Haha, I'm also 20 and have a difficult time finding any snakes. Last year was a record for me, and I think I might have found eight snakes total. Only found three kings my entire life (two here in California and then a beautiful Speckled King in the heart of Cajun Country). I am a full time student and therefore can't usually go out on a whim whenever the weather is just right, but I don't think that accounts for all of it... I must give off some kind of anti-snake energy field when I go out looking.

I think part of it is just finding suitable habitat - everyone here talks about finding snakes under trash piles or other artificial cover, but there's none of that at all around here. All the open space in my county is kept meticulously debris-free so it looks good for the hikers/bikers (which, by the way, there are tons of everywhere I try to go herping). They even clear away dead trees because it might spread diseases to other trees or something. Everywhere that has artificial cover is private property right near someone's house, so it's not like I can hop their fence and dive in.

If I'm lucky I might find a place that has some good rocks to turn over (that's where I've found most snakes in the past), but where are all these mythical trash piles people speak of? Also, I read about people laying their own cover out in nature... How do you get it out there without being seen by others? And how does it not get removed/disturbed by other people?
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

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