Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Found this king day before yesterday in florida cane fields. Released it where Lindsay and I found it. Ditto the red rat, which chewed on me a while, and the pygmy rattler, which did not. I used to get uber-excited capturing and keeping a snake; now there's nothing more fun than watching one slither away. I like the idea that I had the chance to discover and observe something that's lived out there two or three years, scrabbling for survival, and now might do so for another ten years, with luck.

Cool, love the King and the red rat looks like a good sized one.
Cheers
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Are you sure about that? Yeah! Like 8 guys said so!!!
twitter.com/TomsSnakes

>>Cool, love the King and the red rat looks like a good sized one.

Thanks Tom, yes, the Rat was a bundle.

I hope more young or newcomer herpers find the satisfaction of seeing species and subspecies in the wild and in leaving them there. It gives a whole different perspective on keeping and breeding.

BTW, my "collection"--reduced now to two from about 200 because i'm splitting time between two states--consists of two captive bred, locale-specific chain kings. As a general (not wholly specific) rule, for me it's become "keep captive bred, see wild specimens in the wild and leave them there."

You could not keep me out of the field whem I was a kid, unfortunately my field was badically a trash dump in NJ.
Many people who have a problem with morph nuts like me ignore the most valid point I can make with captive breeding. I initially became interested in it so I could leave the snakes in the wild where I saw them.
Snake places are like fishing holes... people hear about them and clean them out. Get to your spots and find all your boards turned and not turned back.
Now in closing let me say I fully agree with you, new faces taking interest in seeing snakes in the wild is awesome, and I think it is even more awesome when we/they have captive collections too that we would simply never mix with wild caughts. Know what I mean?
I am in Texas, but my wife looks at me like I am nuts if I tell her I am going snaking... she reminds me I have a room full of them here.
Happy to see you are still at it Terry!
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Are you sure about that? Yeah! Like 8 guys said so!!!
twitter.com/TomsSnakes

>>You could not keep me out of the field whem I was a kid, unfortunately my field was badically a trash dump in NJ.

my field was an abandoned landscaping business. could guarantee snakes would be under the pile of pine mulch bags, like clockwork.
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alcohol, tobacco and firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency

I see your point. Seeing them in the wild gives you a thrill and helps you appreciate the blessing you have to appreciate some in captivity.

Sometimes I think if I really truly liked these animals I wouldn't keep them in captivity, even in the biggest cages I could find.

Roaming acres and acres perhaps in a lifetime is so different from traveling from one end of a 72" cage to the other.... Or 33" x 17" in a CB70 tub. Like spending your whole life in your bedroom or in a cell at an institution? .....

Oh well.

I would like to think there is a valid view that allows for being kept in captivity where needs are met, life is enriched by interacting respectfully with each other and enjoying a long life without the constant threat of predators etc.

Of course I may be rationalizing ....

Their existence might include more that we usually give them credit for but I am reasonably certain that they cannot tie all the various stimuli they encounter into a concept such as "freedom".
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www.hcu-tx.org/

Beautiful find.

Looks like it was a fun day. Tru, you don wanna get chewed on by the Dusky Pigmy!!
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1.1 Trumbower Tricolor P.C.Sayi
0.1 Albino Trumbower Tricolor P.C.Sayi
1.0 Normal (het.for Axanthic) P.C.Sayi
0.1 Whitesided (het.for Patternless,poss.Axan) P.C.Sayi
0.1 Leucistic P.M.Mugitus
0.1 Snow P.M.Mugitus

Very nice finds! Thanks for sharing.
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Great finds. I love those Florida Kings.

reako45