.. these days, herping down here is mostly trash-diving (my least favorite kind of herping).. We're in such a rush to develop every last scrap of dirt there is a de-facto war on nature going on. No property is allowed to sit idle. And now, with the new federal funding for flood control in play MILES of established habitat along canals are turned into bare dirt DAILY..
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I got this shot early one morning last week next to a canal where the machinery was working.. the poor guy tried to get away but didn't make it across the road..
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I took the old truck down through the brush and got ahead of the dredges and trucks to an area with a couple of piles of plywood and dry-wall. They turned out to be ratsnake condos..
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... almost every layer had a snake in it. Plus skinks, geckoes and chirping frogs.
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These piles were substantial and located near the river. The area was right for seeing a few things more rare than ratsnakes so I decided to leave them and return with a friend to help so nothing would scoot into the grass while I was holding up the junk (has happened many times).
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When we went out the next day everything was gone and only bare dirt remained.
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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com
"Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus
