Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This weekend, while in Sanderson, I met Roy Engeldorf at the Outback Motel (owner). He showed me a correspondence from Steve Whiteaker, region LE director for TPWD in the Trans-Pecos. This email indicated that TPWD LE would no longer consider "road cruising" for snakes to be "hunting from a motorized vehicle". Just to be sure, I verified this as follows:

"Mr. Sinclair/Mr. Whiteaker,

As I'm sure you are both aware, in previous years, "road cruising" for snakes (driving slowly along a public roadway, pulling off the road to pick up a snake either spotted in the headlights or by use of a spotlight) has been considered "hunting from a motorized vehicle" and a violation of TPWD code - and, I might add, a bone of contention between TPWD and reptile enthusiasts. However, recently I was given a copy of an email from Mr. Whiteaker to Roy Engeldorf of Sanderson, Texas, in which Mr. Whiteaker stated:

" . . . our [TPWD's?] new policy will be to allow reptile collectors, that are legally licensed, to pull off of the roadway and walk over to pick up a specimen from the roadway. We will not consider this to be hunting from a vehicle. Stopping in the road or driving in a manner that impedes traffic should be avoided because they violate the traffic code . . . "

Please clarify for me if this is indeed TPWD's new interpretation of the "hunting from a motor vehicle" regulation.

Sincerely,
Troy Hibbitts
Texas Herpetological Society's TPWD Representative
TPWD Wildlife Diversity Committee"

Mr. Whiteaker replied:

"As stated in my email to Roy Engeldorf, this is the way we will handle reptile collecting from the roadway. This was a consensus reached between myself and the Austin headquarters staff in a meeting last week. Sincerely,Major Steve Whiteaker"

So, we apparently no longer have to fear being pulled over for pursuing our hobby in Texas, provided we're licensed.

Troy

Troy,
Thanks for posting this, I also received a copy of the same email you mentioned from Roy the other day here & was quite pleased to see the new outlook towards snake hunting & snake collectors from the TXPWD. I think Roy should be commended for taking the iniative to write to TXPWD & call them several times this season to get the type of response that he received. This is a dramatic improvement for all the people that collect/observe herps in Texas & should only promote better relations between the herping community & TXPWD.

One thing that really concerns me & must concern all of us that herps in Texas or any other state for that matter is Safety Manners concerning driving public roadways. It is truely a miracle that to date that I am aware of, there has been no verified fatalities in West Texas from a herper getting struck by oncoming traffic or a herper colliding theirselves into traffic causing a fatality, but it could very easily happen. I have talked to the Sanderson, TX Game Warden numerous times about his stance on road cruising & I must say, even he mentioned the safety factor more often than he would mention the legal aspects of road collecting. NOW that we have regulations that hopefully will please most herpers, lets do ALL we can to preserve the hobby & pasttimes that we enjoy & please employ the Safety Factor at all times when you are out there road cruising, myself, I Watch for traffic as much or more than I watch for snakes and or other wildlife when I am out driving. When a person sees a snake or other reptile on a road, be sure & pull clear off onto the shoulder or bar ditch, well away from oncoming traffic. I urge all people that road cruise to do the same, some roads will have little to no traffic, but many, such as US-90 & US-277 carry as many Semi-tractortrailers than regular vehicles & if a Semi meets a car or truck on the road, everyone knows who will fare the worst in an accident. Thanks Roy for ALL your efforts & results of these improved regs & Thanks Troy for posting it. John Fraser

I would also suggest that when hunting a busy road like 277 or 90, that you should probably try to hunt with a partner so that if need be, your partner can jump out and catch snakes while you drive on to a safe parking position. Also, don't just assume that when you are on a little traveled road that no one is coming along behind you, especially near blind curves and hills.

Troy

Colorado Canyon put in heading torwards the windmill ! Gads i was hugging that north side of cuts in that big old Ford F 350 pick-up wondering when my cowboy bud was going to lose a hand or arm sticking out the window. ( sorry about posting so much here folks, but I'm HYPED ! ).......and bored with wifey being gone for 3 months.....

m chambers

Thanks for the post Troy!! I was on the Big Hill with Max Peterson and we got stopped by Ray Spears "I think that's his name". He tried to discourage us from herping the River Road ,but said he had no problem with us going to 118. It's nice now that we don't have to worry as much about LE.
thanks again for the update.
Barry Aaron

TPWD is checking with the department of Transportation regarding who controls the roads that pass through and adjacent to TPWD properties . . . right now, I think the jury is still out on that issue.

Troy

I hope they send a memo to Garcia.

Word is, Whiteaker has contacted all of his game wardens . . . but Garcia (on the river road) is not a Game Warden, but is a park ranger. I don't know if he is in the same chain of command or not.

Troy