Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all you alterna aficionados,

My son Nick and I spent 8 days recently in search of the elusive alterna and we were able to find one gravid female on Juno Road and another large female on River Road near Lajitas. Nick put together a short video that shows the alternas and some habitat. You can see it at the following link on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/44915861

WOW, real nice clip. Great choice on the background music too!

Thanks. Yeah, my son is a great videographer/photgrapher. He uses Final Cut Pro and After Effects. That sunset shot at Baker's Crossing on Juno Road makes you want to be there!

Marlon

We heard about the gravid female the night we got to Sanderson. I believe that was the day after you got her. She is spectacular! Congrats on them both. So cool to find a gravid female but to find another female on top of that is killer. Definitely need to post baby pics when they hatch.

Chris

Thanks Chris,

Yes, we will definitely post pics of the offspring when they come out, probably around the end of August.

Marlon

Outstanding!!!! Congrats on a great trip...

Just a great video... Beautiful snakes... Way to go. Im glad you guys had a great time and a successful trip. Thats why I encourage everyone to spend some time in West Texas. It helps put everything else in perspective!

Yeah, there definitely is something there in West Texas that draws us back continually. We have herped various locations in Nevada, Northern and Southern California, New Mexico, and Arizona, but no other place has the "mystique", for want of a better term, than that provided by the Trans-Pecos region. We've caught 11 alterna in ten trips - a little better than one on average per week in the area. However, even on those trips when we did not personally find a grayband, we simply loved the process of getting out there, firing up the lights and searching. For a brief period of time we leave behind all thoughts of our livelihoods and just enjoy the scenery, the flora, and the fauna of an area that has an almost primeval beauty and literally comes alive when the sun goes down.

Marlon
Link

Marlon, I went & watched the video you made last night, congrats on a great trip & some premium looking alternas...John

Thanks John. Sorry we were not able to visit with you during our trip. We found surprisingly few herpers out during our week there(the week after snake days). We spent four nights on Juno and saw no others there besides border partol and others just passing through(including those darn tire testers.) A beautiful dark blairs was found by us plastered to the asphalt four miles north of Bakers.

Now I am really missing the Bend! Great video and congratulations on your successes. You are right, even with no snakes, it does not get much better than cruising down the River Road on a warm summer evening.

I ran into you and your son on your last night on River Road before you left for Juno. I'm glad to see your success. Out of curiosity, had the movement picked up on RR when you returned, or was there still relatively little movement the night you found her?

John

Actually things were a little slow that night. We found the alterna at 11:25 after seeing only two subocs. Some others there that night said things had been really slow with not much running for several days.

I met you and saw your juno animal in sanderson. Very nice snake and congrats on the eggs. Also congrats on the River Road animal. They seem to be harder to find these days and the harassment of herpers down there is a pain. There is few places as beautiful as River Road. I enjoyed watching your video. Thanks.

WOW Marlin and Nick,
Great trip?..congrats...

I really loved the video...awesome work there. The snakes are incredible. I am really sorry we missed you. We were in Texas early in Jume. We had family obligations. I hope to go next year.

Hope to see you soon, gmerker
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G. Merker

Say, we heard from Roy that you had a successful search on Juno Road! Way to go! On a personal note, and relating to my son Ryan who passed away, could you call me some time? I had a question that maybe you could help with. Ryan and I both were in awe of your super-successful trip back in 2007! (916)716-0886

Marlon

Wow, those are both great animals. Which cut on Juno did you get the female from? I've always found it difficult to walk cuts on Juno myself. It will be interesting to see what kind of babies she throws. As for the river road near Lajitas which cut did she come from? I can't remember there being many cuts there.

cheers!
Nigel

Nigel,

The gravid female on Juno was found at the mid-point of the s- curve about 4 miles or so south of Baker's Crossing. When you walk on foot and flashlight the cuts on that curve, you can see many fissures that seemingly run very deep into the cut wall and presumably are the hiding places for the many s-curve animals that have been found through the years. We are anxiously awaiting the pipping of the six eggs she laid our second day back from Texas. We also have a clutch of ten eggs from another s-curve pair we collected in 2004. They are blair phases, and have always thrown out blairs (about thirty to date, with not one single alterna phase). So it will be interesting to see the young ones from the alterna phase we caught in June.

The RR animal was found near the western-most edge of a very large hill.

M