Observations by isasiles1

Found in a lots of part at the Jornada Experimental Range, this specimen was used for a water potential experiment during the summer. Black grama, is a perennial prairie grass that is native to the Southwestern United States. It is a C4 grass which means it has a great tolerance to drought. It has a lack of tolerance to overgrazing (relative to other grasses), but aside from this B. eriopoda is a good forage food for livestock. Finally it reproduces by stolons, as its ratio of viable seeds to sterile ones is naturally low.

This specimen is part of the LTER site of Dr. Tweedie at the Jornada Experimental Range. This type of desert bush is characterized by its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants. Common throughout the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts of western North America, it is an evergreen shrub growing to 1 to 3 m tall. It has dark green three-toothed leaves (that is why it is tridentata), and yellow small flowers. Fully grown specimens can tolerate extreme drought stress and have been found living down to -120 bars. Also, water loss is reduced by the resinous, waxy coating of the leaves, and by their small size, which prevents them from heating up above air temperature.

This cute specimen was going down a tree while I was walking to the bathroom. American red squirrels, also referred to as pine squirrels, are medium-sized (200–250 g) diurnal mammals that defend a year-round exclusive territory. Their diet is specialized on the seeds of conifer cones. As such, they are widely distributed across North America wherever conifers are common. Red squirrels can be easily distinguished from other North American tree squirrels by their smaller size, territorial behavior and reddish fur with a white venter (underbelly)

I found this species while returning from the boat to our dorms in the Flathead Lake Biological Station late at night. Their habitats are found generally near permanent bodies of water widespread throughout western North America, from Alaska and parts of British Columbia to Washington, Idaho, and parts of Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah.
This frog is opportunistic at best. It will eat a variety of insects, including grasshoppers, ants, wasps, beetles, and moths. These insects comprise more than 50% of the frog's diet. This frog will also eat seemingly unusual animals, such as crustaceans, mollusks, arthropods, and arachnids.

I found this species while walking through Glacier National Park. It was common to find it there since the Isabella tiger moth can be found in many cold regions, including the Arctic. The banded woolly bear larva emerges from the egg in the fall and overwinters in its caterpillar form, when it freezes solid. It survives being frozen by producing a cryoprotectant in its tissues. In the spring it thaws out and emerges to pupate.
The larva is black at both ends, with or without a band of coppery red in the middle (the one in the picture does not has it) The setae of the Woolly Bear caterpillar do not inject venom and are not urticant. Their main defense mechanism is rolling up into a ball if picked up or disturbed.

Not far from the other caterpillar, I found this little guy that is smaller and easier to handle than the other. This caterpillar is the larva stage of a White-lined Sphinx Moth. The larva is yellow and black or sometimes lime green and black. Many individuals have a subdorsal stripe. The head, prothoracic shield, and the anal plate are one color either green or orange with small black dots. The horn varies from either yellow or orange and sometimes has a black tip. Larvae burrow into soil to go into pupal stage, where they remain for 2–3 weeks before they emerge as adults.

This picture is of the larva stage or caterpillar of that species of moth. I found it while mowing the lawn in my yard. As a defense mechanism it pooped while I was trying to take it some place else in order not to kill it. The caterpillar form of the species is characterized by a mainly black color with some yellow spots and a line that goes through the middle of it. It also has an orange tail, and feeds mainly on grass.

When my professor and I arrived to our site in the Jornada Experimental Range we found like 10 of those hares running all over the place. When one of them stopped I took that picture. Also known as the American desert hare, is a common hare of the western United States and Mexico, Reaching a length around 61 cm, and a weight from 1.4 to 2.7 kg, the black-tailed jackrabbit is the third-largest North American hare. Black-tailed jackrabbits occupy mixed shrub-grassland terrains. Their breeding depends on the location; it typically peaks in spring, but may continue all year round in warm climates. Its diet is composed of various shrubs, small trees, grasses, and forbs. Shrubs generally comprise the bulk of fall and winter diets, while grasses and forbs are used in spring and early summer. The black-tailed jackrabbit is an important prey species for raptors and carnivorous mammals, such as eagles, hawks, owls, coyotes, foxes, and wild cats.

The little brown skink is one of the smallest reptiles in North America, with a total length (including tail) of only 7.5 - 14.5 cm. Its back is typically a coppery brown color with a white or yellow underside, and like most skinks has an elongated body and short legs. Transparent disks in the lower eyelids allow it to see with its eyes closed. The ground skink is found throughout much of the Eastern United States, from New Jersey, Ohio, and Kansas south to Texas and Florida, as well as into northern Mexico. It is absent from higher elevations in the Appalachian Mountains.
This skink lives in a variety of habitats, including deciduous or mixed deciduous/coniferous forests, hedgerows, and the edges of streams and ponds. It does require a deep substrate, such as leaf litter. The diet of the little brown skink consists of small insects, spiders, and other arthropoda, such as isopods while they are preyed by snakes and birds.

We found this little guy while walking through the forest down a rock. In North America, it is found from parts of New York to South Carolina to South Dakota, Arizona, and northern Mexico. This is a species of forest edge habitat. Wood and rock piles provide ideal conditions for this species to find a perch to survey its territory or quickly find shelter.
This species is generally gray or tan with a series of approximately 8 dark, jagged crossbars on the back, and it has a very limited ability to change color, from darker (in cooler weather) to lighter (in warmer weather). Males will develop bright turquoise-colored patches on the underside of the belly and throat. Juveniles resemble females in coloration, but are often darker. Recently, this species was considered the subspecies Northern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus), but now it has its own classification. This lizard is also known as the Fence Runner, Fence Lizard, or Gray Lizard.

Found inside the forest (not as near to a water body) This specimen is a juvenile and as it can be seen in the picture one of its front legs is still growing. The western slimy salamander is a species of salamander found in two distinct populations in the United States, one from Missouri to Oklahoma, and Arkansas, and another in south-central Texas. It is typically black in color with white speckling (it looks like it has sparkles all over its body). On some specimens, the white speckling turns into large, white blotches along the sides of their bodies. They have large, bulbous eyes and long tails. Primarily nocturnal, it is commonly found under rocks, or other ground debris in moist, wooded areas. Eggs are laid in damp protected locations. The species has no aquatic larval stage. They are a shy species of salamander and are not normally found of areas where humans frequent. They live in areas of high humidity levels.

Found in a pond shore, there were lots of them. It is a common newt of eastern North America, and it frequents small lakes, ponds, and streams or near-by wet forests. The eastern newt produces tetrodotoxin which makes the species unpalatable to predatory fish and crayfish. It has a lifespan of 12 to 15 years in the wild, and may grow to five inches in length. It has three growth stages and the only time it is outside water is in the juvenile stage (when it is bright orange in color). Eastern newts are at home in both coniferous and deciduous forests. They need a moist environment with either a temporary or permanent body of water, and thrive best in a muddy environment. Adults prefer a muddy aquatic habitat, but will move to land during a dry spell. Eastern newts eat a variety of prey, such as insects, small molluscs and crustaceans, young amphibians, worms and frog eggs.

Found in a pond after putting traps the night before, there were four or five specimens in total. The southern painted turtle ranges from extreme southern Illinois and Missouri, roughly along the Mississippi River Valley, to the south. It is a sub species of painted turtle and it differentiates from the other subspecies since it is the smallest one (10–14 cm long). Its top stripe is a prominent red, and its bottom shell is tan and spotless or nearly so. They are characterized for living especially in quiet waters, usually shores and coves. They favor shallows that contain dense vegetation and have an unusual toleration of pollution. Its diet is not consistent and changes with age. Juveniles' diet consists of 13% vegetation, while the adults eat 88% vegetation. The most common plants eaten by adult southern painted turtles are duckweed and algae, and the most common prey items are dragonfly larvae and crayfish.

As part of a herpetology survey, rangers from the Mark twain National Forest set some traps in a pond. In one of those traps, we found the common snapping turtle, and it was really difficult to get it out without harm it or harm ourselves.
This turtle is noted for its combative disposition when out of the water with its powerful beak-like jaws, and highly mobile head and neck. In water, they are likely to flee and hide themselves underwater in sediment. In their environment, they are at the top of the food chain, causing them to feel less fear or aggression. Lately, snapping turtles have become an invasive species in several water bodies usually introduced as unwisely release pets.

Snakeweed is a species of flowering plant characterized for its shrub-like form and its yellow flowers. It is very adaptable to several ecosystems due to its efficient water use and drought tolerance. Also as an interesting fact, snakeweed is toxic to cattle in great quantities due to the presence of saponins. I found this species in the Jornada Experimental Range at Las Cruces, NM while I went working to the desert.