Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am going to be visiting the big bend region this summer and was wandering what the laws were? I was told you cant even road cruise even if your not collecting? and your not aloud to poses tongs or other herping tools?

In Texas it is now illegal to hunt / collect along any right of way. This of course includes our public roadways.

There are a couple of ways having the stuff in your car could go down for you.

1 - You could have LE try to make a case for intent to hunt, it would be uphill for them to do that and not likely to result in a citation. But it is something that could be tried if you were out and about with herping equipment cruising up and down the roadways.

2 - Or, in a more by the books violation they would have to catch you manipulating an animal. That could include posing it or temporarily restraining it for a photo, not just taking it home or killing it. You could also get in a huge bind for having a native animal in your possession while out with herping equipment.

The whole thing is in truth muddy and difficult to enforce or understand.
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Herp Conservation Unlimited

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

It seems perfectly legal to cruise up and down a public road or walk the public right-of-ways next to rock cuts with a flashlight HUNTING FOR NOCTURNAL INVERTEBRATES, and in the process observe all animal life in that pursuit. I can provide a list of inverts that are commonly found on the roads and those that are more commonly found on rock cuts. Just come prepared with deli cups and long tweezers or hemostats.

Robert