If you’re coming from Tangled Bank, the Agkistrodon natural history is at these sites, methinks I sent the wrong one.

Time for a little common photographic Louisiana fauna natural history. I have too many photos on my phone of animals I’ve found in the past few weeks to not post a few of them. So here we go.

Anolis carolinensis

Anolis carolinensis is the only native species of Anole found in this area, others exist, but they are invasive species. This species is known for it’s ability to change color based upon its mood, and like most iguanids, does “pushups” instead of physical conflict in most cases. Its rather fun to watch and, if done properly, you can induce them to do “pushups” by doing a similar motion with a single finger provided the others are out of sight.

Hyla cinerea

Notice the lateral line here.

Notice the yellow spots? That is the easiest way to tell the difference between Hyla cinerea and Hyla squirella. H. squirella is also generally lighter with a much less distinct lateral stripe.

Hyla squirella

Notice the lack of a lateral line.

Hyla squirella is also much more of a yellowish color around here, but coloration varies with this species. H. cinerea, on the other hand, always has a pronounced stripe, sometimes has yellow spots on the dorsum, and is always dark green. H. squirella is usually described via process of elimination rather than specifics, but these two species are VERY closely related and it is difficult to distinguish them if you have not seen numerous examples of each.

Elaphe obsoleta

This is a fairly young (2-3 year old) snake I found in the house a week ago. It still has the markings of a young rat snake, adults in this area generally being black or have very poorly defined markings.

You may also want to look at the non-mystery animal I talked about earlier as it is another common Louisiana species. That time, it was a turtle.