russians were free

Saddleback caterpillars are really interesting to look at, but they definitely don't have the most interesting lifestyle! They are pretty sedentary and don't even seem to eat as much as other caterpillars, so they aren't the best animal for an action video. Their spines, called "urticaceous setae" in scientific situations, deliver a venom that can make a grown man cry of pain! For some people, the reaction is negligible, but for others it can cause serious health problems! When I touched one the other day, it burned for about 30 minutes and then subsided, so i'm glad to know I don't react badly to them! :)

Massapequa, Long Island, New York

Jewett, Greene County, New York

You wouldn't believe how many people mistake the harmless Northern Water Snake for cottonmouths! Even all the way up here in New York, where Cottonmouths do NOT range into. We do have plenty of water snakes here though, who unfortunately get killed very often for no reason. Even if they were cottonmouths, there is absolutely no reason to kill them. Of the cottonmouths I've handled within their range, I've had 100% of them react in a docile manner and wanting to escape, and 0% who acted "aggressively" and try to bite. They only want to get away from humans, and unfortunately the humans sometimes get in between the snake and its escape route (the water or thick brush), so as the snake tries to get away it often appears to be "chasing" people.
These harmless baby water snakes, however, will defend themselves if being bothered by a person. They won't come at you and attack, but if you're handling or cornering them they won't hesitate to protect themselves. However, these snakes are totally harmless, of course. Their bites really don't even hurt very badly, especially from tiny babies like these guys! The big ones will draw some blood, but the wound will look worse than it actually is because of the anticoagulant in their mouth that makes you bleed a little more. I actually love getting bit by nonvenomous snakes! If I catch them, I feel as if I owe them the opportunity to bite the heck out of me if they wish to do that. And in this case, getting bit by water snakes is many times the only "proof" to people that they are harmless! So if I can get people to realize that snakes aren't as bad as they thought, I'd be willing to do almost anything to accomplish that.

This is something you don't see every day! Apparently it isn't too uncommon for large gull species to kill and eat smaller birds. I am not sure if this one killed the pigeon itself or simply scared a raptor away (and there were merlins, kestrels, Cooper's hawks, and harriers all around the area), but it was amazing to get to see this behavior!

And this is random but It is so weird how the video gets so distorted when you use the stabilizer! It looks so funny when then background is flying all around!!

Jones Beach Island, Long Island, New York

Lower NC Sandhills

This little lady is about 2 years old now. In the past year ive had her, she's always been a great eater. Her favorite is definitely mice, but she also gets silversides and tilapia for variety. Nerodia are a very underrated Genus of snakes to keep! Great eaters, simple care requirements, and highly active and vigilant snakes.

Commonly mistaken for copperheads, milk snakes unfortunately get killed very often here in New York and many other states. These colubrids are NONVENOMOUS and HARMLESS to people and pets. They got their name from the myth that they come and steal milk from cows at night, but this is simply untrue (and funny too!!!). Rather, they frequent barns because of the abundance of rodents, which makes them extremely beneficial to farmers and homeowners. These are my favorite native colubrids because they come in many different colors, can be a challenge to find, and have because they often have a nasty (and therefore fun!!) disposition.

Greene County, NY

Right after labor day weekend is when tree swallows congregate along the coast in preparation for migration. This year it was literally the day after Labor Day! There were thousands of them! They come to eat insects and bayberries, which are both abundant food sources here.

Jones Beach, New York

This little vole didn't care about my presence, and continued on with eating ferns!

Greene County, NY

May 2015

Jewett, New York

This was a good field season with so many lifers and repeat finds of amazing species. Got to meet a whole bunch of new herpers as well, which is always super exciting. Here's a bunch of random clips of reptiles and amphibians found in NY, NJ, and a little bit of PA this year. This only covers a fraction of what was actually found this year (had to leave out whole trips to FL and NC, and lost some clips of cool Northeast species too), but hopefully still provides a decent sampling of what the Northeast has to offer!

Since I'm so bad at editing/creating videos, ill just say here that everything in the beginning from the Pine Barrens Tree Frog until the Northern Scarlet Snake were from Central NJ. Then the majority of the rest, starting with the ribbon snake, are from Long Island with a couple other species like the mink frogs, copperhead, etc filmed in other parts of the state. Feel free to ask questions if you have any!

To see more of the amazing critters I've been lucky enough to see this year, check out my Instagram page @reptiles_and_wildlife

The majority of these critters are from the NJ and LI Pine Barrens and the Hudson Valley, Catskills,

Although eastern garter snakes (T. s. sirtalis) are generally considered docile, they can get pretty defensive if bothered. This one was not happy at all with me being near him!

Greene County, NY

Observed in a roadside ditch in Southern NJ

Mostly from Long Island but also a couple from the Hudson Valley

Each Spring, thousands of spring peepers migrate to the swamps from the
surrounding woods and to breed. Their high pitched peeping noise is a
deafening sign of spring that is well known to almost any person living
within the peeper's range. Although they only reach about 1.5
inches from snout to vent, they make one of the loudest sounds in the
woods. It can be incredibly difficult to locate these frogs in the
swamps because their calls echo and they hide in dense emergent
vegetation with only their tiny heads sticking out of the water.

Long Island NY

This is my subadult Montgomery County TX locale female. She’s always been an amazing eater and will take anything offered. Her main diet consists of f/t silversides and pinkies/fuzzies but I also vary her diet a little more by offering raw frog legs and the occasional live platy fish. Although she appears feisty in this clip, she along with most other captive Nerodia are generally mild-tempered as far as Colubrids go. Especially once they reach adult size, they are normally as easy to handle as your everyday ball python or corn snake. Hopefully this underrated Genus becomes more commonplace for herp keepers to work with, as they are among the most fascinating snakes to keep.

The black bear is what many consider the ghost of the woods. They are very secretive and not seen very often unless attracted by some kind of food. In this case, the bear was attracted by some cracked corn put out for the birds the day before. Black bears are one of the most beautiful animals in New York, so I always remember every single encounter I have!

Greene County, New York

The frogs and toads were calling like crazy the other night, and it was amazing to be able to go out and see them all! Its always a lot of fun to run around through the swamps at night!

Species seen:
Grey Tree Frog
Fowler's Toad
American Bullfrog
Northern Green Frog
Pickerel Frog
Spring Peeper
Eastern Spadefoot Toad (lifer!)
Redback Salamander (leadback phase)
Eastern Tiger Salamander

Long Island, NY

This beauty was seen basking on some floating vegetation underneath a boardwalk in Alachua County, Florida earlier this year. It was early morning and only around 40 degrees, so she was sluggish and didn't escape very fast at all! Florida Greens are a lot different-looking from our northern Nerodia, that's for sure!

The sound of a rattlesnake is quite possibly my favorite sound in the world, it really gets your heart rate up when you hear it while walking through the brush! Normally, timbers are not too quick to rattle and would rather stay hidden and motionless so they have a better chance of a person walking by and away without the snake being detected, but this one was right in the open and knew i would see it. It was a cool morning, making snakes more slow and grumpy. Rattlesnakes are such beautiful animals that deserve our respect and admiration! They are a state threatened species in NY because of a variety of things from purposeful killing to the over-growth of tree canopies! So hopefully through proper education and conservation efforts we can keep this beautiful rattlesnake roaming the hills of NY!