Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've spent most of my years hunting alterna either in the field or cruisin', with some road cut work near Langtry (hey, this was back when we were only beginning to hunt cuts back in the dawn of alterna hunting...). I'm curious from those of you who've collected dozens or more alterna on cuts, what do you think makes the most productive locales productive? Obviously the nearby habitat that has large quantities of fractured rock, crevices and so forth, AND that you can actually hunt the cut or that it is not a sheer cliff with no way for alterna to even climb on it, --- but OTHER than that, are there qualities of the cuts themselves that you think are important? Or are the alterna there simply because it is a slice thru their prime habitat? --Henry W.

1. most important feature - suitablity of nearby habitat
2. the more fractured the cut, the better
3. drainage features nearby (gullies, draws, etc)

Also, I might note that I've seen alterna, lepidus, bairdi, subocs, etc, perched on "sheer rock" faces . . . there are almost always some sort of irregularties that these snakes can climb on if they're moving slowly enough.

Troy

Makes sense, Troy. I've long suspected that your criteria of drainage features nearby was significant only I looked at it more from the standpoint of more riparian habitat equals more insects etc and therefore more lizards and rodents and therefore more alterna. If what you say is correct regarding how fractured the cuts are, then there is the implication that the cuts are significant as habitats in and of themselves as well as just being a slice thru habitat. I wonder if there is a collecting impact then? I don't mean that there is any real pressure on the species or anything -- just in terms of the cut vicinity. I wonder if some of the amazing times I and others had way back when in the 70s spotlighting were because noone had tried it before and we were catching more than just the constant population overflow? --Henry W.