Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone know on average how many alterna are caught per season? How about a ratio of nights to alterna collected? For example 1 snake per 10 nights or whatever. Just curious. I've now caught 2 alterna and seen one dor in about 15 nights of collecting. I think I'm doing fairly well.

Some people seem to find one on any trip to the area. Others have hunted hard for years between Alterna. Unfortunately there does not seem to be any universal formula for the number of nights / area = snakes

My totals (these incude ones found while I was with somebody and ones I found by myself):
1996
1 Langtry
1 Hwy. 277
1997
0
1998
1 Hwy. 277
1999
1 Langtry
2000
1 Lajitas
2001
0
2002 pt. 1
2 Hwy. 277
2002 pt. 2
0
2003
1 Hwy. 277
1 Davis Mtns.

All the trips were in June for about 10 nights except 2002 pt. 2 which was in Sept. for 5 nights.

How about 29 in Val Verde Co. from '81-88 [17 trips] and only 4 in Brewster and Presidio Co. from 89-02 [14 trips} and none since '92. Talk about feast or famine, I'm starvin to death!
If you really need to find an alterna to feed your habit, my advice is don't go west of Palma Draw. Good luck to everyone.

You are doing pretty damn good. Any pics?

You are doing well, although you failed to mentioned where you have seen/collected your alterna.

I agree w/ Lance's statement. It is probably impossible to put a ratio on the question you ask due to way too many variables.

For what it is worth, I have not missed a year in alterna habitat since 1987 and most years make 2 trips. My personal experiences and obervations show that the ratio you inquire about changes dramatically as you head west from Val Verde to the Bend. I have found 4 live and 1 DOR in Val Verde county in roughly 25 nights of searching. In the Bend I have found a mere 5 in over 200 nights and 2 of those were on one trip in 88 and 2 were on one pass one night in 94.

Most of finding what you are looking for is just being at the right place at the right time. Some are more fortunate/better at it than others.DB

I was new to the whole collecting thing when a man named Wayne, who I was purchasing a snake from (Waynes World of Snakes), told me about where I could go find alterna. He directed me towards HWY 277. He said when I get there just start looking on the rocks. He never mentioned how rarely they were seen. Since he had so many in his collection I figured they were fairly common. That same night I went with anticipation of collecting a few. LOL. It was the end of July '01 and still in the 90 degree range when the sun began to set. With still enough light from the sun to view the cuts with no need of artificial light I spotted a head and part of a body sticking out of a crack on a cut south of Loma Alta. It quickly ducked back in when it saw me approaching. I blindly reached in having not identified it yet and was able to pull out this awesome male alterna. I loved my catch and went on that night ready to catch a mate for it. LOL. Well the rest of that night and the next I saw nothing. But I met another collector the night I caught my snake who informed me of how lucky I was. Especially with the high temps and full moon. Boy it must have made him sick to see a rookie with such little knowlege of herping the west and catching this awesome snake his first time out. When the trip was over and all I had was this one alterna I called Wayne to inform him of my catch. He had asked me to let him know what I caught as soon as the trip was over. When I informed him of what I had caught he acted totally uninterested and told me it was probly just the one a guy named Hollister had recently released out there. This was before he even knew what cut I had found the snake on. Talk about trying to get me down. I now know after reading the stories on his sight about his long trips and many unproductive nights maybe there was a little jealousy at the other end of the line.(understandable). Well I obviously have learned how lucky I was after now having had many snakeless trips out west. I was able to enjoy this years catch all the more. A picture of this years catch is the Juno rd. Blairs below. I realize I've done fairly well out there having only been 15-20 nights and caught 2 alterna and 4 lepidus (my favorite crotalus sp in my collection). Well good luck to all this season!

The pic is of my first alterna. This years Juno was posted earlier in the forum.

since i have moved out to the area of alpine, the time i have spent out walking road cuts has provided me with a good amount of L. alterna seen active. last year i spent a total of about eighty days out walking road cuts, from end of may through august. the way i've learned, you just have to be persistent in covering the same habitat in order to produce. ive seen many people on the road tell me that there is nothing moving, when i've PIT tagged two alterna in the same night. its more about patience than luck, i think.

r

using my son's log-in here, excuse me:

Persistence pays off. Certain weather parameters help, but just stay after it. Most are caught between 10 pm and midnight because that's when most people hunt. I lived in Terlingua for a long time and caught them at all hours in many weather conditions. My son and I just got on on 163 @ 3:30 am. Whether walking the cuts or riding the roads: you still have to put your lights on one and then you have to see one when it's in your lights (not a guarantee on the roadway). There could be bunches crawling right out behind any one of us on any given night.

Just keep after it and you'll get one. What could be better than being out there doing that anyway?

I have put in about 40 nights and only found one DOR. It is just being there at the right time as people say. I believe I was there when you caught your Juno rd (your from S.A, right). The funny part is I was sitting at the S-Curve RIGHT before you found it (I pulled out right at 9:50). A similiar thing happened this weekend. I was headed N on 277, there were some other herpers headed south. Well I saw them right after they bagged one from the stair-steps. Again spacing was close but no cigar. I often wondered if I was missing snakes, If it was me. But I have been finding snakes on cuts, I have been hunting Dusk till Dawn, but my spacing has just been off. Nothing I can do about that, but keep hunting .