I went to the mailbox. They flew off as I approached and there was this gorgeous snake, coiled up neatly, probably stressed to the max. I believe the crows brought it up from the nearby creek as these are water snakes. I went back to the house for my camera, but when I returned, it was gone. Perhaps it made it back to the creek bank. The lack of crow commotion made me hopeful. I later identified it from Univ. of GA's great herpetology site:
https://srelherp.uga.edu/jd/jdweb/He...kes/farery.htm

Sorry for misleading anyone and I've digressed from the Laguna. But regardless of your locale (hey, Decterlove), the rainbow snake is apparently not often seen.

Cheers,
Pam

P.S. Annoying Wacco shortcut on the web URL cuts out this bit contained in the ellipsis: ps/species/USsna