Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here's a pic of a nice black eastern hog I took a pic of. This female eastern was caught at York River State Park, and is on display at their nature center. She was gravid, and has since produced eight eggs.

Steve

WOW, great info! I am next door in Newport News, now I have a good reason to revisit the park! Thanks for sharing.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

I tell you what, everytime I go I usually see some type of snake. Check out the Black Rat found there today. I have some pics over on the Ratsnake forum. York River has a very healthy population of Black Rats. Others I have found this year are Black Racers, Ringnecks, dekays, garters, northern water snakes, one Brown water snake, off the top of my head.

Steve

BROWN watersnakes? Very interesting. Checking with the VA Herp Atlas (http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS/tobey_atlas.htm page 100) shows that it could either be a new county record or range extension for N. taxispilota in JCC. I highly encourage you to get photo documentation and pass it along to the VaDGIF for their records.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

I stand corrected on the Brown Water snake. The one Brown water snake I've seen was found further North West, in New Kent county, Va. Still, your only talking one or two counties away from York River. The Brown Water snake was located on a tributary that fed into the Chickahominy River. This particular spot where I go fishing has a large lake with a spill over into one of the Chickahominy tributaries. Everytime I fish I usually see water snakes (Northern Water snakes) waiting for an easy meal. The spill over from the Dam churns up the water pretty good, and makes for easy fishing for these guys. If I do catch one on camera I will take your advice and get photos to show the VaDGIF. Some of my books and guides show their range in South East Va. but was not sure how common it was to find these guys.
And to keep the conversation somewhat on topic, I will be purchasing me my first hognose in a few weeks, so I'll be a more frequent poster over here. I'm getting a yellowish 05 female Western hog from Steve Jones.

Steve

ya all have big kahunis talkin about collecting in a state park ?

It would take some BIG kahunis to collect animals from a state park, and then post it on an internet forum. Thank God I'm not that stupid. But on a serious note, just to clear things up, the hognose pictured was photographed by me at THE PARK'S NATURE CENTER. He was inside a habitat setup. The Eastern Hog was collected by Park Staff. No way am I going to take any plant/animal out of a state, or federal park, nor would I want to.

Steve

"ya all have big kahunis talkin about collecting in a state park" ?