Arkansas checking in...

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Mulebrother
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:31 am
Location: A bunker near Mountainburg AR

Arkansas checking in...

Post by Mulebrother »

Been a long winter...but not as long as some of you poor guys!

My year started off in February 7th... A good night of heavy rains made me think wood frogs. Granted, I aint so thrilled with wood frogs, they are a species of special concern in AR...we're at the southern edge of their range, so they are somewhat cool. Anyway, I have been trying to hit a couple of springs in the ozark national forest during the right conditions for several years now and its just never worked out until this year. Me and my 7 year old son went out with ponchos and rubber boots and we were not disappointed. I did have to explain amplexus at one point. You can only tell the 'piggyback ride story' so many times. :mrgreen:


This was the 'reciever'
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And this was the giver. Not real pretty this time of year, but hey, wood frogs! All told, we probably saw more than 50...amazing chorus of calling!
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March 9 was in the low 70's in central AR, so we made a run to a new spot we discovered last fall. Must have been a bit too early...all we found was this lone garter out catchin some rays, but it was nice to get out and get scratched up and wore out looking for rattlesnakes.
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The 14-15-16th found daytime temps in the mid 70's...and that means its time to start checking rattlesnake dens. Our old stand by site never fails us, and we also got to get out with our friend Ken. He's had a couple rough years with various health problems, so it was sure nice to get out with him.
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Telephoto shot of the ridge in the background above. Usually this slope is good for both atrox and timbers...pretty awesome.
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SUCCESS! First atrox of the year, shined with a flashlight back about 3ft into the cracks.
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Now this spot is the 'honey hole'. Usually if you dont see something here, you might as well go home. Problem is, its easy to spook any basking rattlers on your approach, so i checked it out with my 150mm lens before we started walking towards it. Can you see it?
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Betcha can now....also note that the atrox has a companion.
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Ah...atrox #2. This one didnt tongue flick, or seem to notice the guys shooting pictures of him.
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It pays to pay attention at these spots, reaching up to grab this rock face if you slip could be a very BAD idea. And yeah, thats a nice sized coachwhip also basking in the sun. Pretty amazing, it didnt bolt while we took pictures either.
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Noticed this guy almost ready to come out.
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Also good to pay attention where you put your feet. We would have heard this guy first, but he had no rattle!
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He looked really good considering he was freshly out of the den.
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He decided he'd had enough photos and went back in the cracks with his mates.
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Always a good idea to check the green bryars below the densite...as it warms, the snakes seem to like to get up in them and bask b/c they are somewhat protected by the bryars, but still get a good amount of sun.
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Found these large eggs as photographed up under a bluff. We assumed they are vultures of some flavor, but i'm guessing they were a meal for a raccoon that night. Do vultures just drop eggs randomly on the ground? there was no way these fell out of a nest...they were back up under a bluff...just sitting on the ground like this.
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Jeremy snagged this nice coachwhip basking on some bryars.
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Saturday the 16th, we hit some spots further south, but higher elevation. We found a few rocks.
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I'm sure there was a snake under one of these rocks, but not even my son could find them.
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Another spot yielded nothing cold blooded, but the bryars were awesome.
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Jeremy and Reagan on top of the Ouachitas.
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Thanks for looking.
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muskiemagnet
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Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by muskiemagnet »

boy that big den looks like fun.

-ben
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Soopaman
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Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by Soopaman »

You guys have an awesome spot there in the mountains! Atrox and horridus in the same spot is just too cool.

Those look like some chunky atrox too, a lot bigger than the (average) ones I find on the coast down here.
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Dan Krull
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Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by Dan Krull »

Turkey Vulture eggs!

Dan
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VanAR
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Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by VanAR »

I miss Arkansas in March/April. That's some good stuff there!
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bushmaster W30
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Location: Searcy,AR
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Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by bushmaster W30 »

Be back next week! Hopefully it warms back up. As always brad you guys have all the fun. I'm trying to get manning to give in to the peer pressure and call in sick so we can hit that other spot for atrox.
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Berkeley Boone
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Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Great series there, Brad!

Dan is right- I would guess Turkey Vultures as well. I'm not sure if yall get Black Vultures up there or not. They both lay right on the ground, no semblance of a nest whatsoever. Cool find!

Great looking snakes!
--Berkeley
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Andrew G
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 1:53 pm
Location: South-Central Kansas

Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by Andrew G »

That habitat is sick, I always enjoy your Arkansas posts! Do the Atrox tend to come out a bit earlier in the Spring than the Horridus? It would be awesome to see the two species in close enough proximity to get them in the same photograph.
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BillMcGighan
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:23 am
Location: Unicoi, TN

Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by BillMcGighan »

That's a really fine post. While I stare out at snow, you took me along with a "feel" of the habitat, a glimpse at the people, as well as the animals.
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Mulebrother
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:31 am
Location: A bunker near Mountainburg AR

Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by Mulebrother »

Thanks for the kind words fellas...

Soopaman- yeah, its the coolest place around here by a long shot! Glad its on private property... Find a lot more atrox than timbers, so its always exciting.

Dan- all my birdbrained friends are in agreeance. Every day is a day of discovery for me!

Van- I think about you. Every time I have to shit in the woods.

Thomas- Give us a holla when you are on this side of the natural state, lots of places to check, the more eyes the better!

Andrew- Yeah, its weird...the atrox pretty consistently beat the timbers of the dens by 3-4 weeks. Usally, the first stretch of warm days in march (i think march 5 is the earliest we've ever seen them out) -the atrox will come out....but timbers usually start about the 1st or second week of april Granted, just a generalization, but I think they are much hardier animals...at least in this part of their range.

Bill- if its any consolation, it was in the mid 30's on tuesday. (back up to about 65 today!) :)
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Brandon D
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Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by Brandon D »

:beer:
Awesome Post man. That rocky ridge is awesome, you guys find a lot of milks there? or does it get pretty shaded by the trees later in the season?
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Eric East
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Joined: July 5th, 2010, 5:44 pm
Location: Greenwood, AR

Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by Eric East »

Brandon D wrote::beer:
Awesome Post man. That rocky ridge is awesome, you guys find a lot of milks there? or does it get pretty shaded by the trees later in the season?
Brandon, we don't flip a lot of milks down here. Most of them are road cruised.
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kaptainkory
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Joined: June 28th, 2010, 11:33 pm
Location: Bella Vista, Arkansas

Re: Arkansas checking in...

Post by kaptainkory »

Eric East wrote:
Brandon D wrote::beer:
Awesome Post man. That rocky ridge is awesome, you guys find a lot of milks there? or does it get pretty shaded by the trees later in the season?
Brandon, we don't flip a lot of milks down here. Most of them are road cruised.
I flip many more milks than road cruise. And yes, rocky ridges like the one shown have plenty of them. Flipping is more successful in the spring (and somewhat in the fall) and road cruising in the summer.

...geez! Logged me out before I could post even a *quick* response. Anyone else?
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