Herp Count Toll: Diversity

Gross or great.

That, Dr. Joe Collins said, would be the verdict on his recently-completed annual Florida Panhandle Herpetofaunal Survey, which is a highly technical way of saying a census of sorts of the creepy, crawly animals that make the woods, rivers and swamps of this area home.

Collins, director of the Center for North American Herpetology at the University of Kansas and co-author of the Peterson’s Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians, makes a yearly trek from his home to count things that slither through life in North Florida.

With a roving band of his lovely wife, Suzanne, his chief photographer, former and current students, colleagues and others who could be considered something along the lines of reptile groupies, Collins traipses through state and national lands to count animals.

“Our whole idea is to try and give the folks who manage these properties a snapshot over time,” said Collins, who has been undertaking these surveys, initially at the behest of federal and state land managers and now in large measure out of his own passion, since the mid-1990s.

And Collins, ever a jovial sort, readily notes that his work – which in large part involves peeking under sheets of plywood and sheet metal he has begged and borrowed for and laid in the wild to serve as a haven for his creatures – could be considered “great or gross, depending on your point of view.”

Important also for state and federal land managers.

Diversity on government lands means more management dollars from the scant pool of funds that exist. Diversity, and understanding how it has evolved over time, is a key to crafting management plans both effective and efficient in the use of tight dollars.

Collins aims to demonstrate that diversity.

This year the weather provided a particular challenge in the month Collins was in the area, from late December until a week ago. Unusually cold temperatures combined with frequent rains made walking in the woods a challenge, though easier to find his animals.

“All that sheet metal came in handy,” Collins said with a laugh. “There were lots of creatures to be seen despite the cold weather. My animals, they don’t like the cold. They were under all that sheet metal taking it easy. Just about every piece of metal or wood we picked up, we found something.”

Collins and his merry band found more than 410 animals encompassing 50 different species. The 410 number is vastly conservative because once Collins and crew find 20, that species goes in the countless category and further finds do not impact the total.

“We don’t want to be greedy with our numbers,” Collins said. “But all of this adds to the diversity total in North Florida.”

Collins was almost giddy about one find in particular. At Bald Point State Park they found a mole skink, a species of sand lizard that Collins had not seen in North Florida since 1995.

“The really important find was the mole skink,” Collins said. “That’s not an endangered animal or a threatened animal, but that’s a rare animal. It is a sensitive species for North Florida. It was the first I had seen in a long time. That was exciting.”

And great, Collins noted, or gross, depending on one’s point of view.

 “Overall it (the survey) was successful given the kind of weather we had. It was pretty grim for about a week there, but Florida always comes through. The temperature always goes up,” Collins said by telephone as the temperatures outside in Kansas hovered at 38 degrees – a high for a recent weekday.

The Results are In:

The CNAH Annual Florida Panhandle Herpetofaunal Survey began on Dec. 22 and covered the Florida counties of Gulf, Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Jackson, Leon, Liberty, and Wakulla. Specific areas formally surveyed included St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve, St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge, St. George Island, Little St. George Island, Bald Point State Park, Ochlockonee River State Park, and Florida Caverns State Park. Researchers observed the following 50 species:

Eastern Spadefoot (3), Southern Toad (15), Southern Cricket Frog (5), Green Treefrog (countless), Pine Woods Treefrog (3), Barking Treefrog (1), Squirrel Treefrog (3), Spring Peeper (countless), Upland Chorus Frog (countless), Southern Chorus Frog (countless), Little Grass Frog (countless), Ornate Chorus Frog (countless), Pig Frog (3), River Frog (3), Southern Leopard Frog (countless), Eastern Narrowmouth Toad (1), Greenhouse Frog (4);

Mole Salamander (1), Three-lined Salamander (3), Dwarf Salamander (1), Southeastern Slimy Salamander (countless);

Green Anole (countless), Fence Lizard (2), Mole Skink (1), Five-lined Skink (1), Southeastern Five-lined Skink (1), Broadhead Skink (2), Ground Skink (countless), Six-lined Racerunner (2);

Eastern Racer (4), Scarlet Kingsnake (2), Coachwhip (2), Eastern Corn Snake (1), Ringneck Snake (1), Salt Marsh Snake (2), Brown Water Snake (1), Brown Snake (2), Eastern Ribbon Snake (2), Rough Earth Snake (1), Cottonmouth (2), Pigmy Rattlesnake (countless), Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (1);

Eastern River Cooter (countless), Eastern Box Turtle (1), Slider (1), Loggerhead (countless), Green Turtle (countless), Atlantic Ridley (countless), Leatherback (countless);

American Alligator (countless).

Total specimens observed: ±418

(countless means more than 20 observed but are counted as 20)

Participants were: Joseph T. Collins, Suzanne L. Collins, Juanita M. Hunter, Larry L. Miller, Suzanne L. Miller, R. Alexander Pyron, Greg Pyron, Emily Moriarty Lemmon, Alan Lemmon, Genevieve Moriarty Lemmon, Dan Johnson, Grace Anne Johnson, Penny Johnson, Hannah Olsen, Chris Olsen, Genevieve Olsen, Sophia Olsen, Xavier Olsen, Ian Olsen, Kathie Olsen, Mark Olsen, Joey Romanelli, Marie Romanelli, Amanda Schmidt, Avery Schmidt, Curtis Schmidt, Jonathan VanCampen, Thomas Lewis, Joann Lewis, Jerry D. Collins, John Mathews, Stanley Mathews, Jean Huffman, George Watkins, Aubrey M. Heupel, Moses Michelsohn, Lisa Barrow, Mallory Bedwell, Alexa Warwick, Marshall Cowell, Conner Walsh and Harold Mitchell.