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Yellowstone

Posted by kcmatt (My Page) on
Mon, Aug 29, 05 at 8:56

OK, last one, this just to get the backlog cleared out, then I’ll slow it down—one of my favorite places in the world, although its herpetological diversity is not great. Almost all of these are scanned images—quality is not great.

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Hit an amphibian grand slam-- although some are less commonly seen than others, the grand total is a whopping four:

Boreal toads, Bufo boreas boreas
Columbia spotted frogs, Rana luteiventris
Blotched tiger salamanders, Ambystoma tigrinum melanostictum
Boreal chorus frogs, Pseudacris triseriata maculata

And a very brief pause and pass through Utah, produced a couple more:

Great Basin gopher snake, Pituophis catenifer deserticola (recent DOR)
Tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum

I am a tiger salamander enthusiast and wanted to see tigers more than any of the other amphib species. This backcountry pond and smaller connecting ponds, adjacent to Yellowstone Lake, was a very productive breeding site for all amphib species:

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Blotched tiger salamander larvae and spotted frog tadpole

Cutthroat populations are down significantly due to introduced lake trout, and probably drought and other factors to a lesser degree—but they were still there and were on average bigger than usual (only a good thing in the short run). On the river, many were still donning their bright spawning colors.

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Of course, all the other denizens of the Park were also there—moose and deer waltzed through our backcountry campsite daily. Some of the family saw a grizzly, but I was fishing at the time and missed it.

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Every night, boreal toads, which were not found during past surveys in the area, could be found around where we made camp—sometimes hopping along the gravelly shorelines of Yellowstone Lake. I didn’t get any good pictures unfortunately.

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(Rest off-topic) The last day, we happened onto a great brown drake (mayfly) hatch on the Yellowstone River, which made for incredible dry fly fishing.

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Two herds of buffalo passed behind us on the bank as we fished, one bull took a few paces into the river at us… I hardly blinked and I was back in the office, 1000 miles away.


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Yellowstone

Those cutthroats are absolutely gorgeous! I love Yellowstone---have seen black bear, grizzly bear, and timber wolves there.

Also while some of the Park literature inaccurately says there are no Rattlesnakes in Yellowstone--Wayne and I have found them inside the Park.


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Yellowstone snakes....

I forgot to mention, in addition to Prairie Rattlesnakes I have seen a Bullsnake and Wandering Garter Snakes in Yellowstone. I believe that covers half the possible species of snakes there (Valley Garter, Yellowbelly Racer and Rubber Boa I believe are the only other possibilities).


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RE: Yellowstone

The prairie rattlesnake would be a neat sight there-- strange that you've seen literature leaving them out as there are documented reproducing populations and even bites within the park. Mistakes are rampant in species accounts by state and fed agencies though (did you see MDC's "albino copperhead" in the June or July Conservationist?-- the most calligaster looking contortrix I've ever seen).

I'm not aware of any "reliable" records of Coluber constrictor in the Park. I can think of areas that would suit them, however.


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RE: Yellowstone

Yeah the erroneous Park info is odd, since the Reptiles and Amphibians Guide to Yellowstone is pretty definitive about the presence of dens there. (We found an actual den site complete with wiring that was used to trap snakes back in the 1930s).

It is true that 99% of Park visitors however probably will not traverse the area of the park where rattlesnakes can be found (unless perhaps they cross marginal rattlesnake range in a 1/2 mile stretch of the road near Gardiner).

In the very small area of the park where rattlesnakes are present, they are far from rare and can be found in concentration.


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Other species not found in the Park....

Some literature also says Mountain Goats can't be found in Yellowstone. This needs to be updated as they have reintroduced themselves in both the Northwest and Northeast corners. We have seen them on Baronette Peak.


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RE: Yellowstone

I've seen many goats up there too--


 
 

 

 


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