Lazily swimming in the Woodland Pond exhibit is a colorful little reptile known as an Eastern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta). Named for their vibrant red and yellow colors, these aquatic turtles are the most widespread native turtles in North America, and are commonly found all…
October was a busy month for the VLM Herps team and November is shaping up to be equally challenging. In addition to the multitude of daily, weekly and monthly tasks performed by the department, the herpetology team has branched out, working on special projects to…
Our Cypress Swamp exhibit is home to 4 species of turtles that we collectively call “pond turtles”. Though they all have their unique characteristics and behaviors, one species in particular is immediately recognizable to many guests: the Red-Eared Slider. Extremely well founded and popular in…
July 16th is World Snake Day (no, it’s real, I promise I didn’t make it up!), a day to take a closer look at all serpents and appreciate all they do for us. In honor of these scaly beauties, I’ve compiled a few amazing and…
With the arrival of the Jurassic World movie to theaters, the public is getting swept up in a dino craze! Due to their often massive size and fierce disposition, dinosaurs have always been popular in modern culture with iconic favorites like the T. Rex, triceratops,…
In an effort to show off some of our amazing herp species here at the museum, I am starting a new series of “Herp Highlight” posts that will showcase some of our awesome Virginia natives. And to start off our highlight series I have chosen the…
In recent years, the conservation movement has really amped up, and now many people around the globe are striving to make changes to save the natural world. Due to habitat loss, poaching, over-hunting, pollution, climate change, disease, and a host of other threats, thousands of…
Despite a few remaining cold bouts, spring has finally sprung! And with spring comes a new generation of countless species of wildlife, including our good friends the turtles. Around this time of year, we can expect to see turtles of all sorts crossing local roadways…
It’s getting pretty cold out there, and as you’ve seen birds migrating south for the winter and local mammals bedding down for hibernation, you may have noticed that the native reptiles and amphibians have vanished as well. No more frogs and toads calling in the…