I can't speak too much regarding the pressures coming from TPWD, but I can tell you about a friend of mines encounter.



He and his fiancé were stopped near Lajitas. He was picking up a Suboc to show his fiancé and to move it off the road when (to my knowledge, he was not interested in collecting anything) TPWD lit him up out of nowhere. They chatted it up for a while. All in all, they were pretty cool and let him off with a warning. I'm sure it had a lot to do with the situation and his good natured attitude. Most people in this situation would have been cited (he had the snake in his hands), but like I said, the TPWD seemed to be understanding and very cool. They were simply doing their jobs and nothing more and where they felt it was warranted, they gave some leniency.



The real problem child is the various local Sheriffs. They will stop and cite at the drop of a dime. They will not apply an ounce of leniency on any infraction. They obviously do not want our money in those little towns. They just want us gone and obviously hate us. I was issued a speeding ticket in the middle of the night in nowhere land on a straight away that in most places in Texas would be a 70 zone. I certainly deserved this particular ticket, but some leniency I believe was in order considering all the variables. But since I'm a snake photographer, I guess I get nothing.



I also know of a friend that was handed 2 citations in 1 stop - illegal U-turn and turning without using his blinker. That's harsh and only serves to send a signal - THEY DON'T LIKE US!

Their attitudes were generally poor and at best, quite unfriendly.



During one of my stops I had a secondary Sherriff show up on scene. He proceeded to tell us that there is a real problem with snake poachers in the area, wanted to know if we had any collecting equipment (not that it matters) and wanted to search the vehicle. We obliged and he did a quick run through the vehicle. He found nothing and moved on. By the way, upon stepping up to the door and drilling us in his arrogant way, he didn't even introduce himself and notify us who he was or what branch of LE he was working under.



Before our money was pushed out of town, I managed to snap off a few shots.































Our little cabin while staying at the Wild Horse. Gotta love that place! A lot of my herping and photos came from right there on her 240+ acres.


-----
Brad Alexander



FullSpectrumHerps.com

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