Colorado Trip

Well the past week I have been in CO. While there I did a good amount of herping. On the second day I found the coolest looking Bullsnake I have ever seen on the slopes of Mt. Princeton. Later in the week I went to the plains east of Colorado Springs and in those two days found another bullsnake, 5 plains gartersnakes, 2 western terrestrial gatersnakes, a baby horned lizard, 5 many lined skinks and three plains toads.

Central Texas Whipsnake

Well this past Friday on the way to a small local cave I saw a large snake in the road. Upon approaching the snake I realized it was a very large central Texas whipsnake. Knowing what it was I knew that I would have to be very fast in order to catch and photograph it. As we slowed down I jumped out of the still moving car and ran towards the snake. Being a close relative of the coachwhip it was very fast and as soon as it saw me it darted off into the bushes. As soon as it hit the trees it immediately headed up into the large Juniper trees. As I tried to follow it through the tree tops it easily outran me. After numerous attempts to catch up with it in the treetops I finally grabbed it from underneath and climbed down the tree. After a few photographs it was released unharmed.

An interesting feature of this snake is that based on it's length compared to my height is that I believe this to be the new record for this species. I am about 6ft tall and this snake was about 5 or 6 inches longer than I am tall.

June 6 night cruise

Tonight in a random decision I decided to go night cruising. After a few minutes I saw a DOR Texas rat snake. This was one of the prettiest specimens I have ever seen, to bad it was killed. Later on I found a young Crotaus Atrox or western diamond back rattlesnake. Those were my only two finds but it was still a successful night.

Blotched water snake

As I walk over to the dock with fishing pole in hand and tackle box over my shoulder I notice something on the dock, it looks like a large stick but as I move closer i hear that well known sound to my ears, a plop of a large snake escaping my grasp. I walk to the end of the small wooden structure just in time to watch the reptile slowly swim away almost mocking me. I would usually jump in but this pond is strictly no swimming and I sure as heck don't want to get kicked out. "Crap!" I think to myself, "you could have easily gotten him, you're losing your touch Saunders." As I set up my gear and cast out and nonchalantly real in yet another sunfish I watch as the snake surfaces and dives agin in his search for food. After a few minutes and a few fish a few younger family friends about 12 and 6 walk over and join me. Later on I hear the young point out a snake in the water, but this time its about 20 feet out and headed for the shore to the right of me. As it enters the weeds I decide to go try my luck at this particular serpent. I crouch tho the ground and crawl under the limbs of the surrounding cypress and cedar trees. As I get closer I watch him from the reeds surrounding the pond. As I watch him the takes a turn and heads back out again and again from the weeds, taunting me by never getting within 10 feet of me. I know he sees me and he know I see him and now it's a game of chicken for him probably thinking "I'm gonna see how close I can get to this dumb mammal, he aint gonna jump in after me." Too bad for him he is wrong. He enters the weeds and alge just to my left, and from my vantage point I watch as he enters about 3 feet into the weeds just 12 feet from me. I decide that it's time to commit to catching this snake and begin to move forward. As I creep forward I'm careful to make no noise lest he be spooked. And close to 8 feet away I stop, any further forward and he is out of here for sure. I sit and wait for him to get used to my presence. The quiet of the Texas summer afternoon is broken by the chorus of cricket frogs and a lone male bullfrog persistently calling for a mate that isn't there. A minute goes by ad I don't dare move, not even to rid myself of the mosquitos that think of my arms as their buffet. Sitting there focusing on his every twitch I know he must be doing the same as me. Suddenly the moment comes when he for a split second looks away at something I cannot see. Muscles tensing, legs springing I take the leap into the water and weeds. As my feet slam against the rocky bottom a jolt of unforseen pain races through my body but I hold through. My hand darts into the place in the weeds where he just disappeared I feel something in my hand. I pull it out quickly and... nothing. Only a stick from a cypress tree. As I sit there thinking crap to myself again I watch as he surfaces about 30 feet away and swims into a maze of cattails. Going back to fishing with a small cut on my foot and my legs covered in pond crap I pack up and go to dinner leaving my gear there, including my stringer of bluegill in the water.
As I return, my stomach full or burger and chips I check on my stringer of fish and to my surprise right there is the watersnake, trying to steal my fish obviously feeling good about himself for eluding capture. Laughing at my good fortune I grab the snake and coax it to release the still alive fish who's head is down his gullet. Realizing that I don't have a camera with me I decide to walk up to the cabin and grab it. After getting many strange looks from people obviously thinking to themselves "that kid is insane! He got himself a water moccasin in his hands!" After a few pics I release him, without getting bit.

4/16/10 Salamander hunting

Contrary to common belief, we actually do have more than two species of salamander here in the Texas hill country. We have three. Most people know of the Texas blind salamander found in caves, and those who live in Boerne usually know of the rare cascade caverns salamander. The lesser known of our three salamanders is the western slimy salamander. One of the lung less salamanders common to the American Midwest it can be found under moist logs in places outside of civilization. I had not found one of these animals in a long while so finding one was a treat, even if it was a few weeks back. I found it in a canyon which is only filled with water after a few days of heavy rain. On this particular day I went down to search at an interval between two large rainstorms. During this time the sun had come out and it was close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The salamander was underneath a small log near the edge of a woodpile so I am glad that he didn't sprint to the woodpile and I would not be able to catch him.

Definitely my favorite salamander found in Texas.

Night Cruising 4/23/10

Me and the kingsnake

Meahllmorum rat snake
The second Rattlesnake
DOR Checkered Garter
Desert Kingsnake
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

A few weeks ago in April I went road cruising down in south Texas in search of snakes. The lack of cloud cover limited our finds to only a few snakes yet it still yielded a few good finds, including a first for me. We started cruising at about 8:00 and had a few early finds but as the night wore on the action slowed down as a huge storm rolled in across the flat landscape. Early in the night our first find was the infamous Western Diamond back Rattlesnake. This snake was about 4 ft and thick bodied. A few minutes later we ran into a new species for me, the Desert King Snake. The near three foot adult immediately struck up a defensive pose and began to shake its' tail. As we continued cruising we saw only another rattler and a DOR checkered garter snake. This second rattlesnake was darker in color than the first. The last snake of the night was a meahllmorum rat snake. Subspecies of the emory rat snake this wasn't truly a first for me but this was a new subspecies for me to find in the wild so I was happy to be able to cross it off of my list of snakes I have found in Texas.

Emory Rat Snake

This particular specimen was found on 4/30/10. A small female found on the steps in my backyard. Found on a surprisingly warm night (in retrospect I wish I could have gone night cruising). The emory rat snake is a fairly common snake in this area and is one of my favorites. The snake surprisingly did not strike nor seem at all agitated when caught which was not really expected seeing as how they often are quite aggressive when messed with. Over all a great snake to have an encounter with.

Spotted Chorus Frog

In my opinion the spotted chorus frog is one of the coolest frogs that we have in the hill country of Texas. This is a small frog, similar in size and stature to that of the Blanchard's cricket frog. I have found them on a few occasions but most recently found on 5/23/10 in a stock pond on a ranch on the edge of town. The species is incredibly variable in its appearance, ranging from white with a black eye bar, to green with brown spots. I have included a few pictures in order to show the color differences.

Texas Patchnose snake

On 5/25/10 I decided to do some minor herping around in my backyard and flip the plywood boards I have laying about my yard. Underneath the 4th board I flipped I Found a small Texas patchnose snake. Closely resembling the very common red stripe ribbon snake this species is characterized by its trademark rostral scale on its nose. One of the quickest snakes in the Texas hill country it is only bested by the coachwhip and its relatives. These snakes feed mostly on lizards such as six lined racerunners. This specific snake was the first example of this species that has ever struck at me.

Eastern Hognose Snake

On Sunday 5/23/10 I went herping for a brief time.
Underneath the first plywood board that i flipped I found a small adult Eastern Hognose snake. This specific specimen was very light in color with a reddish hue. After capture the snake promptly began to feign death (a defense mechanism which defines the hognose snakes). The snake also had recently eaten a gulf coast toad about 4X the girth of the snake itself. The snake's ability to swallow such large prey items is certainly a useful adaptation for an opportunistic predator such as this.
The only pictures where taken with my phone so I am sorry for the poor quality.

Hello

Well I have started this in order to show and talk about the species I find. So please enjoy! For pictures of my past finds, or if you just want somewhere to discuss field herping if it is a passion of yours there is a link to Herping with Dylan forum over to the right.