My Year So Far: Spring and Early Summer (GA, FL, TX, and NM)

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noah k.
Posts: 231
Joined: November 3rd, 2011, 5:27 pm

My Year So Far: Spring and Early Summer (GA, FL, TX, and NM)

Post by noah k. »

Hello everyone! I've been kinda quiet here on the main forum this year, but I'll try to make up for that right now. Spring came late here in North Georgia, much like the rest of the country, so I was more that happy to catch a break and head to Florida with the Orianne Society. I wrote a rather lengthy narrative for that trip, so I'll link that.

http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... 11&t=19730

Upon returning to North Georgia, spring began to really kick in. For a few days, at least, until summer decided it was her turn. I wasn't complaining, as I was really itching to do some roadcruising to find some of the species that eluded me in previous years. Some warm nights in early May got some of the common snakes moving.

The most common snakes on roads here are generally juvenile ratsnakes.

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I was pretty excited to see this AOR copperhead, as I only saw one AOR all of last year. Little did I know that by the end of June I would have seen around 30 AOR alone.

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I was able to creep up on one of these little guys calling in my pond.

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The weekend after finals, Phillip Higgins came down to do a day trip to the sandhills with myself and my dad. That trip itself was solid.

The day started off with a gorgeous canebrake rattlesnake spotted basking in a trash pile by my dad.

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The only live snakes after that were rats.

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Some miscellaneous shots from that day.

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After returning Phillip stuck around for some piedmont herping. We would have streak of herping that can only be described as incredible.

The streak started off with my first chain king of the year, which took me way too long to find.

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And we cruised plenty of copperheads over this streak.

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Also a juvenile rough green snake, one of Phillips lifers.

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Then on the way home one night at almost 10:30, we approached the spot where I found a DOR Coweta County carolina pygmy rattlesnake last year with a car right on our tail. As it goes to pass us, I notice a snake in the opposite lane. I knew exactly what it was, and as the truck went over it I had a panic attack that took at least ten years off my life. It was a huge relief to see this massive carolina pygmy rattlesnake unscathed in the middle of the lane! We held it overnight for photos and data.

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The next day Phillip flipped another huge goal of mine for the year in Coweta County under a board.

Scarlet Snake

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Roadcruising that night produced more common stuff and another carolina pygmy rattlesnake a few miles away from the first one!

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I did a photoshoot with both of them before release.

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A few more copperheads from recently.

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Not long after the pygmies and scarlet, I found my third goal for my county under a board on the power line cut behind my house.

Mole Kingsnake

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The next day Daniel Thompson came down to target piedmont timber rattlesnakes. We found 3+ individuals under a massive rock, presumably gravid females, but could not safely extract them. Alas the day was not in vain, as we roadcruised a large mole kingsnake at 10:00 that night! We held onto it for photos the next day.

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The mole kings were to be my final notable finds before my family vacation to New Mexico, with 2 nights in West Texas on the way in and back. A stop at a state park in Texas provided my first finds. Please correct any ID's that are wrong as this was my first time in the western states!

Dunes Sagebrush Lizard

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Side-blotched Lizard

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On the way out this coachwhip darted across the road and feigned death when we caught it.

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After that stop we headed towards Pecos where we would stay the night. Just after checking in and departing for the Davis Mountains where we would do some cut shining and roadcruising a massive storm moved in and temperatures plummeted. Up in the mountains the temperature drop was crushing and the only herps seen were amphibians, but awesome ones and lifers at that!

Couch's Spadefoot

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Green Toad

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Red-spotted Toad

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Upon heading back towards Pecos, the storms cleared and temps rose back into the 70's in the valley. 2 lifer snakes were seen on the return.

Checkered Garter

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Glossy Snake, and a pretty one at that!

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The next day we headed up to Chaves County NM, where we would be staying on a ranch for three days. I'll keep it short but these are all herps I found near the ranch.

ID on this guy/gal?

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Texas Horned Lizard

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I saw tons of whiptails, and caught a good amount. However, they are not often advocates of sitting for photos.

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These guys were everywhere! And I'm not complaining because I love 'em! Eastern Collared Lizard

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Lesser Earless Lizard, without a doubt the fastest lizard I've ever chased. We only saw one, and we only caught it because there were three of us.

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I saw many other lizards, but as one learns quickly in the desert, the lizards are quite fast.

There was one pile of rocks on the road into the ranch, which was loaded with collared lizards, sheds of snakes, and every once in a while an actual snake. My dad found a striped individual of the ground snake, which escaped down a hole. I later flipped this less stunning individual.

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Another cool fossorial found was this lined snake that was crossing the ranch road late one night after a rain.

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This black-headed snake was found crossing the road one night. I believe it is nigriceps, but I could be wrong.

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I found two atrox on the ranch, the first was wedged under a large rock. He came out rather cooperatively.

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The second was found coiled on the road shoulder at 2 am. Unfortunately it didn't want to sit for insitu photos.

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On my last night to cruise the ranch, a storm was headed in. It got the snakes moving and brought my favorite find of the trip!

Desert Kingsnake

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Inverts from the ranch. I saw tons of vinegaroons but somehow forgot to take a solid dslr shot of one.

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On the way home we squeezed in one last night in West Texas. Conditions were great, but nothing fantastic was seen. We saw two atrox on the road in the Davis Mountains, but I simply moved them off the road to save time.

The coolest finds of the night were two great plains ratsnakes. Unfortunately one was hit, but another lively individual was seen soon after.

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And to close my trip, two blackneck garter snakes were found walking a wash!

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A big thanks to those who gave me tips for my first time out west!

So that's my year so far, it's been incredibly fun and hopefully there will be more to come! Happy Herping!
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Mike VanValen
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Re: My Year So Far: Spring and Early Summer (GA, FL, TX, and

Post by Mike VanValen »

Great post. I love the habitat/AOR shots and all the Lampropeltis. That second mole king is really nice.

Congrats on the lifers.
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noah k.
Posts: 231
Joined: November 3rd, 2011, 5:27 pm

Re: My Year So Far: Spring and Early Summer (GA, FL, TX, and

Post by noah k. »

Thanks Mike!
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John Martin
Posts: 515
Joined: June 9th, 2010, 10:57 pm
Location: North end of Lake Okeechobee, Florida

Re: My Year So Far: Spring and Early Summer (GA, FL, TX, and

Post by John Martin »

Very nice, your pics are excellent :beer: What wide angle lens do you use? That copperhead in the second pic looks as if it's had its rear portion run over :(
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noah k.
Posts: 231
Joined: November 3rd, 2011, 5:27 pm

Re: My Year So Far: Spring and Early Summer (GA, FL, TX, and

Post by noah k. »

Thanks John! For "wide angle" I use my canon 18-55mm. I wish I had enough money for a real wide angle lens! And unfortunately that copperhead did appear to be clipped, but it didn't look fatal.
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Soopaman
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Joined: March 18th, 2012, 7:34 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: My Year So Far: Spring and Early Summer (GA, FL, TX, and

Post by Soopaman »

Those mole kings are tasty. Good stuff, Noah, it looks like you've had a fun and varied year of herping so far.
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