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The Poweshiek Skipper Project | |
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Lake Hawthorne ©Rayford Ratcliff
Introduction Information about the butterfly
O.
poweshiek, Legacy butterfly Legacy
of Chief Poweshiek
H.W. Parker's writings Von Blixum's Heroic Experiment
Iowa's
biological diversity
The Poweshiek Skipper Project Goals
of the project
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Reptiles There is some conservation activity with reptiles in
Iowa. There is a web site--HerpNet--that lists all of Iowa's
reptiles and amphibians. It lists 5 species of salamander, 16
species of frogs, 27 species of snakes, 5 lizards, and 13 species of
turtles. Frogs and turtles are considered game species in Iowa--at least some species are. However, the possession limits, particularly for turtles are very high--it is legal to possess up to 100 pounds of live turtles and 50 pounds of dressed turtles. You can collect up to 48 frogs as a daily bag limit and have up to 96 frogs as a possession limit. There are a lot of frogs and turtles in Iowa. However, it seems to me that with limits that high a relatively low number of individuals could make significant dents in the populations of those animals. I don't think those limits would be sustainable if enough people felt the need to fill their limits. The Iowa Gap analysis project has additional information about reptiles and amphibians. The photograph above right is of a five-lined skink, Eumeces fasciatus. I saw it at the Maquokata Caves State Park. I was thrilled to see it--after 5 decades of living in Iowa, this was the first time I had seen a lizard in the wild in Iowa. The photo to the left is a common snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina. This individual was only about 4 inches long. They get much bigger.
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Iowa
Natural Heritage Foundation and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources
have designated an area as a "Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Area" in Iowa. This
includes public and private areas in the floodplain of the Mississippi
River in southeastern Iowa. It is billed as the first amphibian and
reptile conservation area in the nation.
