Milksnake Eggs Hatching
Some snakes lay eggs, while others give birth to live young. Milksnakes (which are nonpoisonous) belong to the former group and sometime between April and late June female milksnakes lay 3 to 20 eggs in rotting logs or moist, warm, leaf litter — locations that offer protection from predators and cold weather. Eggs laid in June are now hatching – seven- to ten-inch milksnakes are each using their egg tooth to slice through their egg and enter the world. Newly-hatched milksnakes have especially vibrant colors, including oranges, reds, purples, and yellows, which become duller as they age. Milksnakes are most active during the day but are rarely seen due to their secretive nature. (photo: adult milksnake; insert-newly hatched milksnake)
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Eastern Red-backed Salamander Eggs Hatching
If you make a habit of looking under (and carefully replacing) rotting logs lying on the forest floor, sooner or later you will be rewarded with the discovery of an eastern red-backed salamander. These three to four-inch salamanders can be completely gray, gray with a reddish stripe down the center of the back or bright orange-red. The color of a redback is often related to elevation. Those with a stripe down the back (pictured) are usually found at upper elevations, while the gray phase often inhabits lowlands.
Eastern red-backed salamanders are entirely terrestrial, mating in the spring and fall and laying their eggs in rotting logs (particularly conifer) and leaf litter. Females remain with their eggs, defending them from predators. The larval stage of a redback is quite long –two months– and most of it takes place inside the egg, so when the eggs ( laid in the spring) hatch in the fall, the young, three-quarter-inch salamanders are within days of completing metamorphosis and transforming into adults. (This strategy eliminates the need for eastern red-backed salamanders to find standing water to complete their larval stage.)
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