Sand Dollars

I'm not sure whether these sand dollars were found during Hurricane Fay, or the other one.. *Can't remember* These sand dollars are kind of old, but I thought I'd take a picture anyway.

We find these sand dollars occasionally, sometimes at VERY low tide or after a big storm. After that one hurricane we had lots all over the beach; some still alive. You aren't allowed to bring anything alive back from the beach, so I just picked up the dead ones. (You can tell if they're dead either by the fact that their little 'underhairs' aren't moving, or they turn kind of greenish.)

I know I'm being very vague in this post; I'll get some more information soon. :B

Another Snake

This snake was really hard to identify, and even now I'm not positive I'm right. But I think it's a Dekay's Brown Snake. It isn't venomnous. I think one of my sisters spit on it when I went to go get the camera... But anyway, for more information you can go here!

Pine Woods Snake

My sister was poking around in the dirt, and she found this pretty Pine Woods Snake! Not a very good picture though... He was around four or five inches long, and this really pretty burnt sienna color, with a brown head.

Here is some information I've gotten off the internet:

Description: Pine woods snakes are small, slender snakes, ranging from 10 – 13 in (25 – 33 cm). Coloration is generally brownish, ranging from golden brown to reddish brown with a darker head and lighter venter. There is a dark stripe passing through the eye and the upper lip scales are yellowish, leading to one of its common names, the yellow-lipped snake.
Range and Habitat: Pine woods snakes are found in scattered populations throughout the Coastal Plain in the southeastern U.S. Although common in a few sections of Florida they are generally uncommon to rare in our region. The most inland populations that have been discovered are in South Carolina on the Savannah River Site. Pine woods snakes can be found in a variety of woodland habitats and are apparently particularly common around wetland margins. Like other small fossorial snakes this species is most often found in rotting logs, under tree bark, in loose soil, or under leaf litter.
Habits: Little is known about the ecology of this uncommon snake. They are generally fossorial (live underground) and are most often found hiding beneath logs, leaf litter, or other debris. Pine Woods Snakes have been known to eat small frogs, salamanders, snakes, and small lizards. Although not dangerous to humans, this species has toxic saliva that it uses to subdue its prey. Pine woods snakes lay 1 – 4 eggs in spring or early summer.

For the entire thing go here.

It is now officially JELLYFISH season!

Yes, it's now jellyfish season, so watch out! The Jellyfish season is About from August until people stop swimming for the winter.

That picture above is my leg, which got stung yesterday. I think it was either a Sea Nettle, or a Sea Wasp. Either way it hurt like mad... X(

The best thing to prevent getting stung is wear a wetsuit or something. Even something as thin as pantyhose will keep the stingers away! But if you don't want to go to those extremes, then you should bring a bottle of vinegar with you. Also if you go to the lifeguard he'll spray you with his. If you get stung, you should rub wet sand on it, which gets off the barbs and stuff that hasn't stung yet. You should NEVER put freshwater on a jellyfish sting, only saltwater. Also, contrary to popular belief, peeing on your sting doesn't work.

This sting I got yesterday was different from the others I've gotten. This one was much stronger, and I got muscle pain all up my leg above the sting. (Very uncomfortable if you need to bike home.) It also had some effect on the rest of my muscles and my bowels. Yesterday once I got home it was very hard to sit still without my muscles going funky, so I walked around a lot. My dad said it was good to do that because it was my body's way of telling me to let the poison move around and sort of dilute through my body. Okay, I can go with that.. :) It's completely numb now, by the way.

It was kind of funny yesterday when I got stung; all these little kids were crowding around me saying stuff like "What happened to you?" "Does it hurt a lot?" I told them what to happen if they got stung and stuff, and one little girl said, "I heard it helps if you put shaving cream on it then scrape it off with a credit card." I replied "Great idea! Except I don't have any shaving cream or a credit card on me at the moment." Little kids.. ;)

Anybody home?

Our neighbors' little 4-5 year old kid must found this cool turtle shell. At least I think he did... He ran up to my sister and gave it to her as a present. XD

I think it's a Yellow-Bellied Slider, because of the markings on the shell and the yellow at the base.

These turtles can be found from south eastern Virginia to northern Florida, living in freshwater habitats, such as our lagoon.

I read the juveniles are more carnivorous, eating stuff like insects, tadpoles, dead fish etc., while the adult prefers things like roots and stems, fruits and leaves, that sort of thing. The little sliders can't swim as fast as the fish, so if they catch fish, they were probably unhealthy.

If you've been to Hilton Head, you've probably seen them somewhere basking on sunken logs, or on the banks of lagoons. I think especially cool/cute when they all stack on top of one another! I have to see if I can get a picture of that..

Crustaceous!

I left a small plastic cup out in the yard to catch rain, and my sister found it and used it to get lagoon water. She had only left a little in it when it rained, and the cup was filled up. Later when I went outside I found two shrimp-like things swimming around in it! They were about a centimeter long, and their legs all stuck out at odd angles.

Weird huh?

All this wildlife, right outside my door!

I found all this on our /small/ front porch.

A cicada...

A cute Green Tree Frog. He was very dark!

A pretty moth got stuck in a spider's web.

A scared little lizard ran away, so only his tail is showing.

More on Mysterious Froggies..

Well, I've done some research, and the closest I can find is the Northern Spring Peeper. Alright.. Yes.. I know. We are not in the north and it isn't spring. :/ (In the Tideland Treasure it leaves off the 'Northern' part but I suspect it's the same frog.) But anyway this is what I found.

The Spring Peeper is a small frog about the size of a quarter at adult size. (These are probably juveniles). Their color is a mixture of brown and gray, and they have a distorted 'X' pattern on their backs. This info fits the frogs I found.

Apparently the Northern Spring Peeper makes a loud 'peep' call at night. I hear a lot of frog noises at night but I can't pin it on these little critters, as I don't go out at night often.

These frogs live in damp areas, (by our lagoon?!), and hunt for smaller invertebrates in low vegetation. (I put the little amphibians in a plastic cup, and it's obvious they can't climb.)

New Photos!

My mom generously lent me her camera, so I went and got some new wildlife pics! Here are some of them..

Yes, I know.. My nasty fingernails need to be trimmed. X(

We have all these TINY little frogs in our backyard! And there are tons of them everywhere! I have to find out what they are...

See if you can spot the teenie tiny froggeh head!