Reptile & Amphibian Forums

approximately how many snakes did you take out of the wild in Texas during 2006?

I took 6 snakes to keep. 2.2 Lampropeltis splendida, and 1.1 Western Hogs (The male was clipped by a car and eventually died).

I also caught 0.1 baby Hognose which was released less than a month after I found it.

The female Hog from above was gravid and all 7 of her progeny were released.

and I took a few bullsnakes.

I spent $60 on super combo...

wow, I'm on way to retirement in this multi-billion dollar industry!

I went for two weeks in June and 1 week in August. I took 2.0 alterna and 0.1 splendida. I also gave a friend 1.1 lepidus and gave a student(refered by Troy H. so definately legit) some(can't remember exact number) other lepidus for a university study on color/substrate selection.

0 snakes
1 Eastern Collared Lizard for my son. We kept it about a week, fed it well, then released it where we caught it.

I took 2.0 subocularis
1.0 splendida
1.2 crevice spiny lizards
from a row or the highway
all the rest of my snakes were c.b. bought that year, I also bought super combo and the resident non game permit.
Todd Hughes

1.1 Alterna (one of those I only have half credit on)
0.0.1 Suboc that was given away
I did run over a night snake while clipping along at 70 and I also got one deer with the Xterra (but the deer was up and running by the time I stopped)

Lance

I did ask you to slow down though. No reason to clip along
at 70.

Member the old addage...

Run down and milk one cow. Walk down and milk all the cows...

Steven

the way the joke was told to me, it wasn't "milk".

To refresh my memory, I went to my herp room. There I found, from 2006:

1.1 splendida
1.0 celaenops
0.1 Boy Scout Road subocularis
1.0 Black Gap subocularis

Scores of others were examined, photographed and released.

Brad Chambers

np

I'm afraid I lived up to TPWD's perception of a nonresident, I raped and pillaged. I bought the annual nongame permit for $125. I was there for 13 nights-5 nights were rained out. I took 10 snakes, including 1 alterna, and 3 lizards; 2 of the lizards helped keep the alterna alive while I was there because it was in SEVERE need of a meal.

Here's what I saw:

Western Hooknose (1)
Night Snake (3)
Regal Ringneck (1)
Baird's Rat Snake (12)
Great Plains Rat Snake (3)
Gray-Banded Kingsnake (1)
New Mexico Milksnake (1)(DOR - very painful to see
this)
Bullsnake (13)
Checkered Garter (3)
Black-Necked Garter (2)
Texas Longnose (1)
Central Texas Whipsnake (1)
Mountain Patchnosed Snake (1)
Coachwhip (1)
Rock Rattlesnake (9)
Black-Tailed Rattlesnake (5)
Trans Pecos Copperhead (2)
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (5)
Prairie lizard (1)
Tree lizard (1)
Earless Lizard (1)
Crevice Spiny (5)
Western Box Turtle (1)

So, to summarize, out of 74 herps seen, 3 were DOR, 13 were taken, and 58 were either saved from automobile tires (a majority-including that box turtle) or left alone. Out of the 13 that were taken, my guess is that 7 were "saved" given the traffic on those nights.

Here's what I spent:
Lodging: $500
Gas: $300
Food: $230
License: $125
Misc: $50
Total: $1,205 (YEE-HAW!!!!)

R

Here's what I spent:
Lodging: $600
Gas: $300
Food: $230
License: $125
Misc: $50
Total: $1,305 (YEE-HAW!!!!)

R

I found and kept 5 snakes (out of around 250 seen on the roads):

2.0 alterna, 1.0 milk (flipped under a rock in March), 0.1 western hog, and a single pictigaster found in October on a rainy night, so I brought it home to photograph, and then the weather turned cold and I never got back to release it (and have since decided to keep it).

I also found somewhere in the ballpark of 150 DORs

Troy

For 2006 I kept 2 Pituophis c. sayi and that's it.

Back 50 years ago when I first started herping as a kid, I kept almost everything that I found, but over time and with a bit more maturity (and when i began to realize that I was responsible for feeding all those mouths that I was bringing home) I began keeping only select animals that I haad a real deed for. Most years while living in Texas I probably kept 4 to 6 of the animals I found each year. Most of the stock that I keep today is captive bred.

Today, for me field herping and road cruising is more about gathering information about natural history, habitat, range extensions, the thrill of finding animals in their native habitat, photography, running into old herping friends and occasionally keeping something that I consider a real keeper.
-----
Gerald Keown
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research
www.southwesternherp.com

Last year I took 4 snakes:

1 Broad band Copperhead (later released to same location)

2 alterna (west Langtry) kept for breeding

1 suboc (Juno Rd) kept for my collection

I took ZERO snake out of the wild.
I did pick up a few couches spadefoots to feed my sole snake, a mexican hognose that I caught 8 years ago in Hudspeth County. On my way to retirement via the lucrative snake industry as well....
-----
Snakes of Hudspeth County, Texas

I kept:
0.1 runo rd alterna
0.1 277 alterna
0.0.1 longnose to use for presentations on native fauna
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South Texas Herps

I was in West Texas for 2.5 weeks in august, I took 2 lepidus that a friend gave me, spent $1800 while i was there and i donot breed reptiles to sell commercially nor do i collect to sell commercially. Clark

Four.
2 alterna, 1 suboc, 1 TX nightsnake.
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V.P.
Austin Herp. Soc.

I found one male alterna last year. I had no need for it but the youngster riding with me was so excited I let him keep it. No other snakes taken last year.

I only keep night snakes,hooknosed and ground snakes.Once in a while I will really luck out and find a longnose.
LOL, I didn't make it down there in (06) but in (05) I kept one alterna,two subocs and 2 bullsnakes.

Shannon

1 alterna

DB

I took exactly one (1) reptile from a roadway last year (a Bandera Co. Elaphe bairdi).
-----
Tom Lott
Thornscrub

>>approximately how many snakes did you take out of the wild in Texas during 2006?

None. I haven't been there for two years, but whenever I was there I never took anything that I caught. I can tell you that I caught and released many southern copperheads on the spot (probably 15/year), as well as a couple prairie kingsnakes, 4 or 5 Texas Ratsnakes, Gulf Coast Ribbons, etc. I also removed several snakes crossing Texas roads in and around the Houston area, to just off the highway, and out of harms way. One speckled king died as it was just clipped by a vehicle before I caught it.

I (hopefully) saved several ribbon snakes and green anoles and brown anoles that had just been accidentally sprayed by pyrethrins from a pest control truck, by washing them off profusely with water and then releasing them.

Dusty Rhoads
Suboc.com

>>I (hopefully) saved several ribbon snakes and green anoles and brown anoles that had just been accidentally sprayed by pyrethrins from a pest control truck, by washing them off profusely with water and then releasing them.
-----------
I wonder if TPWD is going to fine the highway dept and county road crews for spraying toxins in their new "wildlife sanctuaries".

>>>>I (hopefully) saved several ribbon snakes and green anoles and brown anoles that had just been accidentally sprayed by pyrethrins from a pest control truck, by washing them off profusely with water and then releasing them.
>>-----------
>>I wonder if TPWD is going to fine the highway dept and county road crews for spraying toxins in their new "wildlife sanctuaries".

Good point. It sure is eye-opening to look at actual cold-hard facts (e.g. the REAL reasons that populations of animals decline).

None.

The problem is that anyone who took a bunch of snakes is
1. going to lie or
2. not going to respond.

I know that during alterna hunting season, lots of Longnose, Gophersnakes, subocularis, and even Hypsiglena, Gyalopion, Tarantulas, Scorpions, etc. show up on Glades list. So someone is taking these things and selling them from the same roads we are hunting. Some people are using the other critters to offset their trip costs. It only takes one of these people to give another 50 a bad name.
-----
Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

correct,

so my question to you would be will those snakes on Glades list magically disappear if TX H.B. No. 2414 passes?

I can answer that! NO.

All,

Both Robroy and Sam come here and herp. Sam comes and catches all kinds of stuff as a paid employee of Glades. Robroy comes for vacation and picks up a few things but Sam comes to get invertebrate stock and most anything else he can catch. I also know that one other person supplies Glades with stuff on a regular basis and he is a well known alterna hunter. But Sam's trip is once a year and he only catches what he can find and I don't think it is enough to worry about. So overall, Glades harvests a resource in, probably, sustainable numbers. Both contribute to the businesses of west Texas and they pay for their licenses and permits.

The people who catch stuff to make up trip expenses also probably do not amount to much over all. Remember, most herps are killed on the road. A few are harvested and a few are rescued and that is about the size of it. Collecting from the roads is NEVER going to be a conservation concern. Systematically raping a river or pond of turtles is probably the only concern with collecting herps.

The problem with people catching herps to cover trip expenses is that they sell their catch way under true market value and they keep the market in the toilet.

Mike Welker
El Paso, TX

>>The problem with people catching herps to cover trip expenses is that they sell their catch way under true market value and they keep the market in the toilet.

Well said.

I didnt hunt in TX at all in 2006. My last TX trip was in '04 and all I took were two subocs. Yes, I too am a multimillionaire.... and you can see why... I collected $80 worth of snakes and spent about $500 to do so!

My son and I have spent well in excess of 15,000 dollars during the last decade in search of herps in West Texas. Our records indicate that we have seen approximately 400 live snakes and 600 DORs. We have brought home with us a whopping 7 alterna and perhaps another 15 snakes - a mix of subocularis, getulus, rhinocheilus, and emoryi. We have brought home on average close to 3 herps per trip, but have saved close to 380 snakes from the "rubber tire disease" by relocating them out of harm's way.

MS

nothing in '06........male Suboc in '05. yeah, I'm pretty greedy..........

All,

My friend Mickey and I probably harvested about 43 snakes last year.

10 were founder breeding stock
12 went to Research (Med-Toxin Venom Lab)
2 went to an educational exhibit in Ohio
3 were released
6 were sold to hobbyists
10 I still have. They will be released or sold.

Mike Welker
El Paso, TX

I collected 1 alterna and spent A LOT in the region.