Invitation - Eastern CT Herping Sunday April 13

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Jeffreyrichard
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Invitation - Eastern CT Herping Sunday April 13

Post by Jeffreyrichard »

Several of us are planning to head out on Sunday AM ... targeting rat snakes and wood turtles. If any of you New England regulars are inclined to join in, PM me and I'll send you the logistics for meeting up.

Happy Herping
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ZantiMissKnit
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Re: Invitation - Eastern CT Herping Sunday April 13

Post by ZantiMissKnit »

Shoot, I just saw this.
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Jeffreyrichard
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Re: Invitation - Eastern CT Herping Sunday April 13

Post by Jeffreyrichard »

ZantiMissKnit wrote:Shoot, I just saw this.
We did find one Rat Snake ... not much else ... we'll post something soon
mikez
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Re: Invitation - Eastern CT Herping Sunday April 13

Post by mikez »

got some good pics, posted a couple in the FB group. Kinda held off on posting cause most of the rat snake shots have very recognizable landmarks, or show a big ugly shmuck handling the snake.
Don't bother me none, just tryin not peese anyone else off.
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ZantiMissKnit
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Re: Invitation - Eastern CT Herping Sunday April 13

Post by ZantiMissKnit »

mikez wrote:got some good pics, posted a couple in the FB group. Kinda held off on posting cause most of the rat snake shots have very recognizable landmarks, or show a big ugly shmuck handling the snake.
Don't bother me none, just tryin not peese anyone else off.
I just went back and looked at those photos again. That was a nice looking black rat. :)
mikez
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Re: Invitation - Eastern CT Herping Sunday April 13

Post by mikez »

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 2318207881

A beaut for sure.
Considering how close to the path and how recognizable the spot, especially since it has to be close to a den site, I had second thoughts about posting my pics.
Not that I fear people taking black rats per se, but den sites shouldn't be disturbed unduly. I'd hate to send a flood of even well intentioned ethical herpers to such a small specific spot.
I struggle with that concept 'cause by nature I'd love to invite everybody and lead them there myself. I get pissed at overly secretive people who won't share info they didn't earn themselves.
I will say the town seems to be sensitive to recent attention of herpers as new recently posted rule signs, while worded generically, are thinly veiled anti-snake hunting regs. Basically, stay on the path and don't touch anything - rules I'm not fond of. Don't want to contribute to things getting tighter.
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ZantiMissKnit
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Re: Invitation - Eastern CT Herping Sunday April 13

Post by ZantiMissKnit »

Sometimes the secrecy can get a bit annoying, especially if you know your intentions are pure...however, if somebody shows me a spot and asks me to not tell anyone about it, I won't. I keep quiet about my own spots, but I will tell select people about them or bring them there.

There are other spots that there is "common knowledge" that certain species are there, but I'm talking about very large state parks/reservations. You can go to a bunch of different sites in there and not find what you're looking for.

I do get concerned with some spots being "over flipped", and wonder if too much disturbance would drive the animals away. We have a fairly large rotation of places we go to all over the state, so some places we might only get to once or twice during the year.
mikez
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Re: Invitation - Eastern CT Herping Sunday April 13

Post by mikez »

Yah, I don't mean to twist this into an ethical debate.

I'm trying to open my eyes to points of view I have not given enough credit in the past. Those pics contained details that were just too recognizable for general publication. I thought of myself back in my early days researching spots. I promise you I could find the specific piece of cover the snake was using given past conversations and the details in my pics.

Again, I'm less afraid of [ACTUAL as opposed to perceived] poachers than I am of bringing too many well intentioned herpers around to attract the attention of what I consider a state very unfriendly to herpers.
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Jeffreyrichard
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Re: Invitation - Eastern CT Herping Sunday April 13

Post by Jeffreyrichard »

mikez wrote:Yah, I don't mean to twist this into an ethical debate.

I'm trying to open my eyes to points of view I have not given enough credit in the past. Those pics contained details that were just too recognizable for general publication. I thought of myself back in my early days researching spots. I promise you I could find the specific piece of cover the snake was using given past conversations and the details in my pics.

Again, I'm less afraid of [ACTUAL as opposed to perceived] poachers than I am of bringing too many well intentioned herpers around to attract the attention of what I consider a state very unfriendly to herpers.
Always good to error on the side of conservatism ... but here's the thing (IMO) ... unless you are familiar with the spot, you wouldn't recognize where this was. If you are familiar with the spot, you know where to look anyways. I've been to the area a good dozen times, and I've only seen rat snakes in the same spot three times. I've never seen one where we found this guy. I think they move around quite a bit. The tree shot or the ground shot (in the Facebook post), however, are non-descriptive

I would definitely be hesitant to post the background if this were a more sought after snake.
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ZantiMissKnit
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Re: Invitation - Eastern CT Herping Sunday April 13

Post by ZantiMissKnit »

That's understandable, Mike. I've only herped in CT a few times, and never encountered law enforcement (even when going to a timber/copper site). I think their concern is probably part poaching, part safety issues.
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