Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well over 1000 miles and here is my new IF THEN equation to save everyone time and effort for observing wildlife in south texas.

REM This is an IF THEN equation to save you time and money...
10 If the low temps are below 65 degrees F then goto 50
20 If the Daily Highs are below 90 degrees F then goto 50
30 If it hasn't rained in over a month then goto 50
40 If you are driving despite lines 10 through 30 and don't see a single frog, atrox, or checkered garter goto 50
50 Pack up, Drive Home and buy a six pack. Drink the six pack and think longfully of when mother nature will lend a hand to us Texas Herpers.

Take Care,

Steven

06 Or stick it out and herp!!

Just got a report from a friend for Saturday night.
84 snakes total Sat night, 12 for Fri. Including many goodies. Sure he will post a report!

Sorry Rak,

I know things can sometimes change quickly but... Still no rain and I will call BS unless some pics are posted or something. Literally Lance and I hunted for hours and nothing moved. No atrox, no garters, 1 nerodia on Wednesday night. The nightime temps were in the mid to low 50s. Unless this person was in the Yucatan I find it hard to believe that 80 snakes were moving in 50 degree weather. I checked Weather.com and I don't see that it warmed up that much. If anything Friday Night was colder actually.

Again I am not talking about flipping but just Road Cruising.
I am a bit spooked to flip in the area since a buddy almost got in serious trouble last year for a misunderstanding.

Take Care,

Steven

I do not have any problem with You calling BS, as I am sure he will report this week.

Nathan Wells is the one down there, and for those that know him he does not BS. Fri temps registered lows in the Upper 60's, Sat he said he hunted till 6 A.M and temps were above 70. BTW he was not hunting 16/624 because of the cooler weather.

Later
Rob Klockman

If he had good luck then he was probably in WEBB county since it seems that Laredo by far had some if the highest temps. We tried a few roads in WEBB on Wednesday and not a thing out. Not even road kills. Not one...

Glad he had better luck then us... Funny that Brownsville was cooler than Laredo.

Take Care,

Steven

Good morning guys,
Well, I just returned home my venture to South Texas. We indeed had a good run and luck was certainly on our sides. Friday night only produced a handful of snakes and with the weather warming up on Saturday we decided to stay south along the border. I will be posting a detailed report in a few days. The weather was certainly the deciding factor on this run. Talk with you later.
Nathan Wells

Some things are moving down 624...not much in the amphibian area but tadpoles are evident
Jim Wells co. 04 11 05
unknown skink (at least to me, someone help me out, pic below)
med. gecko
1 Texas indigo juvenile
1 Texas patchnose juvenile
1 six line racerunner
2 eastern narrowmouth frogs/toads
Goliad co.
1 Southern plains rat D.O.R.
TMTC leopard frogs
TMTC bullfrogs
Refugio co.
3 Cottonmouths
1 Diamond back water snake D.O.R.

surprised at the lack of road kills, but also glad... not much moving at night yet but last nights showers were hopefully what will kick things off...was hoping for annulata but maybe tonite.

unknown skink...Eumeces fasciata male in breeding color?

also not a grayband...Jim Wells co. 04-11-05 This guy was interrupted during his all you can eat catfish buffet this morning! I noticed some small catfish in a drainage ditch and went down to take a look and saw this fellow actually grappling for catfish! God, I can't wait for a real camera as it would have made a great shot. But thank God for the cheesy cam-phone!
Todd

He was none too pleased !
Todd

What county was he in, because I put in a lot of time down there in my early years and what we saw the two nights we were out was freakish. I go down there and say it was a bad night when I only see 3 - 5 herps out. But to put in two full nights with just one herp and 0.0 DORs is not right.

Big picture from this trip... It cooled off early, they have not had recent rain (but the vegitation was green and lush). My past trips frequently have cool nights with lots of animals out, but the lack of recent rain may have been the big factor.

I for one find it hard to believe that there were 84 herps seen one night by some person the same general time we were down with just 1 AOR and 0 DOR herps in prime locality.

The only way this would make any sense is if they were several hours off in another locality, with totaly different conditions. After all South Texas is a big place, so I would love to know what county they had such luck while we busted and came home early to finish the weekend with family.

Lance