Frog CallsNewsletter of Crosstimbers Connection

Volume 2, No. 2 v June, 2014

Springtime ExplorationOur Walks & Presentations at PrairieFest and Beyond

This spring we offered several nature walks and presenta-tions to the public. This was our first year to participate inPrairieFest, an annual celebration of the prairie held at theTandy Hills Natural Area. We had a booth within the “prairiecircle” and talked with many visitors, showing them a coupleof reptilian natives of the north Texas prairies. Our GreatPlains ratsnake and ornate box turtle got lots of attentionand drew many questions from kids and adults alike.

We also offered several “herp walks” at the Fort Worth Na-ture Center & Refuge, taking people out to see some of thewonderful places at the 3,621 acre refuge. This year is the

50th anniversary of the nature center, and we are proud tomake any contribution that we can to it. We scheduled theherp walks for the first Sunday of April, May, and June, andwe plan to schedule more later. However, July and Augusthave been so hot and dry the past few years that we

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Springtime Exploration (continued)

thought indoor presentations might work better for the nexttwo months (see page 3)..

Then, on April 26, the hilly 160 acres of prairie at TandyHills Natural Area bloomed with hundreds of people whoturned out for PrairieFest 2014. We led a couple of walksthrough the hills, and on one of them we got to know

Shane, a young her-

petologically-minded guy who was delighted with the Texasbrown tarantula that we found under some downed branch-es on a hillside.

The first walk this spring was on April 6, a cold and drizzlyday. Nevertheless, Mark and Michael met Sharon, a masternaturalist who was ready for whatever we might find. Wehad a great walk, even if it did not feel much like spring!

Then, on May 4, we had 16 people for the herp walk at thenature center. We walked out on the boardwalk, but thedrought had shrunk the water to shallow pools in the mid-dle of the marsh, and the dry conditions among the reeds

may have been one reason that we did not see any greentreefrogs, although we searched among the reeds for sometime.

Then, in a walk through the bottomland woods, we cameacross an ironclad beetle, which is an insect with a blotchypattern of black and cream color. These beetles feed onfungi which they find on trees, and they are said to haveone of the hardest exoskeletons (the hard layer of chitin onthe outside) of all the invertebrates.

A highlight of the walks in May and in June was a walk alongthe Crosstimbers trail, with a channel running alongside itwhere turtles pull out and sun themselves. While some of

Shane (left) and the Texas brown tarantula (right)

River cooters

Ironclad beetle

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the turtles were red-eared sliders (possiblyour most common turtle), many of theones we saw were river cooters. Females ofthis species have shells that can exceed 12inches in length, and among the identify-ing marks that separate them from red-eared sliders is that cooters do not havethe red patch on the head behind the eye.

About 20 people joined us for a walk onJune 1, and nature center staff Laura, Troy,and Allyson helped provide guidance andinformation along the trail, for which Mi-chael was very thankful! Among the high-lights of that walk was a great blue heronseen along the Crosstimbers trail. We’regrateful for everyone who came along onthese walks, and we look forward to seeingyou again!

Let’s Get TogetherSome Upcoming Events

Where: Fort Worth Nature Center & RefugeWhen: on the first Saturdays of the month - July, August, September - 2:00-3:00pm

Meet us at the Hardwicke Interpretive Center

July 5: - come and meet, in pictures and stories, the venomous snakes of our area. Learn to identify them anddiscuss how to stay safe when you're outdoors. You'll hear stories of encounters with all our venomous species, includingrattlesnakes, cottonmouths, copperheads, and coral snakes.

August 2: - come hear about our non-venomous snakes, and meet a couple of them firsthand. Some of theseanimals have amazing abilities to climb, swim, and even put on a big bluff to try to scare enemies away. Learn about how to tellthem apart from venomous snakes.

September 6: - Find out what's leaping and hopping in our ponds and wetlands. These amphibians havefascinating life stories, including starting out as tadpoles and having distinctive voices that are not anything like the ribbits andcroaks of cartoon frogs. We'll have lots of pictures as well as audio recordings of the frog calls heard in our area.

(While Crosstimbers Connection does not charge a fee, there is an entrance fee to the nature center-see their website, www.fwnaturecenter.org)

Springtime Exploration (continued)

Great blue heron

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Crosstimbers Connection - Connecting People with Nature in North Texas

We take people out into the woods and prairies, looking for reptiles, amphibians, and other wildlife, learning andhaving fun. And we do it without charging anything (but we gladly accept tax-deductible contributions to keep usgoing). We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization - please visit us on the web at: http://crosstimbersconnection.org.

Michael Smith, President Jo Smith, TreasurerDebbie Dorman, Secretary Nic Martinez, Board MemberRob Denkhaus, Board Member

P.O. Box 151882 v Arlington, Texas 76015

Please visit Crosstimbers Connection on Facebook!

Amphibians and the Food Web:

“… amphibians play a major role in many ecosystems, in some places theamphibian biomass is greater than that of all the other vertebrates.”

-- Andrew Blaustein, professor of zoology at Oregon State University

Imagine the weight of all the amphibians in an area being larger than that of allthe birds, mammals, fish, and reptiles there. That’s a lot of frogs, toads, andsalamanders!

This means that amphibians are “heavy” players in the ecosystem,serving as a major source of food for other wildlife.