Search found 135 matches
- September 19th, 2016, 11:39 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Where to herp in India?
- Replies: 9
- Views: 5378
Re: Where to herp in India?
I had a great herpetological experience herping in the Western Ghats of southwest India. It's especially a hotbed for amphibians, but the reptile diversity is also fantastic. It would help to have a guide while you're there to assist with navigating and language issues. It's also advisable to plan ...
- April 24th, 2016, 4:03 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Traveling the east coast of Australia
- Replies: 1
- Views: 1439
Re: Traveling the east coast of Australia
My only real experience of herping Australia so - this may be stating the obvious - rent a car, and preferably one with a decent range. To be honest, cruising Australia is easy - there's an abundance of good roads in good habitat with little traffic. You won't always find what you want but you're al...
- January 21st, 2016, 1:53 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Post your 1 best photo from 2015!
- Replies: 61
- Views: 49393
Re: Post your 1 best photo from 2015!
Ummm.... can we get a full story on this one!
kkchome wrote:
- January 18th, 2016, 1:09 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Odds and ends: Philippines, Australia, Thailand, Morocco
- Replies: 4
- Views: 3164
Re: Odds and ends: Philippines, Australia, Thailand, Morocco
Some beautiful photos of beautiful creatures, but the platypus shot may have been the coolest of all! Great post and wonderful photography. Lots of great snake and lizard shots in there. I really like the platypus shot too. Thanks for sharing. Roki As you can probably see, my effort into photograph...
- January 17th, 2016, 12:05 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Odds and ends: Philippines, Australia, Thailand, Morocco
- Replies: 4
- Views: 3164
Odds and ends: Philippines, Australia, Thailand, Morocco
The past year I've been working hard and haven't had the time to do as many trips as I'd like. Nonetheless I did manage to spend a few days in Morocco and Thailand. I've also included some old photographs from 2014 (Philippines and Australia) that would otherwise never get uploaded. I'll skip the na...
- August 26th, 2015, 1:39 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Lizards Eating Insects and other Animals
- Replies: 22
- Views: 7914
Re: Lizards Eating Insects and other Animals
Thanks for the input and so far its clear that the lizards presented have targeted and dispatched substantially larger prey items than the canonized recommendation of captive feeding practices - ie; sizing between the span of eye to eye. This is another example so far of how herp photography of wil...
- March 20th, 2015, 11:01 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Black Mamba Catch and Release, KwaZulu-Natal
- Replies: 22
- Views: 5802
Re: Black Mamba Catch and Release, KwaZulu-Natal
I think this preference comes down to how we usually find snakes - I do a lot of walking, usually abroad (so packing these things would be tough, as would washing them between captures) and I find a wide variety of snakes sizes. Perhaps a middle ground could be to put moss into bags to make the anim...
- March 19th, 2015, 11:50 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Black Mamba Catch and Release, KwaZulu-Natal
- Replies: 22
- Views: 5802
Re: Black Mamba Catch and Release, KwaZulu-Natal
Thinking practically though, snakes come in such a range of sizes - the probability of the specially designed box with a hide inside being the correct size for the snake in question is slim - much of the time they'll either be rattling around inside, or won't be able to fit (as you know, snakes like...
- March 18th, 2015, 2:38 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Black Mamba Catch and Release, KwaZulu-Natal
- Replies: 22
- Views: 5802
Re: Black Mamba Catch and Release, KwaZulu-Natal
Great photos, one day I will find myself a black mamba! As for providing water, for short term (less than 24 hours) I'd actually disagree. In these situations (in my opinion), the benefit from some water/leaves would be outweighed by the additional stress of being taken out of a bag, put in the cage...
- December 2nd, 2014, 3:37 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Water Snake using tail as lure?
- Replies: 10
- Views: 5330
Re: Water Snake using tail as lure?
Doesn't look like caudal luring to me - anything attracted by that scale of movement is more likely to be predator than prey. However as you say in the video it looks like it's using its tail to scare fish into its mouth. Erpeton (tentacled snakes) are the only species I know to do this - and they a...
- September 21st, 2014, 2:10 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo 2014
- Replies: 13
- Views: 6795
Re: Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo 2014
Excellent, thanks Jeff. That was our guess too (the scale and pattern counts matched) but it was so different to the one I saw in the Congo that we wanted to check. It was also at an unusually low elevation. We also saw a dead scabra nearby, it'd be interesting to know how their niches differ. And R...
- September 21st, 2014, 1:19 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo 2014
- Replies: 13
- Views: 6795
Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo 2014
A few months ago a friend and I spent some time travelling around Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We had rented a 4x4 and had a loose plan of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see. Finding reptiles wasn’t a focus since there’s so much other spectacular wildlife and sce...
- July 15th, 2014, 9:48 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Road Cruising Regulations
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1792
Road Cruising Regulations
Hi guys, I'm from the UK but will soon be spending some time in Texas and plan to spend a night or two road-cruising (I've been fortunate enough to hae been given a couple of roads to try), but I'm struggling to decipher the regulations regarding this - being foreign the last thing I want to do is e...
- June 9th, 2014, 6:10 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: European snake ID needed, please!
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1594
Re: European snake ID needed, please!
The picture's not ideal but it looks like a Natrix natrix to me, since there's a white and black ring around the neck.
- March 31st, 2014, 3:58 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Bimini - A shark lover's paradise
- Replies: 21
- Views: 8994
Re: Bimini - A shark lover's paradise
Fantastic photos - hammerheads, tigers ans bulls are the next sharks I want to see. Amazing post, good herp content but the underwater photography eclipses it! Really amazing stuff, so many cool sharks and outstanding underwater images. It makes me really excited as Im getting Padi certified in a fe...
- February 6th, 2014, 1:24 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Questions and Advice on Komodo National Park
- Replies: 6
- Views: 2528
Re: Questions and Advice on Komodo National Park
This is copied from an old post, but my advice would stay the same: "Booking tours out of country can be expensive. My plan would be to fly to Labuan Bajo (you can get a ferries/buses but it takes a long time - just beware that the flights are also often unreliable and won't fly in bad weather)...
- October 26th, 2013, 3:14 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Yunnan herping 2013
- Replies: 15
- Views: 5110
Re: Yunnan herping 2013
Incredible - I'd love to hear the stories behind the Azemiops and the rhino ratsnake...!
- September 17th, 2013, 1:52 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Komodo Island
- Replies: 5
- Views: 2178
Re: Komodo Island
Booking tours out of country can be expensive. My plan would be to fly to Labuan Bajo (you can get a ferries/buses but it takes a long time - just beware that the flights are also often unreliable and won't fly in bad weather) - it only takes an hour. Then get a taxi and walk around the port asking ...
- August 27th, 2013, 12:12 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Hognose? questionable photo
- Replies: 33
- Views: 10732
Re: Hognose? questionable photo
The head looks like a hognose to me, I wouldn't take too much notice of the body shape.
- August 5th, 2013, 6:07 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Final West Malaysia Adventure - July 2013
- Replies: 14
- Views: 10495
Re: Final West Malaysia Adventure - July 2013
So Rupert's said it all really, but since me and Nick spent a couple of days before and after on islands (mainly to relax and sit on the beach), that yielded a couple of things when we could motivate ourselves to leave the bars and some of the awesome restaurants. First stop was Pulau Pangkor, which...
- June 20th, 2013, 4:10 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: How many snakes of the year?
- Replies: 23
- Views: 5433
Re: How many snakes of the year?
Last year, 100+ of 15+ genera. This year (so far): 0
- April 17th, 2013, 1:47 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Bornean Earless Lizard (Lanthanotus borneensis)
- Replies: 41
- Views: 25734
Re: Bornean Earless Lizard (Lanthanotus borneensis)
Thought I'd update this with a picture that popped up on my newsfeed, taken at I-Zoo in Japan. They seem to have managed to bring one (or more?) into captivity... https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/525384_613198775375206_1633802818_n.jpg https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hph...
- March 15th, 2013, 8:25 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Bog Turtles mentioned in Nature
- Replies: 16
- Views: 5300
Re: Bog Turtles mentioned in Nature
As far as I can tell (and I haven't read the paper, so what do I know), they've calculated this MVP by looking at the spread of breeding success, and extrapolated the probability of non-extinction over the next 100 years. It's a mathematical certainty that smaller populations experience more demogra...
- March 10th, 2013, 2:52 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Excursion to Edinburgh (any advice on Scottish herping?)
- Replies: 10
- Views: 2762
Re: Excursion to Edinburgh (any advice on Scottish herping?)
If you're going via a London airport and have a spare couple of hours I can (almost, weather dependent) guarantee showing you some adders.
- February 22nd, 2013, 9:25 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Borneo Dispatches #65: IMS (Insane Mimicry Spider) ID PLEASE
- Replies: 17
- Views: 7781
Re: Borneo Dispatches #65: IMS (Insane Mimicry Spider) ID PL
Spectacular Hans. :beer: This is a find from my trip to Borneo in 2009. Found in Sabah, a little way from Kota Kinabalu. It appears to be a species of Arachnura or Poltys (that was the genus last time I looked), but I've never been able to pin the species down, nor seen a photo of anything truly sim...
- December 16th, 2012, 1:11 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Part II: When I herp; I feel His pleasure.
- Replies: 56
- Views: 29667
Re: Part II: When I herp; I feel His pleasure.
There is nothing unscientific about Awe Nor is there anything anti-religious about science, as Tom, Tamara and others have pointed out. ;) With the caveat that I hope your post doesn't trigger a whole bunch of religious proselytizing here (said proselytizing certainly having happened here at variou...
- December 15th, 2012, 2:49 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Part II: When I herp; I feel His pleasure.
- Replies: 56
- Views: 29667
Re: Part II: When I herp; I feel His pleasure.
Fantastic pictures and finds, I managed to get an EDB during a short visit to Florida last June, but missed out on the hognose and coachwhip. I get the same frisson/feeling of awe when looking at a creature/ecosystem, but without any belief in a higher power. People are hard-pressed not to enjoy the...
- December 3rd, 2012, 4:04 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: 'My Life as a Turkey'
- Replies: 20
- Views: 4779
Re: 'My Life as a Turkey'
If I remember correctly, a member of this forum provided the snakes/snake-handling for the film. It was excellently done.
- November 15th, 2012, 3:19 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Some recent pictures- Khao Yai National Park
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1742
Re: Some recent pictures- Khao Yai National Park
Magnificent
Good to see both you and the siamensis are doing well!
Good to see both you and the siamensis are doing well!
- November 13th, 2012, 5:05 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Yay: I rediscovered a snake thought lost for over a century
- Replies: 32
- Views: 8539
Re: Yay: I rediscovered a snake thought lost for over a cent
Congratulations, always good to rediscover something! Wait until you have to read Biostatistical Analysis (Zar 1999) though - it's thrilling
- November 9th, 2012, 5:55 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Snake Tongs - Satan's Side Arm or God's Gift to Herpers?
- Replies: 23
- Views: 10992
Re: Snake Tongs - Satan's Side Arm or God's Gift to Herpers?
The more tools you have at your disposal, the better - providing you know how to use them. I've used everything from padded tweezers to padded tongs, pinning sticks and hooks for different situations. Personally, I'm not a fan of the pilstrom type tongs as they're very harsh, nor of people using the...
- November 8th, 2012, 12:23 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Borneo Dispatches #58: The things you roadcruise in Borneo
- Replies: 20
- Views: 6467
Re: Borneo Dispatches #58: The things you roadcruise in Born
Magnificent.
And I agree - primates are far more terrifying than any krait or cobra.
And I agree - primates are far more terrifying than any krait or cobra.
- October 1st, 2012, 1:26 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Indonesia and Komodo Dragons
- Replies: 6
- Views: 3970
Re: Indonesia and Komodo Dragons
Awesome report - took me back to when I was there, and your story telling was hilarious :lol: Shame you missed out on the pythons at the cave, a friend was there about 3 weeks ago and they managed to find ten pythons (though no monsters) and two green pitvipers, but I think there's a lot of luck inv...
- September 22nd, 2012, 2:28 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Snakes! Why did it have to be Snakes?
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2690
Re: Snakes! Why did it have to be Snakes?
It's 100% King Cobra, though to be fair they (at least last time I visited) kept black mambas in the adjacent enclosure. I think it's a Malaysian specimen.
Other than that, nice article.
Other than that, nice article.
- September 4th, 2012, 7:19 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Questions For Komodo Island Veterans!
- Replies: 11
- Views: 4232
Re: Questions For Komodo Island Veterans!
Thanks so much Tom!!! I checked out that youtube video. :| Wow.. That guy need to chill. :thumb: Ill bet NatGeo is so proud. (At least of the viral hits they got) Should I hire a boat and captain online or just nab someone straight off the docks when I get there? (I like to be adventurous but i als...
- September 4th, 2012, 6:03 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Madagascar 2012: Lemurs and Langahas
- Replies: 23
- Views: 8945
Re: Madagascar 2012: Lemurs and Langahas
Unbelievable animals, excellent photography. Your post makes Borneo look like Cleveland ... What's with the funky snake noses? What are they for? I don't think anyone really knows, though it seems the only obvious function would be to break up the snake's outline, especially considering how cryptic...
- September 4th, 2012, 5:16 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Questions For Komodo Island Veterans!
- Replies: 11
- Views: 4232
Re: Questions For Komodo Island Veterans!
The closest major airport to the Komodo National Park is Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar, Bali. From there, you'll have to reach the fishing village of Labuan Bajo on Flores, a few islands to the east. To get to Flores, you can take multiple ferries/overland buses across to Lombok and then Sumbawa an...
- August 28th, 2012, 1:57 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Madagascar 2012: Lemurs and Langahas
- Replies: 23
- Views: 8945
Re: Madagascar 2012: Lemurs and Langahas
Great post and very very nice pics. Thanks for sharing. Just one notice : the small species of Uroplatus is not U.ebenaui but U.finiavana and "U.henkeli" is undescribed species more known as "Diego henkeli" in hobby. They are little bit smaller then regular U.henkeli from Nosy B...
- August 26th, 2012, 9:30 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Madagascar 2012: Lemurs and Langahas
- Replies: 23
- Views: 8945
Madagascar 2012: Lemurs and Langahas
This summer I spent two months in Madagascar both generally herping and conducting some fieldwork. Apologies for the lack of story-telling, this is the second time I've created this post :lol: After reaching the cold and rainy capital of Antananarivo (Tana), we spent a day in the city making plans b...
- May 15th, 2012, 2:28 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Agamidae from Nepal - please help with ID
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1478
Re: Agamidae from Nepal - please help with ID
Appears to be a species of Japalura, though which one I can't tell you. There's been a few new species discovered in this genus lately, so you never know
- May 14th, 2012, 3:13 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Suggestions for Komodo Island?
- Replies: 9
- Views: 2878
Re: Suggestions for Komodo Island?
This might partly illustrate the hellishness of the cave, it's my co-adventurer emerging partly victorious (considering we failed to capture a very large python). The water may go almost shoulder height in places: http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5454/7195094740_7ed5eabae5_z.jpg As an 'experience', it ...
- May 10th, 2012, 6:39 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Suggestions for Komodo Island?
- Replies: 9
- Views: 2878
Re: Suggestions for Komodo Island?
It's awesome, you won't regret it. Goo diving too - manta rays, sharks and sea snakes. If you're feeling adventurous, try to get to the Istana Ular on Flores - it's a cave frequented by small reticulated pythons, and some really huge ones. Plus there's sputatrix and tree vipers around the area too.
- May 5th, 2012, 6:49 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: What do you know about wild Python breitensteini?
- Replies: 29
- Views: 5433
Re: What do you know about wild Python breitensteini?
I have a testosterone deficiency (seriously), which not only means that I sport exactly four chest hairs, but also that I don't play by the usual chest-thumping rules. Competitions bore me, and so does standard macho behavior. I'm lucky that way...I lead a safe life! And, more importantly, I wanted...
- May 5th, 2012, 4:08 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: What do you know about wild Python breitensteini?
- Replies: 29
- Views: 5433
Re: What do you know about wild Python breitensteini?
Gloves are cheating
- May 4th, 2012, 8:46 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: What do you know about wild Python breitensteini?
- Replies: 29
- Views: 5433
Re: What do you know about wild Python breitensteini?
I know they can be a bitch to handle
- May 3rd, 2012, 2:34 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Another ID please. Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Borneo.
- Replies: 3
- Views: 907
Re: Another ID please. Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Borneo.
Have you got any clearer photos? My first instinct is Dryophiops rubescens, but it could easily be wrong.
- May 1st, 2012, 3:24 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: ID please. Small snake in Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo.
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1865
Re: ID please. Small snake in Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo.
Mock viper - Psammodynastes pulverentus
- April 20th, 2012, 6:20 am
- Forum: Fish Forum
- Topic: 20 foot Great white in the Sea of Cortez?!
- Replies: 5
- Views: 4281
Re: 20 foot Great white in the Sea of Cortez?!
There are some absolutely gargantuan whites late in the year around Guadelupe - we saw a number in the 16-18 foot range on our 3 days there - so since the cortez sharks are part of the same population I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were some record breaking sharks around. http://farm4.stat...
- April 19th, 2012, 1:10 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Mixed delights
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2536
Re: Mixed delights
Awesome - it's amazing how close it's possible to get to some adders (and grass snakes, to a lesser extent). The other day I saw a distinctive one-eyed male that I saw 3 years ago, but failed to see the last two - I had assumed he must have died or moved on.
- April 19th, 2012, 9:07 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: ID help, Maasai Mara, Kenya
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1209
Re: ID help, Maasai Mara, Kenya
The snake is 100% harmless Philothamnus, and the red and blue lizard is a male Agama agama