News From The Mews

We've been practicing behavior-based feeding with our snakes for a few years. That means we don't feed on a schedule; we feed based on whether the snakes show behaviors that indicate they're hungry.  Our Gray Tree Frog has generally remained on a regular schedule of feeding. But recently, I've noticed some new behaviors like springing off the branch when we open the door or mouth snapping at a water mist. Could these be signs that he's hungry? I'll give him an extra mealworm or two when I see these expectant behaviors in case his stomach is rumbling.

I've always been a fan of artist Lili Chin, who specializes in animal drawings. She often works with animal trainers to create useful drawings of dog, cat, or bunny body language. What does a fearful dog look like? An overstimulated cat? A curious bun? She's got an illustration for it! See the full image here: Doggie Drawings by Lili Chin But what does happy snake look like? How can you tell if a snake is scared? I never learned snake body language other than hissing or striking means "stay away." Fortunately Lili recently published a guide to snake body language that shows much more nuance.  If Emory the rat snake has twitchy movements, an s-shaped neck, or tight coils around my arm, I know that she's starting to get uncomfortable. I should give her a break so she doesn't feel the need to escalate to hissing or striking. Being able to respond to her "whispers" of discomfort keeps me safe from bites and respects her feelings.

Shipping live worms can get expensive. Especially when we need a re-supply in the middle of winter when heat packs add to the shipping cost. That's why I decided to try raising my own mealworm colony this year. It has taken trial and error to figure out a system to keep worms and pupae safe from the voracious adult beetles.  This week I checked on a bin with a post-it note labeled "Teeny Mealworms, egg sifted 3/16/26." I was delighted to see hoards of little wiggling worms. At about two months old, the worms were finally big enough to feed to our tree frog! Yum!

  Digger peeks out of the humidity box after shedding her skin!

One morning, the Tiger Salamander was nowhere to be seen in his habitat. I thought it was unusual since his face was always visible at his burrow entrance. I still couldn't see him the next day. Oh well , I thought, salamanders like to dig, so he's probably hiding deep in the substrate. He'll come up when he gets hungry. Days kept passing with no sign of him. I started to get more and more worried. I shone a flashlight down his burrow hole. Nothing. I gently poked my finger around the substrate. No movement.  After a week and a half, I was convinced something terrible had happened. Did he get trapped, starve, or impossibly escape? For what I was convinced was a rescue or recovery mission, I stripped down his habitat and started excavating the substrate as if I were an archaeologist seeking fragile artifacts. After some digging, I lifted the large fern and I felt a leap of relief. There was the tail end of the salamander. He wiggled, telling me he was alive and not pleased a...

Providing a spa experience for a snake is pretty simple. A plastic box with damp moss is all Emory needs for a cool, humid sauna. The rat snake got this treatment when her eyes turned milky white. This is a sign that her skin, including the scales over her eyes, is getting ready to shed. The high humidity box will help the old skin peel off easily when she's ready.

  Can you find Digger the hognose snake? My morning animal checks have become more difficult now that Digger prefers to rest deep under her bedding. After much searching, this little window might be all I see of the hognose snake. I pause to see the rise and fall of her breath, then leave her to rest undisturbed. I have a feeling this reclusiveness is just a seasonal slowing down and she will be back to her activities when spring arrives.

Normally it takes me a few moments to find our gray tree frog. His dark, mottled color camouflages impressively with the bark and branches in his habitat. But this morning, I watched him scramble up a piece of bark. He clung awkwardly between the bark and a plant, his legs stretched out so I could spy bright yellow on his foot. He soon found his footing and settled into a more comfortable position. His legs folded tight against his body, hiding the yellow patch, and he practically disappeared from view.

  "Is there something on my nose?" Digger the hognose snake had evidence of her most recent romp in the aspen bedding!

Digger the hognose snake certainly lives up to her name. Each morning I see holes in her bedding where she tunneled through. Due to the front-opening doors on her habitat, her bedding is only 2-3 inches thick. Would she like a deeper place to dig?  I filled a pan with about 5 inches of aspen chips and added it to Digger's habitat. She was immediately curious and looped around it. The next day, I spied a tunnel emerging from the deep pan. I haven't seen any sign of her using it since, but at least she gave it a try!

Looking for inspiration to spruce up our snakes' enclosures, I went to iNaturalist.org to search for photos of hognose snakes in their native habitat. The observations submitted by naturalists across the country contained photos ranging from quick phone snapshots to professional-quality images. I was particularly charmed by this lovely photo from Kansas. I noted the gravelly ground and short grasses in this snake's home and wondered how we might mimic some of those habitat features for our snake, Digger. Updates for Digger will take some planning, but in the meantime, I may just need to make this photo my desktop background. Western Hognose Snake in Kansas, 2025. 📷: Dylan Mermis,  iNaturalist

I started recording our snakes' behaviors  in 2023 and invited Museum visitors to contribute their observations while visiting the Curiosity Center. A QR code routes to a form where staff or visitors answer questions about what the snakes are doing. Where is the snake? What is she doing? How does she respond if you move in front of her window? I checked in on the results this week and was pleased to see so many responses, over half of which were submitted by visitors. One commented, "Love this interactive info request!" I'm so happy that this project has given people a new way to interact with our live animals! Not surprisingly, the data pointed to two common reptile characteristics. Both Digger and Emory spent the most time close to their heat lamps, and they both spent most of their time motionless. As ectothermic animals that can't create their own body heat, it makes sense that they spend time in warm places and conserve energy by resting. I also noticed trend...

Do reptiles have long-term moods? A research paper published this year would say yes! They found that tortoises who approached a bowl more quickly, hoping for a tasty treat, were also more comfortable in a novel environment. The researchers concluded that these tortoises were optimistic.  A Red-Footed Tortoise, the same species used in the study. Ethologist Karolina Westlund compares this type of animal to Gene Kelly when he sings:  "I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again I'm laughing at clouds..."* When we're in a good mood, we can laugh at clouds! Westlund says we perceive potentially negative experiences as laughable, friendly, or safe. The optimistic tortoises didn't know if they would get a treat at the bowl or not, but they approached it quickly as if they thought there was a good chance of getting a reward. And they showed fewer stress behaviors in a new place, perhaps assuming that the new enviro...

As I searched the worm bin for our salamander's next meal, I found a red worm smaller than most. I wondered if it was small enough for our tree frog to eat. I offered it to the frog and she jumped on it immediately. It was a mouthful for this little frog and she used her front feet like my 1-year-old daughter uses her hands to eat noodles, grabbing a fistful and cramming it into her mouth.

The fiercest little predator in the Northwoods just may be the Tiger Salamander. Though they don't roar like a tiger, they are just as dangerous - if you are a worm, that is. Our little salamander snaps at anything that moves nearby when he's hungry. If he's lucky, he grabs hold of a worm and shakes it vigorously to subdue the prey's movements. And in just a few gulps, the worm, who is nearly as long as the predator, is swallowed whole.

The Curiosity Center has a new resident! This young male Tiger Salamander is settling into his new home and eagerly gobbling up worms. He likes burrowing under his rock hide, but see if you can spot him peeking out next time you visit the Museum!

I stepped into the Curiosity Center to check on the herps. Digger the hognose snake basked under her heat lamp. Emory the rat snake lay coiled under her rock hide. The tree frog was next on my list and I checked his favorite spots. Was he on the upper backdrop ledge? Nope. In the back corner? Empty. On the branch hiding under leaves? Not there. Where could he be? Can you spot the tree frog? My nose came close to the glass as I searched the rest of the habitat from every angle. On the back wall? Behind a different group of leaves? Under the moss? Nothing. At this point I was getting worried. Where else could he possibly be? Did he escape? I stepped back to mist the habitat with my spray bottle and I jumped with a gasp. The tree frog was sitting on the branch right in front of me, front and center. Was he there the whole time? He had quite the "hiding" spot!

 Digger the hognose snake peeks through her cardboard tube, a new enrichment item.

This may look like a simple photo of a snake. But this scene means so much more to me. I don't just see a snake here; I see a happy snake.   I'm not an expert in snake body language or emotions. I can't claim to know what Emory is thinking or feeling here. But what I can see is a snake stretched out under her heat lamp, looking out into the world. This is a snake that is relaxed and observing the activity around her, not running away from it.  It seems so often that Emory spends most of her time curled up tightly under one of her caves. At the sight of any movement, she usually recoils back to her safe hide. The snake in this photo seems comparatively calm, feeling safe enough to spread out and watch me take the photo. She looks just about as happy as a snake can look, in my opinion!

  Summer Naturalist Intern Sarah hasn't been in Cable for long, but they've already contributed to our Museum collections. I barely had time to hang up my jacket one morning when Sarah eagerly held up a terrarium with a tree frog they had found the night before. I was immediately in love with his mottled gray and green coloration. We put together a habitat for the frog and let him explore his new home in the Curiosity Center. Next time you visit the Museum, see if you can spot this well-camouflaged critter!