All,
Does anyone know who is keeping and breeding locale specific "Suwannee" kings from Duval County, FL and the surrounding area? I bought a pair off Bubba Mills (the collector of many of them) in the early 90's while working for the man who coined the name, Doug Foster, at Hogtown Herps but don't have them anymore.
I spoke to Kevin Enge who said he sold all of his stock to several different unknown people. He did say a small zoo in southwest FL (Naples?) bought some. I also went to the spot where they were collected several times but had no luck. Lots of habitat destruction in the area. Although there are definitely spots where they can be hanging on. And further north and west there's plenty of habitat left. I know folks have caught similar looking ones from the surrounding area in recent years but they are few and far between.
From what I remember, Dr. John Rossi told me that some academics from the Univ. of N. FL (or some university) released some FL kings there in the early 1900's or something of the sort. And that is where they came from. And in the 3rd Edition of the Peterson's Field Guide, Conant has FL kings occuring above Osceola NF and along the St. Mary's river.
Does anyone have any info on this?
Thanks,
Mike Welker
El Paso, TX
