Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So when you guys go field herping for hoggies, where do you look? Under debris, open fields, road cruising? Just really curious, since the only hoggies I have ever found have been in yards, never in the wild.
Thanks
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Jenea

1:1 Tricolor Hognose
0:0:2 Florida Redbelly Snakes
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:1 Red-eared Slider
0:0:1 Green Tree Frog
1:2:2 Mediterranean Geckos
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

I find them 90% of the time under debri like old plywood, rotting timber, and palm frawns. Ive have caught them out in the open near gopher tortoise burrows on a few occasions. There is also a place near my grandmother's property where there is an old foundation with cinder blocks scattered all over. I find them under the piles of blocks with great success most of the time. Morning hours have been the best for me like just as the day starts to get hot around 10 or so.

>>I find them 90% of the time under debri

That is surprising, and contrary to popular belief and published literature, hogs are rarely found under cover objects. Most are found out in the open (relatively, still near vegetation) and near the entrance to their burrows. They are diurnal snakes, so getting out at first light is best.
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Virginia Herping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHS
Virginia Herpetological Society
http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS

"The irrational fear of snakes is the only excuse a grown man has... to act like a complete sissy" - Colchicine

... nature has ceased to be what it always had been - what people needed protection from. Now nature - tamed, endangered, mortal - needs to be protected from people. When we are afraid, we shoot. But when we are nostalgic, we take pictures.
Susan Sontag

>>That is surprising, and contrary to popular belief and published literature, hogs are rarely found under cover objects. Most are found out in the open (relatively, still near vegetation) and near the entrance to their burrows. They are diurnal snakes, so getting out at first light is best.

Welp I couldnt tell you if their burrows were located near or under the debri but flipping is something that has worked for me in my area. I also have never found them at dawn.

FYI, I wasn't saying you were full of it, just expressing my surprise.
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Virginia Herping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHS
Virginia Herpetological Society
http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS

"The irrational fear of snakes is the only excuse a grown man has... to act like a complete sissy" - Colchicine

... nature has ceased to be what it always had been - what people needed protection from. Now nature - tamed, endangered, mortal - needs to be protected from people. When we are afraid, we shoot. But when we are nostalgic, we take pictures.
Susan Sontag

A lot of Hognose snakes never find the time to check the literature. Ahhh Academia.

I found a spot where southerns are pretty common as far as hogs go but the first hot and humid day in may seems to be the start or close to it and I hunt hard, pulling apart roof shingle piles and large brush piles and most of the stuff most hunters walk past and I have never found any hognose eastern or southern under anything. always found them out, between 8am and 11 am....and the best method seems to be road crusing on dirt roads and look for a dark line with it's lil head turned up....JB

I also have never found hogies under stuff. I usually run across them while walking through the woods or hiking on trails. Usually semi close to a water source.

Chris
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Chris Smith
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