Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im trying to set up a small breeding colony this year of grey bands, mainly for my own enjoyment, tell me, where is the best location for hunting grey bands, quantity vs. quality. I think i would rather catch one or two really beautiful ones as compared to 6 or 7 mediocre ones
eliot

I think i would rather catch one or two really beautiful ones as compared to 6 or 7 mediocre ones

Eliot,

I am sure others will chime in and give you stories about finding 4 alterna in one trip (or even one night!) but the majority of people who hunt for alterna at a given locality will spend years hunting for a locality pair. I don't think you fully realize the effort required to find 6 or 7 mediocre alterna.

I haven't hunted alterna as seriously as many, but I have probably hunted them an average of 10 nights a year for the last 10 years. That represents over 800 hours of intensive searching. During that time, I have found a grand total of 1 DOR, and 1.1 live alterna. At this pace, I am due to find my "6th or 7th mediocre snake" sometime in the year 2026!

If you consider the price of gas and lodging, I estimate I have spent well over $1500 for my pair. I would bet that most wild caught alterna cost somewhere in the $200-500 range to collect.

Some people do better, some people are just lucky. Some people also spend a lot more time and have no success (they just don't brag about it!).

I have heard the cuts on highway 90 produce more snakes than other places, but that may be biased by hunter effort. The same could be said for 277. If you feel like wasting years in a rare locality, try finding one in the NW part of their range (Culberson, Hudspeth, El Paso counties).

As for quality, this is one snake where beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I, for one, find many of the alterna that people rave about to be ugly. When you go to herp expos and see what most consumers are looking for, you see that they want light phased blairi. This is probably the most commonly collected phase (most 277 snakes) and the most commonly bred.

And most of the "valuable" snakes aren't valuable because of their pattern, but rather because of their locality. What makes a locality valuable? How hard it is to get snakes from there. So the places where you will be most likely to be successful produce the least valuable but possibly the most widely sought snakes.

This is definitely one snake where it is MUCH cheaper and easier to buy captive born animals. And considering how much time/effort it can take to get a locality pair, it is probably quicker to buy a cb pair and raise them up. You lose the thrill of the hunt, but you will certainly be producing animals sooner.

I wish you luck in your quest and I hope you catch 1.1 screamers in your first night out, but I think you should temper your expectations. Most of us enjoy the hunt enough that even failure is fun. An alterna is just the icing on the cake.
-----
Chris Harrison

...he was beginning to realize he was the creature of a god that appreciated the discomfort of his worshippers - W. Somerset Maugham

and there has been the situation where collectors have gone back to the old days of not " leaking " the info where they have found them. Why?..Traffic of the given area, hopes of finding more of that area, pairing sexes up, a theory of only so much can come from a given area. With that said.....there are several " other " reasons for hunting alterna. The area itself matches no other place. The meet-ups with other collectors are normally very enjoyable. The desolated place itself. The HIGH of road driving at night and finding species. It will definintly cost you though in monies. Many of us can only afford a once a year trip depending how far one lives from the area. I have been fortunatly to have made several trips in some years and only one in other years because of cost. A lot of us agrees that the eastern part of the range of alterna is a lot more productive. But then a lot of us that HAVE found them there and have went on to hunt the not-so-productive areas. these are the western range areas of places like the Big Bend region and on-wards west. Then we have the wildlife laws to contend with and right off the bat , you have the permit that enables you to find, the always controversial way to hunt( legit or not legit ). Then the HUGE expanse of places on trying to collect alterna. Some people are cruisers, some people wlaks cuts ( where you can ), some do both at differnt areas.

MC

I dont think words can express what it is like to locate an alterna. Some people have beginners luck out west. It took 2 trips in one year to catch my first. Then two years after that for my second. I located a few dors in between. I have not collected one since 95. However, I don't go out as many nights as others. I just go and have fun. The area is incredible.
"MOST" collectors are really nice. Be sure to read lots before you go out, have your license and have fun!

Good Luck,

Steven Owens