Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Several years ago I was bored and reading on kingsnake, so I decided I would check out the Alterna sub forum. I didnt have any interest in alterna but they seemed pretty, so I decided to read some threads. I statred reading a thread about crazy herping adventures and how so many people thought that herping out there was so amzing. I kept reading on the forum for a while and asking a bunch of questions. After talking my parents into it, I got to go to Big Bend National Park for my sixteenth birthday in June 2009! Here are some pics and videos from that trip. Ive posted these on another forum but i dont think theve been posted here.
On my first trip I found a suboc,an Atrox, a Bull snake, and a green toad. I cant find pics of the animals, but I found these videos. We herped the Terlingua area, River Road, and the Christmas Mountains.

For my seventeenth birthday I planned a trip to Sanderson Texas in July 2010. Unfortunatly the moon was full, and rains from a monsoon made the temps get into the 50's at night, so not much was seen. It was a very fun trip though, and I got to stay at the Outback Oasis which was awesome! Heres some pics.

Thanks to everyone who went herping with me or responded to my posts on ks! Ill be back to the outback oasis this May/June for my 18th birthday! Cant wait.

Sounds like a great birthday tradition ! We'll look for you out there.

Hope you have fun for your 18th birthday and some good luck. I am excited to see new faces that are interested in our wildlife. Some days I really think that the West Texas herp community will dissolve and nobody will carry the legacy on. Encourage as many of your friends as you can. Pass on as much info as you can.

Best Wishes,

StevenX

This is how I got started with West Texas. All I asked for my birthday and Christmas was money to go to Texas. My first trip was in 1988. I have been every year since. Those first few years I would stay for 20 to 30 days per trip. Those were incredible times. It is wonderful to hear you enjoying this hobby so much.

Adam Sweetman

PS. Next time you are in Sanderson have Roy call me and he can take you to my property.

A great story. Believe it or not you and others like you are why so many of us have done this for so long. It is not just for our own satisfaction of capturing some of these animals, it is the passing on of the stuff we have learned. When I was young I was a huge sponge looking to get any bit of information about reptiles I could get my hands on. I look back at it now, and the years I have been doing this and I hope I am perceived as one who has passed on something to this community. Here's to a life for you that is filled with the opportunity to do the things we have done and I truely hope that we have the freedom, in the future, to continue passing on this legacy.

Happy Herping where ever you are.

ECT

Thanks everybody! I look forward to herping with people from the forum and learning from you guys! And Thanks alot Adam for letting me go to your property!

I first learned about alterna and West Texas from Hollister's Herping the Trans Pecos site. I had no idea what a suboc was, or why it would be on something called a cut, but it sounded intriguing.

I remember imagining that the cities her referred to were big like normal cities. I pictured Langtry with tall buildings and urban sprawl. Imagine my surprise when I rounded the Langtry loop the first time.

Hope to see you down there some time.

Dan
Movie Clips

Great shots, Blake! We'll be out there the first week of June,in the Marathon-Alpine region, hope to see you there!
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

Boas, Pythons, Colubrids, Tortoises and Turtles