Author: Owen Caldwell

Frogs peep, trill, croak, snore, quack and scream, and only one species actually says ribbit. Every major call explained, plus how to identify a species by ear.

A baby gopher snake is harmless but hisses, flattens its head and buzzes its tail like a rattlesnake. How to tell them apart and why the species is worth keeping around.

Katydids rasp katy-did katy-didn’t after dark by rubbing their wings together. Every call explained, how to tell them from cicadas and crickets, and when the chorus ends.

Grasses, shrubs, and thorny desert plants, plus a mouth built to chew them safely. How digestion works, favorite foods, and what a camel bite can do.

A baby DeKay’s brown snake is a 3-inch harmless snake with a pale collar. How to tell it from ring-necked and venomous species, what it eats, and why gardeners want it.

A baby alligator snapping turtle has three rows of spiked ridges from hatching. How to tell it from a common snapper, what to do if you find one, and why keeping one is usually illegal.

Not to people or pets under normal circumstances. What real risk they do pose, when a burrow becomes a structural problem, and how to deal with one safely.

A female fox is called a vixen. Where the odd spelling came from, how to tell a vixen from a dog fox, and what the vixen’s scream on winter nights actually is.

Wolf poop is a thick rope-like dropping packed with hair and bone. How to tell it from coyote and dog scat, why old scat turns white, and where wolves actually live.

Iguana poop is a large dark dropping with a white cap, often mistaken for dog or raccoon waste. The Salmonella and pool risks, how to remove the stains, and how to deter iguanas.