Encourage reptiles and amphibians to take up residence, Berks environmental consultants urge - via Herp Digest

WRITTEN BY SUSAN SHELLY - READING EAGLE 11/12/18

Courtesy of Quillyn Bickley | Mike Torocco photographs an Eastern Kingsnake.

The message from Quillyn Bickley and Mike Torocco is clear: amphibians and reptiles should not be discouraged from taking up residence in our yards and gardens.

In fact, the environmental consultants urged, Pennsylvanians should do more to encourage snakes, toads, frogs, salamanders, turtles and other reptiles and amphibians onto their properties.

Bickley and Torocco of Spring Township are herpetologists, zoologists who study reptiles and amphibians. They are employed by Herpetological Consultants Inc., an environmental consulting firm that serves clients throughout the United States and abroad.

Courtesy of Mike Torocco | Quillyn Bickley holds a box turtle she found in a wooded area.

Courtesy of Quillyn Bickley | Mike Torocco handles a snapping turtle.

The New Jersey-based firm specializes in planning for wildlife conservation and protecting the environments of endangered and threatened plants and animals.

Bickley and Torocco recently presented a program on “Amphibians and Reptiles of Pennsylvania” during a gathering at the Reading Public Museum.

Pennsylvania is home to a great variety of common and rare amphibians and reptiles, collectively known as herps.

A number of them, including the bog turtle, redbelly turtle, southern leopard frog, New Jersey chorus frog and rough green snake, are endangered or threatened.

Considering the population, industry and environmental factors present in the state, the number and variety of herps here is surprising, Torocco said.

“This area has been settled and his habitat beat up for a long time,” he said. “It's amazing that we have the diversity that we do.”

Manmade factors such as gas and oil exploration, pipeline construction and automobile traffic are disruptive to amphibians and reptiles, as are natural predators such as raccoons, which dig up nests in order to get the eggs they contain.

“Raccoons are very good at finding nests,” Torocco said.

Eastern Pennsylvania is home to 22 varieties of salamanders, 16 kinds of turtles, 4 varieties of lizards and 21 types of snakes. Of the snakes, three types are poisonous.

“We have both rare species and then a great variety of common species,” Torocco said.

While many people are afraid of snakes, lizards and other amphibians and reptiles, they play an important role in the environmental landscape, Bickley explained.

Lizards, snakes, frogs and toads eat a variety of pests, including slugs, snails, roaches and rodents. Having herps on your property increases the diversity of animal life, which is an indicator of a healthy environment.

To that end, Bickley advised, try to be intentional when thinking about your yard and garden, and work to provide food, water, breeding habitat and places for reptiles and amphibians to survive over the winter.

Brush piles, wood piles, logs, rocks and ponds will all encourage herps to take up residence.

“Consider your surroundings, and then consider what you're willing to take on,” Bickley said. “Something as simple as a toad house can encourage herps on your property.”

Layered, flat rocks will encourage snakes, who love to bask in sunlight. Fallen logs in a moist, shady are will attract salamanders, and ponds are home to different varieties of turtles and frogs.

“If you build it, they will come,” Bickley said.

A variety of plants, shrubs and flowers also is important.

Learning to live with and appreciate reptiles and amphibians may require a change in mindset, Bickley said, but all living things are important in maintaining a healthy environment.

She warned that herps should not be relocated, but allowed to move from place to place on their own. Never release non-native species of amphibians or reptiles, and watch for hitchhikers when purchasing plants or other items.

“It's really important, ecologically, to leave what's wild in the wild, and where it belongs,” Bickley said.

About Quillyn Bickley and Mike Torocco

 Quillyn Bickley and Mike Torocco are herpetologists, or zoologists who specialize in the study of amphibians and reptiles.

 They are employed as regional managers of the Pennsylvania Field Office by Herpetological Consultants Inc., a New Jersey-based consulting firm with offices in New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania.

 Bickley and Torocco conduct environmental surveys for clients to determine the presence or absence of amphibians and reptiles on a property and other factors that may affect housing, utility or other construction projects.

 Torocco can be contacted at mtorocco@herpetologicalassociates.com and Bickley at qbickley@herpetologicalassociates.com

Courtesy of Steve Edmonds | Quillyn Bickley and Mike Torocco exhibit a hellbender salamander found in a creek.

Courtesy of Quillyn Bickley | Mike Torocco and Quillyn Bickley use radio tracking to locate amphibians and reptiles

Winter habitat management will help Blanding’s Turtles in spring

by David Brooks /Nov 16, 2018/Granite Geek/Concord Monitor 

Winter habitat management will help Blanding’s Turtles in spring

by David Brooks | Nov 16, 2018

Blandings Turtle

From NH Fish and Game: Late summer and early fall is the time when eggs laid by New Hampshire turtles in the spring begin to hatch and future generations emerge from their upland nest chambers. With luck and excellent camouflage, these tiny hatchlings will make it to the safety of a pond, stream, or wetland. In an effort to move ahead with conservation actions while turtle populations overwinter, Fish and Game biologists have been working with local, state and federal partners, landowners, and land trusts to identify areas within high-priority turtle populations where nesting habitat can be created to decrease the likelihood of females crossing roads or entering residential developments.

“The location of a suitable nesting area is crucial for successful nesting and hatchling survival,” said New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Wildlife Biologist Josh Megyesy. “For some sites, creating nesting areas requires cutting trees to expose the ground to full sunlight and then bringing in sand, while others just need some vegetation cut back and soils scarified with heavy equipment.”

This kind of habitat management in sensitive turtle areas is done during the winter months when turtles are hibernating in the water and the ground is frozen. Some of this work has already been initiated in key areas in the Granite State, but more will continue this coming winter and beyond. The Fish and Game Department’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program has been monitoring populations of several rare species of turtles throughout New Hampshire, including state-endangered Blanding’s turtles. Through mark-recapture methods and the use of radio telemetry to track individual turtles, biologists have been able to better understand how these turtles use their diverse wetland and upland habitats.

“For two years we followed this one particular female Blanding’s turtle,” explained Megyesy. “The first year we tracked her from wetland to wetland, and eventually after crossing a road she then nested in a residential environment. The second year it was amazing to watch her follow almost the exact path she had taken the previous year, and nest again on the same property. It became clear that good nesting habitat was lacking within the core of their territory and something needed to be done.”

Other females from other populations followed a similar pattern, each time increasing the chances of road mortality. These turtles require sandy, well-drained areas with full sun for nesting and successful incubation. Female turtles dig a nest chamber, deposit eggs, cover the eggs with soil and then depart, leaving the embryos and future young turtles to fend for themselves.

“For rare turtle populations to persist in New Hampshire, it is essential that adult female survival rates are high and that new young individuals are added to the populations,” Megyesy continued. “Turtles have coped with various threats by being able to live for a very long time, with some local species of turtles possibly exceeding 70 years! But low survival of young isn’t the only reason why turtles must live a long time − female turtles of some species may not be capable of reproducing until they are at least 15 years old.”

Many of the monitoring and conservation actions for rare turtles in New Hampshire are made possible by federal programs, such as State Wildlife Grants administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and funds from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service New England Field Office, along with matching state funding from the NH Conservation License Plate funds and individual donations to the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program. Biologists are also working with the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to protect turtles and their habitats occurring on private working lands in the state.

To learn more about the Department’s involvement in the regional Blanding’s turtle conservation efforts, visit http://www.blandingsturtle.org. Learn more about New Hampshire’s turtles at https://wildlife.state.nh.us/nongame/turtles.html and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program, supported by federal and state grants and individual donations, at http://www.wildnh.com/nongame.