Meet Your Neighbors at Howell Community Park

Broad-banded Watersnake

Scientific Name: Nerodia fasciata spp. confluens 

Places I hang out: Hurricane Creek, Edges and shallow areas of fishing ponds 

When I am most active: I am active both day and night. During the day you can find me basking in the sunlight, and at night you can see me hunting for food. 

What I like to eat:  I primarily like to eat different types of frogs and small amphibians, but other times I may snack on varying sizes of fish.  

What I am known for: I am a watersnake native to the central and southeastern United States. Though I am nonvenomous, people often mistake me for a Cottonmouth/Water Moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorous) because I tend to be in or near water and my dark-colored complexion. Compared to the Cottonmouth, some physical traits that differentiate me include my round pupils, the presence of dark vertical lines on my upper lip, and the dark stripe between my eyes and the angles of my mouth. 

If you are trying to spot me in my habitat, I typically grow to be as large as 4 feet to 5.5 feet. I typically reproduce in the summer, and I am an ovoviviparous species; which means that I lay eggs in my reproduction cycle. I typically have 15 to 20 young at a time, and at the time of hatching, they are between 8 to 9 inches long. 

Eastern Cottontail

Scientific Name: Sylvilagus Floridanus 

Places I hang out: I forage in open areas and use brush piles, stone walls with shrubs around them, shrubby plants, and dens for escape cover, shelter and resting cover. 

When I am most active: I am crepuscular, so I mainly forage at dawn and dusk 

What I like to eat:  I am an herbivore and eat, I often eat soft grasses, leaves, herbs, peas, beans, lettuce, twigs, bark, buds and even young trees. 

What I am known for: Eastern Cottontails are found in southernmost Canada to South America. In the US it is found in most of the eastern states including parts of New Mexico and Arizona. 

Eastern Cottontails are speckled brown-gray fur above, reddish-brown fur around their neck and shoulders and lighter fur around their nose and undersides. It has big eyes and a tail that is puffy white on the underside. In the winter its fur may be more gray than brown.  

The eastern cottontails are solitary and very territorial. They can leap distances of between 10 and 15 feet. It will sometimes stand on its hind feet to watch for predators like coyotes, foxes, weasels, eagles and hawks. When a predator is chasing it, the eastern cottontail will often leap from side to side to break its scent trail. It can run at speeds of up to 18 miles an hour. 

Red Fox

Scientific Name: Vulpes vulpes 

Places I hang out: I like to spend my time along forest-edge habitats, as well as in moderate brush that can provide some cover while hunting. 

When I am most active: Though you may see me during the day, I am most active at dawn and dusk when I am hunting. 

What I like to eat: I am an opportunistic omnivore, which means that I will eat almost anything I can get my paws on. While I primarily try to eat small rodents and birds, I have also been known to only consume berries and nuts when they are in abundance. Occasionally you may see me eating from the garbage or on carcasses. 

What I am known for: Though I exist in almost all parts of the United States, there is much debate about whether I am native to this continent. Some people believe that the North American Red Fox persisted long before the introduction of the European Red Fox, which occurred in the southeastern region of the United States in the 18^th century. Others hypothesize that our current species is a hybrid of the two. 

Like other foxes around the world, many people seek to trap and hunt red foxes for nuisance-related reasons or to sell their pelts in the fur trade. Human-caused deaths are still among the highest causes of mortality for this species; however, only a few of our populations around the United States are of conservation concern. 

We communicate with our fellow foxes using body language and a variety of unique vocalizations. Some sounds we make include high-pitched barks, yaps, or whines. When foxes come together they will typically make barking sounds, and when they interact with other animals they will make a high-pitched wine. 

Rough Earthsnake

Scientific Name: Virginia striatula 

Places I hang out: Pollinator Gardens, Grow Zones, and in leaf litter under large tree canopies. 

When I am most active: You are most likely to see me during the warm months of the year, specifically April through October. During these months, I am most active after periods of rain when the soil is moist, and easy for me to search for my next meal.  

What I like to eat: I like to feed almost exclusively on Earth Worms, but I have also been known to eat other invertebrates including slugs, snails, and insect larvae. 

What I am known for: Research has shown that females in our species tend to be longer and heavier than male counterparts, but females do typically have shorter tails than males. 

One word used to describe my species is fossorial, which means we are adapted to digging. It is believed that our specific anatomical adaptation is our pointy snout; which helps us to burrow through the soil. 

My species of snake is classified as viviparous, which means we give birth to live young and do not lay eggs. Our mature female snakes typically give birth to three to eight newborns, also referred to as neonates, which range in length from three to five inches each. 

Cooper’s Hawk

Scientific Name: Accipiter cooperii 

Places I hang out: Sit on limbs high up in large trees or soaring close to the ground above open spaces. 

When I am most active: As a diurnal species, we are most active during the day. When I am active, you can find me perching, soaring, pouncing, or sunning. 

What I like to eat: I primarily feed on other birds, such as songbirds, doves, and gulls. I also occasionally feed on small mammals like squirrels, rabbits, rats, and mice. 

What I am known for: My species tends to nest in open areas with large, old trees. We make our nests to be around two feet in length, and we typically make them on top of a large limb right against the trunk of a tree. It is common for us to create new nests every year. 

Cooper’s Hawks are frequently monogamous, meaning that we typically mate for life. Females will lay three to five eggs annually, and the eggs are incubated for 4-5 weeks before hatching. After hatching, the adult male will bring food to the adult female and then the adult female will feed the young. 

As late as the 1990s, populations of my species were classified as of conservation concern, threatened, or endangered throughout the United States. Population declines were attributed to over-harvest of agriculture in the early 1900s and to the use of the DDT pesticide which resulted in the thinning of our eggshells. Due to conservation efforts across the nation, populations have drastically increased since the 1990s. Now, Cooper’s Hawks are a species of least concern. 

Gulf Fritillary

Scientific Name: Dione vanillae

Places I hang out: Pollinator Garden, Grow Zones

When I am most active: Midday to mid afternoon

What I like to eat: As a caterpillar I eat passion-vine leaves; As a butterfly, I drink nectar from flowers such as lantana.

What I am known for:

I have several adaptations to help protect myself:

• I absorb toxins from the passion-vine that I eat as when I'm a young caterpillar, making me poisonous to predators and increasing my chances of survival. 

• My caterpillar spine looks spiky and dangerous (but is harmless) to keep other animals from messing with me.

• My chrysalis resembles a dead leaf, camouflaging me as I grow into a butterfly during metamorphosis and unable to move.

The Gulf Fritillary is the state butterfly of Louisiana!

Redwinged Blackbird

Scientific Name: Agelaius phoeniceus 

Places I hang out: Grow Zones, Fence tops, cattail marshes and other wetlands 

When I am most active: Red-winged blackbirds live across the continent year-round, but many associate their calls with the beginning of Spring and are heard throughout the summer. 

What I like to eat:  Mostly insects, especially in the summer, including beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, some berries and seeds. 

What I am known for: One of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored, the Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. Their early and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring. 

Southern Cricket Frog

Scientific Name: Acris gryllus spp. gryllus 

Places I hang out: Along the edges of Hurricane Creek and the Fishing Pond, as well as in wet and muddy areas. 

When I am most active: I am a diurnal species, which means I am most active during the day. Though I am active all throughout the year, you are most likely to see members of my species during our breeding months of March through October. 

What I like to eat: I am an insectivore, so I primarily feed on insects. A few insects that are common in my diet include spiders, flies, beetles, and other small invertebrates. 

What I am known for: I am a tiny, warty frog that typically averages one inch in length at full maturity. Though the color may vary between gray, green, brown, or orange, most individuals in our species have a Y-shaped marking down the back and a triangular shape of the same color on our heads. 

Our call has been said to sound like a cricket, given our name. Aside from this, some have described our call as marbles clicking together or the rapid use of a metal clicker. 

Compared to the Northern Cricket Frog, the Southern Cricket Frog is said to have a more pointed head and proportionately longer legs. Additionally, Southern Cricket Frogs have a clean-cut dark stripe on the thigh and less toe-webbing relative to that of the Northern Cricket Frog.