Flora & Fauna of Drums # 4 - Reptiles, Amphibians

Blog #51 - Flora & Fauna of Drums # 4 - Reptiles, Amphibians, and a few other things to make your skin crawl.

Our last post looked to the sky, seeking the hope that the birds of Drumyngham bring us! Some of you who read this post, however, are probably not going to find hope, in fact some of you may say, “Ron! You go from Hope to Disgust!?”

Well, I don’t see it that way, but I’m sure there are some who will. This post is all about the slimiest and the scaliest of all our Drumyngham friends: the snakes (scales), earthworms (slimy), toads (neither!), garden slugs (slimy), and so forth that call our fair Drumyngham property, or, at least the Valley, their home (too).

And what better way to begin than with a SNAKE!?

Growing up here, I saw snakes in Drums, I just don’t remember seeing any around Drumyngham. I suppose they must have been here, but there were two little boys (at least) running all around the place then, too, so perhaps they stayed away from all the ruckus. You can be sure if I’d seen a snake here when I was growing up, it would have been part of the “zoo” I’d usually end up keeping by the end of each summer!

Then again, knowing Mom, perhaps not. By the way, in case you are thinking about doing such a thing, keeping or killing a snake, don’t. All Pennsylvania snakes are protected by Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Regulations. So, if you want to keep one as a pet; or worse, are thinking of killing one; you will have the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to discuss the matter with and they won’t be pleasant.

We did find a snake skin once, probably around 1970. Yes. I saved it. I mean, did you really have to ask? That’s it in the photo. Mom made a display of nature items for a 4-H Exhibit once and she included the snake skin.  

This year (2021), one day this past Spring; there, sunning itself on our driveway, was a Garter Snake. When we approached It, it made tracks, well, you know what I mean, for the grass and flowers that edge the drive. On May 6, as I headed out our basement door, there on the wall to my right, at eye level, was the little fellow again. That’s when I snapped the fine photo that appears above.

Since then, we’ve seen it, or a close relative, a few times; twice slithering along the side of our barn (funny, I haven’t seen that little barn mouse lately…), once making its way across the lawn (those snakes are FAST!), and once headed out toward the park (I almost stepped on it that time). We also found one of its shed skins on the wall where I snapped its photo. 

Yes. I saved it. Again, you had to ask?

I put it in a collection of rocks and minerals I got as a present one childhood birthday from someone who obviously knew I liked those kinds of things but I bet never dreamed that it would also hold a shed snake skin one day.

We did also find a second skin near the barn. I didn’t keep that one. I mean, really, how many shed snake skins can one person keep after all? I just took a photo of it. See? However, truth be known, I sort of wish I’d saved it.

By the way, in case you are unaware, that’s how snakes grow. Their skin does not grow, so every so often, having grown too big for its own skin, literally, the snake must crawl out of it. There is a new skin already in place underneath to replace the old one the snake leaves behind.  

I wonder if that hurts – or itches or…?

And by now I’ve probably given more information about snakes than anyone really wants to know outside of a few herpetologists, perhaps a few zoologists, or maybe some little boys and girls who enjoy poking snakes, frogs, toads, pollywogs, and other such things with sticks (not that I ever did that, mind you).

 

Anyway, since I am on the topic of snakes, I might as well continue along that path. Drumyngham, to my knowledge, has been relatively free from some of the other snake varieties that reside in the Drums Valley. At least, I am told they live in the valley, I’ve never actually seen one in the wild. I’m speaking of the Copperhead Rattlesnake (Agkistrodon contortrix*). Of course, I could have been referring to the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), I’m told they live here too. There are probably some more snakes hanging out here, too, but, really, if I’ve not seen one here at Drumyngham, what’s the point to go on?

*By the way, that Latin sounding thing is a scientific name. Scientists assign them to the various creatures so they don’t keep mixing them up and everyone knows which critter is actually being discussed between two scientists. I included a short discussion concerning scientific names in the post: Flora and Fauna of Drums #1 – Bugs! in case you want to check that out.

Christmas 1967. That's me in my leopard spot
PJ's. To my right (left side of photo) is an odd
face with a big eye. That is the head of a very
large, stuffed toy turtle. I LOVED that thing.
I sat on it every Saturday morning to watch
"my" cartoons in front of the TV.

So, let’s move to other reptiles, like the TURTLES!! There is probably nothing that excites a kid more than a TURTLE – unless it’s a puppy, or a Stick Insect, or a frog, or a snake, or a…Well, anyway, turtles live in the Drums Valley, too. One summer, some of those little turtles you used to be able to get at a pet store lived in Drums. It was, I’m afraid, a rather short summer for them, however, if you catch my drift.

I didn’t note which turtles we saw were where in the valley, as I was growing up. Some of the turtles I saw were seen in the Nescopeck River, in or near the clean (East of the Jeddo Tunnel run-off) side of the Little Nescopeck, or in a small stream or pond here or there abouts, and some were seen while we were camping in state parks like Tobyhanna or Rickets Glen. Those parks are not in the Drums valley. They do remind me, however, of a turtle story.

 Each Summer Dad would spend his vacation taking us camping at one of the great Pennsylvania State Parks, usually Tobyhanna. Usually, once we arrived and had the tent set up, I’d be down by the lake fishing. First thing in the morning, EARLY, like 4:00am, I’d be down by the lake fishing. Unless we were doing something like going to the park lake’s “beach” to go swimming, hiking one of the park’s trails, or riding around the park with my brother on our bicycles, I’d be down by the lake fishing.

I think I’m one of those kids coming out of the water at the Tobyhanna park “beach” in 1964; otherwise, why did Mom take the photo? I know that’s me, lower left, probably 1967, fishing. I don’t know why, or where, Nathan got the boat! On the right we are biking in 1969. We must be going to, or returning from, fishing, however, because I’m holding my yellow fishing pole in my right hand. That orange thing on Nathan’s bike, by the way, is a box. It reads, “My 4-H Entomology Box”. One never knows when one might find an insect one wants to collect for their 4-H Entomology collection. My collecting stuff was in there too. Too bad you can’t see the sides of the box. We had insects painted on it, but that’s a different post: “Flora and Fauna of Drums #1 – Bugs!”

Usually, when a fish was after the bait, the bobber would pop under the surface of the water a few times until I either was successful setting the hook in the fish’s mouth, or the fish was successful stealing the worm. Once, however, the bobber popped down under the surface and stayed there. I tugged on the line but it just stayed under the water. My brother told me I had gotten hooked to a log but I hadn’t been reeling the hook in, it had just been sitting out there, waiting.

Then the bobber began to move slowly under the water to the left. I pulled back, and it moved slowly to the right. I pulled back. Slowly but surely, I pulled that hook back into shore and up out of the water. There hanging on the end was not a fish, but a turtle. The older kids told me it was “a Snapper”, but I have no idea what kind of turtle it was. They also told me I was in trouble because it was illegal to catch turtles. I was worried for quite a while over that one. They tell you a lot when you are the youngest. Mostly, however, I was angry because it meant I had to lose the hook! Stupid turtle. There was little we could do other than snip the line and return the turtle to the lake, with my hook! Poor turtle. By the way, it happened to my brother as well.

There are a number of turtles that live in Pennsylvania and, therefore, probably live in the Drums Valley. Snapping, Midland Painted, Spotted, Wood, Map, and Box Turtles all could live in this area. I was told stories as a kid about guys who were played with a Snapping Turtle and lost the tips of their fingers. Maybe that was true. But, like I said, they tell you a lot of stories when you are the youngest. Probably, they told me that so I didn’t play with any turtles I might find. It worked.

There is a state park in Drums called Nescopeck State Park. Lake Frances resides there. In addition to turtles, Lake Frances offers up a few other scaly animals, but they aren’t reptiles. They are fish; Trout, Bass, and Pan Fish (Bluegills, Sun Fish, and the like). The Park web site also says the six miles of the Nescopeck Creek is also the home of Brown Trout and native Brook Trout. I really enjoyed catching, and eating, Pan Fish during our camping trips but I don’t believe I’ve ever fished Lake Frances. Just one of those things, I guess. As a kid, I did do some fishing in the Nescopeck Creek. I think I lost more lures than I caught fish. I actually don’t remember ever catching any Nescopeck Creek fish. Just one of those things, I guess.

By the way, if you can find a few Fresh-Water Crayfish, they sure make good fishing bait! Crayfish are not insects, by the way. They aren’t fish, either. They are Crustaceans. I didn’t find many of those, however.

I DID find Earthworms, however. They are another great bait – my “go-to” bait, for sure! They come in all sizes. We had a garden so we were always digging up earthworms. The best ones, however, are those great, big Nightcrawlers! I liked them so much I drew one for a 7^th grade art class project. Mom glued into a scrapbook so it was hard to photograph, darn-it. 

Many was the night before a fishing trip that I found myself out under the stars, flashlight in hand, searching the ground for some Nightcrawlers. When you saw one, you needed to quickly grab on to it or it would draw itself back down the hole. They are quick. They are strong, too. They apparently have little bristles that they use to help “grab” onto the sides of the hole making it harder to pull the darn things out of the ground. Now I know how the Robin feels yanking on that worm! It sure was fun going out at night to get them.

You know, maybe THAT is why I liked Nightcrawlers so much.

There was at least one other type of worm living here at Drumyngham, but they were too small for fishing bait. My brother and I, considering ourselves to be scientists the way we did, did have some fun learning experiences with these worms. They were Flatworms, also known as Planaria.

There was a low spot in our backyard near the septic tank location. Water would collect in this location, fed by the septic leach field, making it a perfect place for Flatworms to live. These cross-eyed looking fellows are most interesting creatures. You can cut them into pieces and they will grow into new worms! Sort of frightening, now that I think about it. However, this was 1968. I was 11 and Nathan was 14. So, what did we know?

Drumyngham does not have any REAL ponds or any streams running across the property so no fish lived at Drumyngham, not in ponds or streams, that is. The closest water to Drumyngham is the Little Nescopeck Creek, which is polluted by mine run-off water from the Jeddo Tunnel (see the post: The Mouth of Evil for pictures of, and more information on, the Jeddo Mine Tunnel). Thus, no fish there. Not much else lives there either.

We DID have some tropical fish in an aquarium for a few years; Guppies, Zebra Fish, Tetras and so forth. Did I tell you about the catfish we had once? One day we came home to find the catfish missing! We guessed it had jumped out of the tank, probably looking to see the world. We looked all around but could not find that fish. A few days later, we decided the darn thing had to be someplace so we moved the desk the tank was sitting on, and when we did, there on the floor behind one of the legs and beneath the baseboard heating radiator, all dried up and covered in dust bunnies, was the catfish. It certainly looked quite dead. Goofy me, much to the anger and dismay of my mom and brother, tossed the fish back into the clean fish tank. Suddenly, that old, dry, dusty, dead fish, returned to life! It lived another few years. It never again tried to see the world, though.

I believe that is it for Drumyngham fish and reptiles. I don’t recall seeing any other reptiles here. I did find a toad. I did not try to identify the species. I was just glad to find him (or her)! Mom was less impressed, especially when I shoved it in her face and proudly said, “See what I found, Mommy?”. Now toads, of course, are not reptiles, they are amphibians. The Shedd Aquarium gives a great description of what that difference is so I won’t go into that here. Suffice to say, I liked the amphibians as much, or perhaps more, than the reptiles that crossed my path.

I think one of the great joys we get each Spring is to listen to the songs of the Spring Peepers. Spring Peepers are not toads, they are frogs. On April 9, 2018, life-long Drums resident Pete Medvecky and I hiked south along the WB&H Railbed from the junction of the Little Nescopeck Creek and South Old Turnpike Road in Fritzingertown to the Jeddo Mine Tunnel opening near Kis-Lyn. Our return trip took us to the point along the Little Nescopeck where the clean water meets the dirty. I knew that George Drum’s son, Philip (1787-1858), once owned a house near that point so we searched that out as well. All we could find of that house was a hole where the foundation once was located. However, all around us were the songs of the Spring Peepers. My imagination sprang to life and I envisioned 31-year-old Philip sitting on his porch one April day two hundred years earlier enjoying the same “music” then that I was enjoying that day in 2018; perhaps calling out to his wife, “Mary! The Peepers are singing! Spring can’t be long in coming now!”[1]

Here is a better photo
of the doorstop frog.

In the photo we see two Drumyngham frogs and a turtle. My dad made the turtle for us kids (Nathan and me) when we were small. The frog on the turtle’s back is a cast iron doorstop that’s been hanging out in Drumyngham for as long as I can remember. I wanted to say it was a toad but it does not have “warts” and its eyes are more frog-like than toad-like. The vase came with the house in Fritzingertown that Elmer (my grandfather) bought in 1919 from the Emblings. I have no idea how old the vase is. My mom always said she thought it was ugly. I, however, like it.

With no areas of permanent water (streams, ponds, etc.) on the property or even near-by. we don’t see a lot of frogs around Drumyngham. The closest source of water, other than our well, would be the Little Nescopeck, but enough said on that topic. However, the Drums Valley is home to a number of frog species including the Green Frog (Rana clamitans), Bull Frog (R catesbeiana), Leopard Frog (R pipiens), and, as shown above, the Cast Iron Frog (R ferrum). Sorry. I couldn’t resist.

There was once a pond near the present-day Evergreen Raceway on Mill Mountain Road. We would go there often to catch dragonflies, damselflies and other aquatic insects when we were in 4-H. Of course, frogs lived there too. It was always great fun to hear the Bull Frogs “ba-rump-ing” and the croaking of the various other frogs in reply. Sometimes you could get rather close to one of them but most often they went shooting off into the water before you could get “too” close. 

If you know where to look, you can find the old WB&H Railbed that runs through the woods and leads you to the pond area. Sometimes we’d hike the railbed over to the Mill Mountain pond to do some collecting (insects, that is). Since it is a wooded area, we’d often find salamanders and newts there. Well, maybe not newts, now that I think about it. We called them newts, but they were probably salamanders. Most people do that, use the names interchangeably, that is. However, the whole newt vs salamander thing is complicated. One source says they are different, another says a newt is a young salamander. A third says they are both right!

I especially liked salamanders, no matter what you call them. There is something intrinsically, well, cute about them. I’m not sure how many species live in the Drums Valley but the most common is the Spotted Salamander, also known as the Red Newt. See what I mean about names? Scientists call them: Notophthalmus viridescens. That’s good enough for me.

I guess all that’s left to talk about, then, are snails! The French know how to treat a snail right. They call it Escargot and it is delicious! I don’t think Snails used for Escargot live in PA. There are snails that do live in Pennsylvania. One of the largest is Triodopsis albolabris. We did accidently introduce some tiny snails to our fish aquarium one year. Those came along with some locally collected aquatic plants. They were a problem. We do know snails are living around Drumyngham. On Halloween 2021, I found this snail on our cellar door. At least I think it is a snail and not some other critter dressed up like a snail. On Halloween you just never know. What it was doing on our cellar door, I’ll never know. 

We ALSO have garden slugs! According to Penn State Extension, there are 20 species of slugs sliming their way across the Commonwealth. The difference between slugs and snails is that snails have their own mobile homes (we call them shells). Slugs do not. 

When I was little, I liked slugs for all the wrong reasons (slime trail, eye-stalks, size, slime, etc.) I did NOT like them chewing up my 4-H Garden plants! I would sometimes wish that some Garter Snake would come along and have a few of those Garden Slugs for lunch!

And that comment brings us full circle which means we need to find another topic to write about. Perhaps it is time to address the other half of the “Flora & Fauna” title. We’ve covered the Fauna side of things, perhaps we should now turn to the Flora side of things!

Join us next time for “Blog #52 - Flora & Fauna of Drums # 5 – Plants: If it doesn’t make you itch, make a tea out of it!”

 

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1. We are not sure of his first wife’s name. It possibly was Mary Woodring [Wotring]). It appears she died the same year Philip’s mother died, 1821. On April 22, 1822, Philip married his second wife, Magdalena Beishline (Sept. 9, 1802 – Dec. 10, 1885).