Search found 110 matches
- August 27th, 2016, 2:08 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Finally wrapped up Lampropeltis for Florida.
- Replies: 5
- Views: 3212
Re: Finally wrapped up Lampropeltis for Florida.
Pardon my ignorance, but are these generally considered to be tougher to find than L. extenuata and S. Fl. mole kings?
- May 27th, 2016, 2:38 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Introduction of Myself - New Herper - Advice on Books, etc.
- Replies: 9
- Views: 6180
Re: Introduction of Myself - New Herper - Advice on Books, e
I fully agree with the two above recommendations. Grew up on those old Peterson's guides, and Greene's book completely changed how I looked at the natural world. That truly is not an exaggeration; everything just clicked in a way it hadn't before after I read it.
- April 29th, 2016, 1:14 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: A long weekend at the Hoyer's home
- Replies: 6
- Views: 3826
Re: Glad That You Had Fun, Visitor
I've had brief correspondences with Richard in the past, and he's advised me on more than one topic. I enjoyed herping with Richard Hoyer once when my other herping buddy & I drove down to Hoyer's area for a visit. We saw quite a few Rubber Boas that day. My friend & I also saw Richard's Ha...
- April 2nd, 2016, 7:07 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Egg Mass ID help
- Replies: 5
- Views: 3086
Re: Egg Mass ID help
They look Ambystomatid to me. I'd lean toward a smaller than average A. maculatum mass, which aren't uncommon where I come from. Looks too firm to be A. jeffersonium (or chorus frogs, though I could definitely be wrong about that), and if the picture was taken sometime the past couple weeks, I'd fig...
- March 7th, 2016, 1:18 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Female herpetologists or herp enthusiasts
- Replies: 90
- Views: 50134
Re: Female herpetologists or herp enthusiasts
Tangents form in threads, and out of all the posts and threads through all the years and all the tangents about folks and their lives in a heteronormative world of assumption, I realize a brief foray into acknowledging that there are gay people in the herping world could be uncomfortable. Honestly,...
- February 11th, 2016, 6:59 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Spring Emergence 2016!
- Replies: 19
- Views: 9622
Re: Spring Emergence 2016!
Feels like an early spring is coming to SE Massachusetts. When I say that, I mean like the blue spots out the first week of March, wood frogs out the second week, and spotties and peepers out in full force by the end of the month. I've been wrong before, and you can never tell this early, but it jus...
- February 2nd, 2016, 9:57 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
- Replies: 14
- Views: 5852
Re: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
I'm guessing C. c. priapus, particularly from Missouri or S. Illinois, where it might be expected to have a little bit of influence from C. c. foxi and/or C. c. flaviventris.
- February 2nd, 2016, 4:30 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Mobile-Tensaw Alabama Delta
- Replies: 6
- Views: 2412
Re: Mobile-Tensaw Alabama Delta
This has actually been one of my top fantasy vacation spots since I was a kid. I've only gotten to go on one trip so far, though, and central FL won out. If my situation ever allows me the resources and freedom to take regular trips, however, I'm definitely going to coastal Alabama.
- November 29th, 2015, 12:22 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: A welcome surprise among the usual suspects in western MA
- Replies: 5
- Views: 2300
Re: A welcome surprise among the usual suspects in western M
This guy was under a small piece of deadfall in a dry vernal. I was surprised to find it as there were no mossy hummocks for egg deposition nearby that I've been assuming to be a strong predictor much of the time. You are correct. I'll add that, in the SE part of the state, they will also turn up i...
- November 29th, 2015, 12:13 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Finds from NYC
- Replies: 13
- Views: 4395
Re: Finds from NYC
Nick, these are great! I would not be surprised by an eastern garter near the botanical gardens; of course, this means there is a food source for them (I would think that, in addition to worms, they would need some sort of vertebrate in their diet). There are supposed to be a population of (introdu...
- September 16th, 2015, 12:26 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Questions from your President
- Replies: 43
- Views: 16120
Re: Questions from your President
I don't know if anyone has done this as I have suggested it several times, but I suggest those who think I'm being paranoid research the history of the spotted turtle in Ma. It's everything I have feared and is directly behind my distrust and unwillingness to contribute. This is only anecdotal, but...
- September 9th, 2015, 9:27 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Snakes? Maybe a lizard or two? Frogs?
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1440
Re: Snakes? Maybe a lizard or two? Frogs?
I live nowhere near San Francisco, but I did want to drop in to say I wholeheartedly approve of the way you're promoting your event. Your phrasing got a chuckle out of me, even if nobody else bites.
- August 1st, 2015, 3:36 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: North Jersey Herping Look at this baby
- Replies: 3
- Views: 3017
Re: North Jersey Herping Look at this baby
Definitely a young northern brown. The ring around the neck fades after a summer or two. Cool to see someone else exploring the urban northeast for snakes! A whole lot of my youth was devoted to the very same thing. Always found lots of northern browns in vacant lots, city parks, and behind schools ...
- July 3rd, 2015, 9:55 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Andrea and Mike's 2015 Species Seen (xposted from NE Chapter
- Replies: 15
- Views: 8718
Re: Andrea and Mike's 2015 Species Seen (xposted from NE Cha
LOVE that garter snake! Found one just like it behind a supermarket back in 2002 and I've never seen another one like it before or since.
- June 24th, 2015, 12:14 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Not the only one out looking for 'snakes'
- Replies: 33
- Views: 10995
Re: Not the only one out looking for 'snakes'
When she was telling me about it, I got the impression she was talking about a snapper. Too bad she missed the program, she might have been able to learn what it was that she saw.
- June 23rd, 2015, 2:03 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Not the only one out looking for 'snakes'
- Replies: 33
- Views: 10995
Re: Not the only one out looking for 'snakes'
I don't think so, the first time I ran into her (about 10:15AM) she was coming down the trail with some older gentleman, who I believe may have been in her car later on around the time she approached us (about 2:45PM). She came up to me and started asking me questions. I showed her the same snake I ...
- June 22nd, 2015, 3:31 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Not the only one out looking for 'snakes'
- Replies: 33
- Views: 10995
Re: Not the only one out looking for 'snakes'
We did pull into what turns out to be a very notorious gay cruising area in Cape Cod last year. It took my husband saying, "We should just go somewhere else...there's nothing here for us" a couple of times before it dawned on me that 1. I was the only woman there and 2. that one guy would...
- June 18th, 2015, 6:24 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Not the only one out looking for 'snakes'
- Replies: 33
- Views: 10995
Re: Not the only one out looking for 'snakes'
Great story! I've had this happen to me twice, but both times were as I was leaving, so I considered the events to be more comical than startling in nature. The first time was when I was a teenager. There was this huge vacant lot behind this abandoned little league field in an otherwise urban/indust...
- May 18th, 2015, 10:31 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Rattlesnake ID request
- Replies: 5
- Views: 2550
Re: Rattlesnake ID request
Yeah... my friend didn't TAKE the video, nor did he upload it or post it anywhere. He isn't into snakes, but he knows I am, and I guess some people where he works were going nuts over the vid so he forwarded it to me. Once I saw the vid, however, I called BS on the location provided in the link. I i...
- May 18th, 2015, 12:55 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Rattlesnake ID request
- Replies: 5
- Views: 2550
Rattlesnake ID request
A friend of mine sent me this crappy video, but the disparity between the supposed location (Arlington, VA), the habitat, and animals pictured kept me curious enough to keep watching it. Be warned in advance, it's basically some guy who stumbles upon a hibernaculum and mildly harrasses the animals a...
- May 18th, 2015, 12:41 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Timing of AC Checks?
- Replies: 10
- Views: 3497
Re: Timing of AC Checks?
AC produces the most for me from late April to late June and then again from mid August to mid September. March to mid April everything is still pretty cool and wet up here; I'll flip a few snakes here and there, especially small and juvenile Thamnophiines, as well as some neat amphibians, but for t...
- April 22nd, 2015, 4:20 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Aquatic Behavior in Red-Backed Salamanders?
- Replies: 9
- Views: 4031
Re: Aquatic Behavior in Red-Backed Salamanders?
I used to occasionally flip them while looking for Eurycea in streams. Fished a dead one out of a puddle last Saturday, as well.
- March 11th, 2015, 3:34 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Spring in Scandinavia, usual suspects
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1822
Re: Spring in Scandinavia, usual suspects
There's a second lizard in the top photo! Thanks for sharing.
On another note, am I the only one who finds it amazing that this guy is finding stuff in Scandinavia before we can find anything in New England? Seems crazy to me.
On another note, am I the only one who finds it amazing that this guy is finding stuff in Scandinavia before we can find anything in New England? Seems crazy to me.
- February 21st, 2015, 10:28 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Request for help on an ambitious plan
- Replies: 13
- Views: 7881
Re: Request for help on an ambitious plan
No migration by the end of March? Ouch! Thanks for the offer - I might have to dip a little south if it's looking grim though. I'll wait for others to chime in. Locally, I saw my first blue-spotteds in the afternoon of 3/29, and several male spotteds headed to the vernals that night. In the western...
- February 18th, 2015, 11:01 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Nerodia Sipedon Question
- Replies: 12
- Views: 3505
Re: Nerodia Sipedon Question
Shoot, my mistake! Well, in that case, just seek out wetlands that tend to be sluggish moving, well vegetated, open, and sunny. Ponds, lakes, slow rivers, and marshes are all great spots. Tend to focus especially on areas where there are beaver dams, old stone dams, old wells, rock piles, etc. They ...
- February 18th, 2015, 10:56 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Massachusetts Blizzard Herping
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1746
Re: Massachusetts Blizzard Herping
How close were you guys to the vernal pool when you found that snake? It has heat pits! I think it's one of those Massachusetts water moccasins I've heard so much about!
- February 16th, 2015, 5:06 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Nerodia Sipedon Question
- Replies: 12
- Views: 3505
Re: Nerodia Sipedon Question
No problem. Sometimes they turn up in strange spots, too. There are a lot of open, sunny, and well vegetated ponds in this area where they don't seem to be particularly common (or even absent), but then you might randomly turn one up along a RR grade that abuts a wetland you don't typically associat...
- February 15th, 2015, 6:58 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Nerodia Sipedon Question
- Replies: 12
- Views: 3505
Re: Nerodia Sipedon Question
We have one place on our rotation where we have NEVER found an adult or live nerodia, but we have found one dead neonate and two large skins. The only place we have found the skins is at the base of this man-made fall: https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5441/9027431503_5dbedfdd2e_b.jpg If you guys had ...
- February 15th, 2015, 4:59 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: found a spotted turtle very sluggish near a river bed. help
- Replies: 4
- Views: 2911
Re: found a spotted turtle very sluggish near a river bed. h
What Nate said. I've seen several people in the Northeast post about seeing turtles basking in this unusually warm weather. Instinct will make them go back into hibernation as it gets cooler. I believe spotteds are fairly cold-tolerant as well; I see them fairly early in the year, and then they dis...
- February 15th, 2015, 4:49 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: February Species Counts
- Replies: 4
- Views: 2324
Re: February Species Counts
At least you guys get plowed out around Boston! It snows in New Bedford and we're lucky if we can get to work three days later... Usually we escape some of the damage on the coast of Buzzard's Bay, but we haven't been so lucky this year. I have an incredibly optimistic feeling that I'll be hearing w...
- February 15th, 2015, 4:21 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Identification Help Thread
- Replies: 83
- Views: 17412
Re: Identification Help Thread
MD-2... I found nine of these under a few boards. They look like they are Marbleds, but I want to make sure they aren't spotteds. I've been wrong about young salamanders like this before, so... http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c159/brick911/May%202011%20NE%20Chapter%20Trip/IMG_8455.jpg http://i27....
- October 7th, 2014, 10:16 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: AC Materials
- Replies: 12
- Views: 4490
Re: AC Materials
I just want to add that, here in Massachusetts, I don't get a lot of use out of tin (whether singularly or in layers) and other metal, though on occasion I've found racers, garters, ribbons, northern browns, and ringnecks underneath them. Long flat boards are very productive, as are old doors, tarps...
- September 2nd, 2014, 7:50 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Herps in the Home
- Replies: 14
- Views: 5252
Re: Herps in the Home
Sit down, this one is going to be lengthy and nerve-wracking. The weak of heart or stomach might be well cautioned to scroll right down to the next post, lest you be kept awake with the images of my experience dancing around in your brain, taunting, traumatizing you every night you lay down to sleep...
- September 1st, 2014, 11:46 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: The Answer to all our ID problems
- Replies: 11
- Views: 3793
Re: The Answer to all our ID problems
Totally off topic, but man, we saw so many that day and that was the best picture I got. So disappointing.hellihooks wrote:Beemaster... is that a Spadefoot you're holding in your avatar??? cause it's sounds like you're saying call a spade a spade...
- August 30th, 2014, 12:16 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: The Answer to all our ID problems
- Replies: 11
- Views: 3793
Re: The Answer to all our ID problems
dumb. dna should not be part of taxonomy in my opinion. dna will always be different due to many years of fragmentation caused by humans. eventually, small populations will become different enough through dna. does that mean they are a distinct species? i'm going with no. i'm a grouper, not a split...
- July 18th, 2014, 3:33 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Maine Made
- Replies: 24
- Views: 8375
Re: Maine Made
You documenting Milk diversity is pretty cool, and my impression is that they follow Bergmann's rule , at least the ones I've seen in Vermont. It's hard to say. The milk snakes in the US do become much smaller as you move down in latitude, but they start getting bigger again in Mexico and especiall...
- July 18th, 2014, 3:27 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Maine Made
- Replies: 24
- Views: 8375
Re: Maine Made
Thanks for sharing. I especially liked the wood turtle, smooth green, and that dark eastern milk. I've seen milk snakes in a lot of different shades and colors, but I've never seen one like that. Thanks for posting this, Jake! Some of us in MA have talked about going to Maine to find smooth greens, ...
- June 16th, 2014, 5:20 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Best Temp for Snakes/ General HELP
- Replies: 35
- Views: 11379
Re: Best Temp for Snakes/ General HELP
Find fields and edge habitat (edge being where fields/woods come together) and then look for things to flip - rocks, logs, boards, carpet, etc... Look for rocky hillsides to flip rocks... Bolded for truth. Always find the ecotone. Not JUST where fields and woods come together (though that's the mos...
- June 16th, 2014, 10:40 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: how can you estimate box turtle age?
- Replies: 8
- Views: 1820
Re: how can you estimate box turtle age?
I'm curious as I have been encountering so many lately! :) Funny you mention that. I'm in Bristol County and haven't seen one yet this year, despite going out the past four weeks to places I know there to be surviving populations. That being said, all these populations I know down here seem to be i...
- June 8th, 2014, 9:04 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Sweden June 5th
- Replies: 5
- Views: 2035
Re: Sweden June 5th
Wow. That habitat shot looks like it could be a power corridor right here in southern New England.
- May 31st, 2014, 8:54 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Herper and a fan of Heavy Metal Music? Check it....
- Replies: 39
- Views: 10048
Re: Herper and a fan of Heavy Metal Music? Check it....
I know of a couple of well known metal musicians who are deep into the herpetocultural side of things, anyway. Kerry King, founding member of Slayer, is a well-known breeder of Diamond pythons and various carpet morphs on the West Coast. Derek Roddy, current drummer for the bands Menace and Serpents...
- May 31st, 2014, 7:47 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: sustained pretty decent bite/ northern black racer. OPINIONS
- Replies: 47
- Views: 13935
Re: sustained pretty decent bite/ northern black racer. OPIN
I've had similar experiences and it usually resolved to being a couple of teeth being stuck, so I'm going with the general consensus here. I'll also add that to me, a typical racer bite is exactly the one you described; they bite, hang on, and wrench their heads around, dragging their teeth over/thr...
- May 26th, 2014, 8:22 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Snake I.D. Help
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1737
Re: Snake I.D. Help
Aren't the sympatric spitters a bit more girthy? Not that I would rule it out based on the quality of the photo, just seems "off" to me.
- May 25th, 2014, 1:13 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Herper and a fan of Heavy Metal Music? Check it....
- Replies: 39
- Views: 10048
Re: Herper and a fan of Heavy Metal Music? Check it....
Check out the band Animals As Leaders. It is expansive, organically cinematic like a huge globe of water on fire. I was attracted to the name and listened on urging of a friend. I like and love many musics, and songs. I am easily abraded by harsh mechanics so I never explored much metal. But I'm gi...
- May 25th, 2014, 9:26 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Snake I.D. Help
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1737
Re: Snake I.D. Help
I'm not sharp when it comes to African colubrids, but my first thought was wolf snake.
- May 24th, 2014, 7:25 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Herper and a fan of Heavy Metal Music? Check it....
- Replies: 39
- Views: 10048
Re: Herper and a fan of Heavy Metal Music? Check it....
Never really did think of Rush as metal, either, or prog, for that matter. There are elements of both in their music but I've always just enjoyed them as hard rock. My tastes in progressive metal lean more toward the prog than the metal, I guess. Opeth is probably the favorite, and I'm a huge fan o...
- May 23rd, 2014, 9:43 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Herper and a fan of Heavy Metal Music? Check it....
- Replies: 39
- Views: 10048
Re: Herper and a fan of Heavy Metal Music? Check it....
I'm more into the extreme end of metal, but this is an interesting concept and I hope it works out well for you. Good luck! :) And I'm more into the progressive end of metal, but I agree with your comment. There's actually a fair degree of overlap (Voivod, Watchtower, Athiest, Cynic, Blind Illusion...
- May 22nd, 2014, 10:16 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Herper and a fan of Heavy Metal Music? Check it....
- Replies: 39
- Views: 10048
Re: Herper and a fan of Heavy Metal Music? Check it....
I'm more into the extreme end of metal, but this is an interesting concept and I hope it works out well for you. Good luck!
- May 18th, 2014, 9:52 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: How were your Ambystoma this year? plus belly patterns
- Replies: 14
- Views: 2893
Re: How were your Ambystoma this year? plus belly patterns
I never really kept track of adults, but I will say that A. maculatum egg masses were a bit less abundant this spring than they usually are. This was even more noticeable when I was out surveying for wood frogs and their eggs. Just didn't hear/see them and their eggs out in the same numbers I usuall...
- April 25th, 2014, 8:54 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: ANF Teaser: A PAIR OF CONTRASTING APALACHICOLA KINGSNAKES
- Replies: 7
- Views: 3532
Re: ANF Teaser: A PAIR OF CONTRASTING APALACHICOLA KINGSNAKE
^ I'd love to see them!