Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It seems to be a good time of year to sit back and recount some of the great experiences of this past year and years past. I thought this would be a good topic… especially if everyone contributes.

Here’s my story:

I found my first alterna in 1991… June 14th at 9:53PM and 82F to be exact LOL.

My friend David and I were staying at a hotel in Del Rio and on this particular night we decided to head west along the famed US highway 90. We passed Comstock, then Langtry and were proceeding westward when we were paid a visit by an aloof but polite Warden Cervantes. Fernando informed us that we were not allowed to shine a spotlight from our vehicle as we drove along the shoulder of the road. He checked our identification, our hunting licenses, and then went on his way. In an effort to avoid the potential for a citation my friend David and I proceeded to Palma Draw, parked, got a drink, and began to walk (an acceptable method of hunting according to Cervantes). David went to the north side of the road and I went to the south. I walked through the obviously unmown grass at roads’ edge and scoured the cut with my eyes and flashlight. A mere 30 seconds after starting my search I saw a flash of color at my feet. I turned, looked down, and saw this (scanned print):

I'll never forget it... an experience that's burned into my mind.
What's your story?

great looking snake Damon,

my story goes something like this. It was (97)and my buddy Twinkie and I were out for a second year of trying. It was about the tenth night (25th total) and we hadn't seen much at all.It was about 2:00a.m and we were on hyw 90 heading from comstock to langtry.We were just coming up to Eagles nest when we saw a guy walking on the west side of the road shining a small flash light on the cut.We stopped (I was driving)in the middle of the hyw just to say hy and b.s a little.We had seen and talked with this guy a few times for about five nights.He was kinda local as he lived in Dallas or something. He said he was about to call it a night and it was his last night of hunting and he was real bummed cause he hadn't seen a subocs and really wanted to take one home. Well, being the nice guys we were we said we had a couple from erlier in the night and we offered him one if he wanted it.He said yes he would love to have one and I said well o.k. let me turn around here and pull over by your truck and you can pick one out.He said cool, and started walking back (west) to his truck.I turned my wheels to the right (east) to turn around and there in the bike lane about 20 feet in front of our Kia was a large blairs stretched out in the bike lane.
I yelled twinkie there's a snake and before either one of us could get unbuckled and out of the truck this tool had ran over and picked it up.He came over to my window and was shaking and holding the most awesome blairs I have ever seen (I am sure it wasn't but you know what I meen). It was a large male that was almost pitch black and had tomato red large blotches with no alternates. The thing was killer anyway, he said man this should be your snake and we both said he that s our snake we found it.We got into a huge argument and long story short it wasn't worth it to kick this guys ars cause the word all over alterna land would have been that Twink and I bullied a snake out of some pour single guy. We were really bummed cause we didn't get to actually catch it anyway.
A couple days later we stopped at Randy Ellis's house (not knowing what he was all about yet) and there was the snake.Randy even knew the story.LOL...Randy traded the guy out of it and then sold it a few days later for $500.00
I heard through the alterna vine that it died a couple weeks later on the guy that bought it.I guess it wasn't meant to be.
Well anyway, I guess that was my first even if I didn't catch it.I guess then the next one would be considered my first but it was a half snake.LOL...
it was my fourth year out there and 51 nights under my belt when Aaron and I left the starlight Theater from terelingua (sp?) and it was 10:32 p.m 87 degrees and a light sprinkle when there shooting into the road 4.3 miles west of lajitas is a killer light phase male.It was awesome.
I still didn't feel that huge Alterna rush though.I was driving and Aaron was out and had him in his hands before I could even get the car stopped.LOL...
So I won't bore you with the next couple cause they were also in the road or shined by Aaron as I drove.Do you guys see a pattern here?
It was (03) and june 9th (one of my Daughters birthdays)and 4:35 a.m. and about 72 degrees and a strong wind out of the north.It was Buffalo Creek (the new cut across the bridge)and a s.u.v. just went by with spotlights blazing out every window.We said hi to thm as the rolled by and we started to walk the cuts.We always go opposite ways so I headed south and Aaron headed north.Anyway, I walked across the street and turned my light on and started heading to the end of the cut.I only walked about 50 feet and there crawling ever so slow up tpo the road was a 32 inch ugly ass female.She is real ugly but she is one of my top five snakes ever in my collection.Those guys had just rolled right past here.Anyway, I finally got the Alterna Rush and I couldn't wait to get it again.

Sorry for the long story but it had to lead up to why this one was really my first.I have had a few since then but it will never compare.

Shannon

You guys told us that story. Man I would have been angry.

Good Stories though...

Steven

My first alterna was also my first trip to the Trans-pecos, May 25, 1984. Lee, Bryan Box and myself arrived on Pandale dirt under the cover of darkness. I can still remember how rough and dusty the road was and how barren the landscape. We did not find any snakes on the dirt, but we passed the famous sheep sign and "blairs hill" while hearing alterna stories on the way. I had heard many stories, but had only seen pictures of Lee's blairs. I had no idea how they would look on the road or a cut, yet Lee had me run the spotlight. Bryan wanted to check out the RR right of way that runs parallel with 90. With spotlight in hand and not knowing squat, I spotlighted my first blairs within 45 minutes. It was a big, dark phase male, with what I thought was "knock your eyes out orange" (it was a typical Val Verde blairs). We found another crawling across the road on our way out. Lee found a third at Osman. So, on our first and only night of that first trip, we had manage to find 3 blairs, 2 suboc, 1 splendida, 2 pics, 5 longnose and an atrox. What was the big deal? This was EASY. Ignorance is bliss. Little did I know that I would be skunked on many nights in the future. It was hard to appreciate at the time (I was only 15), and we have had a couple of better nights since, but only because of locale. It was a great trip. Thanks Lee and Bryan.

Scotty is definately my good luck charm. Most of the best snakes that I have ever found have been with him. I have been skunked many more nights without him than with him. Too bad that he was a wuss for several years and wouldn't go with me or I would have many more alterna under my belt. That first trip that Scotty went with us was a good one. He forgot to mention that my dad found the third alterna of the night by himself because we were getting bored and wanted to go catch med. gecks on the post office and visitor center in Langtry.

i cant find pic. of my first. was a dark phase blairs from 277 about 10 years ago. here is a pic. of my second that my wife and i got from limpia canyon.

Mine was in late May of '06 (despite many trips to W. Texas over the preceding 20 years!). 2 AM, found about 9 ft up the first cut North of the picnic area near Elephant Mntn. (West side of the road) on the west side of 118.

I've posted her before-she now has a date with a sweet little male from the same cut, courtesy of Bryan Box.....

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Brad Chambers

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

i love that animal Brad!!!! Every time you post it i stare at it for 10 minutes!

~ Mike

Mike-Carl Ackerbauer was with me when I found it-if you see him at the next Hamburg show ask him about it. She was fun to catch-I had to get a running start to reach high enough to grab her!

Hopefully, Bryan and I will have some hatchlings from her this coming season!
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Brad Chambers

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

AMAZING looking animal Brad. I understand what Mike was saying -- I was riveted for a few minutes myself!

Jerry Kruse

I'm still staring!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What a way to pop the cherry...

Man that is nice...

Congrats!

Steven

My first was in the early 70's(71,72,73??), I had been going to west Tx with my brother who was into rattlesnakes since the 60's but didn't know much about alterna. I had never seen a live one and the only pictures I had seen were in Conants field guide. It was 2 or 3:00am on the north hill of Luna Vista, a small grey snake on the edge of the road. I wasn't even sure what it was but I thought it was cool. I put it in a bag and headed for Alpine where my brother lived for help in identifying it. It was a nice light phase alterna, my brother had a pair of dark alterna that he collected at black gap 2 nights apart in April that he wanted to trade but I could not part with it at the time.
My good friend Bob Hasse ended up with it.
Hey Bob!! Do you have any pics of him, cause if I do, I can't find them.
Later
Rick

It was May 30, 1978. I had driven 1200 miles from California to hunt "Blairs" Kingsnakes. I was accompanied by my first wife. At that time I really didn’t know much about hunting "blairi" other than a few localities. We were staying in Del Rio but that night we were about 3 miles up the Pandale dirt. The moon was full; wind about 20 mph blowing tumble weeds across the road. It was about 3 am and the temp was about 70. We hadn’t seen a single herp all night and were getting a little discouraged. We were heading south towards 90 when we saw headlights coming our way. We were a little paranoid since the laws had just changed and we were in the middle of what we thought was nowhere in the middle of the night. I reached for the 357 I had under my seat and made sure I had a good grip on it. I stopped my truck and waited. This car comes barreling towards us and stops suddenly next to us. I think it was an Olds 88 or something similar. With the window down the driver leans out with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth and with a loud drawl says “seen any Blairs?” I knew he wasn’t a mad rancher or murderer so I eased my hand off my pistol and replied “Haven’t seen anything all night”. I still wasn’t sure if he was an undercover game warden though. We started talking and very soon I knew he was more experienced hunting graybands than we were. We of course had never found one and this fellow said he’s found many. He said it was late and not a good night since the moon was full and it was windy and cold. He suggested heading back to Del Rio and have a cup of coffee at the Kettle and he would tell us how to hunt "Blairs". We agreed since I felt the night was about over anyway. Out of courtesy I said I would let him go first and have the first shot at the remainder of the Pandale dirt back to Langtry. I told him I would wait long enough to have a cigarette (I smoked back then) then start out behind him. About 10 minutes later I put my smoke out and could still see his tail lights going up Blairs hill. We got back into my truck and hadn’t gone 50 feet when we saw it! A 3 foot dark phase male was just starting to crawl out on the dirt. About a foot of it was coming out from under the barbed wire fence on the left and was just cresting the dirt ridge left from the road grader that surfaced the road. I just about broke the gear shift lever off the column trying to slam it into park as I yelled “SNAKE!” My heart jumped into my throat as adrenaline started surging through my body. I think I bagged him and was back in my truck in less than 1 second. My heart beating wildly in my chest and hands shaking I could still see that fellows tail lights ahead of us. I know he had to see us stop. The whole way back to Del Rio we had this debate whether or not we should tell this fellow we bagged our first "Blairs" right behind him or not. In the end we decided not to tell him since we really didn’t know him having just met him that night. Of course years later I wanted to tell him but didn’t because I was afraid of making him feel bad that I didn’t trust him right off. Anyways back at the Kettle I could hardly contain myself from telling him of our find. We just sat there casually drinking coffee listening to his collecting stories and picking his brain for collecting information. After a couple of cups we told him we were going to turn in. Back in our hotel room we un-bagged our catch and gloated over our first ever “blairs”. We saw that fellow out hunting almost every night after that but I was too embarrassed to tell him of our find. Didn’t see another "Blairi" in 12 days of hunting. Found 2 more the following year.

Sorry this was so long but it was the only way I could tell it. And if the "fellow" mentioned in this story reads it and knows who he is then please forgive me for keeping this "secret" for so many years!

Stu

I think many of us know who it is.LOL....

Shannon

Yeah, I can think of a crusty ol' fellow that sounds like the guy in this story.
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Gerald Keown
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research
www.southwesternherp.com

I love hearing stories like that. That's the sort of anectdote I was hoping to read when the thread started.

Thanks for sharing Stu!

I'm just glad to get that one off my chest!

Peace Nightcrawler!

Stu

June 9th, 1993 almost midnight, straight up. Almost full moon.
I was with my hunting buddy at the time, John Leach, and this was our first real trip out to West Texas. We were breaking every rule you can think about. We were nervous about wardens and illegal aliens, due to all the stories we heard. I can remember walking cuts with a backpack and Mac-90 strapped to my back with a 30 shot banana clip. (oh those were the days) Needless to say, we always felt better about road cruising so naturally that is what we did more often. We were driving from south to north on Juno and was coming up on the first of the s-curves. On the right hand side of the road, what I would consider gravel shoulder, we saw a HUGE shadow moving. John jumped out of the isuzu, through the window, before I could stop and he was screaming at the top of his lungs. The Alterna morph
had a mouse in it's mouth, let go of it as soon as John picked it up and bit the crap out of him. The snake was gorgeous. A 10 in my book for Juno. It was 3.5 feet long, alterna morph with 2 dual lines for a nuchal bloch. The orange was infused with the grey to give the snake an overall -bluish look. I was so hooked after that. I don't know what ever happened to the snake. I kept if for 2 years, then john kept it. John gave it to another person without my permission, Steven Hackett had it for a while, but after that I don't know. I never sold it or wanted to. Such is life I guess... choose your collecting partners with care. Below is a link to the book that immortalizes that snake. Ron Markel's "Kingsnakes Care & Breeding In Captivity". It is on page 7, and the picture does absolutely no credit to the animal.

http://www.amazon.com/Kingsnakes-Breeding-Captivity-Ronald-Markel/dp/0793802733

The best alterna I have personally observed in the wild. I have found both live and dead since then. I have such a love-hate relationship with Juno road. I love the animals it produces, but I hate hunting the road. So many nights of no snakes... then bam!!!!

Last, if you hunted Juno from 93-95 and noticed a White Isuzu Pickup with a large fin on it, that was probably me. You have my apologies for all the rookie mistakes we made. U-turns, brights, spot lights from the truck, etc... Thanks to all those that gave us advice. Troy H, Ron M., Tull Farley, Lance, Barry Kuenn, Larry Briggs, Stu T, Joe F, Cliff C, and of course the Alterna Bible, written by Denni Miller. You guys are really what makes this hobby great. Cheers to those that keep it REAL!

Best Wishes,

Steven Owens

Keep the good stories coming...

I was lucky enough to have vetran herpers Dave Long and Paul Sager invite me to join them on one of their annual trips to Texas in June of 1996 and on 6/18/96 after about a week of herping at 277 and Langtry I found a dark Blair's sub-adult female on the long cut 8 miles west of Langtry, 2:20 in the morning. I still have that snake and she was still producing as of last year, although I gave her the year off this year. I have to thank Dave and Paul because until they showed me some ropes I thought the best way to catch snakes was to flip trash in midsummer when it's 100 degrees and bone dry.