Amphibians and Reptiles of Washington State Park, Washington County, Missouri

Abstract

Washington State Park is a 1,101 acre tract located approximately forty miles south-southwest of St. Louis in east-central Missouri. Situated near the periphery of the Ozark Plateau, it is a region of limestone bluffs and outcroppings, with forests of the oak-hickory association. Cedar is predominantly scattered along the drier ridges and hillsides, where the soil is often sufficiently thin to give rise to the characteristic glades of the locality. Elevation ranges from 600 to 900 feet above sea level. The park is bordered partly on the north by Big River, which is the boundary between Washington and Jefferson counties at this point. The bulk of these data was accumulated during the summer of 1953 while working as park naturalist. Annotations concerning a total of thirty-nine species, twelve amphibians and twenty-seven reptiles, are included herein. Necturus maculosus and Sistrurus miliarius are in-