Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted this question in the milksnake forum also but thought it would really hit home here too....

I'm only 32 and not one of the "old timers" BUT I still read the Ditmar and Kauffeld books. I have many "old timer" friends and often dream of being in the field herping about the time that I was actually in diapers-lol.

Our hobby has changed so much the last 30-40 years. It's went from fun/adventure to genetics/profit-margins (at least in part).

This is both good and bad! It's great because now information can be shared between people much more freely than before (no more snail mail letters to zoos or herpetologists asking questions), animals are captive produced in numbers unheard of in the past- offering higher selectively bred-healthier-more colorful captives, species once rare in the wild are now common in the trade, etc...

The downside is that alot of the excitement/thrill/challenge of seeing/finding these animals in the field has faded. Why would someone spend hundreds of dollars in gas... many many many sleepless nights roadcruising or (god forbid) hiking in the Florida Panhandle's Apalachicola region to find a single Blotched King when he could buy a beautiful captive for $35 online.????.. or weeks in west Texas walking rock cuts all night for a Grey Banded King that he could pick up for $55????

The older I get the more time I'm spending in the field- yeah I might be able to buy a screaming trio for $95 BUT I wanna get the chance to see a real one in the wild- at least while they still exist in the wild! This past year I've herped from Arizona to Florida and plan on doing it again this year.

My racks are already full of animals...some cool designer morphs...and some regular everyday stuff that I LIKE no matter how hard offspring can be to sale. I don't need to collect anything really- I just want to be able to really appreciate what I have. I can still recall the day when I first flipped a piece of plywood and saw a baby cal king coiled up- yeah, it may be a $15 snake in the hobby BUT no amount of money could buy the feeling that rushed through my body. More recently I finally got to see Ridgenose Rattlesnakes in the wild- that had been a very long dream of mine- I can't tell you how many times over the years that I read through that part in Kauffeld's "Snakes and Snake Hunting" about them.

Maybe I'm rambling- I know alot of y'all get out in the field- What makes you do it when you could just turn on your computer..log onto the classifieds... click and buy almost any species imaginable? Just food for thought!

I've set my goals for species I wanna see this year while field herping- maybe I'll see them...maybe I won't...BUT I can guarantee you I'll have a great time trying... enjoying the beauty of mother nature!

Great post!

Here is a pic of a coastal rosy boa being found under a mattress in Riverside, Calif.

I’ve never found a rosy boa yet but while I was station on Camp Pendleton (US Marines) I snake hunted on the weekends (and during my lunch break). I went to Hemmet a few times looking for rosies. There is an abandoned chicken farm in the hills of Hemmet…sheets of tin and pieces of wood as far as the eye can see- enough to make your heart jump! Found lots of Gopher snakes and Southern Pacific Rattlers… no rosies (although friends did find them there)… I hear rosy boa hunting can get addictive!
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....is what is missing alot these days since there is no "waiting" involved..
I mean, there's less time for your mind wander and absorb the whole experience as in those days..
When you can "point and click" to get those visions, those experiences, and/or those animals in just seconds a lot is lost without the journey, as it were....
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

....
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I think that the hobby has grown by leaps and bounds and this is at least partly due to the internet. People find sites like these, see a snake and say, "Hey that looks cool. I want one". Most times they don't have any idea where it comes from, and don't really care. I know a lot of folks that love their snakes and keep them well, but don't have any desires to go out and actually experience these animals in nature. I don't hold a grudge against them, as it is their choice.

When I first got into herps a few years back, it was through captive animals. I bought a Corn Snake and suddenly wanted to know EVERYTHING there was to know about all snakes in general. I started going to herp club meetings and was then introduced to field herping. I had no idea people actually did stuff like that! Now I am hooked, but if it wasn't for that first little Corn Snake at a neighborhood pet shop, who knows ...
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Diego

SWCHR

I can't speak for the rest, but I enjoy getting out there and doing the real herping. Don't get me wrong, deli-cup herping is fun and all, but a day in the field trumps a day full of cage cleaning anyday!

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Diego

SWCHR

Diego, those are HOT!

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Todd Hughes

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Diego

SWCHR

Not THAT hot, lol! That Gila out and about must have been cool!
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Todd Hughes

AWESOME photos... I'm glad there are some many other herpers that feel the same way about getting off the couch and into the field.
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...great thread, BTW. It's good to think about where we are, where we've been, and where we're heading!

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Diego

SWCHR

Looking for snakes in the field can be very expensive... time consuming, tiring, and uncomfortable. Stepping on nails and getting bit by mosquitoes and getting covered in dirt and dust can be miserable. It's the days when you go out and find exactly what you're looking for, or something completely unexpected that make it worth it.

My collection is about 50% wild collected snakes... all but a couple I caught myself, and those were collected by friends who were out at the same spots I hunt. In the captive bred snakes hobby, a lot of the nice wild-type snakes are shunned in favor of morphs. Part of why I spend time in the field is the hope of finding something I couldn't have purchased. And seeing snakes in the wild is cool...

If I didn't spend time in the field, I never would have seen these:

(thats me in the black shirt/baseball cap)

Those are some really great experiences, your grandkids won't believe it, were it not for the pics!
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Todd Hughes

At 25, I have a long way to go before I think about grandkids. Tell you what though, I really should get my digital pictures printed and set up a good snake hunting photo album.

Congrats on the simus! That must have been an amazing feeling...
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Diego

SWCHR

I can't see your "brilliantstupidity" photos.
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

....not always finding kings isn't too bad
sometimes ya find some hotties....

anyway...it's all good.

:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

I actually do not mind a few bugs or getting dirty out in the wild,its like camping. Also theres nothing i love more then being able to clean and care after my snakies,i could be in there day and night if i had enough animals and a business.i could truely say i loved my job then.So anyone looking to hire someone who cares for and keeps snakes cages spotless and well fed here i am. Anyhow i agree with the first poster,i remember as a kid going out all the time and catching the brown redbelly snakes and garter snakes in northern michigan ,they were under everything.

I didn't mean to sound as if I hate maintaining my collection. I love spending time in my snake room! It's MY time, ya know? Turn on the tunes, open a cold one, and just chill with my lovely little serpents!

However, there is something about being in the field that just doesn't compare to anything else. Even if I get skunked, I still spend a day out of the smog, traffic, and general B.S. of everyday life. Plus, I've always had the honor of herping with some great folks. There's never any shortage of conversation, laughs, and insults. So what's a little dust and some mosquitoes - big deal!!
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Diego

SWCHR

You hit the nail square on the head, to see the animals in the wild, to experience their habitats and to share good times, better stories,and great friends, like the guy in the g-string! LMOA! You should check out the alterna forum from way back, good stories there!

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Todd Hughes

LOL- Alterna hunters are a breed of their own. The closest I've came was a fresh DOR in Black Gap (and like everyone...my alterna was the BEST looking one ever)! A few of my friends have the alterna addiction.

In Texas they throw rubber snakes onto the road to slow down the guys behind them (or hide stuff way high in the rock cuts)... In California, herpers (at least a few people Rosy boa hunters I knew) would sometimes throw out pieces of cut rope to slow down the other road cruisers...

Oh the crazy stuff you see and do at 3am after roadcruising since before sunset! It makes me smile as I type this response--- Thats some of the stuff you can't experience on a forum or chat room!
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" In California, herpers (at least a few people Rosy boa hunters I knew) would sometimes throw out pieces of cut rope to slow down the other road cruisers..."

I think a few guys are selling those "cut rope" snakes in the classified ads. They don't cost much to feed but getting them to breed is not easy.
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"Wake me when its April"
Doug L

I totally agree. I try to get into the field a couple times a year. I have one spot where I catch the same syspila every year....just to check up on him.

Here are some pics....

this one was actually about the size of a penny.

Brandon Osborne
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www.brandonosbornereptiles.com

Love the beetle!!!
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Diego

SWCHR

Nice pics you guys!
Ive been herping 17 years, & never going to stop

Dan Eby

Great pics Dan!!!
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The biggest change with me is that I now sleep in a motel when I used to sleep in a car when I herp.

As for animals, I work with what interest me, not what will make $$$$. I have no problem selling captive produced offspring, but do not expect to retire and do this full time. I need my job to support my hobby.

Lance
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Herp Conservation Unlimited

If people really learn from their mistakes, I should be like the smartest guy in the world