First quarter 2013

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Tim Borski
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First quarter 2013

Post by Tim Borski »

The first quarter breezed on by and delivered some interesting stuff. I fished more than I herped but still managed a few quality finds.

I’ll start with some habitat shots because I can. Some of these are attractive in a stereotypical sort of way and others are attractive only to critter hunters.


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And here's a few habs for the critter chasers.


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January felt like a quiet month while it was actually happening but when all was said and done, I realized it may have been one of my best months afield ever; a totally unexpected (but nice) surprise.
At midnight on New Year’s Eve, I walked outside to listen to all the crazy Cubans in my neighborhood shoot their firearms straight into the air (I’m not making this up) as is their tradition. It’s become a tradition for me to go outside, listen and look up into the sky. My thought is if I survive the raining bullets, it’ll be a good year. While out there, I noticed a gecko on the screen of one of my studio windows but I didn’t count it as first herp of the year. The next morning I flipped a Peninsula Ribbon snake at 9:40. Woo-double-hoo. No pic.

As for MY tradition, early on I chased Corn snakes. Since they are one of our most abundant and accessible snakes down here, I found some. I was going to put up a few of what I felt were the better looking ones but crashed my computer and haven’t quite figured out the new format. In short, the images of them are all still there…I just haven’t found them yet. Here’s one I found early on. It was a cool and unique looking snake that in hindsight, I should’ve spent more time with.


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Temps for the month mostly stayed in that “tweener” zone I dislike so much…too cool for night hunting/too warm for flipping. I stayed patient, went fishing a lot and made the occasional foray for some of our nonnatives.
Towards the end of the month the weather warmed and Josef and I ran north.
While we were poking around one afternoon I flipped a board alongside a road and saw one of those root/plant stems that turn an odd, bright pink color because they don’t get any sun. As I stood there looking at it and plotting my next step, the darn thing moved. Josef was at my side and blurted out “Grab it, it’s a Worm lizard!” So I did.


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At the end of the month, on a warmish and still evening, I found my white whale.
It took me 2 ½ years and 1391.0 hands-on hours of specifically looking for them.
Now, it’s easy to look at that number and dismiss it as “ya, ok, that’s a pretty long time…” but put into perspective, it equates to almost 28, 50 hour work weeks. Think about that for a second. From the very first morning I decided I wanted to lifer one back in September of 2009, I kept an account of every single hour that I specifically looked for them. I began the tally at each site when the truck’s door closed and ended when it closed again upon my return. I kept a log of every single, miserable, boring, eventless hour and everything that did or didn’t happen along the way.

Rim rock crowned snake. (Tantilla oolitica.)


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And here's my white whale in the place it calls home.



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It was a relief and I moved on. February and March are great months for herping down here but are also really solid in the fishing arena so these two months become a complicated juggling act and even though I pursue each hard, I always end this period thinking I didn’t do enough. When fishing is good, I’m thinking “Geez, I bet the snakes are moving” and even when the snakes are moving, I’m distracted by the thought of good fishing. Sigh
I wish someone would hurry up and invent a pair of sunglasses that allow me to be in two or three different places at the same time.
To offset this, I do a lot of herping by skiff (with fishing gear, of course.) During what I feel are prime snake hours I put ashore at open areas I have seen before from the water and when fishing is good, I pursue that. This helps but I still feel I should be somewhere else at any given time. Such is life.



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And here's some of the habitat accessed via water.



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…and a couple of critters found in them.


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I also ran up to the lake a couple times and fooled around with the Africanized bees and fire ants. Even tho I found multiple Kings each trip, there wasn’t an attractive looking one in the bunch. This was a season filled with fuglies and here’s a typical look of the ones I turned up…in fact, if I wasn’t roaming over a wide area, I’d probably think I was seeing the same one over and over



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As usual, plenty of Yellows were around and although I felt quite a few were prettier, none looked any healthier than this one. I applaud this snake.



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And to round it out, here’s some other pics in no particular order…


Our local Keys Mole skink.


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At 11+ inches, This Keys Ringer (acricus) was top end.



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On a few occasions, I took the kids on savage camping trips deep into the heart of the everglades.


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Several of these put in an appearance and this one was my favorite. (Probably because it’s in focus.)



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Always, down here, there are nonnatives.


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Sand Skink


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I have to throw a frog in these posts once in a while so you know I’m a well-rounded, equal opportunity critter chaser.


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And to further emphasize my well-rounded-ness, here’s a sal. It’s my lifer opacum, or talpodium, or something.


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And some more local Kings. Here’s a pretty one insitu under cover board.



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King in hand vent


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In closing:

Extra special shouts out to Chris and Steve!
Chris, (from the South central chapter) for making the time to stop by a place in Baton Rouge where I was speaking to a group. He played Vernal/no Vernal with me. Thanks man, it was great meeting you; I probably learned more in that hour than you know!  If you ever make it this far south, I’ll be happy to give ya a tour.
And Steve (from the northeast chapter) for humoring me on a slow night that turned up but a single quality critter. You have a lot of patience, man! It was really great meeting you!

Wishing all a great season,
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Dell Despain
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by Dell Despain »

Congratulations again on the T. oolitica, you earned it.

Tim, I enjoy the fact that you haven't gotten jaded and still focus on the common Corn snakes. You always post great looking variations.

That Chameleon shot is wild looking, but this got my heart racing.
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Oh, and the photo of the interior of your boat w/ the box marked REDS... priceless.

-Dell
Zach_Lim
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by Zach_Lim »

I loved every bit of this thread- the commentary, the habitat shots, the fishing segment!

I am stuck at work, in front of a computer, and I was able to feel the humidity and dirt (in a good way!) of this thread.
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Nick Scobel
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by Nick Scobel »

Congrats on the oolitica, Tim. Fantastic photos as always!
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Dave S
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by Dave S »

Nice work Tim!! I always love seeing the kings you find, both kinds.
I'm going to try and get down to your neck of the woods soon.

Dave S.
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Mike VanValen
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by Mike VanValen »

Remember when I told you to get out of the studio? Well, I changed my mind :lol:

The oolitica is awesome as is the story behind it. Did you keep track of how many pieces of limestone you flipped? :shock:

Lemon yellow king...just too sweet. You are the man, I'm waiting to see some more of those terrapins.
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Carl Brune
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by Carl Brune »

Fun post. Good work on the Tantilla.
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Tim Borski
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by Tim Borski »

Dell, I dig Corns and almost all of the locality variations. Always will.

I gotta tell ya, lifting a piece of cover in the middle of a cold or rainy (or both) night and your light hits that flash of yellow is one of life's great treasures.
Here's a tighter shot of that same King in situ you liked.

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Zach, glad I gave you a nice "break" at work!

Nick, thanks man, your pics are light years ahead. (Go find that Coral.)

Dave S, look me up, Ok?

Mike V, that's funny! I thought about it for the first time just now...AT LEAST 15,000 pieces of limestone, ac and asst'd other debris.
Also, I don't think I saw a single terrapin this quarter. Next quarter for sure. (I see them many times in areas I'll be fishing soon.)


Thanks Carl. As far as I can tell, T. oolitica offers no short cuts. (I doubt there's anybody out there that can suggest an approach that I haven't spent 100+ hours on.) sigh

Tim
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Cole Grover
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by Cole Grover »

That Tantilla oolitica is the bee's knees, Tim. I know how badly you wanted to find one. The Rhineura is pretty sweet, too. I'm with Dell, though, you've gotta love the South Florida and Keys Corns and that Scarlet King shot is probably my favorite in the whole post.

Any chance of you coming north this year? We'd love to see you up here for trout/herping...

-Cole
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kcmatt
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by kcmatt »

When fishing is good, I’m thinking “Geez, I bet the snakes are moving” and even when the snakes are moving, I’m distracted by the thought of good fishing
.

Ah, yes, the constant struggle. I'm in the midst of it as we speak (I type)-- syspila/holbrooki/calligaster going to win out this afternoon. Loved the getula (well, all but one of them), among many others. Did you get your tickets set?
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Tim Borski
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by Tim Borski »

Cole Grover wrote:That Tantilla oolitica is the bee's knees, Tim. I know how badly you wanted to find one. The Rhineura is pretty sweet, too. I'm with Dell, though, you've gotta love the South Florida and Keys Corns and that Scarlet King shot is probably my favorite in the whole post.

Any chance of you coming north this year? We'd love to see you up here for trout/herping...

-Cole
Cole, that silly little Tantilla spelled a huge sigh of relief for me. Damn, they're tough.
Hey, I've got one last spring in WI and then I'm looking west. Give it to me straight, (you won't hurt my feelings) am I crazy to be enamored with NE? Or should I Do MT with you two? Or both?

syspila/holbrooki/calligaster

Yum. Jealous down here.

Matt, I'll have my dates set up by the end of this week and will send ya a PM...I spun musky flies this morning. :mrgreen:

Tim
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Cole Grover
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by Cole Grover »

Tim Borski wrote:Give it to me straight, (you won't hurt my feelings) am I crazy to be enamored with NE? Or should I Do MT with you two? Or both?
Both, Tim! They're very different, that's for sure. We'll need to figure out your goals and go from there. Cool?

-Cole
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Tim Borski
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Re: First quarter 2013

Post by Tim Borski »

I'll have no goals other than meeting you both and seeing some vast, open country. I'm as easy as it gets.


Tim
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