Reptiles of the PHT

NPS | Steve Dean

Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta)

Identifiers: This semi-terrestrial turtle is characterized by a ridged shell and orange to red neck, chin, and legs. Its pyramid shaped plates have growth rings, giving its shell a wood-like appearance.

Habitat: These turtles prefer forested streams, leaving the water and heading to open grasslands and sandy shores during the spring for nesting and foraging.

Behavior: Wood turtles are often seen crawling along the bottom of streams foraging. They also perform a unique feeding behavior, stomping on the ground with their chest to attract worms to the surface. Worms are thought to react this way because these movements mimic rain or predators coming their way.

Regions: Wood turtles can be spotted along the entirety of the trail corridor.

 

NPS | Steve Dean

Eastern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)

Identifiers: Their shell is olive brown with outside plates having red or yellow borders. The underside of the shell is typically yellow, or orange and their heads are lined with yellow stripes. Juveniles are characterized by a yellow spot on their head.

Habitat: Ponds, lakes, and freshwater marshes are their preferred habitats.

Behavior: These turtles are commonly seen sunning themselves in large groups. Their daily schedule involves sunning, foraging, and sunning again.

Regions: Wood turtles inhabit the entirety of the trail, overlapping with Midland Painted Turtles from Haper’s Ferry, MD onward.

 

Holly Phillips

Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)

Identifiers: The majority of their body is covered with a dome-shaped carapace (shell) with orange and yellow markings. These turtles are sexually dimorphic, meaning the male and females are distinctive. Male box turtles have red eyes while the females have yellowish-brown. Males also have visibly longer claws than the females.

Habitat: Box turtles are predominately terrestrial and inhabit a variety of vegetative areas, such as shrubby grasslands, marshy meadows, open woodlands, and forest edges.

Behavior: When threatened, they will retract all of their limbs into their shell, making it difficult for predators to prey upon them.

Regions: Box turtles inhabit all regions along the trail.

 

NPS | Steve Dean

Eastern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)

Identifiers: Eastern copperheads are a member of the venomous pit viper family characterized by their copper-color with brown hourglass shaped bands extending down their body. Juveniles will have a green tail-tip.

Habitat: Copperheads prefer deciduous forests and mixed woodlands, often spotted on ledges or rock outcroppings.

Behavior: The color of the copperhead allows it to successfully camouflage, hiding from prey until it gets close enough to pass. If prey is too large, they will stalk it until the venom renders it weak. Despite being painful, their bites are rarely fatal.

Regions: Eastern copperheads are native to the entire range of the trail corridor.

 

NPS | Steve Dean

Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon)

Identifiers: The color of this non-venomous snake can range from gray, brown, to reddish brown with dark blotches around the body and red crescents along the underbelly. They are commonly mistaken for the venomous cottonmouth, which is much thicker with a triangular head.

Habitat: Water snakes can be spotted in freshwater wetlands and habitats. Look for them sunbathing on rocks or swimming with just their head above the surface.

Behavior: Though they are solitary during the summer months, they may coexist with other snakes in dens during hibernation. These snakes are carnivorous, primarily hunting small fish and amphibians, using their keen sense of smell to locate prey.

Regions: Northern water snakes are native to the entire range of the trail corridor.

 

NPS | Nicole Phillips

Eastern Racer (Coluber constrictor)

Identifiers: Eastern racers are long, slim black snakes with smooth scales known for their fast speed. Look for their eyes that are disproportionately large for their head.

Habitat: Eastern racers prefer open, grassland habitats.

Behavior: Though they are not dangerous to humans, they will put up a fight when cornered, rattling their tails to mimic the venomous rattlesnake. If handled, they will squirm and release a foul-smelling musk.

Regions: Eastern Racers are native to the entire range of the trail corridor.

 

NPS | Nicole Phillips

Common Five-lined Skink (Plestodon fasciatus)

Identifiers: Five-lined skinks are medium-sized lizards measuring 5-8 inches in length. Adult males are olive tan to brown with five faint stripes, while females are brown with five faded stripes and a blue or gray tail. Juveniles have a bright blue tail and more obvious stripes.

Habitat: These lizards prefer moist, partially wooded habitats that provide tree cover, but also areas to bask in the sun. They can be found along forest edges, along wooded river margins, in rocky areas, on stumps and logs, or inside walls of abandoned buldings.

Behavior: Skinks are mainly active during the day where they spend their time foraging. If startled, they may lose their tails as a defense mechanism to help them escape predators.

Regions: Five-lined Skinks are native to the entire range of the trail corridor.