A Natural View Run fast, hide, and stay alive By Terry Sprague
I
t was a flitting glimpse. In fact, I never saw it at all, but someone behind me did. It appeared for just a few moments amidst shrieks of excitement and pointing fingers. Then, it was gone, after skittering across the rocky edge of a creek, and disappearing under a ledge of rock. For most of us, this is about as long as we ever get to view a five-lined skink. Its scientific name, Plestiodon fasciatus, sounds like it could very well be some sort of foot ailment. Skinks call this 1,100-acre conservation area, 11 km south of Kaladar, their home, but if you choose to seek them out, chances are that you won’t find them. Rather, they seem to find you. If you are lucky, one may scurry across the granite rocks ahead of you. Other times, they seem content to remain under the broken wafers of granite that lay strewn on the large expanses of granite rock. They seek out these little hiding places to escape the hot, noonday sun, and also to keep out of sight from potential danger. The trail at Sheffield Conservation Area can be difficult to follow. The barren rock offers little in the way of landmarks. Volunteers will sometimes paint coloured arrows on the bare rock when direction is doubtful. Other times, an Inukshuk points the way in questionable areas, carefully constructed by thoughtful hikers. There is no other maintenance on this rugged fourkilometre trail where only regular hiking serves to keep a vestige of a cow path barely open beyond Haley Lake. Stories abound of hikers getting turned around, and even one couple reportedly spending the night there until morning daylight showed them the way again. Two additional Inukshuks likely serve to mark the trouble spot. However, does the practice of building these small Inukshuks adversely affect the skinks when rocks they would normally hide under are scooped up to build a single structure? The point was brought up once by a member on one of my hiking groups. It causes us to ponder now and again the effects that our well-meaning efforts may have on the biodiversity of a given area. I have done at least 25 guided hikes along Sheffield’s rocky terrain during my career as an interpretive hike leader, and can remember only one other time when skinks seemed to be everywhere. Was it weather conditions, or just
inexperienced young of the year who had yet to acquire a fear of the unknown? Certainly all that we found carried the diagnostic bluish tail identifying them as juveniles. One even clambered up the pant leg of one surprised hiker that day. We will never know what caused these skinks to act so out of character. In many ways, skinks somewhat resemble our familiar salamanders. But there are differences. For one thing, salamanders are amphibians. The fivelined skink is a reptile. When we had the rare opportunity to actually pick up a skink on that memorable day at Sheffield, we could see the differences immediately. Its skin was dry and scaly, like a snake, quite unlike the smooth and moist skin of a salamander, typical of amphibians. As we rolled it about in our fingers, its toes seemed much longer than those we see on a salamander, probably quite useful for climbing the smooth rocks on which we stood. What the lizard we held that day didn’t do was drop its tail, a useful escape ploy that is guaranteed to baffle any predator as the severed appendage continues to thrash about wildly by itself on the rock. Meanwhile, the skink successfully eludes its pursuer and escapes under a rock where its tail will grow back again in time. Insects and invertebrates that live on these dry rocks attract the skinks that live here. Their habit is to dart out and snatch one passing by, then quickly retreat under a rock again. There seem to be two separate populations in Ontario with distinct habitat preferences. The Carolinian populations, which are listed as endangered nationally and special concern provincially, occur in Carolinian forest and prefer wooded habitat with sandy soil and ground cover. They use woody debris as shelter and hibernate by burying themselves in the soil. The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence populations, which are listed as special concern provincially and nationally, occur on the southern part of the Canadian Shield and it is here at Sheffield where the population reaches almost the northeastern limit of its range. So, the rest of us never got to see the fivelined skink at Sheffield that others had seen, despite several moments of peering and cameras poised. Five-lined skinks didn’t get this far in life by being careless. We carried on and forgot the experience with this rare lizard, and concentrated
The five-lined skink calls Sheffield home. Photo by Joe Bartok. our efforts instead on the songs of eastern towhees and the appearance of a rare prairie warbler in amongst rocks that supported parched sprigs of pale corydalis. It was an exceptional threehour walk on this remote property off the main highway, highlighted by the trumpeting of two sandhill cranes as they passed overhead.
However, I will guide you in to see it. Perhaps along the way we can scare up a five-lined skink! For a southerner like myself who lives in Prince Edward County, I don’t get to see skinks down here. I always look forward to return visits to the Canadian Shield to reacquaint myself with these little reptiles.
The presence of these skinks, in addition to a small colony of nesting prairie warblers, make Sheffield Conservation Area a very special place. So does the prickly pear cactus. I don’t tell many where the cactus can be located; too many gardeners know about it already.
For more information on birding and nature, check out the NatureStuff website at www.naturestuff.net. Terry Sprague lives in Prince Edward County and is selfemployed as a professional interpretive naturalist.
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613-544-5312 The trail at Sheffield crosses barren Canadian Shield. Photo by Louisa Ielo.
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