Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We are suffering a crippling stage 4 drought.. also a near lack of winter conditions. Nonetheless the reptiles endure.. Following is a sample of what I've encountered in 2013 so far.

Have a great year!

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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com

"Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

Wow! What a way to start the year! Is that Milk an annulata!? Sweet!

reako45

I knew you would taunt me with that errebanus. Really awesome bull. One of these days I'm going to get down to the boarder.

>>I knew you would taunt me with that errebanus. Really awesome bull. One of these days I'm going to get down to the boarder.

Taunt..

Thanks!

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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com

"Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

I am "taunted!!" What a great photograph. Do you ever find young ones like "yearlings"? Seems here in Florida the only young ones I ever see are DOR.

>>I am "taunted!!" What a great photograph. Do you ever find young ones like "yearlings"? Seems here in Florida the only young ones I ever see are DOR.

You're welcome!

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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com

"Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

Mercy Gus...you're killing me!!! Are those buggers that common in south Texas? How about northern Mexico...are they common their too?

>>Mercy Gus...you're killing me!!! Are those buggers that common in south Texas? How about northern Mexico...are they common their too?

These are very common animals across a large part of their range in Texas.. In some places they may be the most frequently observed serpents. In the places where these images were taken I have seen perhaps 50 individuals in the last two years. The area is less than 500 acres.

The problem is that their habitat is under a concentrated attack.. an attack on nature itself, actually. It's appalling! The old Texas, where animals like this were tolerated and integrated in to farming and development is gone! So while it's prohibited to take an Indigo snake you can tear up and destroy them by the thousands and prevent any new populations.. that's all legal!

When the last Indigo snake is killed, in Texas or Florida, it will be entirely according to law and regulation.. That's because wildlife laws are meant to empower the government agencies and drive and allow development.. NOT to preserve animals like this.

That's my informed opinion.

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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com

"Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

You're preach'n to the Choir brother. I know of places in site of the city of Tampa where indigos where the most common snake to be seen just 10 years ago...now nothing but houses and shopping.

>>You're preach'n to the Choir brother. I know of places in site of the city of Tampa where indigos where the most common snake to be seen just 10 years ago...now nothing but houses and shopping.

Hallelujah and Amen.

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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com

"Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

... always njoy your posts, especially when you are showing s. tx indigloes & speckled racers ... (never seem to see a corale by you though).. but the txt in your post re; unbridled development ... along w/ the .jpg of yourself w/ a tape & a fresh stud wall behind you ...ah yes, let he who lives in a glass house... ;]
Thnx goodness for the USFW & other reserves & parks in s tx, they're the critters last chance. :{

>>... always njoy your posts, especially when you are showing s. tx indigloes & speckled racers ... (never seem to see a corale by you though).. but the txt in your post re; unbridled development ... along w/ the .jpg of yourself w/ a tape & a fresh stud wall behind you ...ah yes, let he who lives in a glass house... ;]
>>Thnx goodness for the USFW & other reserves & parks in s tx, they're the critters last chance. :{
>>

Ha! I've lived in the same place forever and that's my own work! My place, here and at my Val Verde County property are wildlife refuges. What are you doing to preserve nature and animals.. maybe you occupy a House of cards?

IMO .. Parks and preserves and set-asides and armed officers mean zip.. it's almost like since we have nature 'over there' then it's Ok to do whatever we want with the rest of the 99.9% of the earth.. It's fun to have those to temporarily convince us we are doing the right thing.. It's a canard.

Coral snakes? Knock yourself out:

.. Hope that helps you.

Have a super day!

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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com

"Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

... now thats what im lookn for when im in s tx ... whhoohoo nice. Now b4 you get all ...eeerr hissy you have to admit the pic was a bit incongrous w/ the message, canards aside! I thought canards were short wings on the airplane fuselage, or the innards of a deer! As far as what ive done for our wildlf lately,... 5 years of university study & a whole lifetime of work my friend,& it continues to this day :} Like you, i sleep easy. Again I appreciate the color & discussion, be well / Juan

>>... now thats what im lookn for when im in s tx ... whhoohoo nice. Now b4 you get all ...eeerr hissy you have to admit the pic was a bit incongrous w/ the message, canards aside! I thought canards were short wings on the airplane fuselage, or the innards of a deer! As far as what ive done for our wildlf lately,... 5 years of university study
>>

Five years! Wow! A five year old is in Kindergarden? Forgive my analogy! You and I could exchange these kinds of messages? I see no point.. you made a denigrating assumption about me and what I do.. I answered and probably also did not fully acknowledge your potential.. That should be the end of it? Probably we share more in common than otherwise.. If you really want to have a peeing contest I'll play! .. It would be better if we could get along and learn from one another.

Cheers!

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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com

"Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus

...hhmm, funny my post got abbreviated, ??? what id tappt after 5 years of school was a 30+ year career in wildlife, & ntrl resource mngmt, so yeah i made it past the kindergarten , Gus im not here to musk on you, i just had a little fun w/ the incongruency of your post w/the photo you selected! if you cant gimme a simple pass on that irony... well you know what they usesta say about peeple who cant take a joke
lighten up, njoy the ride & yes im all about getting along & learning from others ... as the younguns say; peace out :}
& as a peace offering; heres a leetle something to sooth your eyes ...

... a happy fellow :}

... so im working my way up an arroyo, when i spy a beautiful serpent moving towards me, the general black & white lulling me into thinking what must be an exceptionally pretty kingsnake ... i start fumbling for my cellphone ...

... wow its been 8 years of fairly regular hiking since i last bummped into one of these beauties (i might see 1 or 2 DoR's/year), and this is only # 3 mebbe 4, while day hiking,in my entire life

The number of black bands is unusual, as was the low elevation and very xeric area it was found in. I manage to resist the temptation to capture it & watch it until it goes into a tangle of paloverde roots & disappears as it does into my memories :}

Gus...now you are treading on my second favorite....massasaugas. Is that a western or desert? Was it photo'd on one of the islands in S. Texas? You might as well continue the water boarding of me and show a picture of the broadbanded copperheads a little north of you!! lol