Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I'm sitting on the couch the other night, reading Hubbs' "Common Kingsnakes", when the wife walks up and puts her hands on her hips. "You know what we need to do?" she asks.
Immediately my mind jumps to the next 47 hours that I will spend sweating in the yard fixing up whatever it is she has in mind.
"You need to pick a type of kingsnake, and then we should travel to where it lives, and spend a couple days looking for it in the wild. That is what we should do."
After a battery of tests to confirm that I was not, in fact, dreaming, my jaw dropped and I began gibbering some half-formed words of thanks and ideas for our trip. I now have free reign to pick a (reasonable) destination to go out and find wild kings. And I would like your suggestions, should you feel generous enough to offer them. Below are the guidelines of what I'll probably be looking for. If you don't want to publicly post sensitive information, go ahead and PM me. Otherwise, any feedback is appreciated.

-I figure we'll probably head out in April, which seems to be the month for most above-ground kingsnake activity in most states.
-I'd like to be able to drive there, and I live in West Central FL. I was thinking probably Georgia, but would be willing to drive as far as the Carolinas if necessary.
-While it would truly be an awesome event to find a wild Osceola-Suwanee, wide-banded South GA, "goini", or Outer Banks king, I'm more interested in finding kings, period. I don't want to go out of my way to search for some rare and coveted morph, and find zero snakes as a result of my narrow goal. On the flip side, I have (maybe) ruled out the cane field canals down here in FL... It just seems like shooting fish in a barrel. I really don't mind hiking for hours and flipping trash in abandoned fields.
-If it matters to you, I almost definitely won't be collecting any snakes. It would have to be an exceptional animal for me to want even one, and my wife would have to be in an even more exceptional mood to allow me to. So no worries if you're sending me to a park, protected area, or your favorite collecting grounds. I'll be bringing home pictures, not bags of snakes, and I'll keep as quiet about your locations as I do my own fishing spots (though I could be tempted to trade some good Tampa Bay fishing holes for some snake spots...lol)

Anyway, that's about it. I just really really want to see a king-- or preferably lots of them-- in the wild. I'd like for it to be in the Southeast US. And April can't come soon enough.
By the way- can I also get some props for my amazing, thoughtful wife? She would be glad to know how appreciated she is.

I'd have to agree! You did well!
:Mark
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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

>>I'd have to agree! You did well!
>>:Mark
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>>Surrender Dorothy!
>>
>>crimsonking.piczo.com/

I don't know? Sounds like she just tricked you into taking a vacation, lol. I am suspicious, lol. Hey just kidding. I wanted to say the cane fields are not so easy, I have been thrown out of many of them. They have gotten wise, and they know the kings kill rattlers so they don't like people taking their Kings. I wish I could help but I have not seen a wild king in years.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

Popular descriptions of the canefields make them sound a lot easier than they really are. They're actually a little more challenging than areas like Georgia or the Carolinas. Just about everyone gets skunked their first time out, and only the guys that really know their way around do well out there. A friend of mine went to the canefields 20 times before finding his first live king. If you know what you're doing, an average day is 3 or 4 kings, and you have to work for them.

I wouldn't write off any areas because they are "too easy". Go based on what you want to find. In the canefields you can find kings and yellow/everglades rats, and corns and scarlet kings are common on the outskirts. In South Georgia you get eastern kings, canebrakes, and gray rats. In Eastern Georgia and parts of South Carolina you can get kings, intergrade rat snakes, corns, diamondbacks, and canebrakes.

Wow, she got a sister?? Now it would do you well to first know all the herp laws in the states where you plan to be. Even though you dont plan on "taking" a snake home, it common to consider at least 1 "souvenir" of the trip....say the wife finds HER first snake, sometimes getting her more interested(and keeping her interest)is the key to keeping snakes yourself. The next thing you will have to understand, you arent really hunting kingsnakes, you are LEARNING about their environment and how they fit into the web of life. You will most certainly find a number of other species of herps and non herps that will make the trip more remarkable. Try and base your search in areas where there are multiple target species. If she is going its also nice to be close enough to a "vacation" type place so if she gets bored you can drop her off SHOPPING(girls LOVVVVE shopping!). Coastal SC, myrtle beach or Hilton head area arent bad places to start. Jekyl Island GA?? If she gets into it then go hillbilly hunting in say the sandhills of NC, swamps of GA, or even the panhandle of FL. Try NOT to plan it so far in advance, finding snakes is directly related to weather patterns, rain in particular. If you book in advance you have a good chance of being skunked, try and hunt within a few days of a 2-3 day rain. Sunny days after rain are the best. Bring extra batteries and memory for your camera, and do what you can to not burn her out. Good luck and happy hunting!

all excellent points, jeff! see, that's why i asked here on the forum. i could have stared at range and locality maps for hours, planned out my trip weeks ahead of time, and gotten skunked. all my backwoods hiking skills won't mean squat if i go to the right area at the wrong time. and things would only get worse if my wife were there and frustrated that we were spending so much time NOT taking pics of snakes. she's not the type who would want to be dropped off at a mall, but if she can be thoughtful enough to suggest this trip, i can pull my head out of my butt long enough to do something fun for her. i feel like a heel for not thinking of that myself. distracted, i guess...

now as for those cane fields-- i kind of thought that might be the case. most anecdotal reports i've heard/read from there make it sound like you could look for kings with your eyes closed, because you'd eventually just trip on them. it sounded a bit too good to be true. but i had also read that the growers were getting less permissive about traipsing on their lands. i'll walk up to any old abandoned barn, but i would feel way wrong stomping around where someone specifically doesn't want me to go.

That's awesome. Sightings or no sightings, Sounds like that is going to be a great adventure. Preferably sightings.
I live in Cullman Alabama and got my first cal/king a couple of mounts ago. I would be very interested in hearing how your trip goes. Keep us posted. Hopefully I can be as lucky as you to get my wife interested in photographing wild kings. I love Photography, my first passion. And what better way to spend your time together than being outdoors taking pic's of snakes. Sorry I can't help you on locations, I wouldn't know where to start at this point in time. Good luck.

*DAVY*

How bout KY or AL to look for Eastern Black Kings? Hubbs- thanks to himself and lots of info from Phil Peak, has a great chapter on them in the book. I would also go looking for L.g. measni for a good adventure, and to see some beautiful parts of your state- theres more out there than snakes to see, Id be looking for tree and ground growing Orchids as well!
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BULLS: Pr normal (KS&TX), 1 Pr Northern (M Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada & F Minn), Pr Kankakee Co, Ill, CORNS: Pr Okeetee, SC, FOXES: Pr Western, KINGS: Pr Black Eastern (L.g.nigra) Todd Co. KY, Pr. NC Eastern Chains (M from Union Co. & F from Mecklenburg Co.), Pr."Goini", Franklin Co. Fla, Pr. Costal Banded Cal (M Hypo & F normal) Pr Speckled, Harris Co. TX, PINES: Pr Louisiana (pure descendants of Terry Vandeventer stock), Pr Southern (F light & M- Aiken, SC), PYTHONS: Pr normal Ball, RATS: Pr Black, Henderson Co. NC, Pr Black (M White Side & F Leucistic), Western Green, F (Mt. Hopkins, Cochise Co. AZ), OTHERS: 10 Tarantulas, 150 Orchid plants, 40 assorted tropical plants and violets, 3 Freshwater Planted Aquariums with West African Dwarf Cichlids and 2 condo-porch gardens with Bonsai, Roses and etc...

have definitely thought about looking for some black kings as well... funny that you mention the meansi range and orchids. i just got back from a week camping in the apalachicola area (ochlockonee river state park) and certainly enjoyed the rivers, pine flatwoods, hiking, fly-fishing, etc. i will undoubtedly return to that area for more playtime in the not-too-distant future. as far as orchids, i have lots of fun looking for them here in good ol' FL. we have tons of Encyclia tampensis here in St Pete, i've found Epi magnoliae up in Citrus county, a few types of Spiranthes here and there, Prosthechea boothiana, Polystachya concreta, and Vanilla barbellata down in the 'Glades. that particular trip i found the Encyclias so thick that i got sick of looking at them! whenever i'm out looking for wildlife, i always make sure to look up in the trees for 'chids almost as much as i'm scanning the ground for slithery critters. thanks for your input! i will definitely be keeping it in mind!

Thanks to all who replied, I think I have a good start on ideas and preparation for my trip. It's still months away, but I will be sure to post pics of whatever we may find. If anyone comes up with any more tips that haven't been mentioned, please pm me or post it up here. I'll keep checking.

Again, thank you all!

-j