Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had the good fortune to not get harassed this last weekend by LE and also catch one of the nicest alterna I have ever seen. It is the nicest that I have caught for sure. I think that the term "screamer" is widely overused as is rating an alterna a "10". In my book, this is both.
Tell me what you guys think. Any guesses to the locality? It was collected this weekend by Scotty Lofland, Jeff (Pony) Miller, and myself.

different pose

I have put in about 50 nights at this locality with no success. It is a tough spot for most people to score (although a few people have caught multiple animals from here).

np

n/p

x-mas is what i believe.

A while back someone was wanting to know if anyone had seen alterna like his from 20 miles south of alpine. I just uploaded this picture the other day. Its a male I caught down there a few years ago.

gap?

Well, wherever it is, we're all going there to catch killer looking alterna AND TO AVOID HARRASSMENT BY LAW ENFORCEMENT lol!!!

Congrats - 50 nights is perserverence - YOU MUST have known what was possible...

Robert

My guess would be the Gap first and river road second. If it is a river road that would make 3 from their in the last 2 weeks and all of them 9"s or better. Congrats on a real knockout. Will you let us know where its from in a few days or not? Sure don't want to let LE know where you were though. BA

Hueco Mtns.

>>Hueco Mtns.

I'm sure it's a Gapper too, but I was / am in denial, because this leaves me sitting all alone as the only person with way over 100 nights on the gap never to find an alterna down there.

Regardless of the local, that snake will be July alterna of the month, that much I know.

Forky

Gap,lajitas or x-mas I would say and in that order. Hueco-no way.
L8r Shannon

I am sure it was not on a public road or right of way, so i would say it was from your (or a friend of yours) private ranch near the river road
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South Texas Herps

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South Texas Herps

Looks like an Xmas. Incredible snake too!

Awesome gb!
Todd Hughes
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Todd Hughes

8.7 miles NW of La Linda, FM 2627, Brewster Co., TX. Kinda like guessing how many pennies are in the big jar on the counter ..

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Bill Cope
O'Brien, FL

Looks strikingly similar to my male cb from Gap parents....

Brad Chambers

I'm guessing Xmas. And since you collected it, I'm sure it must have been from the fence line on my Luna Vista property and JUST OUTSIDE of the right of way.

Thanks for the inspiration!

What an absolutely awesome animal. Congrats! Is La Linda the border station in the Gap? Its been too many years since I have been on that road. --Henry W.

I have had some people tell me that the picture looks a little dark. Here is a picture that Scotty took that is a little lighter. I will post the locality tomorrow.

WOW!! Nice one! What's with teasing about the locality? You trying to drive us all nuts!?

Max
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Snakes to the Max

loks like a gap to me

Has finally been popped. Nice one... first of the year that I know of...

Best wishes,

Steven

Many people guessed right on this one. It is a Gap snake. I wish that it were a Hueco or a Glass, but I guess I will have to catch those at a later date. Thanks to all the kind words about the animal. I have to keep checking to see if it really is that bright and clean or if I was just imagining things. I have not seen many wc light phase Gap animals. I don't consider the Stillwell snakes Gap snakes (just my opinion). How many do you guys know about? I took photos of a light phase that Norm caught in the late 90's, and I have seen pics of intermediate snakes, but no real light ones. I would love to see some pics.

Thanks for playing along.
Bryan Box

http://www.kingsnake.com/alterna/mar07.html

An incredible animal, I wouldn't consider it a light phase however.

i think that is one of the nicest wc black gaps ive seen. was it on the road or cut? what time? how big is it? thanks.

It was caught at 10:30, moon was quite bright, storms to the North. It is about 20 inches.

cool, was it on the road or on a cut? thanks

Very nice snake. One of the nicest wc animals that I've seen from there (certainly nicer than any that I caught LOL).

I've only seen one other "true" light phase from the lower part of Black Gap rd (not Stillwells, which I do consider the "gap" and that was Norman's light "277" Blairs. I've seen a couple of others that were "light-ish", but with muddy orange (one of Doherty's, one of Sheldon's), and of course the old photo of the one from Mackin (can post photo tomorrow or the next day). There is also a pretty light one in preservative at UTA.

Congrats!
Troy

hey Bryan.Great snake.This is definetly one of the prettiest west tx wild Alterna I have seen.Bob Mackin caught one aruond that same mileage.It was a little lighter and narrower bands but I like yours better.He called his narrow bands.I thought Brad Anderson might have a pic but I could be mistaken.I'll try to find mine.

Hey Norm,
Your absolutely right about Mackins. It is lighter gray but comes up way short in the intensity of the orange. I have a photo of it but Troy should have a slide copy that he could post easier than I could. How bout it Troy? One thing is for sure, it sure is alot prettier than all those Langtry and Sanderson snakes from the past couple of weeks!!! Norm, what do you think of the 5 Huecos caught in the last 2 weeks? Seems like a lot to me. Hope to see you next month. BA

I have told several people that in the right conditions that heucos are probably abundant.Not as hard as BG/Xmas but more like RR/NSanderson.The rain we have recieved has made conditions prime.This next new moon should be outragous.The best in years.I hope those who are able to get here will get to experience these condition.

I see some of these posts that say you haven't caught one at the gap in 100 nights, 50 nights. This was around the tenth night of collecting there for me to turn this snake up. What's the big deal? Really, I feel very lucky and fortunate to be in on this catch. I hope it is only another ten nights before I find my next one, but it will probably be more like 50-100. Bryan and I thought this snake was one of the nicest ever found at the Gap, but there is always collector bias. It is nice to hear some of your thoughts on this snake and where it ranks.

Scotty

Paris HIlton...

"That's Hot"

Congrats Brian. I tried to shoot you an email but I think I have an old address. Drop me a line when you get a chance...

dsal(at)quixnet(dot)net