By William Halliday, Online Journal Manager of CFN

The latest issue of The Canadian Field-Naturalist has now been published online, and this one is special! We decided to make a two-part special issue on amphibians and reptiles in Canada, dedicated to Dr. Francis Cook. Dr. Cook was a long-time editor and associate editor of CFN, as well as curator (now emeritus) at the Canadian Museum of Nature where he studied amphibians and reptiles in Canada. Dr. Cook was also just awarded the Order of Canada, partly due to his contributions to the study of amphibians and reptiles in Canada. For a more detailed overview of why we dedicated this special issue to Dr. Cook, read the editorial for this issue. This special issue was guest edited by William Halliday and David Seburn.

This issue is part one of the two-part special issue, and includes 12 articles and notes on the natural history of turtles, snakes, frogs, toads, and salamanders. Below are descriptions of all articles and notes in the latest issue, 132(1). Simply click on each description to view the full article on the CFN website.

1 & 2) Terry Power and John Gilhen add the Snapping Turtle to the list of amphibians and reptiles on Cape Breton Island, and then describe in detail the status, distribution and nesting ecology of this population.

3) Dave Seburn describes an observation of a really old Spotted Turtle that he found near Ottawa.

4) Patrick Moldowan and colleagues describe how capture rates of Painted Turtles can be biased towards males or females depending on the time of year that a study takes place.

5) William Halliday and Gabriel Blouin-Demers test the influence of temperature on growth rates of Common Gartersnakes in the National Capital Region.

6) Dana Eye and colleagues examine how exclusion fencing may cause mortality in snakes in British Columbia.

7) Pat Gregory and Daniel Farr examine different factors affecting litter size in Western Gartersnakes in British Columbia.

8) Don McAlpine and John Gilhen describe a unique colour morph, called erythrism, in Spring Peepers in the Maritimes.

9) David Green and Katharine Yagi studied the movements of Fowler’s Toads before hibernation in southwestern Ontario.

10) Brian Slough and Alexander deBruyn document the decline of Western Toads at their northern-most breeding site in British Columbia.

11) David LeGros documented an Eastern Red-backed Salamander repeatedly living in a privy in Algonquin Provincial Park.

12) Robert Lennox and colleagues examine bycatch of Mudpuppy while ice fishing on Lake Nipissing.