A Good Mowing Day...

[the_edsta]

There are always tons of critters living in the grass as I mow it... directly behind the house there is a zone of wolf spiders, then green tree frogs, and then leopard frogs down by the water; katydids, locusts, and grasshoppers along one side; a large female garter along the other; a black racer by the water spigot; and the front is filled with green and brown anoles, five lined skinks, and geckos in the evening. Well I stumbled into a new garter out front today -- I'm not sure if its a smaller female or a great big adult male: [IMGhttp://www.electronicsyllabus.com/pics/garter2.jpg[IMG] And a bit later I was back over by the front garden and found a tiny egg just hanging out, barely covered by dirt... my wife must have dug it up while she was planting there... Here it is next to a couple of corn eggs still incubating... [IMG]http://www.electronicsyllabus.com/pics/egg.jpg[IMG] There are several reasons NOT to live in FL, but these are some of the highlights for sure!

[snake man]

Nice looking snake, really good colors.

[guidofatherof5]

Good looking garter. Will be interesting to see the surprise hatching.

[StrmChasr]

I'd be OK with everything but the spiders:eek: Nice looking snake BTW.

[the_edsta]

The egg is probably a five lined skink (the avatar is a coincidence!), but it could be a anole, though either way it will likely be let go
immediately, unless an easy food source presents itself...


I don't love the spiders myself, but I do appreciate a balanced ecosystem!

[EasternGirl]

Yep...wouldn't deal well with the wolf spiders....now my skin is crawling and I'm looking around my room for spiders...lol. Sounds like you have quite the yard though! Would love to have all of that! Those black racers can be nasty buggers, though.

[the_edsta]

Yep...wouldn't deal well with the wolf spiders....now my skin is crawling and I'm looking around my room for spiders...lol. Sounds like you have quite the yard though! Would love to have all of that! Those black racers can be nasty buggers, though.
Yeah... just the other day one ran in the front door while I was coming in... I thought it had young on its back but I didn't hesitate and squashed it... and several hundred of its tiny offspring just dismounted and started running everywhere. A few slides of the sneaker and I think I got them all... I caught a black racer in the yard not long ago... a fairly big girl, and I did end up with a decent bite mark from her. 9371

[guidofatherof5]

Poor spider and spiderlings.
That's a shame as they do good.

[jwolfe152]

wow she looks good

[the_edsta]

Poor spider and spiderlings.
That's a shame as they do good.I usually feel that way, but you'd be pretty shocked at how many I have living in my lawn. Hard to take a step without seeing them dart under the centipede grass. I figure that when I have so many they start scurrying to get in the house with their young, then it is an appropriate time to, ahem, put my foot down...

[the_edsta]

wow she looks good
Yeah I think she does well around here! Though the toad population has fallen off some (but I'm never exactly sure who is eating whom around here!).

[jwolfe152]

i don't mind spiders outside but when they are inside or a large population hiding places, i get bites all over my arms and some on my legs nothing major, maybe compared to a mosquito bite with the itch and swelling. but where im living now the covered portion of the front door is maybe 4x4 and you would not believe the number of spiders and its all the same kind of spider. if i go outside early morning, as in sunrise, i have to watch where i walk or get a face full of spider web, they make HUGE webs.

i know she does well she is gorgeous i really like the sheen (rainbow looking color) when the light hits the smooth black scales

[the_edsta]

So I'm mowing again this AM... and as usual having to avoid various amphibians lurking about the grass -- particularly leopard frogs. One of them was much farther from the water than is common, so I decided to scoop him up and succeeded after a bit of a chase.

96999700


So I figured I'd log in and see if I could attain a democratic vote as to whether he should be released, or be used as an amazing chase/snack for my new large checkered female. THEN there was an unexpected twist... I looked a bit closer and found THIS:

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Now I'm not sure WHAT to do! Options 1 and 2 are still on the table, but guilt is creeping up and offering option three (take this little guy in, as he doesn't seem to be as stealthy as his brethren). I also spend my summers working with people with all kinds of disabilities, so I do have a soft spot for anyone with a particular challenge (as opposed to the pure natural selection/anti-sentimentality stance).

Thoughts on his fate?

[guidofatherof5]

I would release or keep. Feeding it off to the snakes is a gamble, frogs can have a heavy parasite load.
I've never tried keeping frogs. Not sure what to tell you.

[chris-uk]

I wouldn't use him as a snack. Is it just one extra, or an extra pair?

[the_edsta]

I wouldn't use him as a snack. Is it just one extra, or an extra pair?

Just the one! Five legged... if I keep him, his name is 'quint.' Releasing him is probably the way to go, though; I don't want to worry about maintaining his humidity OR fending off his parasites...

[chris-uk]

I'd release him too. I don't know a lot about keeping amphibians, but it's more hassle than I'd want.