5/25/07
My wife Christina and I just returned home from a quick Memorial Weekend run to West Texas. We left Houston around 11:00 Friday morning and headed west towards Del Rio. Along the way we were quickly greeted with rain; a rain that would plague us for most of the trip. Although the warnings were there keeping many herpers at home we decided to brave the elements and make the best of it. Heading west we came across the first few animals of the trip.
1 adult Pantherophis o. lindheimeri (DOR), Colorado Co.
1 adult Crotalus atrox (DOR), Uvalde Co.
1 sub-adult Drymarchon c. erebennus (DOR), Kinney Co.
A little after 5 that evening, we arrived in Del Rio and soon met up with my good friends Robert Edwards and Rob Klockman (Rak). We settled into Rob’s house where we would stay for the duration of our trip and went out for a quick dinner with Rob and his wife before dark. Although Val Verde Co. was soaked due to the recent torrential rains we still headed out for the evening concentrating our efforts along Hwy 277. The cool temperatures and water streaming from the roadside cuts made us doubtful that we would see anything. We still managed to shine cuts from 8:30 to nearly 11:30 before calling it quits and heading back into town.
1 sub-adult Thamnophis c. ocellatus (crawling along cut at Red Bluff), Val Verde Co.
5/26/07
Rob and his wife had to leave town until Sunday leaving us to take care of the house while they were away. We got up late and tried to kill as much time in Del Rio as we could, anticipating what the night would have in store for us. Later in the evening, we made our way to Juno Road, arriving at the s-curves right before dark. We continued north towards Baker’s Crossing when the rain began to fall. I wasn’t too discouraged at first for I had found two alterna on Juno during rainstorms in the past but, as the rain fell harder our chances of seeing anything slowly washed away. We pressed on and met up with Robert Edwards who had decided to hunt Juno as well. He hadn’t seen anything and after 10 or so passes north and south of Baker’s Crossing and constant rain we decided to call it a night and head back to Del Rio.
5/27/07
After a few phone calls and weather reports from Rob, we decided to take our chances further west that evening. Soon our plan was set in stone, leave the wives at home and head for Black Gap. Rob arrived and by 5:00 we were loaded up and ready to go. While packing up the truck we found our first snake of the night. Dead on the driveway was a small blind snake (Leptotyphlops sp.) that I apparently ran over coming in the night before. That afternoon we headed west and along the way we came across a few Texas horned lizards (AOR) a small box turtle (DOR) and an adult Thamnophis c. crytophis (DOR) just west of Sanderson. Before leaving Sanderson we stopped in at the Outback, saying hello to Roy and a few of our Houston buddies Wayne Howell and Clint Pustjovsky. We pressed on and found ourselves in Black Gap as the sun settled. The temperatures were still warm and we were hopeful about what the night would bring. We hunted along Black gap till early in the morning, finding a snake or two on every pass we made.
1 yearling Crotalus atrox (AOR), Brewster Co.
2 sub-adult Crotalus atrox (AOR), Brewster Co.
1 adult Crotalus atrox (AOR), Brewster Co.
1 adult Crotalus atrox (crawling along cut), Brewster Co.
2 adult Crotalus m. molossus (AOR), Brewster Co.
1 adult Crotalus m. molossus (crawling along cut), Brewster Co.
1 adult Hypsiglena t. jani (AOR), Brewster Co.
1 adult Hypsiglena t. jani (crawling on cut), Brewster Co.
1 yearling Arizona e. elegans (AOR), Brewster Co.
The temperatures dropped and a little before 2:00 and 11 snakes later we made our way slowly back through Marathon into Sanderson. East of Marathon we came across a beautiful adult Lampropeltis g. splendida (DOR). We crashed in Sanderson for a few hours and at 7:00 we continued on towards Del Rio. The last snake of the trip was a dead Agkistrodon c. pictigaster which we found on the shoulder in between some cuts just east of Sanderson. Because of the extreme emaciated look of the animal (and knowing who was out there) it was later thought that the snake was planted. If it was planted, thanks for that one, I almost had a lap full of Rob’s hot coffee when he spotted that snake. We finally made it into Del Rio in the early morning hours.
5/28/07
We got up before noon, packed and headed back towards Houston. Again the rains fell and we found ourselves stuck in horrible traffic. Somehow we ended up behind an 18 wheeler that jack-knifed and flipped over to avoid a collision with a fully-loaded greyhound bus which had already managed to end up sideways in a ditch. Our usual smooth drive home ended up being miserable. Even though the weather could have been better, my 8th Memorial Weekend run was still nice just like all the others. Regardless of all the rain, anytime in West Texas is a good time. I just hope it’s all gone when I return in a few weeks.
Nathan Wells
