Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What is there in California that you can catch wild, besides rattlers? The best I can get in my area is garters!
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------Misty-------
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More pets than one room can hold. I listed them all but it looked ridiculous!!!
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Where are you located? There are tons of herps up in the foothills near me in Rocklin. Gophers, Kings, Boas, Mountain Kings are all found nearby.

I am in the sacramento vacinity. Are the wild caught kings worth catching? I'd like to know the closest place to me where I can catch kings (or anything else fun). Are there parks near you, where do you go? Or is it just in your neighborhood? Its funny, but I never thought about kings in cali. You think the name would have given it away (california kingsnake)!!!!!
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------Misty-------
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More pets than one room can hold. I listed them all but it looked ridiculous!!!
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Misty, did you have a blonde moment! LOL! Do not catch in the parks-that is off limits- If you get the petersons field guide, you would be surprised what is in your area. You will need a fishing licence and a car with good brakes to road hunt. here is how to recognize a true road hunter-enjoy

You might be a road cruiser...
....if you've been driving all day and all night, but when you look at the odometer you've gone only 32 miles.
....if you've ever pried a paper thin rattlesnake from the asphalt with tears in your eyes.
.... if you've driven all day and all night with the car radio off and you just realized it.
.... if when driving, "stop and stretch" actually means "Hurry up and whiz already!" to you.
....if you know the back roads better than the county locals.
....if you've ever gotten a ticket for going 15 mph in a 55 mph zone.
....if you choose your rental cars according to their "getting-stuck" potential.
....if you return all rentals after dark and after hours, if possible. If not possible, then you must spend 4 hours making the car acceptable to return.
....if your 4 food groups consist of Penrose sausage, Pork Skins, Cheeze Whiz, and Mello Yellow.
....if 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. are you're favorite times of the day.
....if you keep slowing for the same road kill.
....if for your anniversary you pick up a bucket of chicken and take your wife out on the road.

.... if for your next anniversary you get your wife her own snake hook.
....if potheads think you drive slow.

....if your kids find out at school that family night doesn't always mean dark roads and flashlights.
....if you've spent months in search of the "best roads" to get your wife to the hospital to deliver the baby.

.... if you change your brakes more often than your oil.

....if you would rather try to explain to military police that your snake hook is not a weapon than to be caught without it.
....if your pick-up truck involuntarily screeches to a halt when someone has left their water hose laying on the lawn.
....if your car rattles.......even when it's stopped.
....if your vehicle's hood and roof have dents that are precisely the size and shape of your herping partners' butts.
....if your floor mats are covered with brown stains as a result of the bad combination of sudden stops & hot coffee.

....if a roadkilled herp has ever made you hit your brakes while you were in a funeral procession.
....if you can differentiate a dead opossum from a dead raccoon from a mile away.

....if your spouse experiences a mysterious lack of behind-the-wheel time.

....if old people with thick glasses laugh at you for driving so close to the steering wheel.

....if you've ever stopped your car and got out on Alligator Alley at night without having car trouble.

....if your gunrack only has snake tongs and snake hooks.
....if you've ever considered letting an obnoxious deputy search your car without telling him WHY you were driving so slow.
....if the population of escaped reptiles in your car can subsist entirely on the population of escaped rodents.

....if you've been rear ended in a 35 mph zone........seven times.
....if old ladies flip you off when they finally get a chance to pass.
....if your favorite roads to ride on are the ones that the D.O.T. hasn't visited in years.
...if you've ever taken 3 days to drive through Georgia.
....if you've almost been hit by an 18 wheeler trying to save a fanbelt.
....if you've asked a cop in your best Cheech and Chong voice "Was I speeding officer?"
....if you've jumped from a moving vehicle more than once.
....if hitchhikers wave you on by.
....if bugs have plenty of time to get out of your way.
....if the DEA has ever swarmed your car on a country backroad.
....if you ride on dusty roads and don't make dust.
....Interstate ??? We don't need no stinking Interstate !!!
""You Might Be A Road Cruiser If..
You have your Dad stop the truck, and run back 200 ft so you can get that Mountain Kingsnake that turns out to be a damn bungie cord.

You stop because some idiot in your club thought it would be funny and took white chalk and marked the side of the road to look like a Cal. Kingsnake.

You find yourself cussing out that vechicle in front of you for running over the only snake you see all night.

You find yourself calling anyone who travels over 40 m.p.h. a snake killer.

You hang your head out the window and catch bugs in your mouth looking for snakes.

You find yourself out the door of your truck before it has time to come to a full stop.

if you have a f-350 radiator and cooling fans,in six cylinder ford ranger

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norcalsnakemaster@comcast.net

Damn! Got all of it, even pork rinds! Good luck this spring!

Thanks for the laugh! I've never had the pleasure to go herping, but would love to. As for the california kingsnakes, I guess I never stopped to think about it.
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------Misty-------
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More pets than one room can hold. I listed them all but it looked ridiculous!!!
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There's another good book that's useful. Reptiles of the Northwest by Alan St. John and published by Lone Pine. Really good book. Photos for all species. Only covers northern California and up though. Cuts out before the Bay Area.

On the CA Fish and Game website, they have a list of everything a fishing license allows you to catch.
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.1 Normal phase California Kingsnake (Sophia)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human