I first have to say, I do not often write a section that is: my opinion and these are the facts why. In these rare moments, I try to make it as clear as possible by saying a, "I believe based on experience" or "Personally I find" statement. Let me be clear, this following statement is not my opinion: field guides, educational organizations, and experts have been (probably) unknowingly spreading misinformation for decades on the genus Plestiodon. Now, I take an accusation like this seriously. I would not say such a thing if it were not true. I am highly disappointed in what these groups portray these species to be, when scientific papers show the complete opposite. Maybe it is easier just to say look for this and this, but when one of these "key traits" is inaccurate, this hurts more than helps. These sources often say one has to see the scales under the tail, or count supralabials to get a positive identification. This is all total, and udder garbage. Somewhere this rumor or idea started, and the butterfly-effect has caused it to roar throughout the herping community. This causes dozens, if not hundreds, of misidentifications, and sabotages our understanding of these species. I was one of the first to note the skinks on Galveston Island in Texas were Southeastern Five-lined Skinks, simply off of dorsal photos of dozens of specimens on iNaturalist.org. After three years of me nit-picking details and citing papers, finally Chris Harrison and Michael Price went down to Galveston to get under-tail photos, and finally Southeastern Five-lined Skinks are considered an introduced species to the island. I constantly have to clear-up these misconceptions. 

Now, I am reviewing Southeastern records in Virginia to build an accurate range map for this species in this state. I have found several, single county records have been misidentified by even prominent herpetologists, simply because they are focusing on one feature to ID that is out dated, or they are looking at an unusual specimen. These three species are not identical, and can often be distinguished solely off their pattern, though not in the way you may think. If I had a nickel for every "You cannot ID these unless you have the scales under the tail, or count supralabials" I have heard people quote from some random source... Well, you know how that line ends. My response is simply, "You may not be able to ID these unless you have the scales under the tail, or count supralabials, but that is because you have never been told how to properly ID these skinks." And that is okay. If you lived your whole life being told one thing and have never seen it done a different or better way, you would never know. So, I challenge you to just forget what you know about skink ID and take some time to try these methods to see if it makes sense. ​

I get a lot of questions on how to distinguish Crickets from Chorus Frogs. All of these frogs are small, brown and have some patterns on their body. That said, they are truly quite different once you start exploring these animals. Both of these genre are in the Treefrog family, with the Crickets being what we refer to as an "ally". This means they do not meet the definition of a true Treefrogs, but they are so closely related they qualify. So, let us cover 8 tips to distinguish Cricket Frogs from Chorus Frogs.

Cricket Frogs are one of the most mistaken groups of herps we have in VA. Why? Mostly because a lack of research. Southern Crickets are not as wide spread as Northerns, nor are their habitats as diverse. That said, both are hyper variable. They come in many patterns and even colors. These species are very similar, but there are some slight differences in details. Here are 9 differences between these species

Eastern Gartersnakes are often confused for Eastern Ribbonsnakes as both snakes are similarly colored, patterned, and are very closely related. Gartersnakes are terrestrial predators that often do not stray far from water, while Ribbons are more semi-aquatic, slender, and agile. Ribbons often hunt is shrubs and grasses along marshes, while Garters hunt through several habitats, such as fields, forest, and urban neighborhoods. Here are 9 easy ways to distinguish these two snakes.