Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was down in 1969 after my stint in the army but a couple of guys from the Kansas City area was down there prior to me. Always in the Big Bend region was where we use to go and not so much of the eastern part but i do remember the Langtry area and staying at the old Chamberlin cabins ( cheap and very small but served our needs ). Here is some names of the guys that was there way before me : Larry Cass > his Father was from Australia and wanted someplace to vacation in that reminded him of some of the outbacks of Australia, Greg North > a professional photgrapher that went on to photograph for what I heard National Geographic, and David Hakke. These guys were all down in the early to mid 60ties. They are the ones that brought back an occasional " Davis Mountain Kingsnake ". My first alterna was in 1972 in the Lajitas area and on the way to Langtry when we stopped to " air out " our reptiles due to the heat of our old van inside, there was a German person in a little car that stopped by to ask us about our pillow cases laying in the shade. After he introduced himself about the first thing he asked us was where was our " grey and banded kingsnakes ". LOL ! You all know him by the one of the small publications of a book on desert reptiles.
-----
I may be old , cantankerous, crabby, and cynical, but......

Thats a pretty cool post! I Think the best part about alterna hunting is the people involved. I've met alot of cool people since I've been going down to Texas and everyone is tied by a common bond. I'd like to hear more about those who blazed the trail, those who paid their dues and how things were. I used the alterna page to study up, as it were, before my first trip down. It was so in dept that I felt I had been there before. I'm happy to see Joe Forks is up dating the site. I still comb thru there looking at pictures and checking out names and places. I'm looking forward to meeting up with some of these guys, finding alterna in some of these places , and hoping that this happy playground stays the way it is for future generations to enjoy!

My old pal (bless him) Ben Dial, as an undergraduate student: 3 in one night during an electrical storm on old US Hwy 90 in 1965; Loren Peterson, a graduate student from UC Riverside: gravid female and first L. alterna (huge light blairs morph) the first live specimen I ever saw in 1968 while I was still in high school; and Rocky Ward (Mr. light phase) with his TMTC kingsnakes in discarded 1/2 gallon milk cartons who sold 'em off for beer and gas money. Then came Dennie Miller as an undergraduate student, Claude Lee Box with his snake side-show trailer in Langtry (and his son Brian as a really little kid), the amazingly entertaining Mr. Earl Turner, the calculating J. R. Lilley, along with Eric Tomias, Bob Sloan and a host of the southern Val Verde County locals.Then there were Q-beams that melted your seat covers, the Scram Bros., the Chamberlains, the Duncans, Mike Geiger, the Sodaberg Bros., George Burdick, David Easterla and finally good ol' John Hollister (still miss the Sambo's in Del Rio)...good grief, we're getting old...

Cheers mate,
Bob Haase
aka King of the "Hump de Humps" (Christmas Mountains Hwy 118)

I paid a quarter or 50 cents to get in and see the snakes on the loop road.

Joe, you need to not comment on this post. It makes you sound old. lol.
-----
Steve W.

and all those "low profile" dudes.............

>>Joe, you need to not comment on this post. It makes you sound old. lol.
>>-----
>>Steve W.

I wasn't old enough to drive I still think it was "lucky" my dad got a flat tire in Langtry on our cross country trip to Cali.

Forky

OK your a youngster again. Just bustin your chops a little. Later.
-----
Steve W.

and then I saw. Where did Earl Turner fit into the picture?
I remember when I used to speak to him he said he hunted in the early days. Man I would have liked to have been old enough to hunt back then. I started in the beginning of the 13 year drought.

Oh well...

Steven

I collected 3 alterna in 1966 in 2 days on old Hwy 90 with a friend from Indiana named Steve Rohan. When we were collecting, we stayed under the bridge at Eagle Nest Canyon or at the High Bridge if the mosquitos were bad. Motels were out of the question due to money concerns. Gas was about 20 cents a gallon. I made 15 rocket runs from Fort Worth starting in 1965 until I collected my first alterna. In 2 days we collected 2 lepidus, 3 alterna, and a coral snake. That trip is still my most memorable trips.

PS.

I worked with Ben Dial at the Fort Worth Zoo and many years after he had a hear-lung transplant, met him collecting banded geckos in Langtry. I turned him on to the new Davis Control lights and he started hunting the Sanderson area successfully.

Didn't I sell you a bunch of rodent ( mice ) lab cages back in the late 70ties or early 80ties someplace in Texas ? If not , it was someone else that worked as a paramedic or at a hospital in west Texas. OR I am really and truly getting old on memory around here.
-----
I may be old , cantankerous, crabby, and cynical, but......

might have been mike bishop.............

Yes you did and I still have them.

you sent us to because you had to meet us later.? It was highly " floatable " water either with the salt content or something. Didn't a Mr. David B from Olathe Kansas set that up. Now he was definitely into alterna for awhile and was one of the early 277 hunters. Funny how some people just drop out of the picture. Funny also how I have been to west Texas over 50 times and never ever have gone back to that lake.
-----
I may be old , cantankerous, crabby, and cynical, but......

He lurks. Nice to see you surface once in a while!