Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ive asked this before, but just wanted to see any updates or any new thoughts. It seems that there have been very few snakes found on RR in recent years. As far as I can tell there were none found this year, and only a few last year. A cupla years ago some old timer was telling me about seeing 20-30 snakes a night on the road, but that the recent drought had drastically reduced numbers on the road. Ive hunted RR halfadozen times over the past 2 years and have had pretty [bleep]ty luck. Before some genious tells me about how it needs to have rained, i hunted only 1 dry night. Does anyone know how many were found this year? Last? Before that?
Smitty

That when Lance and I were on the River in 2003 several alterna were taken. 2 in one night by a reputable person. And yes the rain was pretty good. We averaged about 10 to 15 snakes a night. We didn't go in 2k4 and then went again in 2k5. We hunted for about a week and although we saw fewer snakes it wasn't enough to make us leave. 1 alterna was taken while we were there by a reputable person. 2k6, we went down at the beginning of June and NADA. Not a D@#M thing. I don't know of any taken last year. (not that I am the grapevine or anything).

That road is tough. Lance has good luck on it but I mostly see subocs. I have good luck spotting lepidus on it or beside it.
I have seen Texas Blonde Tarantulas and lots of other neat stuff.

Best Wishes in 2k7.

Ask Kim Howell...she OWNS the RR.

Yes, I am still basking in the glow of my one year of fame (1997)ten years later on finding not only my first gray band, but first snake in the wild to pick up on my own. I saw the River Road the first time earlier that summer with Wayne and the beauty of it all took my breath away. I determined that I would hunt the River Road solo for a week by myself that summer before we started our family. I knew it was my last chance, a once in a lifetime opportunity for me before the responsibilities of children took the chance away.

And honestly, I didn't expect to see or catch a grayband. A couple of hours into my first night solo road cruising, I saw the little male crossing on the west bound side of 170 as I was heading east. I am not sure how I saw him really as I didn't have any fancy drving lights on my little blazer. I just perceived a "gray ripple" in the pavement out of the corner of my eye. And I have to tell you hunting that night all by myself on this lonely sretch of desert highway with thunderstorms brewing in the distance was more than a little spooky and scary for me - a 30 year old woman all alone in the dark.

I made sure I was alone on the road and aimed the trucks headlights onto the snake and jumped out with my flashlight. This little snake had almost no orange and I wanted to make absolutely sure it was indeed a grayband and not a lepidus. I know my snakes, but in the excitement of the moment I had make sure I was not endangering myself (other than a speeding car coming around the bend and running over me).

I grabbed the snake and jumped in the car. I then pulled off the road to bag him up. He was really mad at being caught and was biting everything in sight - the seat, my soft cooler, me (okay, I had leather gloves on - I am a wuss!) I just couldn't believe my good luck! I made one more pass of the area between Lajitas and the windmill, but the storms were moving in quickly and I figured getting back to my Lajitas motel room was the wise thing to do. I left Wayne one excited voice mail message!

I can't remember the exact mile location like you guys do, but it was around Panther Canyon about 30 minutes before the thunderstorm hit in June. And it was an almost full moon too! A few nights later I saw an owl pick up a snake (Suboc?) off the road and fly away with it in the full moon.

Yes, the River Road is awesome place! Never get tired of seeing it!

Kim Howell

for sharing your story. I remember my first grayband fondly as well and it too was on the river road although it wasn't the first snake I came across in the wild. That in it self is remarkable, but than again so is the fact that you were wearing gloves. The river road truly is a special place for many reasons.

DB

Smitty,
In general I can remember good numbers of snakes on the RR in the late 70's and early 80's. There were also nights where nothing was moving back then as well. But it wasn't uncommon to round a corner near Lajitas and see 4 or 5 snakes in the road at a time. You could observe 5 - 10 subocs a night down there without difficulty. Atrox, subocs, and hypsiglena alone could account for 20 - 25 snakes.

RR in general is an oven. It is my opinion that if you want to cruise the RR in the middle of the summer you should start out elsewhere, like xmas for example. That's just a generalization though. You should pay attention to all the conditions that come into play. Sometimes just a few degrees difference (and other factors?) is enough to make a huge difference from one night to the next.

Just like anywhere, if you aren't out looking (even on the so called crappy nights) you won't find anything.

You have to remember that an area impacted for even one year by a stress such as limited rainfall may take several good years afterwords to truely recover. Rain is not a simple on/off switch.

Another factor, since the price of gas (and rooms) is much higher now than it was a few years back there are simply fewer people hunting the area. That can make it look like there are fewer people finding them, when in truth there are just fewer people looking.

I think both things have played a part myself.

Lance,
Are those Hueco photos in-situ?

Forky

Taken about 15 minutes after I caught her..

For what it's worth, I agree w/ Lance about the rain and lack there of. I think, that especially after years of drought, that it takes a number of average to above average rainy seasons to have some sort of positive recovery in numbers of animals seen.

I started cruising the river in 1987, which was the year that over 20 some odd alterna were seen there in less than a weeks time. Nothing close to that event had occurred before or sense to my knowledge. From late 92 through 2004, I searched south Brewster and Presidio counties nearly exclusively. During those years I was making at least 2 trips each season, usually during the week surrounding the new moon in June and September. While I did not take notes like some, I am confident that from about 1992, which was the last above average rainy season down there for at least a 10 year stretch, for me the total numbers of snakes seen in a night/trip decreased each subsequent year. During the late 80's and early 90's it was uncommon to see less than 10 snakes a night on the river with 15-20 seemingly the norm. On occasional nights more than 20 were seen .

While I have been spending most of my nights searching northern Brewster and Jeff Davis counties the last 2 seasons, I can tell you that I am currently over 100 nights and counting since I encountered my last alterna on the river road going back to 94. I found two in one pass that night and have been jinxed on that road since.

Regardless of how the el camino del rio has beaten me up for over a decade now, it is still my absolute favorite road to cruise. Not only is it fun at night, but it is spectacular by day as well.

DB

I have to agree with DB and others about the RR being the most spectacular cruising road in Texas if not the US. I would be considered by many to be an old-timer, albeit, a very unlucky one. I have been there on many magical nights, including one, were one of the best (or luckiest....however you want look at it.....) spotted three animals in one night...myself, I had to contend with night snakes and ground snakes......I have hunted in ridiculously poor conditions and seen nothing. One thing, there is nothing like it....that road is so awesome that I enjoy it no matter what. The last time I had success, an acquaintance was pulling out of the motel as I was pulling in muttering about how poor conditions were. He had spent over a week in the area and not seen an alterna. Our first past down the road and boom.....a gray-band.

Hopefully we will get another one of those years were the region gets good rain at the right time with the correct temperatures and some low pressure moving in with the new moon and the snakes feel like moving with gas prices not being prohibitive and motels not feeling like they need to charge an arm and a leg for the honor of showering in mercury-laden water. Oh, and the border patrol feeling like it needs to take it easy on us herpers! The above or any combo thereof would be GREAT....happy herping.....

I started hunting the River Road back in the 80's. I've hunted it countless times over the years. I've went 5 to 6 days without seeing a single snake thinking something was wrong or something must have happened to them. Then all of the sudden, they appear out of no-where with a vengance.
Of all the roads I've hunted all over W. Texas, the river road is still my favorite BAR NONE. I think it's a combination of the scenery, solitude, chance of seeing something nobody else has caught before, and just the roadside chat with folks of the same mindset without having to worry (too much) about someone running you over. The Game Warden that's down there now is a good guy too...
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Snakes of Hudspeth County, Texas

np