Herp Update: Field Trip, Map Turtle, Frog & Cecropia, Habitats & Highways – September 23, 2025
Join us this Saturday, September 27, for a Field Trip
Herpers, I hope some of you will join us this Saturday, September 27th from 9-12 for a reptile and amphibian field trip. Farm and Wilderness asked us to provide this free field trip on some of their land in Plymouth (central Vermont). The piece of land we will explore is just north of Lake Ninevah. It is a gently rolling landscape, with a small stream, pond, deciduous woods, and a log landing. We will be off-trail, but it is not physically challenging. We hope to find at least a half dozen different species of frogs, salamanders, and perhaps a snake or two. For more information or to register click here. I will have room in my car for at least two people if anyone wants a ride from the Middlebury area. If you do want a ride, contact me directly. The weather forecast for Saturday currently looks good.
Recent Herp Activity
My wife Kris and I visited the dam/access area on East Creek last Saturday. This is the dam along Mt. Independence Road, the first one you come to as you travel up East Creek from Lake Champlain. We were surprised to see a Northern Map Turtle basking there on the dam. Northern Map Turtles are a Lake Champlain turtle that is often seen in the mouths of the large, slow rivers that empty into the lake, but they are only rarely seen above the lake level. Some exceptions are a population in Sunset Lake, a single turtle found in Lake Hortonia, and now this turtle that ventured upstream along East Creek. This dam is about 5 miles upstream from Lake Champlain, measured along the stream and about 200 ft. above Lake Champlain in elevation. There are about 300 meters of fast water below the dam. We have paddled that section of East Creek above the dam many times and never seen a Northern Map Turtle. This turtle is clearly an explorer. It won’t be able to establish a population in that section of the river, though, unless another turtle moves up through the fast water and over the dam to mate with it. There were many Painted Turtles basking on logs above the dam as well, but they have been there for decades. The photo below is not of the turtle we saw this weekend. It is a photo my wife Kris Andrews took in Lake Champlain a few years ago.
The Northern Leopard Frog & the Cecropia
We get some very interesting natural history information from contributors. Rick Baker just sent in the information and photos below. Check them out.
“About a month ago, on a very warm day, I was walking behind the house and noticed a large caterpillar. It turned out to be a caterpillar of a Cecropia Moth…This caterpillar was at least 4 inches long!”
“I walked back behind the house a few minutes later and noticed that it had climbed about 18″ up the side of my house. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something jump. It turned out to be a Northern Leopard Frog … The frog had grabbed the caterpillar off the wall and was trying to swallow it. Bear in mind that the frog and the caterpillar were about the same length. My first thought was that there’s no way that this frog can do it, and I was right. The frog just sat there with this huge caterpillar hanging out of its mouth, and eventually spat it out.’“
Vermont Habitats and Highways
For many years, we have helped teach a course for VT Fish and Wildlife and the Vermont Agency of Transportation called Habitats and Highways.
The goals of the course are to:
- Give participants a sense of appreciation for the diversity of species and habitats within which transportation agencies operate.
- Give participants a sense of the impacts of transportation on the natural system.
- Empower VTrans staff to get engaged in whatever capacity is appropriate for their position.
- Inspire participants with a range of options of what is possible.
- Connect staff to resources that enable further action.
In our class last Wednesday, many reptile and amphibian species were found, and many conservation concerns were discussed. However, the Snapping Turtle and Central Ratsnake were the stars of the show. Also shown below is a Dekay’s Brownsnake. Kate Kelly took the photos.
