Resident Reptiles & Amphibians

Home » Wildlife » Resident Reptiles & Amphibians

We invite you to explore this gallery of reptiles and amphibians, many of which are secretive and hard to find. Most of the ones shown here are primarily terrestrial, moving about through our fields and forests, with occasional trips to the vegetable garden. For a deeper dive into those that reproduce in water, please visit the Ephemeral Ponds Gallery

Adult spotted salamander

Spring peepers, Pseudacris crucifer, are true harbingers of the season; yet they may surprise us with a reprise in late autumn.

Why do toads always look angry?

This green frog, Rana clamitans, sports unusual colors.

Two-lined salamanders, Eurycea bislineata, require cool clean waters and serve as good indicators of water quality.

Spring salamander, Grinophilus porphyriticus, released back to the stream after I. D. and photo documentation.

Here is a brightly colored red eft, the juvenile terrestrial phase of the aquatic newt, Notophthalmus viridescens.

The red-backed salamander, Plethodon cinereus, is small but plentiful and is an important part of the woodland food web.

Sometimes confused with leopard frogs, the pickerel frog, Rana palustris, has spots that are more rectangular.

Lucky find: it is rare to see a young Spotted Salamander above ground.

We are fortunate to have a reproducing population of painted turtles, Chrysemis picta, in Wood Frog Pond.

This tiny baby painted turtle has been making her way to the safety of the pond from the sand pits where mother turtle laid the eggs. She'll get a free lift the rest of the way.

A living reminder of dinosaurs, snapping turtles, Chelydra serpentina, are our largest land turtle.

Tiny, but making his presence known. What would summer nights be without the trilling of the gray treefrog, Hyla versicolor?

This painted turtle needs a little more camouflage.

This bold spring peeper peeps above the grasses for a better look.

When you hear a sound like the plucking of a banjo, a green frog is looking for a mate.

Garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis, come in many patterns and colors besides the typical brown; this one sports a lovely tan base.

Baby toads hatch near water and quickly make their way upland.

Pickerel frogs are deemed distasteful and even mildly toxic to many predators, such as garter snakes, that would normally find any frog quite tasty. This frog was found helping me in the vegetable garden.

This spring peeper is well-camouflaged.

I thought at first that this was a baby, but in fact red-bellied snakes,Storeria occipitomaculata, are one of our smallest snakes. Their favorite food is snails, so they are most welcome in the garden.

Snakes can climb trees. This green snake, Liochlorophis vernalis, is climbing a weeping hemlock, so not too high.

This could be a red eft changing over to a newt. Hope he makes it to the pond in time.