Finding Native and Invasive Species

hey folks this is Brandon the chance with Herbert coming to you from lime King Canyon Park in Porter Ranch California and I'm going to be walking up this stream here looking for California newts two striped garter snakes Baja California tree frogs and red swamp crayfish hopefully we'll be able to find all four of them wish me luck check this out this is I'm no more than just a minute into my hike and already I found a California Newt and this is this is a baby this is like the smallest Newt I have ever seen and it's bright orange very bright orange [Music] never seen a nude self freaking small I was certainly not expecting to find a new this far south they usually are a little bit further north up the creek than this but this is the farthest South I've ever seen one this is like right by the bridge like from here right over here look at that there's the bridge right here where I literally just started and there's this beautiful beautiful little nude right here now I have as I've said before in my previous video they can swim really well for Source distance and they'll throttle on the bottom and the most interesting thing from what my friend Max Robert told me is that these guys during the summer months when the water gets too low and their breeding pool dries up they'll wander for three miles to their hibernaculum then until the next breeding cycle that's amazing and their ability to swim it's just like that of a crocodile they'll tuck their legs back and use their paddle-like tail to swim and as I've also mentioned this is a species of special concern he's heading right back into the water which means you cannot collect or kill them look at that boom there he goes just like that once he hits the water you see how he just took off like that very very beautiful and this like I said this is the smallest one I've ever ever seen I've never seen a new so small this is definitely a newborn of this year so I'm going to go ahead and leave this guy to what he was doing and move on but all right I was not expecting that at all I wasn't expecting to find a California Newt a small one nonetheless so quickly wow that must be a really really good sign I'm hoping we'll see more I just found my second herb of the day a beautiful Baja California tree frog and these are very common species this one's got a nice light brown on the side and dark brown in the middle they come in a variety of colors the most common ones I see are very dark brown or light brown but they can also be green and also have a mixture of black of brown and green and that's to help with the camouflage and the foliage and like all frogs they love to feed on insects and they are everywhere and they're so so common you usually don't see them out during the day except for after in the Rainy seasons in spring because they are a nocturnal species like most frogs but they're a very nice looking frog nonetheless and they can swim really well breathe underwater and you see that band a little dark band that goes between behind the eyes you see the moment he felt the vibrations or felt the movement he took off or she not I can't tell if it's a male or a female I think that's a full-grown adult I think that's about as big as I get they're not a very big species of frog but they're still good size nonetheless spend a lot of their time during the day hidden in moist hiding places like logs caves very great amphibian very very common probably one of the most common frogs you'll find around this Creek and I'm definitely probably gonna find more of these guys along the way oh that's herb number two let's keep going as you guys can see I found my second California nude of the day for the day actually bright orange just like the last one a little bit bigger than the other one very beautiful animal nonetheless and you're wondering why is it so bright orange well it's twofold one is because in some areas where there's a lot of orange leaves like this here you see it Blends in pretty well so the bottom floor was covered with leaves just like this you blend in really really well but the other thing is it's a warning signal it's a warning because these newts are the most poisonous amphibians in the United States research has shown that the neurotoxin found in a single nude is potent enough to kill 1200 to 2500 mice and that's if he eat them if you handle them no problem although I still recommend washing your hands afterwards just to play things safe but if you eat them it's you're pretty much are in serious trouble possibly even kill you however there are some animals that will eat these guys and have a strong resistance to them for example two striped garter snakes will leak these guys no problem because I have a strong resistance to them isn't that amazing and look at the way they just throttle on the bottom like that they move they probably on the bottom just like a crocodile or an alligator isn't that amazing well I'm just gonna go ahead and leave this guy to what he was doing and move on but yeah second California new for the day nice well as you guys can see I've got a very huge red swamp crayfish right here unfortunately as beautiful as this animal is I have to remove it from the ecosystem because or from this environment because this is an invasive species this animal is actually native to the Southeastern part of the United States from East Texas to Florida they're also known as Louisiana crawdads and they are actually a popular delicacy in Louisiana the reason these things were introduced here is because they used to be used as fishing bait and also were I believe they were also in the pet trade but people negligently release these guys into the river system without realizing the damage these guys can cause these guys can cause massive damage to levees and dams because they dig burrows deep underground and caused bad erosions and not only that these guys will eat native frogs and even the native California newts and because of that reason these guys are actually part of the reason why the California nude is under the species of special concerns because these guys will actually eat the Newt eggs and larvae and even occasionally adults so it's best to remove this guy you see how he waps his tail like that that's how they Propel themselves backwards in the water they don't swim forward they swim backwards and you can see the huge claws on this particular red swamp crayfish they're big I'd hate to get pinched by one of these guys so as beautiful as this animal is I have to remove them out of here which is a real shame it really is I don't blame the animal the animals just doing what it would naturally do out at its own home range and out in the wild it's just that people are can be very negligent in fact I'd have to say like 95 to 100 percent of all invasive species both plants and animals alike have been caused by humans which is a real shame it really really is so sorry buddy but you have to go as you guys can see I've got a second Baja California tree frog in my hands a little bit smaller than the other one similar colorations to the other one but this is why I had to remove the crayfish because of crayfish they'll eat this guy no problem which can really put a dent in these amphibians fortunately they reproduce relatively quickly and they're very widespread so they're not a species of special concerned you can see I'm holding really really still if I breathe he's gonna jump in fact he's probably thinking about jumping right now though they can jump from the Heights from very large Heights and survive and he's pointing right at the water so I'm gonna go ahead and release them into the water and you'll see he'll Hop Off like that and dart off you just stopped right by that rock so I'm just go ahead and gonna go ahead and leave them right there and move on but yeah second Bar California tree frog for the day check this guy out my third California newt oh no don't fall don't fall just stay right there stay right there very good now ironically this guy was right next to a red swamp crayfish and in fact he's right inside my net right here all right let me just kind of let's even give her idea right there see that now this guy is not as he's not as big as the first one but he still would eat this little guy no problem and that is a big big problem which is why he's going to be removed out of the ecosystem too but this guy's going right back in the little ecosystem right where he belongs so I'm gonna go ahead and release this guy right back into the water and I'm gonna take that red swamp crayfish out of here see how murky it is it's very loose soil this will be perfect to release him and only goes it disappears right into the Mist going to the muck this guy is going to be put into the bag with the other one but look at that you can see why they call them red swamp crayfish look how brick red it is not as bright red as the first one but still a nice brick red coloration I finally managed to get one of these Western Fence lizards to stop moving around so much to give you guys a good look at what they are these are probably the most common species of lizards in California and you'll find them pretty much everywhere it's easy to tell the difference between a male and a female you just gotta look at the underside they're also called blue belly lizards because of it males have a much darker color blue and they're closer together on the belly whereas females have a much faded blue coloration are much farther apart they are insectivoreous which means they eat exclusively on insects they are active during the day and sleep at night and they are a pre-source for all sorts of species from lit from other lizards to mammals to birds to snakes and they are a very important part of the ecosystem just like every other animal sorry I'm moving the camera around so much I'm just trying to wipe the sweat off of my face anyways I'm just gonna go ahead and leave this guy alone and move on got my third red swamp crayfish and this one's definitely a lot softer than the other one and he's lost both of his Pinchers the reason he's so soft is because he just recently shed his exoskeleton which makes him more vulnerable so he was probably going to some place to hide so he's exoskeleton can be grown back but unfortunately just like all the others he has to be removed out of the system but yeah they can shed their exoskeleton when they do it they're very soft and malleable and they become very vulnerable to predation so they have to go into hiding as a result red swap crayfish number three and here is red swamp crayfish number four probably the smallest one I've seen to be quite honest but hey every single one that's removed counts I don't really know too much about them other than just like I said the name where they originally come from why they're an invasive species how they got here but these are still interesting creatures nonetheless it's just to say they have to be removed it really is but look how bright bright red it is in the sun look at that and that look at the tail is just very strong very very strong it's amazing it's like really Brown on top except for the face of the cloth but that Underside is just really bright red and orange interesting very interesting as you guys can see I have magic capture two red swamp crayfish at once they're both about the same sides slightly different color but they're going to be removed out of the ecosystem just like the others but the one thing that I'm really really disappointed in myself about is the fact that there was a third one I caught in the net and somehow managed to escape so I don't know where the heck that guy went and they can survive out of the water for long periods of time and the second thing was that I found a two-stripe garter snake right here a little baby one but instead of taking a photo of it to show to post on eye naturalists and show that I did find it I tried to catch it and when I went to grab it I missed and it disappeared and I have no idea where it is it could be inside of the bank it could be up in these trees somewhere I have no idea but yeah I did finally found a two-stripe garter snakes I just didn't capture it on video or on or take a picture of it I should have taken a picture of it before I tried to reach it and grab it so that was really stupid on my part but live and learn as they say but yeah baby two striped garter snake and about seven red swamp crayfish even though one of them got away I'd still have these two right here so these two will be removed and that'll be it for the day so

Channel: Chatsworth Herper

Views: 7,021

Keywords: Chatsworth Herper, Native Species, Invasive Species, Nature, Wildlife, California Newts, Baja California Treefrogs, Red Swamp Crayfish, Newts, Frogs, Crayfish, Amphibians, California, Southern California, Limekiln Canyon Park, Creek, Stream

Id: _1JNvlSY8vQ

Length: 15min 29sec (929 seconds)

Published: Wed May 03 2023