Monday, March 19, 2018

What the Heckbenders?!

So road trip #3 finally happened, except that road trip turned into plane trip. I went to Missouri this weekend to visit my good friend and to see a facility that is raising hell(benders). YES! Hellbenders!! If you don't know what a Hellbender is, see the pictures below:



Meet Cryptobranchus alleganiensis, the largest species of salamander in North America. It's flat, it's slimy, it's awesome! In the wild, these guys live in fast-moving streams under flat rocks and can grow to over two feet long. The Hellbenders pictured here are only tiny little babies. They should be called Heckbenders.

I have wanted to see them ever since we talked about them in Herpetology four years ago. They did not disappoint.

We saw some other cool things as well:


A two-headed snake.


Mrs. Pileated Woodpecker.


Mr. Pileated Woodpecker.


Lots and lots of lichens. We found and keyed out a really cool species (Psora pseudorussellii), which I forgot to photograph.


Hyla cinerea.


Dog-toothed violet.


Someone left their tiny soup bowls out in the middle of the woods.


A salamander egg mass. We saw so many.

And lastly, I want you to know that one of the other common names for Hellbender is Snot Otter. Have a good night.


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