Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I can't speak too much regarding the pressures coming from TPWD, but I can tell you about a friend of mines encounter.

He and his fiancé were stopped near Lajitas. He was picking up a Suboc to show his fiancé and to move it off the road when (to my knowledge, he was not interested in collecting anything) TPWD lit him up out of nowhere. They chatted it up for a while. All in all, they were pretty cool and let him off with a warning. I'm sure it had a lot to do with the situation and his good natured attitude. Most people in this situation would have been cited (he had the snake in his hands), but like I said, the TPWD seemed to be understanding and very cool. They were simply doing their jobs and nothing more and where they felt it was warranted, they gave some leniency.

The real problem child is the various local Sheriffs. They will stop and cite at the drop of a dime. They will not apply an ounce of leniency on any infraction. They obviously do not want our money in those little towns. They just want us gone and obviously hate us. I was issued a speeding ticket in the middle of the night in nowhere land on a straight away that in most places in Texas would be a 70 zone. I certainly deserved this particular ticket, but some leniency I believe was in order considering all the variables. But since I'm a snake photographer, I guess I get nothing.

I also know of a friend that was handed 2 citations in 1 stop - illegal U-turn and turning without using his blinker. That's harsh and only serves to send a signal - THEY DON'T LIKE US!
Their attitudes were generally poor and at best, quite unfriendly.

During one of my stops I had a secondary Sherriff show up on scene. He proceeded to tell us that there is a real problem with snake poachers in the area, wanted to know if we had any collecting equipment (not that it matters) and wanted to search the vehicle. We obliged and he did a quick run through the vehicle. He found nothing and moved on. By the way, upon stepping up to the door and drilling us in his arrogant way, he didn't even introduce himself and notify us who he was or what branch of LE he was working under.

Before our money was pushed out of town, I managed to snap off a few shots.

Our little cabin while staying at the Wild Horse. Gotta love that place! A lot of my herping and photos came from right there on her 240+ acres.

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Brad Alexander

FullSpectrumHerps.com

Was TPW following with nightvision and lit him up or was TPW stationary and put the snake in the road?

BW,

StevenX

From what I understand, TPWD just happened to be driving up as he found the snake. It probably wasn't a fair assessment for me to say "they lit him up". He happened to be picking up a wild Suboc as TPWD drove up. I think he even mentioned seeing the head lights coming down the road, but thought nothing of it.
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Brad Alexander

FullSpectrumHerps.com

Brad is correct. The guy was moving the suboc off the road and believed the on-coming vehicle was my friend doubling back from Lajitas. I don't believe TPW was setting a trap but simply driving through checking on the activity. I passed the scene twice as they had him pulled over for approximately 45 minutes. They appeared to leave the area afterwards without checking on the rest of us. The next night I spoke with two border patrol agents parked near Lajitas who flagged me down to ask what I was doing. They had no idea the River Road attracted reptile enthusiasts. They were relatively new to the area but didn't seem too bothered by my response, more inquisitive than anything.

Steve Boyd, this is Brooks. Give me a call or drop me an email sometime. I heard you were in Sanderson last month. I'd like to meet up with you in West Texas sometime. Will you be down there again this year, or maybe we can meet up next June.

I've had the exact opposit reactions from the Sheriff's in ValVerde County. Just before the ban was introduced I was stopped and they were great. Soon there were 3 vehicles for back-up. They stopped us because we were driving slow on the shoulder at dusk and were wondering what we were doing. Under Homeland Security standards it was considered suspicious behavior to be driving slow and shining a light. I told them what we were doing and showed thel my CCL and they said to be careful out there. Then they went on their way. We seen the same group of officers for the next 4 days and they waived to us everytime.
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Steve W.

I remember that year. Me and Shannon were on 277 many of the same nights you and your son were. This was the year before the bill was introduced and nobody had any idea what was going to happen.

I do remember alot of sheriffs that year and I agree they were very friendly towards all the hunters. There was probably an average of around 8 to 12 cars per night on 277 and nobody had any problems that I heard of. Several times I even saw sheriffs roll slowly by people who had pulled over in the middle of shining a cut but the sheriffs did not even stop once they had talked to a few hunters and found out that all we were doing was looking for herps. Also of note is that I saw several non-hunters get pulled over for speeding. The sheriffs were definately busy but they just did not see hunters as being a problem at all.

Good memory Aaron. yes that was the year and my son was driving. Those officers were nice people and the female sheriffs officer was particularly nice. I'll never forget her.
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Steve W.

yeah.....she could search my trunk any time.....