As soon as we got out of the car, I heard rustling of leaves and found a Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans v. blanchardi). In northern Indiana, cricket frogs have become pretty uncommon in the past quarter of a century; as you go farther south in the state, their metallic "gick-gick-gick" calls frequent the spring and summer air. The couple of times I have seen these inch-long frogs in the past, they have had an obvious green stripe down the center of their backs, like the one shown in my post here. Cricket frogs often have this colored stripe; sometimes it is red, yellow, or brown, but sometimes it is absent. You'll notice the warty texture to the skin, another helpful identification character. The feature to look for to obtain a positive ID, however, is the dark triangle between the eyes on the top of the head.
It wasn't long before I noticed another hop and commotion in the leaf litter, but this time the culprit was a russet-colored grasshopper. What a beautiful and well camouflaged creature! Thanks to Ted MacRae of Beetles in the Bush for identifying this as a Mischievous Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca damnifica).
A bit later, while we were botanizing in an oak-hickory woodland, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. After flipping over a few leaves, I found this approximately 1 inch long beetle. Thanks again to Ted MacRae for identifying this as a Ground Beetle (Carabus sylvosus).
Finally, we were lucky enough to see one of the Show-Me State's most unique mammals, the Missouri endemic Ozark Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys thomasii). This species bears little resemblance to the Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) or Southern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys volans), and in fact, unlike its relatives, is diurnal. Like its relatives, the Ozark Flying Squirrel shows an affinity towards lichens, acorns, and flowers.
