Banff National Park of Canada

Natural Wonders & Cultural Treasures

Species Descriptions of Amphibians and Reptiles

Frogs:
Wood Frog	Columbia Spotted Frog
Boreal/Striped Chorus Frog	Northern Leopard Frog
Toads:
Boreal/Western Toad	Canadian Toad
Salamanders:
Long-Toed Salamander	Tiger Salamander
Reptiles:
Wandering/Terrestrial Garter Snake	Rubber Boa

Although the mountain climate is harsh, amphibians and reptiles do survive in Banff, Kootenay, and Yoho National Parks, and Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site. There are four families of amphibians, represented by three frog species, two toad, and two salamander species in these areas. Two documented snake species represent the two reptile families here. One frog species has disappeared from these areas and is considered extirpated (locally extinct).

Wood Frog

Rana sylvatica

Family Ranidae: True Frogs

Species Code: WOFR

Habitat:

Wood frogs actively hunt far from water for insects, worms, and other invertebrates. Adults breed in wooded wetlands, wet meadows, and shallow clear ponds, from the valley bottoms to 2500 metres elevation. These wetlands may be temporary in the springtime, or permanent. Breeding wood frogs prefer well-vegetated wetlands. The males begin calling day or night as soon as the ice begins to melt, from mid-April to June. In the lower Bow Valley they are the first amphibians to call in the spring. Wood frogs are very cold-tolerant and are the most northerly amphibian in the western hemisphere, crossing the Arctic Circle.

Adults:

• Call is a series of duck-like quacks in early spring
  
• Obvious black face mask runs from nose through eye to behind ear, with a white lip line below the mask
• Length of body and head is 3 - 6 cm -- a small frog. Eyes look outward.
• Body colour varies from brown to green, sometimes with a white stripe down the back; belly is white. Skin is smooth; back has two obvious skin folds on either side

Eggs:

• Clusters of many egg masses are common
  
• Ball-sized (5 - 7cm diameter) mass of eggs is laid near the water surface, often attached to sticks or plants or may float freely, sometimes exposed above the water
• Eggs are laid in deeper water than Boreal toad’s, but not as deep as long-toed salamander’s
• Individual eggs are small, about 1.6 mm diameter, with a narrow layer of jelly between eggs so they appear closely packed within the mass
• 2000 - 3000 eggs in each mass, many more than in a spotted frog’s egg mass
• Eggs take 3 weeks or longer to hatch, depending on water temperature, much longer than spotted frog eggs

Wood Frog Egg Clusters in pond D. & M. McIvor © Parks Canada

Wood Frog Eggmass on aquatic vegetation © Parks Canada

Tadpoles:

• Body is round and short, coloured brownish-greenish with speckles, underside white with a pinkish tinge, eyes are near the top of the body
  
• Tail is up to about 1.5 times the body length, shorter than a spotted frog tadpole’s, with white underneath and only a few speckles; tail arches and has a pointed tip
• Travel singly and do not congregate in large numbers
• Transform into young frogs 6.5 - 12 weeks after hatching

Columbia Spotted Frog

Rana luteiventris

Family Ranidae: True Frogs

Species Code: SPFR

Habitat:

Spotted frogs have been found in only a few places in the mountain national parks. Although they will hunt for invertebrates away from water, they are very aquatic. They require permanent water bodies with abundant aquatic vegetation, such as slow streams, beaver ponds, and marshes in regions with montane to subalpine forests. They will breed in the same ponds as wood frogs. Spotted frogs must reach 4 to 6 years of age before breeding.

Adults:

• Call is a series of low-pitched, rapid hollow clicks, like a distant helicopter
• Eye mask is only faint if present at all, have a white lip line
• Head and body 4.5 - 10 cm long, larger than a wood frog
• Belly and thighs are red to orange-pinkish, mottled
• Eyes are upturned and golden
• Body is dark brown to olive, with black spots with light centres on the back
• Skin with slight bumps
• Skin folds on the back are not obvious

Tadpoles:

• Body is light brown or grey above, flecked with gold, underside is bronze
• Tail is about twice the body length, longer than a wood frog’s, and is speckled
• Tail fin is tall and arching, banner-like
• Transform into young frogs at summer’s end or may overwinter as tadpoles

Eggs:

• Egg masses are usually single, sometimes a few are clustered atop each other
• Ball-sized (5 - 7 cm) mass of eggs, loosely attached to submerged vegetation or sometimes a flat, loose, platesized mass floating at the water surface
• Individual eggs are about 5 - 8 mm diameter, larger than wood frog’s, with a narrow layer of jelly between eggs
• Egg mass can look loosely packed compared to wood frog’s
  700 - 1500 eggs are laid in each mass, fewer than in a wood frog’s egg mass
• Eggs hatch quickly, in about 4 days, depending on water temperature

Boreal/Striped Chorus Frog

Pseudacris maculata triseriata

Family Hylidae: Tree Frogs

Species Code: CHFR

Habitat:

This small frog is found on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountians, usually at low elevations, so look for them in the eastern mountain national parks. They breed in shallow standing water, in marshes, ponds, and grassy streams. Boreal chorus frogs have a loud call and are active mostly at night. The males call using their expandable throat pouches. They hunt insects and other invertebrates in damp woods and can climb into low vegetation. They overwinter in dry areas, even underground in burrows of other animals.

Adults:

• Call is a high pitched trill, like a finger rubbed over a comb
• Three dark stripes sometimes broken into spots run down the back, with two lateral stripes through eyes and down each side of the body
• Back is smooth without folds of skin, unlike the wood frog's
• Length of body and head is 2-4 cm, a very small frog, females are slightly larger than males
• Body colour brown to green, and individuals can lighten or darken their colour
• Toes have very small discs and hind feet lack webbing

Tadpoles:

• Body is small, up to 3 cm
• Eyes are set at the edges of the head, unlike wood frog's or spotted frog's
• Body is grey to dark brown with gold flecks
• Dorsal fin is very arched with moderate to light pigmentation

Eggs:

• Eggs are laid in long soft masses, mass usually less than 2.5 cm in diameter, strongly attached along vegetattion, 5-12 cm below the water surface, in water less than 50 cm deep
• 150-1500 eggs are laid over a few days in bunches of 30-75
• Eggs are tiny, and measure about 1.0 mm in diameter, and are densely packed
• Egg masses are usually inconspicuous

Northern Leopard Frog

Rana pipiens

Family Ranidae: True Frogs

Species Code: LEFR

The northern leopard frog has declined rapidly in recent years and is considered recently extirpated (locally extinct) from the areas this Herpwatch program covers. Information is included in case of a chance sighting. If a sighting occurs, detailed information would be very valuable and welcomed by Herpwatch.

Habitat:

The cold-tolerant northern leopard frog occurred in Alberta on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains at low elevation and in the foothills. In British Columbia, they were found in moist open forests, marshes, wet meadows, and riparian areas on the western slopes of the Rockies in Kootenay National Park. They breed from April to June in permanent water bodies with dense aquatic vegetation, even when ice is still present. They are active mainly at night, and may hunt for food far from water. They hibernate in mud or under rocks at the bottom of springs, streams and standing water.

Adults:

• Call is a series of varied low grunts and chuckles
• Body is bright green to light brown, skin smoother and lighter than the Columbia Spotted Frog, with regular oval or round brown or black spots bordered with a lighter hal, spots often creating bars on legs, underneath is white
• Spots may be lacking in young frogs
• Two conspicuous, light, white or cream folds of skin, from behind each eye down the sides of the back, and a white lip line from the nose to above the front leg
• Medium size, head and body 5-10 cm, with a long nose, large eyes, and obvious ear drum behind and below each eye
• Legs are long, and hind feet are webbed partly to the toe tips

Boreal/Western Toad

Bufo boreas

Family Bufonidae: True Toads

Species Code: BOTO

Habitat:

Toads are very terrestrial amphibians. In the mountain national parks, boreal toads are found at all elevations and prefer damp conditions, from meadows to forests. They are active in spring around lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers. They lay their eggs in very shallow water (4 to 15 cm deep) in temporary or permanent ponds, and lake edges. Boreal toads have short legs and will walk as well as hop.

Adults:

• Call is a rapid, high-pitched peeping
• Large oval poisonous parotid glands are located behind the eyes
• Skin is dry, rough, with round, often reddish warts
• Skin between the eyes is flat with no cranial crests
• Body is wide and large, 5.5 - 12.5 cm body and head length, males are smaller than females
• Body is green to brown with blotches of brown, grey, green or red, with a light stripe down the back, underside is pale with dark mottling, colour is variable between males and females
• Hind feet have tubercles for digging

Eggs:

• Eggs are laid single file, in long strings, often entwined together and with submerged vegetation to form a large, loose mat, often on the bottom of the water body
• Individual eggs are small, about 1.5 - 1.7 mm diameter, surrounded by two jelly layers
• Egg laying at a site is synchronized with all females laying eggs within a week, each female laying as many as 16,500 eggs, which hatch in 3 - 12 days.

Tadpoles:

Body is rounded with square snout projecting forward
Body is black, underside is lighter
Tail is about the same length as the body, low and rounded, with dense black or grey speckles
Large numbers of tadpoles will congregate in warm, shallow water
Transform into juvenile toads 6 - 8 weeks after hatching

Canadian Toad

Bufo hemiophrys

Family Bufonidae: True Toads

Species Code: CATO

Habitat:

The Canadian toad is an eastern species in Alberta. However, they may range into lower elevation aspen parkland and boreal forest found on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, north and east of the Bow River. The Canadian toad prefers aquatic habitats more than other toads and breeds in shallow water that is permanent or temporary, such as ditches, marshes, and pond edges. They are active from April to Spetember, usually during the day, and they burrow at night except when the night temperature is high. They breed from May to July and males may be active and call in temperatures as low as 5°C. Canadian toads may overwinter in large groups together at one site.

Adults:

• Call is a harsh, rapid trill
• The skin between the eyes forms an obvious crest
• Body grey, green, to brown, with small reddish warts with dark edges, with belly white to pale yellowish along the sides
• Males have a dark throat, females have a light throat matching the belly
• A light stripe runs down the back but doesn't reach the head, and is duller than the Boreal toad's
• Quick to jump in water and are good swimmers
• Have large kidney-shaped or oval parotid glands behind the eyes
• Hind feet have two prominent tubercles for digging, the inner one large, outer one small

Tadpoles:

• Small, dark brown to black, lighter underneath, with a transparent region in front of where the tail starts
• Tail fin is lightly pigmented

Eggs:

• Eggs are laid single file, in a long string
• Egg diameter 1.0 mm, smaller than a Boreal toad's, surrounded by one jelly layer
• Up to 16,500 eggs laid per female

Long-Toed Salamander

Ambystoma macrodactylum

Family Ambystomatidae: Mole Salamanders

Species Code: LTSA

 

Habitat:

Long-toed salamanders are secretive and live under debris or underground near shallow montane to alpine ponds, ditches, lake shorelines, and streams. Although they are mostly active at night, adults may be seen in daylight in the spring as they migrate to breeding sites, and in the fall with juveniles migrating to hibernating sites. They prefer shallow, permanent water bodies, but will breed in temporary pools. Often they breed in the same well-vegetated ponds as wood frogs. They begin breeding early, before the ice disappears. For successful breeding, the water body must be free of fish. Long-toed salamanders disappeared from waters in the mountain national parks where sport fish were stocked.

Adults:

• Body is slender, 8-14 cm long
• Fourth toes on hind feet are elongated
• Tail makes up half the body length
• Body is greenish-grey to black, with a yellow or green dorsal stripe, often irregular, running from nose to tail, with white flecks on sides and feet
• No call

Long-toed Salamander on moss © Parks Canada

Long-toed Salamander on moss K. Larsen © Parks Canada

Larvae:

• External gills are large, bend out from the body and above the head
• Body is long and tapered, with a large head about one-third the total body length
• Eyes are to the side
• Body is greenish-grey or light brown, underside is pale, dark flecks on the tail aquatic larvae with legs retain their gills and may overwinter before metamorphosing

Eggs:

• Eggs are laid singly or in a small mass or short string
• Eggs are attached to vegetation, twigs, or on the bottom, and may be scattered widely
• Eggs laid in deeper (30 - 60 cm) water
• Individual eggs are large and with their thick jelly layer measure about 1 cm diameter, they look widely spaced if they are in a small mass
• Small mass may have a dozen or more eggs
• Eggs hatch in about three weeks depending on water temperature

Tiger Salamander

Ambystoma tigrinum

Family Ambystomatidae: Mole Salamanders

Species Code: TISA

Habitat:

Tiger salamanders may be found in the eastern mountain national parks, living on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, from the prairies and aspen parkland to subalpine boreal forests up to 2800 m elevation. They are secretive and usually are seen only after spring rains or during migrations to breeding or wintering areas. At these times, many salamanders may be killed on roads which run through their habitat. Tiger salamanders leave hibernation sites in the spring to move to semi-permanent or permanent ponds, dugouts, and small lakes where they breed. Adults are active at night and can tolerate dry conditions, hunting on land for earthworms and insects. In early fall they seek underground burrows for hibernation. Tiger salamanders may retain their larval gills and remain in the water to become breeding aquatic adults, never changing to the typical adult salamander form. At high elevations they may seek out the warmest areas of the habitat.

Adults:

• Body is large and robust, 14-18 cm long from nose to tail, larger than a long-toed salamander
• Toes are short and have tubercles underneath the feet
• Body is dark, from olive green to dark brown, usually blotched or barred with light brown, green, yellow or white, belly is grey
• Young adults may have bright markings, and older adults may become uniformly olive, brown or black
• Tails are rounded, males have longer tails and longer hind legs than females
• No call

Larvae:

• Head to tail length from 8-18 cm
• Head large, with tiny eyes
• Large and obvious gills sweep out and along the body, gill stalks are very wide and longer than the head, with short filaments all the way to the tips
• Larvae grow front legs first before hind legs
• Tail with a fin or ridge
• Body is olive green or dull yellow to dark brown, pale underneath
• Metamorphosis to adult stage may take place from 3 months to 2 years, or may never occur, with mature breeding salamanders retaining gills and aquatic lifestyle, called neotony
• Neotenic adult may be as large as a metamorphosed adult, up to 18 cm long nose to tail

Eggs:

• Up to 20 eggs laid singly, but so close that they may touch, not widely scattered like long-toed salamander's
• Individual female may lay as many as 7000 eggs
• Laid in shallow water and attached to substrates like vegetation, stones, and sticks
• Eggs have a thin jelly later, usually the egg and helly layer are less than 1 cm
• Eggs hatch after 2-4 weeks

Wandering/Terrestrial Garter Snake

Thamnophis elegans vagrans

Family Colubridae: Typical Snakes

Species Code: WASN

Habitat:

Wandering garter snakes are only scattered in the mountain national parks. They live near streams, ditches, ponds and lakes, although they are not restricted to water. Most favourable areas for these snakes are places in the valley bottoms in direct sunlight, but they can be found up to 2000 m in elevation. They feed on amphibians, fish, invertebrates, rodents, small birds, and carrion. In winter they hibernate in communal dens or hibernacula. Large numbers may be seen together in the spring as they emerge from dens.

Adults:

• Body is grey, olive-green to brown, with pale yellow or brown stripes on the sides and back, with dark spots checkered between the stripes
• Lower sides and belly are grey to bluish, sometimes with dark markings, underside of head is white
• Usually have 8 upper labial scales above the mouth from the nose to behind the eye
• Body is slender, about 45 -107 cm total length, it is a small snake
• Females are usually larger than males, bear their young live
• Young of the year are 17 - 23 cm total length

Wandering/Terrestrial Garter Snake on Chara B. Lepitzki © Parks Canada

Wandering/Terrestrial Garter Snake Adult (head close up) K. Larsen © Parks Canada

Rubber Boa

Charina bottae utahensis

Family Bodae: Boa Constrictor

Species Code: RUBO

Habitat:

The Rubber Boa is known to live in the southwest part of Kootenay National Park. This snake inhabits wet meadows and forests of the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains and may range as far north in the Columbia Mountains as Golden (so far unrecorded). Unlike other snakes, they are cold tolerant, mostly active at night, and move slowly, so are not noticeable. Many aspects of this snake=s life history are poorly understood. They hunt primarily for small rodents, but also salamanders and invertebrates in loose, moist forest litter and soil, often burrowing. Rubber boa will also climb trees in search of birds and eggs and they also swim in nearby streams. The rubber boa kills prey in typical constrictor fashion by squeezing and suffocation. They are active spring through fall and hibernate in rodent burrows or rock crevices.

Adults:

• Body looks rubbery, is shiny brown to pinkish tan or olive green, creamy or yellow underneath, with no patterning
• Body is thick, with a blunt, rounded tail, similar in size, shape and colour to the head
• Have small spurs on either side of the body near the vent which are vestigial limbs, larger on males than on females
• Scales are small and smooth
• Eyes have vertical pupils
• A medium sized snake, measuring 30-80 cm, males are smaller than females but have relatively longer tails

Juveniles:

• Young are born live, about 22 cm in length
• 2-8 individuals born at one time, in the fall
• Body is brown to brownish pink
• Their eyes and scales distinguish them from earthworms of the same size and colour