Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well we spent a few days herping the area and meeting some of the well known Pituophis gurus and it was a treat! Thanks to BillyF, RandyW, JohnS, steveG, Rob N, JohnM., HowieS, KJ and Kasi, the guys at Home grown, gulf hammock herps, the guys at crazy fools, the Bartlets, and the many, many others who carry the Pituophis tortch...etc., etc. I must say that I finally met and talked to so many old friends that my voice was gone by sunday morning......LOL!

My Buddy Aaron and I put well over 1500 miles on the rental jeep (in 4 days), slept in several "cheap" motels, and ate more than our share of fast food and diet cokes and in the 11th hour it paid off with our first sighting of a wild P.m.mugitus AKA Florida pine snake! We asked alot of local folks about the snake and it seems that they are so rare most folks have never even seen or heard of them. Between Aaron and I we probably took 70 images of her before chasing her off into the woods with hopes that she continue to dodge the cars and trucks in her neck of the woods!

What a beauty!

Actually the nicest wild one I have ever seen. A beauty she is. Good to hear those in the area had no clue of them. From all the DOR herps we have come across since residing in Florida the past 16 years I have come to assume if drivers know they are there they will aim for them.

My original dream when I first arrived in Florida was to see a wild Indigo. Had already seen many Northern Pines through the years and wanted to see an Indigo. First 3 I came across were DOR. They became an easy find after that. Florida pines alluded us for a few years. Now on the rare occasion they are come across a little further south of where we reside but no where near,at least for us, in the number of Indigos we come across.

WOW- she's gorgeous!!!

Thanks for sharing! Any close-up pics of her?

//Todd

Wow, that is some Pine! Congrats!!!

OH MY!!!!! You are one lucky herper! Is that an in situ pic? I'm kind of curious about what county that screamer was found. Don't tell me around Ocala, as I recall telling you that Ocala would be tough. I have seen pics of similar looking pines from areas east of Pensacola. I also recall a pic awhile back from another pale faced screamer that was supposedly found in Citrus county. Congrats on that find. I can only imagine the rush you got upon spotting that gem!

Congrats John, Nice animal. I have been lucky enough to go with some local friends back in the 80's and found 3 on 11 days of hard hunting for them. I can only imagine how stoked you must have been finding her. Good to know she is still out there living the good life, hopefully for years to come. I sure like the looks of her in the wild form and surroundings, better than my picture of a captive one. LOL

Cherryville Farms

for the sake of avoiding a rush to this animal's locality I won't specific, but suffice to say it was the general Daytona area.

as noted we had really given up seeing one and we were headed towards the airport so it was a huge rush when we came around the bend to see her. There was much high-fiving, fist bumping, yelling, and general excitement. We just kept saying..."this is not happening".

About 30 minutes later we encountered a really big, really flat DOR male. We both commented on how horrible it would have been if the road killed pine was the only one we saw that day!

i totally agree that seeing animals in the wild always trumps any captive setting even if the wild one is a beat up old dingy snake.... right?

It sure made the trip worth every penny we spent; as the mastercard commercial goes.."plane ticket $300, rental car $300, motel $200...... seeing your first wild Florida Pine snake Priceless!"

John,
Man, your first northern then first southern pines in nature. 2009 is a good year for you......now on to LA
Cheers,
--Brian
PS----Left you a voicemail reference to some other things

Congrats on the beautiful mugitus John! I wish now that I knew there was actually Pit guys down there amid the ball python emporium haha!. A few of us KY boys drove down after work Saturday night to check out the show on Sunday. Had a great time catching up with some of my snake hunting buddies but unfortunately I wouldn't recognize any of the good folks on here from Adam! Anyhow, hit me me back when you get the chance.

Phil

at the show! Sorry we didn't get to catch up some more.... Let me know if you get over to So Cal.

cheers,
Glenn

It's always an amazing experience to find a Pine of any sub in the wild. It must have been quite a rush; I know the feeling! Congratulations!

Bart

Ginter,

Awesome snake dude! Congrats! It was great to finally meet you after all those years of talking pits over the phone. I ended up getting several of the snakes you produced this year. Oh, and thanks for the autograph!

Cheers

Hold on to that autograph....... it may be worth something someday!

"egerniaman"? that is almost as @#*& as my license plate which you would have done if there were a few less letters in "egerniaman "

Great trip Brother! nice grab on the amadillo BTW

To the celebrity known as Ginter,

It was a treasured time, sharing our love of pits and massive pit talk, which ensued throughout the weekend.

I am just flipping out over that pine snake you found!! I can't believe how gorgeous it is! What a find!! That moment alone made your whole trip worthwhile, I bet!!

Share more pics if you can!!

Great to see you after 6 years!

-----
Genesis 1:1

celebrity? That kind of talk can get me hated!
There are some Pituophis heavy hitters out there like Bruno, Meltzer, Zappalorti, Salmon, Hollander, Nelson, Moisi, KJ, Cherry, Fengya, Kane, Kardon, Keenan, Nemo, Sherman, Crumbly, etc., etc., etc., that have been doing it a lot longer and larger than I. They deserve VIP status and I am but a minor player in the grand picture...."in other words cool it with the celebrity stuff,even in jest it creates resentments"

It was a great time getting together with old friends and new for sure.

I do not know why it took me so long to get out that way. Wish I had done it sooner!

...without whose hard work and dedication none of us (myself included) would have been able to experience working with Kankakee Bulls. Eric keeps a low profile and is sometimes overlooked in terms of his knowledge, but he shouldn't be. If that population is ever reclassifed, it should bear his name.

Bart Bruno

certainly would not forget Eric, I have several groups of Pituophis, (bimaris, ruthveni, and Kankakee bulls) as a direct result of work he has done.

In fact I would suggest that my Richter female Kankakee is one of the very nicest I have ever seen!!!!!!!!! Check out her dark black facial markings.

Thanks Bart...

ginter

I have quite a few snakes bred from Eric Richter. All I have to say is quality animals and a great person to talk to.
-----
2.4 Black Pines
.1 Albino Northen Pine
1.1 Northern Pines
1.2 Red Bulls
1. Hypo Bull
1.1 D. Deppei

....it's not so much that Eric bred Kankakee Bulls nearly as much as his work in Kankakee itself. Unlike many, Eric is not afraid to get in the field. Before he studied Kankakee, few of those animals were seen in captivity; today they are quite common in collections. In addition, Kankakee has become a spot for many to herp in, and there is a wealth of critters beyond Bullsnakes to experience. Eric blazed the trail, and I was honored to be on some of those early forays in the field with him. A dear friend and an esteemed colleague (not to mention a fellow Bears fan!)

Bart Bruno

Great call Ginter,
I for one have massive respect for All the heavy hitters/pioneers listed and for me YOU are included for sure!!.

From a U.K. perspective I'm almost on my own.Although I owe a lot to U.S guys like Limburg,Kardon and Lemke for my original deppei and jani lines way back in the 90's.
Not to forget EVERYONE on here for the Invaluable info over the years.

On the Euro front I have to give credit to Klumpers (Holland) Clarke (U.K.) and Faes (Belgium)

AL

I absolutely love that mock picture of the Sex Pistols, " Never Mind the Bollocks " album!! That is just too cool!!

Great album as well.
-----
Genesis 1:1

.....a locality animal? It looks similar to this Christmas Mtn Gopher but yours has some nice red anterior saddles...it has a nice hypo look to it.

Scott John Reptiles

It is a locality snake. A good friend of mine took that image while on a cacti/agave trip to Mexico....

I wish I could have been there as that is a one nice looking P.c. affinis.