Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm bored and it's freezing, so I thought I'd start a thread about what ya'll like to find in the field. Favorite species, memorable occasions...take your pick. I'm light on photos myself (all my favorites were unexpected)...but photos are welcome!

Probably 2 of my most memorable times were right after moving to Texas...the first summer I lived here my fiance' went to England for a college class (history of playwriting in england or something). So I spent most of my free days down in Palo Duro State Park. I don't know if ya'll are familiar with it, but it's very pretty, and has a great amount of herpetofauna; over the years I've found coachwhips, bullsnakes, long nosed snakes, water snakes, ring necked snakes, hognoses (both eastern and western), C. atrox, C. viridis, tons of Holbrooki and Sceloporus, box turtles, horned lizards...take your pick. It's the single most productive area I've seen for herping.

This was one of my first times in the Canyon. I'd driven down around 6-7 that evening, and was cruising looking for a trail to try out when the car ahead of me, right before a water crossing slammed on it's breaks. I noticed so kids playing in the water freaking out so I got out to take a look. Lo and behold the biggest diamondback I'd seen to that date was stretched out, taking up a good chunk of our lane. He was magnificent, clean pattern, great banding on the tail...a picture perfect specimen. He was large by local standards--5' or maybe 5.5'. He unconcernedly crawled across the other lane and into the grass. I thanked the other driver for not running him over and went on. Guess he'd come to bask and drink.

The other was my first collared lizard, also in Palo Duro Park, off the Running Trail. He was basking on a cairn of stones near the trail, displaying. First one I'd ever seen and MAN what a beauty. It was hotter than hell--before I finished the trail I'd drained my camel-back and my canteen both, it had to have been 100 degrees. And there he was just bobbing away, pretty as could be. I didn't see any nearby females or rivals to explain the signaling but it didn't stop me from enjoying the show.

There's been some other moments--watching a coachwhip raid a bird nest was just astonishing, and finding a big, angry bullsnake on a picinic bench at one of their rest areas stand out, and there's been some in other places...but those two just stand out as two of my more memorable encounters in Palo Duro. Partly because they were the first time I'd seen those species in the field, coming from way up north.

Woah man, that place brings back some memories. I used to vacation at palo duro canyon occasionally when I was a little kid with my mom and dad. That was years ago, but I still remember chasing collared lizards and horned lizards around that place. I never really did any serious herping there, but man, I'd like to give it a try again sometime. Coachwhips are my favorite snake, hands down, are the coachwhips there the red ones? Have you found it to be a pretty good area for road hunting? PM if necessary,

Kevin

I'd have to say I had a blast last summer in southern Arizona, and almost everything I saw was a lifer, and a few years ago after the Daytona show I went out with two things on my mind, eastern indigo and eastern diamondback, I found a db, but I get the biggest kick out of hunting the swampy part of the lower Texas coast for speckled kings. Because I know I'll run into 'gators, cottonmouths, ribbons, 3 different waters, prairie kings, crayfish snakes, sliders, snappers, soft shells, and the possibilities of timbers, diamondback terrapins, Texas scarlets, and who knows what else? That has got to be one of the most productive areas I have ever hunted. Forrest Gump would be at home there, 'cause you never know what you're gonna get!

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Todd Hughes

My most memorable time (and most looked forward too each year) would be Spotted salamander breeding season. The first time I caught them in action was intense. Literally hundreds of them walking about in every pond you came across. It has always been special to me, you never see them outside of that month or so....

I've had numerous encounters with wacky looking Desmognathus sp. but never have a camera handy. Catching long tailed salamanders is awesome too, they are just spectacular.

To top of all of that, I took a herpetology course this semester and went on two field trips which were both highly entertaining and a great experience (I believe there is a thread in here with those pics).

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-Bradley

Very cool, Bradley, I wish I lived closer to more salamanders ranges, I have only found three singles of three species, so I have a lot to learn!
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Todd Hughes

Speckleds are a life list for me that I haven't seen yet...I've found indigos, I finally found Drymobious, I've seen corals, a few other pretty neat and uncommonly seen guys...but never a damn kingsnake

Don't sweat it, I have made countless treks to the Valley and still haven't seen Drymobius, not for lack of trying! Gotta be near rivers, creeks, or streams to see the specks, or near the dunes on the coast for intergrades.
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Todd Hughes

Mine were those Blind Salamanders in Cascade Caverns. A HUGE lifer for me, even if the light sucked too much for a pic ( Kept low for said amphibians.).
The other find for me was that greenish Yellow belly Racer, the only other first.
I did see a bob cat with cub(kitten??) in mammals, too.

Matthew

Oops. Forgot the New mexican whiptail that I sorta caught on camera.
Also, definitely not a lifer, but the Uta stanburiana brought back memories of herping in the Mojave desert.

Matthew

adding to it:
When I lived in Canyon, TX I was near a city park with a population of snapping turtles. During laying season (think May) you could go down in the morning and find females out laying eggs, building nest, getting back to the water after laying eggs...it was freaking awesome. All these4 primordial looking critters wandering around looked so cool.

Nice topic!

Here are my favorite finds of 2009:

We had lousy weather in Cleveland (big surprise) so I had to go to California to find my first herp of the year. This Pacific Gopher Snake was found under several layers of corrugated tin in early April in Northern California:

Shortly thereafter I found something I've always wanted to see - the one-striped version of a Santa Cruz Garter Snake - basking in relatively cold weather (low 50's):

Although many common herps were encountered (Ringneck Snakes, Sharptail Snakes, Fence Lizards, Slender Salamanders, etc.) this Black Salamander was a "lifer" and cause for a great deal of excitement:

The best looking Northern Alligator Lizard I've ever seen was found on Easter Sunday:

This Yellowbelly Racer was found on a day where the high temperatures were in the 40s (it was under a board). Due to the weather being so flippin' cold, the snake posed nicely for photos (instead of darting away, like racers usually do).

This Jefferson's Salamander, found in Central Ohio in early May, had a lot of blue flecking:

I also got to see my favorite Ohio snake - a Black Rat Snake (as found, surrounded by poison ivy):

A "lifer" was found on this trip as well - a Midwest Worm Snake, found hiding under a large rock near the shoreline of a lake.

In Las Vegas, I hit the "lifer jackpot" finding five herps that I've never encountered in the field before.

The first "lifers" were Great Plains Toads found near a waterway:

Although I've found them before, Blind Snakes are kind of crazy:

We went to Arizona for a day and although we didn't find anything out of the ordinary there, when we got back to my friend's house in Boulder City, we were discussing where we should go to dinner in the backyard when something crawling along the sidewalk caught my eye. Lifer #2 Ground Snake:

Horned Lizards are always a welcome sight:

Roadhunting revealed the third lifer on the trip - something that's eluded me for a very long time - a Longnose Snake. A second one was found on the same night as well.

This Tree Lizard (which incidentally, are usually found on rocks) was lifer 4 - and seen in Arizona:

The last full day of the trip brought with it lifer #5 - a Speckled Rattlesnake:

Not a bad year in the field at all. I hope everyone has a good 2010!

Tim
Third Eye

I see longnoses out here a lot...if you come to the panhandle of texas, check out lake meredith and the alibates quarries. There's a population there that's lacking most of the red pigment.Makes for a neat looking snake.

Do you live near the Canyon over there? I'm thinking about paying it a visit this year.
Also the seldom mentioned Meteor crater in Odessa.

Matthew

I live in Amarillo now (about 20-40 minutes away from the canyon). I used to live in Canyon during my experiment with college...PDC was about 10 minutes away from there Go early morning--like 8-10am--for best results. Also, the trails are more productive than the roads. I'm always willing to tell people where to go to see herps. All the places I know are protected so collecting shouldn't be an issue . There's a few other really good places around--Buffalo Lake looks promising, but i haven't checked it thoroughly yet. Alibates over by Fritch is OK, and Wildcat bluff is good (and has a metric ton of box turtles).

Not interesting in catching anything but a few pics. Even though I live in Texas, I think its still a good 6 hour drive from me. But I'll get there! LOL

Matthew

Gotta go w/ Cal Kings as my numero uno and Rosies are a close second. Rosies'd probably be first it's just that I've had more success w/ Kings. Found this guy behind some houses 2 miles from home (Chatsworth).

reako45

Nice find. Reako.

Some of mine..Gila, Mexican Vine Snake, Senticolis, Zonata. It was a fabulous year!
Bill