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Hey, just looking for herpers in the LC, LA area.

>>Hey, just looking for herpers in the LC, LA area.

There doesn't seem to be a LARGE gerping culture in that area. I did a little herping in that are as anundergrad at LSU-BR, but I spent 2 summers there collecting data for my M.S. My research site was down by the airport in some reclaimed wetlands.

A few years later, I lived in West Orange, and I did some herping north of theyre just east of DeRidder. THAT is a cool place to herp, but just south of Lake Charles there are some populations of the best looking speckling kingsnakes I have ever seen! Moss Hill has a good population of Prairie kingsnakes!

KJ
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KJUN Snakehaven

You're right; we do have some great speckled kings here. I've lived here (Sulphur) all my life and caught my share of speckleds, Texas rats, water snakes, ribbons, racers, etc. A couple of good prairie kings, too.
There doesn't seem to be a herp scene at all in this area. I've tried to get people interested, but no luck. One of my brothers is into it, but that's it. The local pet shops are okay, but ball pythons and albino corns are about as exotic as they get.
Anyway, I was hoping to find some local enthusiasts to hang out with and keep in touch with, as I'm moving to Austin in a few months.

> with and keep in touch with, as I'm moving to Austin in a few months.

You'll find the herp scene (and invert scene especially) much largher there, but the herping will be slow in that immediate area. Still, Texas has enough herps to keep all reasonabl;e people satisfied. I'm about 2 hours from Austin now.

Lake Charles is slow, I think, because anything anyone DOES catch isn't worth breeding. The babies from those kings, milks, etc. will be almost impossible to get feeding on unscented mice. That takes the fun out of it for many people.

Ever see the orange and black specks? They don't seem to go up to Sulphur, though.

KJ
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KJUN Snakehaven

I'd be happy to even find someone here who's into more than pet shop balls and corns. No one here seems interested in milks, kings or carpets. Or morphs of anything.

I'm not interested in breeding any of the local stuff, really; I know what you mean about that. I would like to run across some Louisiana milks, though.

I have not seen the orange and black specks. That sounds interesting. South of Lake Charles? I'll have to check it out. Are they usually found in those marshy areas in Cameron Parish?
My brother and I did come across a population of Texas rats that are almost as dark as black rats. We've pulled two from the same area near a set of train tracks outside of Sulphur. We're thinking they may be a Texas/black rat integrade, because we see alot of T. rats here, and they have never looked like this before. We released both specimens after taking some pictures and treating one that had several deep lacerations. We think it was attacked by a bobcat.
He (my brother) also came across several cottonmouths in central Louisiana that were lighter than copperheads! We're wondering if they may be hypos. I'm not keen on venomous herps, but I'm intrigued by the possibility of finding a morph like this in the wild. I think we'll at least have to go back and photograph these guys.

When you get to Austin we can hook you up!
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Todd Hughes

Cool!
My girlfriend and I are buying a house in the Austin area. Once things are settled I'd love to meet some more of the local guys. I met Tom Stevens at one of the shows recently.