Herps are contagious!

You may read the title and think my spelling is rubbish and my love of natural history goes right down to the virus level.  Well, you'd be wrong in both cases.  I'm sure viruses are interesting in their own right, but I typically enjoy nature at the macro scale.  Instead, I am referring to reptiles and amphibians which are collectively referred to as herptiles or herpetofauna, and the vernacular term is "herps".

In British Columbia, 42 species have been recorded in the province and another two species are considered possible but have yet to be recorded.  Two of the species, Pygmy Short-horned Lizard and Western Pond Turtle, have been extirpated from British Columbia, six are introduced, and Green Sea Turtle is an accidental stray to B.C. waters.  Several of my co-workers over the years have been excited at the prospects of finding herps while out working and this enthusiasm is rather infectious.  I got hooked on herps while working in western Washington when I saw my first Coastal Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus).  Over the course of the same work trip, I also encountered Coastal Tailed Frogs (Ascaphus truei), Columbia Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton kezeri), and Red-legged Frogs (Rana aurora).  Since then, I have attempted to find reptiles and amphibians on my work and personal travels.

As I spend most of my time in Victoria, I will limit the scale of this little blurb to my local patch.  Amazingly, Vancouver Island hosts or has historically hosted just over half of B.C.'s herps.  The following is a list of those species that have been recorded, along with their status:

1. Long-toed Salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum)  Native
2. Northwestern Salamander (Ambystoma gracile)  Native
3. Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa)  Native
4. Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii)  Native
5. Western Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon vehiculum)  Native
6. Wandering Salamander (Aneides vagrans)  Native
7. Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas)  Native
8. Pacific Chorus Frog (Pseudacris regilla)  Native
9. Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora)  Native
10. Green Frog (Rana clamitans)  Exotic
11. Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana)  Exotic
12. Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)  Native
13. Chinese Pond Turtle (Chinemys reevesii)  Exotic, possibly extirpated
14. Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta)  Exotic
15. Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)  Native, accidental stray to offshore waters
16. Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)  Native, offshore waters
17. European Wall Lizard (Podacris muralis)  Exotic
18. Northern Alligator Lizard (Elegaria coerulea)  Native
19. Sharp-tailed Snake (Contia tenuis)  Native
20. Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)  Native
21. Northwestern Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides)  Native
22. Western Terrestrial Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans)  Native

In the last few years, I have managed to photograph many of these species.  Hopefully you'll see why many naturalists find herps charming and charismatic in their own way.

On Vancouver Island, Long-toed Salamanders can be readily distinguished
by their yellowish dorsal stripe contrasting their dark brown to black body

Many salamanders have five toes on their rear feet and this close-up shows the
 namesake long toe of the Long-toed Salamander, which is the outer fourth toe

Northwestern Salamanders are the largest species of salamander found on Vancouver
 Island and can easily be recognized by their uniform brownish colour

The prominent parotoid glands, seen in this shot, secrete a milky toxin as
a defense mechanism when Northwestern Salamanders are threatened

Rough-skinned Newts are the only newt species in B.C. and can be readily
 identified by their granular-textured skin and bright orange underside

Despite their rather unassuming appearance, Rough-skinned Newts have highly toxic skin; however,
 individuals on Vancouver Island apparently have significantly lower levels of toxins in their skin

This side profile shot of this Ensatina shows the diagnostic constricted
 tail base and the often-present pale bases to the legs

Ensatinas are a ring species (see diagram and explanation below), but the "ring" is contained entirely
within California and the subspecies found in B.C. has range that extends down to northern California

A ring species is made up of a series of interbreeding populations (A) that form a cline around a geographic
barrier (B), such as a mountain or desert, and when the two end populations meet they cannot interbreed (C)
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Western Red-backed Salamanders, like Ensatinas and Wandering Salamanders, are lungless salamanders
that breathe through their skin and spend their entire lives in moist environments on land

Western Red-backed Salamanders have many colour morphs and this individual is unusual in possessing orange sides

Wandering Salamanders belong to a group known as the climbing salamanders and
adults have been found nearly 100 metres up Coast Redwoods in California

The dark body colour with coppery or grey marbling helps distinguish Wandering Salamanders from
other species of salamanders on Vancouver Island, but their square-tipped toes are truly diagnostic

Western Toads, considered a species of Special Concern nationally and
 blue-listed provincially, are easily recognized by their warty skin

Pacific Chorus Frogs, with their dark mask and round-tipped toes, can be a range
 of colours and this is the most striking individual I have encountered

In the spring, the night air is filled with the sound of male Pacific Chorus Frogs around ponds, lakes, and marshes

Red-legged Frogs belong to the "true frogs" and have smooth skin, a narrow waist, and long, powerful
legs for jumping, and they also have a reddish underside to their hind limbs as their name implies

Painted Turtles are the only native freshwater turtle still found in B.C. and on Vancouver
Island they are now limited to select few lakes and ponds on southern Vancouver Island

European Wall Lizards were introduced to the Saanich Peninsula in the 1970s when
 a private zoo closed down and since then they have managed a modest spread

Despite their modest spread, their numbers at some sites are quite staggering as
 is evident in this shot of one rock face at Oak Haven Park in Brentwood Bay

Northern Alligator Lizards, which occupy the same dry, rocky sites as the European Wall Lizards, have a diagnostic
 skin fold (see photo) on their sides that separates the keeled scales on their back from the smooth scales on their underside

Sharp-tailed Snakes have, as the name implies, a pointed scale at their tail tip which
 distinguishes them from the three species of garter snakes found locally

Common Garter Snakes have the broadest distribution of any snake in Canada, spanning coast to coast,
and I usually recognize them by their straight, yellow dorsal stripe and orange-red marks set again black

Northwestern Garter Snakes are variable (as are the other two local garter snakes) but apparently
 consistently show a white "lip", and this form is readily recognized by its orange dorsal stripe

Western Terrestrial Garter Snakes typically have a slightly wavy dorsal stripe that is yellow-tan
 in colour and they possess a head that is large in comparison to Northwestern Garters

I hope this visual journey with added factoids sparks a little interest in our local reptiles and amphibians.  Now you're all set for the spring when these scaled or moist-skinned denizens come out to slither, hop, crawl, and swim through our local environs.  If you have any further questions on how to identify any of these species, where to look for them, or perhaps would just like to regale others with a tale, just drop a comment here for all to see.