Field Herp Forum

T'was 19 day before Christmas, that being the sixth of December,
I went afield to make searches, the results I will forever remember.

Despite the overcast skies, rain, and it being 54 degrees cold,
Under a small piece of black carpet, was a hatchling Contia tenuis to behold.

RFH (Corvallis, Oregon)

T.H. I am from Corvallis so can’t really help you as far as herping in the Bend area. One of my former Rubber Boa study site is southeast of Bend and La Pine in the Christmas Valley region that I could direct you to but it is about a 1 1/2 drive from Bend. And then August hardly the best time of yea...

Very nice narrative and photos. Richard FH

Zeevng, As a matter of fact, I did seen Richard earlier this morning before he left to go herping. The one time I did get a brief glimpse of him was when he was shaving and I was able to see him in the mirror. He then just disappeared from view and I haven’t seen him since. As for the research on C....

I owe Scott Waters a big THANK YOU! Everyone might review Scott’s post of March 29, 2019. Despite some individuals posting personal attacks and less than desirable language, Scott has allowed this thread to continue for more than a year’s duration. Thanks again Scott! By now, all viewers of this thr...

Porter, Not certain what you consider as ideal temperatures and weather conditions for making searches at this time of year in your area. Here in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon, by this time in June, it is normally in the 70s and low 80s and mostly sunny and dry. If I get out in the morning...

Porter, I see you must be slowing down some noting a Rubber Boa escaped out of its skin before you could retain it. They are so quick. Hah! Your experience at trusting individuals and then later finding some of your sites disturbed undoubtedly has been experienced by many other herpers including mys...

Bill, Your point is well taken and understood. I too can cite a personal example of individuals looking at the same information and arriving at different interpretations. I am pretty sure that some time ago, I entered a post dealing with the issue snake road kill that is such an example. At the time...

#8 A number of climate scientists have found that their opinions and research results are incompatible with the conclusions of the IPCC. Wikipedia use to have such a list but since removed that list. So I found the list below from a different source. I looked up the author of his link and have reser...

My computer seems to still be experiencing problems as my entries #2 and #4 did not get posted. And the last post should have been #7 and not a second #6. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

#6 Recently, I received a solicitation from a group called the ‘Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow’ (CFACT) with a cover letter ‘From the Desk of Dr. Patrick Moore’. For those that are not aware, Dr. Moore was a co-founder of Greenpeace. You can find his name in the second group of scientists in ...

#6 In a web search of the IPCC organization, I found the following; “What is the purpose of IPCC?” “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations that is dedicated to providing the world with objective, scientific information relevant to unde...

#5 A major pillar the IPCC reports relied on the ‘hockey stick graph’ published by Dr. Michael Mann in 2009. A number of scientists questioned the validity of Mann’s graph and Mann sued one of the critics, Dr. Tim Ball. But then Mann lost his law suit. Mann lost because he failed to comply with the ...

#3 There are many reputable scientists on both sides of this issue. One group belong to the U.N. IPCC and others belonging to the NIPCC organization or somewhat similar organizations. It therefore is important to view the positions put forth by individuals on both sides. Then there are a number of s...

I have spent more time reviewing links that pertain to the issue of Climate Change. So I am entering a number of posts that possibly can add insight. After reviewing this added information along with the link provided by EE, if any individual viewing this thread still believes that the science has a...

I have spent more time reviewing links that pertain to the issue of Climate Change. So I am entering a number of posts that possibly can add insight. After reviewing this added information along with the link provided by EE, if any individual viewing this thread still believes that the science has a...

Jonathon, I my computer has been ‘misbehaving’. Scott Walters made some heroic efforts in my behalf but for unknown reasons, I was unable to post a response on the forum. So I took the computer in to have it serviced and now found it allows me to post a response. I agree with a good deal of what you...

With respect to the issue of climate change / global warming, I have previously mentioned it is best to let the scientific research continue to explore these issues as well as letting the weather tell its own story in coming years. Below is a message received from son Ryan in Utah. It had four links...

Your alligator lizard looks to be a SAL and not a NAL.

Richard FH

George, My efforts have centered on encountering the Rubber Boa, Common Sharp-tailed Snake and Forest Sharp-tailed Snake in southwestern Oregon. In that process, I have encountered both species if kingsnakes, Racers, Gopher Snakes, 3 or 4 species of garter snakes, some lizards, one Black Salamander ...

What species are interested in observing?

Richard F. Hoyer (Corvallis, Oregon)

Mark, During my four trips to Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties last year, I did find a few spots with some A/C. In Monterey County, I observed a S. All. Lizard under a tin. I got permission to make searches under some tarp materials and observed a gopher snake and garter snake. At a different s...

Dr. Glenn Stewart contacted me the other day asking about the lowest elevation I have observed the Rubber Boa in the Sierras. I have done very little searching in the main Sierras. The lowest elevation I have found the species has been a mile north of Burney at near 3200 ft. But Glenn indicated that...

Friday and Saturday in the Willamette Valley of northwestern Oregon had high temperatures of about 57 – 58 degrees. Both days had some partial sunshine along with some scattered showers. It was a few degree cooler today but again with some partial sunshine. I thus went out early this afternoon to se...

Jimi, My reference to boa stench was meant to be in jest. Sorry if I mislead. With now knowing the type of habitat and elevations where the boa has been observed in both Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties, my guess is the boa likely has a continuous distribution from Carmel south into the northwe...

Jimi, Regardless of which highway your group takes to get to Morro Bay (46, 41, or 101), you will have to pass through a shallow range of mountains so this message is for a word of caution. Rubber Boas have reportedly been observed to the south along a tributary of Lopez Creek that lead in to Lopez ...

Mark, As of the end of May, 2018, my samples of the Rubber Boa from Mt. Pinos, the Tehachapi Mts., Breckenridge Mt. and Southern Kern Plateau were large enough to organize the data and prepare a manuscript. Thus my effort towards making searches in those regions of Calif. has now ended. In preparing...

Very, very nice Austin.

Richard F. Hoyer (Corvallis, Oregon)

Here in NW Oregon, November is usually gloomy, cold, and wet so seldom are there opportunities to search for reptiles at this time of year. But yesterday was an exception. On my way to an 11 AM doctor’s appointment, I noted is was balmy outside, 60 degrees, and with clear, sunny skies. So around 2 P...

Check out this link. Letter signed by “500 scientists” relies on inaccurate claims ...

Richard F. Hoyer

My son Ryan in Utah has been researching the issue of climate change which in turn has spurred me into becoming better informed. It was Ryan that provided me with the link in my previous post. Yesterday, he provided me with the following link: https://www.friendsofscience.org/ Then later he sent me ...

For forum participates that are open to leaning, below I suggest a path to such potential learning. In a web search, enter the following link : https://www.therightclimatestuff.com/ Then at the left side column, click on ‘TRCS Reports’ Then click on item #1 ‘Anthropogenic Climate Warming Science Ass...

For those on this forum who still have an open mind, here are some links you can enter in a web search that should be informative with respect the issue of climate change. And after reading them, you have the choice of believing the United Nation IPCC organization’s narratives (mimicked by the main ...

To potentially get forum members interested in reading the the essay by David Siegel, below I have copied his introductory remarks which I hope should be of interest. Richard F. Hoyer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

With respect to the issue of global warming / climate change, I have been exchanging messages with my son Ryan in Utah. For those on the form still open to the prospect of possibly learning something, I have copied my recent message to Ryan which provides a small number of links I recently accessed ...

Here is a must read link. UN IPCC Scientist Blows Whistle on Lies About Climate, Sea

Richard F. Hoyer (Corvalils, Oregon)

I recently found that my son Ryan in Utah has investigated the issue global warming / climate change. Ryan is highly skeptical of the UN IPCC’s position on anthropogenic global warming (AGW). In one of his messages, he included the following link pertaining to Chinese climate research. https://elect...

Whitman, Interesting observation. As you likely have learned in your web searches, MgCl-2 has toxic properties. Have you identified the length of time it takes for the chemical to ‘dissipate’ or degrade to the point that it no longer act as a barrier to snakes which then began to cross those roads? ...

Yani, There are several herpers that at one time, have been participants on this forum that are knowledgeable about finding herps in the Santa Cruz Mts. of San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara Counties. Zach Lim is one such herper. He now lives in Atlanta and not certain if he frequents this forum...

RenoBart, Thanks for the links. The last link that shows the boa on Valencia Peak in Montana de Oro State Park and found by Steve Schubert in 2010 I have known about since that time. Later that month Steve visited with me here in Corvallis. The links to the first two sighting are new to me. So the s...

For the third time this season, on August 7th and 8th, I visited the central Calif. coast in my quest to learn more about the distribution of the Rubber Boa in Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties. This time, I spoke to 48 – 50 individuals during those two days. I encountered one woman, a long time...

Yesterday, I was informed by a fellow falconer that July 16th was annual snake day. I looked it up on a Google search and sure enough, July 16th was annual snake day for the past several years. And it seems everyone else here missed out. I barely had time to get out into bonnies, find, and hug a sna...

Fieldherper, Where Rubber Boas have been observed in Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties has given me a decent idea of the types of habitats and elevations where the species exists in those counties. In a capsule, boas have been observed at both low elevations at near sea level and higher elevatio...

Craigb. I know of only three individuals that acquired small samples of the Rubber Boa towards publishing results. Dr. John Cunningham in 1966, then at UCLA, published a note on the S. Rubber Boa that mainly dealt with taxonomy but included some life history observations. For his PhD research at Ida...

The problem with making searches through Google, Norton Safe Search, etc., is that the information is second hand. That is, it has been ‘filtered’ through, and includes interpretations of the writer. In trying to find a reference to the claim that a recent Japanese study produced similar result to t...

I am aware that the following has very limited interest but decided to post it anyway. 1) Earlier this year, I received a second-hand report that individuals with the Nevada Wildlife Agency had documented a Rubber Boa in the White Mountains in Nevada. Has anyone on the forum heard about that discove...

The link copied below produced the paper by the Finnish scientists. (see abstract) I have not been able to find a link to the Japanese paper that as I understand, it produced similar results. These results support the positions (and some published research) taken by a fair number of scientists that ...

In a search, I entered, ‘Finnish study on climate change’. I have copied one of the links below. It can be noted that two independent studies, one in Finland and the other in Japan, seem to have come up with the same results and conclusions. According to the reporter in this link, these studies are ...

Craig B. provided a video of Dr. Judith Curry’s testimony before a Congressional committee. I played the video twice more and despite my extremely poor hearing, I was able to make out a fair amount of her testimony. At one point, she mentions an article published about her in Scientific American lab...

Craig, Welcome on board and I see you are a teacher. Before retiring in 1991, my last profession was as a secondary school science teacher. I have never been the best at written communications. So when some individuals have expressed their opinion that they know which side of the climate debate I ha...