I found this beetle outside of a gas station on my way to work yesterday. It was about an inch in length.

A fly on my car door

A frog my friend found at Devou Park in northern Kentucky.

Photo by Sarah Ganson

Baby red-eared slider at Sharon Woods in Cincinnati, OH.

I found this snake basking on the top of this bush in Littleton, North Carolina over Memorial Day weekend. I’m not sure what kind of snake it is and he escaped before I could get a better photo

My friends came across this common snapping turtle yesterday while hiking a trail at the Cincinnati Nature Center.

Photo by Jamie Fishman and Bobby Garfield

This is one of two baby queen snakes I found while exploring a creek in Sharon Woods Nature Park in Cincinnati, OH. Queen snakes are diurnal colubrids that feed almost strictly on a diet of crayfish. For this reason, they are never found in habitats without a clean running stream. The snake spends a good deal of time swimming and can also be found basking on branches hanging over streams.

I found this caterpillar a few minutes ago. Its filaments lead me to believe that it is likely a caterpillar that will become a horned spanworm moth.

Southern Two-Lined Salamander (above) and a Red-Back Salamander. Noticeable differences include head shape, coloration, shape of tail, and length, specifically tail length. The tail of the Red-Back Salamander is at least as long, if not longer, than the rest of its body. Also, the tail of the Southern Two-Lined Salamander is paddle-like and flattened suggesting that it spends most of its life in water. The tail of the Red-Back Salamander is rounded rather than flattened, suggesting a more terrestrial lifestyle.

Red-Back Salamander inside of a rotting log in Blue Ash, Ohio