Roving Ringtails

Raccoon or Ringtail?

The common but elusive Ringtail or Ringtail Cat (Bassariscus astutus) is not a cat at all, but a member of the Procyonidae Family and a close relative of the Northern Raccoon.  The origins of its scientific name comes from bassar or ‘fox’, isc or ‘little’, and astute or ‘cunning’. In Texas, it is found mostly in the Trans-Pecos, the Edwards Plateau, and the Cross Timbers regions.   

An adult Ringtail on our back porch railing.

While ringtails are cat-sized mammals, their face is fox-like with a pointed snout, their body is elongated, and their tail resembles a raccoon.  The ears are large, and their big, dark eyes are each surrounded by a patch of light-colored fur.  The fur on their body is buff to brown-colored above and whitish below, with a spectacularly bushy, ringed tail.  This tail is often longer than their body, and is marked by a series of 14 to 16 alternating black and white rings (black rings incomplete on the underside) with a black tip.  

Close-up of the face of a Ringtail.

Mainly nocturnal but sometimes seen at dawn and dusk (crepuscular), ringtails are roving, solitary mammals that come together only to mate.  Their breeding season starts in late February and continues to mid-April, and females are in heat for only one 24-hour period during this time.  In early May to mid-June 2 to 4 cubs are born fuzzy, white-haired, and with a tail that is not yet colored with the distinctive black and white bands.  The cubs open their eyes at one month, and at four months begin hunting for rodents, insects, lizards, birds, and berries.  Ringtails are quite vocal, especially the young, and will make a variety of sounds including squeaks, chatters, grunts, growls, and hisses, with the typical call being a loud, plaintive bark.  In the wild, ringtails live an average of seven years. 

This Ringtail is eating sunflower seed that has fallen out of our bird feeders.

Ringtails can be found in our oak-juniper woodlands that have rocky areas associated with water, including riparian canyons and caves, limestone cliffs, and sometimes in man-made structures like mine shafts.  They can den in tree hollows, rock crevices, other animals’ abandoned burrows, and even seldom-used spaces in buildings.  They roam frequently, rarely spending more than three straight nights in one den.  Interestingly, the ankle joint of the Ringtail is very flexible and is able to rotate over 180 degrees, which makes them very agile climbers.  By pressing their feet against one wall and their back against the opposite wall, or by pressing both right feet against one wall and both left feet against the opposite wall, they are able to ‘stem’ or ascend/descend narrow passageways and wide cracks in the rock.  Their strong tail can provide balance for negotiating narrow ledges and limbs, and even allows them to reverse direction by performing a cartwheel!       

Getting access to our bird bath is an easy feat for the agile Ringtail!

Ringtails have many other common names, including Miner’s Cat, as they were often kept by miners and settlers as pets, to keep their cabin free of mice.  A hole was cut in a small box that was placed near a stove or fireplace, which acted as a dark, warm place for them to sleep during the day, and they returned the favor at night, hunting mice and keeping them and other rodents at bay.  In the native language of the Nahuatl Indians of Mexico, ringtails were called cacomistle, which is derived from the word tlahcomiztli meaning ‘half mountain lion.’  Whatever you call them, consider yourself lucky should you spot one of these beautiful, timid, and rarely seen nocturnal mammals!  

Late Summer Skimmers

The quiet waters of a pond like this make great dragonfly habitat

Dragonflies are conspicuous visitors to various bodies of water, especially in the warmer months of the year.    These visitors include members of the largest family of dragonflies, the Libellulidae, otherwise known as the skimmers. Skimmers can be large and colorful, some with distinctive wing patterns, and are often seen perching on twigs and branches.  In late summer, especially after summer rains, some locally common but not often observed species can be found around newly refilled ponds, including the Gray-waisted Skimmer (Cannaphila insularis), Needham’s Skimmer (Libellula needhami), and Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta).  

Found in shady or marshy ponds, typically with tall reeds or cattails, the male Gray-waisted Skimmer has greenish-blue eyes, a white face in front and metallic blue on top, and a dark brown or black thorax divided by several pale stripes.  Its abdomen is pruinose gray on the front half and black on the back half, and its wings are clear with extreme dark only at the tips.  Females and juveniles have a yellow-orange abdomen marked with dark brown or black.  Gray-waisted Skimmers are often found perching in the shade at the tips of vegetation, with their abdomen held nearly parallel to the perch.

Gray-waisted Skimmer, male

The male Needham’s Skimmer has reddish-orange eyes and face, and a thorax than is orange in front and paler or more tannish on the sides. Its abdomen is reddish-orange with a dark dorsal stripe down the length, and its orange wings are somewhat darker along the leading edge.  Females and juveniles have brown eyes and faces, a yellowish-brown thorax, and their abdomens are yellow with a dark stripe running down the middle.  Needham’s Skimmers are typically found perching low on vegetation or overhanging the water’s edge.

Needham's Skimmer, male

Most often seen around marshy forest ponds, the male Slaty Skimmer has dark eyes and a metallic blue or violet face, and both the thorax and abdomen have an overall slaty-blue pruinescence.  The wings are typically clear, but can have a pale bluish stripe along the leading edge.  Females and juveniles have red-over-gray eyes and a pale face, a cream-colored thorax with broad dark shoulder stripes, and a black abdomen with yellowish-orange markings. Females also have more prominent dark wing tips and develop a pale pruinosity at maturity.  Males perch on top of tall grasses and sticks most often in sunlit areas.

Slaty Skimmer, male

Check out your local pond or body of water before the end of September, and you just might be rewarded with a sighting of these less common, late summer skimmers!

Aquatic Apalones

Spiny Softshell Turtle

The genus Apalone is thought to come from the Greek apo meaning ‘separate’ and the Anglo-Saxon alone meaning ‘solitary’, as well as the  Greek apalos meaning ‘soft’ or ‘tender.’  All of these terms apply to the members of this genus, which is comprised of the softshell turtles native to North America.  Turtles of this genus exhibit marked sexual dimorphism, or the condition where the two sexes of the same species exhibit different characteristics beyond their sexual organs.

Females grow to twice the size of males, in terms of carapace or shell length.  In males, the claws on their front feet are longer than those on the back feet, enabling them to better hold on to the female while mating.  In females, the claws on the back are longer, for digging into sandbanks in order to lay her eggs.  Lastly, males have a thicker, stout tail that extends well beyond the edge of its carapace, but the female’s tail is relatively thin and barely extends beyond the carapace.  From a behavioral standpoint, the female is much more solitary, wanders more, and requires deeper water, while the male often congregates with juveniles in sandy shallows and while basking along exposed banks.

Spiny Softshell Turtle

There are two species of softshell turtle in Texas. The more common Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera) is found throughout the state, while the Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica) is found only in parts of the eastern two-thirds of the state. The Spiny Softshell’s olive-gray or tan carapace is leathery and flat, and has small spines along the front edge, which explains its species name.  At home in rivers, lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water with muddy or soft bottoms, its spends its time feeding on aquatic insects, fish, and crayfish, basking or floating at the surface, or buried in soft, shallow substrates.  Its long neck and snorkel-like nose allows the turtle to breathe at the water’s surface without having to leave its buried location. Females typically grow to 22 inches, while males top out at 8.5 inches in length.

Smooth Softshell Turtle

The Smooth Softshell’s olive-gray to brown carapace is also leathery and flat, but lacks any spines, bumps, or projections.  This characteristic is reflected in its species name, which means ‘shortened’ or ‘docked.’  It also prefers bodies of water with soft, sandy bottoms, and basks on banks, logs, rocks, or under shallow water with its long nose exposed.  Primarily insectivorous, it will also consume vegetation and small invertebrates and fish.  Smaller than the Spiny Softshell, females grow to 14 inches and males to 7 inches in length.

One odd but amazing fact about softshell turtles is that they are believed to absorb 70% of their oxygen through their skin.  The other 30% comes from pumping water in and out of their pharynx or throats, which contain many tiny projections of tissue with small blood vessels that provide a huge surface area for oxygen absorption.  This adaptation allows them to remain underwater for several hours.  Now that’s one highly aquatic Apalone!

Poisonous or Venomous?

Poison Ivy

Often used interchangeably when describing some plants and animals, in reality poisonous and venomous mean two different things.  Poisonous describes plants or animals that are harmful when consumed or touched.  Venomous refers to animals that inject venom into their prey, by means of a bite or sting, when hunting or for self-defense.  To add to the confusion, all venoms are a poison but not all poisons are venoms!

Poisonous species typically produce a toxin that can range from irritant to fatal. Plants such as Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) and some members of the Spurge family are considered irritants when they come in contact with skin, but this effect is produced through different mechanisms.  Nearly all parts of the Poison Ivy plant contain urushiol, which is a substance that gives us contact dermatitis, or a severely itchy and painful inflammation of the skin.  

Texas Bull Nettle

Spurges such as Texas Bull Nettle (Cnidoscolus texanus) and Betonyleaf Noseburn (Tragia betonicifolia) have raised structures called trichomes that are capable of ’stinging' animals and humans that brush against them.  These plants have trichomes on their leaves and stems that have bulbous tips that break off and reveal needle-like tubes that pierce the skin. They can cause an itching, burning rash by emitting onto the skin a mix of acetylcholine, formic acid, histamine, and serotonin.  

Jimsonweed or Sacred Datura

One local native plant, Jimsonweed or Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii) goes well beyond irritant to hallucinogenic and even fatal if ingested.  All parts of this plant contain toxic alkaloids, and the narcotic properties of this plant have been known by humans since before recorded history.  They once figured prominently in important religious ceremonies of various southwestern Native American tribes.

Gulf Coast Toad

Animals that are poisonous include most amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts), that have some amount of toxins on their skin and within other tissues. Special skin glands produce useful proteins, some for use in respiration, others for fighting bacterial or fungal infections, and at least one in each species that is used for defense.  For example, many toad species will release their toxins when they feel threatened, such as when they are caught by a dog or cat, and can trigger drooling, vomiting, and respiratory or cardiac problems.

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

While some snakes are the most commonly known venomous animals, all spiders, some lizards, and many bees, ants and wasps are venomous as well.  The venoms they inject through a bite or sting contain various classes of toxins designed to perform specific biological effects such necrosis or death in multiple cells (necrotoxins) or individual cells (cytotoxins), disruption of the nervous system (neurotoxins), or damage to muscle tissue (myotoxins).   The venom of our Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) carries both necrotoxins and myotoxins, Black Widow spiders (Latrodectus macrons) carry both neurotoxins and cytotoxins, and Striped Bark Scorpions (Centruroides vittatus) and Texas Redheaded Centipedes (Scolopendra heros) carry neurotoxins.

Striped Bark Scorpion

Texas Redheaded Centipede

While the vast majority of snake toxins are transferred by bite, one exception includes garter snakes (Thamnophis sp.), which are small and harmless in terms of their bite but are toxic to eat because their bodies absorb and store the toxins of their amphibious prey.  In our area, these snakes include the Black-necked Garter Snake (T. cyrtopsis) and the Western Ribbon Snake (T. proximus).

Western Ribbon Snake

It is important to keep in mind that many plants and animals that are poisonous or venomous are not necessarily a guaranteed threat to humans, as much depends on how the plant or animal is encountered, its toxicity level, and the amount of toxin absorbed.  Regardless, respecting these species and giving them their space is the cardinal rule.  Interestingly, the medicinal use of venoms for therapeutic benefit in treating diseases dates back to 380 B.C. in ancient Greece.  Today, the venoms produced by different organisms, which contain hundreds of different bioactive elements, are isolated, purified, and screened, then studied to identify components that may have desirable therapeutic properties.  This research is often the starting point for developing a therapeutic drug, and those types of drugs on the market today are used to lower high blood pressure, relieve severe pain, act as blood thinners, treat Type 2 diabetes, and stop bleeding during surgical procedures.

Winter Chorus

Clear and bell-like, consisting of a single, quickly repeated note, the call of the male Strecker’s Chorus Frog (Pseudacris streckeri) is unmistakable.  In the midst of winter, especially in the peak calling season from January to early March, multiple males call at the same time, their alternating notes resulting in an unexpectedly delightful winter chorus rising up from the canyons!

Reaching an adult length of 1 to 1.5 inches, this largest chorus frog is identified by a stout gray, brown, olive, or green body, a dark brown mask-like stripe through the eye and a dark spot under the eye, dark longitudinal stripes along the back, and a deep golden or orange color in the groin. Males are slightly smaller than females and have greenish-yellow vocal sacs.  The genus Pseudacris comes from the Greek pseudes meaning ‘false’ and akris meaning ‘locust’, and is likely a reference to the repeated rasping calls of most chorus frogs, which are similar to and can be mistaken for those of an insect.

Although Strecker’s Chorus Frog is mainly a nocturnal frog, its call can be heard day or night. Males call as they hang on to or sit on vegetation, or from the bank above the water’s surface. Typically feeding on insects, this chorus frog is seen most often in moist woodlands, rocky ravines, near streams or in swamps.  While its range includes portions of Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, the individuals in Texas are of the subspecies P.s. streckeri, and occur in most counties in the eastern half of our state.

Aside from its distinctive winter chorus, Strecker’s Chorus Frog is also distinguished by its ability to use its forelimbs to burrow headfirst, unlike other amphibians that typically use their hind legs to back into a burrow.  It burrows deeply in sand or mud and hides under rocks and woody debris to protect itself from heat and predators, emerging mainly after heavy rains. Following these rains, it migrates a short distance to a preferred breeding site.

Strecker’s Chorus Frog is a cold-tolerant, winter breeding frog, breeding anytime between November and March when rains are adequate. While most frogs prefer to breed in flowing water, Strecker’s Chorus Frog prefers still, clear, temporary water bodies such as ditches, ponds, and pools in wet weather creeks.  Females attach their small, jelly-covered clusters of eggs to vegetation below the water’s surface, and the time to hatch, while water temperature dependent, is usually just a few days.  Tadpoles take around two months to transform into adult chorus frogs.  In spring, at a time when most other frogs are just beginning to seek their breeding ponds, Strecker’s Chorus Frogs terminate their breeding activities.

Named after John Kern Strecker, Jr (1875 – 1933), a Texas naturalist and Curator of the Baylor University Museum (renamed the Strecker Museum in 1940 in his honor), this chorus frog with its peculiar and unusual habits and haunting winter chorus might have been a perfect candidate for “Strecker’s Cabinets of Curiosities”!  

If you’d like to see and hear the chorus for yourself, check out the video at https://texaswild.me/2014/03/31/streckers-chorus-frogs-calling/