anoleguru22's Favorites

Drama. These guys all normally get along pretty well, but here a squirrel decided to start something and nearly got kicked in the head as reward. Moments later they were back to munching sunflower seeds side-by-side again.

My friend was walking and came upon this 4 ft Black Rat Snake coiled around a juvenile Broad-Wing Hawk. The Hawk was unconscious. He and his wife picked up the duo with a towel and untangled the snake. The snake had a small wound near the tail so he surmised that the hawk likely attacked the snake, but bit the wrong end. Big mistake! Rat Snakes are constrictors. The snake slithered away seemingly unaffected. The hawk took approx 20 minutes to recuperate and fly away. Happy ending for the snake - lesson learned we hope for the hawk.
The hawk had a purple band on its leg, but we don't know who tagged it.
A separate observation has been logged for the snake.

I went fishing in a part of the trinity river for sunfish and bass, but the sunfish were hungry !

Im not sure what this is but it is some sort of hybrid?

It appears to be a Rio Grande Longear X Redbreast or Spotted sunfish

I know that redbreast and longear are in this water but im not that confident about spotted?

It was later in the day and i was just relaxing and then i saw this going on, the frog tried to swallow the lizard but after 1-2 Hours the lizard made an escape, but unfortunate lost half its tail and had digestion stuff that burned some of its skin, but lucky for the lizard!

~18cm. Breeding male hybrid. I believe this is L. cyanellus x L. microlophus.
Rakers are too short and thick to have L. macrochirus in the mix (otherwise they would remain long/thin like on L. cyanellus & macrochirus.) The brassy gold, dull pattern on the dorsal side is very much like a breeding L. microlophus as well as the dark pelvic fins and anal fin.

This lake recently was surveyed by the Virginia DWR (formally DGIF) reporting one of the healthiest L. microlophus populations in the state.

Of the 50+ specimens I caught today; only L. cyanellus, L. macrochirus & L. microlophus were caught/seen. L. auritus has been caught in nearby connecting streams.

Part of my Lepomis survey. Released after photo.

My friend was walking and came upon this 4 ft Black Rat Snake coiled around a juvenile Broad-Wing Hawk. The Hawk was unconscious. He and his wife picked up the duo with a towel and untangled the snake. The snake had a small wound near the tail so he surmised that the hawk likely attacked the snake, but bit the wrong end. Big mistake! Rat Snakes are constrictors. The snake slithered away seemingly unaffected. The hawk took approx 20 minutes to recuperate and fly away. Happy ending for the snake - lesson learned we hope for the hawk.
The hawk had a purple band on its leg, but we don't know who tagged it.
A separate observation has been logged for the hawk.