Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'll be heading down to Laredo - Brownsville area sometime this August... any ideas on what I can find, and any tips? Thanks a bunch

check out the Santa Ana refuge near brownsville. you could see speckled racers and indigos. you can't collect though. there are not many places to actually hike or anything...everything is private land with belligerent owners. there are a lot of cool snakes down there though. if you're interested in roads to hunt at night, give me an email (roky8074@uidaho.edu). and oh yeah, you WILL get stopped by border patrol, and they WILL call in the drug dogs and search your vehicle. it happens to me almost every time i hunt down there. but i guess i look suspicious.

darin

in the Santa Anna Wildlife area ? The several long ago trips down there these birds were everyplace. I really enjoyed the bright green jays since all we ever see up here is the blue jay.

Chambo

"belligerant landowners"? you have no right or business to trespass on private property for any reason.

you're quite right; that's just my frustration over the lack of public land in TX in general. my point was not that the landowners were wrong in any way, just that one ought not test them.
touchy, touchy...
but you really can't herp anywhere legally, unless you own land or walk the sides of public roads

d

I was in southern Texas many years ago with no experience herping somewhere that warm. I am from Iowa, and we do most of our herping out walking around. I was told to night road cruise and we did find stuff. I hate road cruising though, even if it is effective. I enjoy the connection with nature that you get walking around more than staring at the pavement. I couldn't find anywhere that didn't have big fences and signs. Is there nowhere at all that a person could herp in southern Texas without road cruising? Not trying to rile anyone up, and I'm not on my way down there, I'm just curious.

Texas as a whole is approx 95% privately held land. The exceptions to this are the various state and national parks (where you can look at the herps, but don't remove) and the national forest's where I believe (someone please correct me if I'm wrong)you can still "hunt" for herps by walking around the woods. None of the national forests are located in South Texas.
Yeah, property rights are a touchy subject. I don't personally know of any landowner who hasn't had to deal with trespassers of one sort or another - bird hunters, deer hunters, antique "hunters" going thru old buildings (stealing is the correct term), illegal aliens, etc.
One thought. Perhaps you could run a ad in the local South Texas newspapers. You might find a farmer/rancher who'd be willing to let you herp his place. Certainly worth a try, and you wouldn't have to deal with TP&W or traffic on the roads.