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I had planned to hunt down Juno Rd. to 90, then west to Sanderson to BS with the herpers there and see about the filming going on.
I turned off 277 onto 189 where I encountered five crossings with water flowing but the deepest was maybe 3-4 inches so I made it through OK. I timed it perfectly, turning onto Juno Rd. a bit after sunset. Juno crossing had maybe 5=6" of water so I chanced it and made it through. THe next crossing, Burnt, made me turn around as I couldn't see the road under thw water. Val Verde is getting more rains as I write this, so I'll assume conditions won't be much better for a few days.
I turned back and went to Ozonoa, then over to the cuts on 190 going to Ft. Lanchaster and Sheffield. THen down 359 to 2400, then hunted southern Pecos County, then to Sandewrson, hunted east of town a bit then called it quits around 2:30. I saw NO snakes.

Momday was taken up with the filming and BS'ing with the herpers staying at the Outback Oasis. I had planeed to head home via Iraan but it looked like rains up that way so I headed east from Sanderson about 7PM in hopes of finding some kennerlyi. I took a break while waiting for dark, started at Palam and worked my way east to Comstock. Figuring I coujldn't amke it up Juno Rd. I whipped into Del Rio, put in some gas and headed up 277. I saw a DOR sizeable atrox about 15 miles up 277, probably gravid. I ran into two herpers on 277, one of whom had found a coral snake. Temps were OK, still around 80 at midnight, barometer at 11 PM was 29.82 and rising, but the winds were out of the east and I NEVER find anything with east winds.
I hunted my way up 277 to the Edwards County line, then headed home. Got home as the sun was rising, having found NOTHING.

also, the air suspension on my car went out Sunday night so it was a really fun drive home, bottoming out on every bump. I'm going to replace the air with standard shocks and springs.

Meridith the snake hunter says you pulled a Wayne Howell! You must focus John!!! F O C U S on one area!!!! How could everyone catch alterna and you catch nada??? This ain't the River Road John!! Pick a few cuts and stay with it!!!

Wayne

PS. Meridith says you ought to know better with all your experience!

He looks for snake hunters... He is a socialite these days, retired from hunting years ago.

Or that is the rumor?

OK, Wayne,
not EVERYONE found an alterna who was looking. We looked all freakin' night, but on the west side of Sanderson.
I know, I know everybody else west east and found stuff, but there are some really nice cuts on the west side.
Stop picking on us!
-Jack
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V.P.
Austin Herp. Soc.

BUT.................BUT..................BUT...jack, we are talking about John here!!! He is just about the OLDEST herper we know! I am suprised he doesn't live IN a rock cut!!!! Seriously, especially after this past week, it truly pays to concentrate on one area VS. driving for miles and miles. I think I have learned this now,....with thexception of the RR. John knows we love him! West cuts huh??? I guess Collin fished the holes dry out there!!

Wayne

the reason for the miles and miles was so I could get home. Car shot, snakes ready to lay, only enough food for the cat for 2 nights, rodents need water and, frankly, the weather didn't look all that good for the next few days. I'll find mine in July.

You tell em John!!

Oh lawdy be...I gotta get in on this discussion. I have been Wayne's regular snakehunting partner for seven...yes SEVEN...seasons now. In the past, in one night he seemed to hunt all over the place...north, south, east and west. The amount of miles we put in each night...and never saw a dang thing...was absolutely insane.

This past trip, after I learned Tom and Maureen caught a grayband and we didn't...Wayne and I had a discussion about strategy. Actually, for anyone who was around to hear it, I was pretty vocal about what I thought our game plan should be...pick a locale and stick with it...do loops until our brains turn to mush. Maureen backed me on this. I fully expected to get a lot of mouth from Wayne (after all...he IS Wayne Howell!). Instead, he just sheepishly smiled and said, "You're right. Ok. We'll do just that."

The alterna gods (and Keith Armstrong's spirit) blessed us and we got three graybands between Sanderson and Langtry on one trip. YIPPEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

My phrase for the trip was..."FOCUS, Wayne!" He did...I'm so proud of him for doing so (with no lip at all)...and we got what we went out there for. I couldn't be happier for him...he broke his record for alternas on one trip. Of course it helped that two out of three of the spots were mine. : )

Actually, that's three out of four spots when you consider we had to hunt for the same snake two nights in a row. What's my grayband spot count now, Wayne? Four total overall? OOF!!!

Meridith
AKA Eagle Eyes

:::)))~~~~~~~~~~~

AAAHHH!.........Eagle eyes finally chimes in with the rest of the story!

Meredith.........Did you get any pics of "spiderman" ascending the rock cuts? These would definitely be "good" to his boys at a future date. Hopefully, I'll catch up to you in Daytona later this summer. I will want a total account of this season's account of herping with "spiderman" Howell.........Steve G.

After years of watching Wayne scale rock cuts and whatnot, I am convinced he has mountain goat DNA somewhere in his body!

When I spotted Ruth on the cut she was clinging low and close to the ledge. She didn't look like a snake, she looked like a shadow. Earlier that day, Eric Timeus told me, "You gotta know your cuts. When you know your cuts, you know if it's a snake or not without giving it much thought." He is so right. We hung around that cut for 5 hours that night waiting for her to show up. I now know that darned cut up and down, left and right. Ruth might have been cruising stealth but she was definitely an anomaly on the cut and she was busted!

There was no time to get an "in situ" shot of this snake. We lost her the night before...we sure as heck weren't going to risk it a second time. I kept the spotlight on Ruth while Wayne made two attempts to climb the cut to grab her. The first attempt was aborted because she was making tracks to the east to get away from him. He jumped down and followed my directions to locate her the second time. He climbed the cut about 10-12 feet up. He had tongs in one hand and was clinging on with the other. He was sprawled across the cut like a giant "X". I was surprised the cut didn't give way when he was scaling it. When he was in position, he let go of the tongs, grabbed the snake and dropped down to the ground. I'm so glad he didn't impale impale himself on those sharp stiff plants at the base of the cuts on the way down. OUCH!

I am always in awe of Wayne when he does things like this. He just goes into action and...believe it or not...he's actually very graceful when he does it. It was truly an amazing site to see...I'm glad I was there to witness it.

Sadly, Tom and Maureen showed up just afterwards and missed getting the scene on video.

For those of you who don't know...and may have been scratching your head to my refering to the female snake we caught as "Ruth"...here's the scoop.

We caught the male three nights earlier. Ruth Graham died the day or so before we caught the female. I asked Wayne to name the pair Billy (or Willy G) and Ruth if they did indeed turn out to be male and female. They did...and they are officially now named after the Grahams.

Dana and I subscribe to your version of snake hunting as well - even on RR.
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V.P.
Austin Herp. Soc.

It SUCKS don't it?????

very boring until it pays off.
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V.P.
Austin Herp. Soc.

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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

If not please read it. I hope you continue to go out west. It is great to see Real Women being a part of this hobby. I hope everything is going well at home.

And don't forget who coined the phrase "Eagle Eyes".

Best Wishes,

Steven

Thank you, Steve! I really appreciate your acknowledgement of my finds. Those critters can't be caught if no one spots 'em! It's definitely a team effort, that's for sure.

It was good seeing you in Sanderson. We blew our last night on the River Road...we should have stayed in town with you guys.

EE

I was one of the hunters you passed on Monday night on 277. It is interesting that you talked to someone who saw a coral, because we saw one on the road too. Funny two in one night.
Glenn

I was on 277 Sunday night and didn't see much of anything. Sanderson was hot Fri. night but not for Sat. night. I keep missing by one night. Will try agian this weekend. Hope to see yall there.
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Not too smart, not too dumb. Just right