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Today, I went herping with Peter Jolles of ECC and his friend Kevin C. I had a blast. They showed me the way to find snakes other than worm snakes and garters. I found my 1st Eastern Kingsnake. She was a beauty! Very large. Peter gave me a pair of '06 SC Easterns for finding it. He was very generous. Oh, he also was very happy about his new Eastern. I wish I could remember where it was, but they blindfolded me before we left. I had a lot of fun. Thanks Peter and Kevin! Derek

Blindfolded you?
Wow.

Remember what that habitat was like, what plants were growing - and then look for similar habitat.

Then - make them wear the blindfolds
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3.0 WC; 0.1 CB L. getula californiae
0.1 CB L. pyromelana pyromelana
0.1 WC; 10 eggs (7/11) Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

OH Yeah! I would recognize it again. There were some trees, grass, and some other stuff too.

Funky - I hope you realize that he is kidding - we did not blindfold him.

He has sworn to keep those spots a secret though...
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Peter Jolles
East Coast Colubrids
www.eastcoastcolubrids.com

As well he should be.

reako45

Ah - OK.
As a kid, some of the places I caught reptiles I kept secret from other kids - and vice versa. I'd never use blindfolds, but if it was a really good spot - I could understand doing it.

One of my friends knew of a great place to find western skinks. He never told me, just kept rubbing it in by catching more skinks.

I never told him where I found my rubber boa (It was the city dump of all places), so we were even.
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3.0 WC; 0.1 CB L. getula californiae
0.1 CB L. pyromelana pyromelana
0.1 WC; 10 eggs (7/11) Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

Nice white on that snake, congratulations! Nothing like seeing one of those glossy beauties on a background of dead grass & sand under a piece of AC....that rush is one that can't be recreated.

B

Congrats Derek! That will be a memory you'll never forget.

Welcome to the club Derek!!! I will never forget the first Eastern King that I caught. It was in August of 1988 in Rockingham Co., NC. A 4 foot female on the crawl next to a old creek where I used to fish as a boy. I have loved them ever since! Amazing that something that beautiful lives in the woods!

Michael

The only way I could repeat it is to find another one, or something as good, like a coastal. I owe it all to Peter and Kevin. I picked up some real Kingsnake beauties from Peter of East Coast Colubrids. The ones I got from him are every bit as pretty as the one we found. I'll post pics soon. I flipped the one in the pic, and I was so shocked and stunned at how big it was, I put the board back down. Peter picked it up. They thought I was afraid of it, but I wasn't. Most of it was shock and awe. Ok, maybe a little tiny bit. I have never seen a big king like that in the wild, but it was exteremly docile. It was an amazing experience, so I need to get another fix. I am now a field herping junkie. Derek

We stopped at this site and Derek and I got out of Kevin's truck. Kevin was not even "feet wet" yet and Derek takes a step right and I take a step left.

Derek flipped the 1st board and let it drop. His exact words were, "Holy (insert 4-letter word here)!!!!! There's a big (bad word, begins with "A" Kingsnake under this board!!!"

He looked at me with a stone-cold sober face like he could not believe what he had just seen --- not fear!!! I was only teasing you Derek. I yelled to Kevin to grab the camera and we calmly waited until Kevin got the camera in position - and then we flipped it again to take some in situation pics (though those ended up to be pretty bad).

Derek - unfortunately it is a male. Was hard to sex on-site because it's tail is so stubbed that you can't see a taper. I did probe him later and he is a male. He must have just eaten a family of rats though because he is enormous for sure.
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Peter Jolles
East Coast Colubrids
www.eastcoastcolubrids.com

Derek, now you truly are hooked, producing gbk's AND finding a big eastern on your first outing, man, you will need a support group to keep you going to work!! Congrats and take lots of pics!
Todd Hughes

Boy! You're not kidding! It is hard enough to get up and go to work. LOL! I wish I could do that kind of stuff for a living. It is a good thing I get a check every couple of weeks. Derek

That snake is AWESOME!!

Boy I wish I could catch my 1st Eastern. Someday....sigh

Keith
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