South Texas Report 4/19/07 - 4/21/07

4/19/07
My wife Christina and I just returned home from a quick weekend trip down south. We left Houston around 10:00 and made our way down to Hebbronville. We settled into a hotel and decided to rest until the evening before heading south of town where our night of collecting would begin. Since the daytime temperatures never reached over 90 degrees, our main goal for the night was to head south following the warmer weather, trying to avoid the cooler temperatures moving in from the north. We drove several hours through Jim Hogg, Starr and Zapata counties before retiring around 1:00 am.

1 sub-adult Crotalus atrox (DOR), Jim Hogg Co.
1 adult Crotalus atrox (DOR), Jim Hogg Co.
1 adult Arizona e. arenicola (DOR), Jim Hogg Co.
1 adult Pituophis c. sayi (DOR), Starr Co.
1 adult Crotalus atrox (AOR), Starr Co.
1 sub-adult Crotalus atrox (DOR), Starr Co.
1 adult Nerodia r. rhombifer (DOR), Zapata Co.
1 adult Rhinocheilus l. tessellatus (DOR), Zapata Co.
1 yearling Pituophis c. sayi (DOR), Zapata Co.
1 adult Pantherophis g. meahllmorum (DOR), Zapata Co.

4/20/07
The next morning, we grabbed a quick bite to eat before making our way west of Hebbronville in search of early morning reptilian activity. We headed into Bruni, Texas to poke through the various trash dumps around town. Our trip through town ended abruptly as we soon discovered that most of the trash had been removed and that the area had been replaced with newly paved roads. It was definitely disappointing for that area had produced countless numbers of snakes over the years. We continued on, driving the various back roads through Webb and Jim Hogg counties until heading back into town. The temperatures stayed in the mid 80’s as the clouds slowly rolled in.

1 sub-adult Thamnophis m. marcianus (DOR), Webb Co.
2 adult Pituophis c. sayi (DOR), Jim Hogg Co.

Later in the afternoon, we were joined by my good friend Rob Klockman and his wife. Rob’s original plan was to hunt up near Freer but decided to stay down south around Hebbronville. Once evening came around, we split up and headed out northwest of town. The temperatures dropped quickly but seemed to stabilize in the mid 70's for most of the night. And our hope for a little rain slowly withered away. Again our strategy was to follow the warm weather as it slowly made its way to the border. We cruised through Webb, Zapata, Jim Hogg and Starr counties until shortly after 1:00 in the morning.

1 adult Pantherophis g. meahllmorum (AOR), Webb Co.
1 sub-adult Crotalus atrox (AOR), Webb Co.
1 adult Crotalus atrox (AOR), Webb Co. (an amazing beast, over 5’)
2 sub-adult Crotalus atrox (AOR), Webb Co.
1 sub-adult Crotalus atrox (DOR), Webb Co.
1 adult Crotalus atrox (AOR), Webb Co. (another giant at nearly 6’)
1 adult Arizona e. arenicola (AOR), Jim Hogg Co.
1 adult Arizona e. arenicola (DOR), Jim Hogg Co.
1 yearling Crotalus atrox (DOR), Jim Hogg Co.
3 sub-adult Crotalus atrox (AOR), Jim Hogg Co.
4 sub-adult Crotalus atrox (DOR), Jim Hogg Co.
1 adult Crotalus atrox (AOR), Jim Hogg Co. (impressive monster at 6’)
5 adult Crotalus atrox (DOR), Jim Hogg Co. (2 animals being over 5’)

After dropping off the wives, Rob and I hit the roads again in hopes of finding some late night L.t. annulata. Empty handed and after almost 2 hours of driving we called it a night and went our separate ways. The next morning, we packed up, grabbed some lunch and headed back to Houston. We were greeted with light rain for most of the way home; a rain that South Texas so desperately needed. Overall, even though the numbers of snakes found was low for that part of the country and the weather wasn’t ideal we still had a great time as usual. Although experiencing firsthand all of these animals in their elements can be spectacular, there is nothing nicer than watching the sun go down while driving along a nice quiet winding road-definitely, South Texas at its best.

Nathan Wells

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