Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
User avatar
Ridge Walker
Posts: 127
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:41 pm

Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Ridge Walker »

It's been a weird year for me, lots of horrible days where I got completely skunked, with a few really good days here and there mixed in. We've had a really dry and hot Summer here which has not helped. In no real order, here's some photos from some of the better days.

A couple of flipped Black Ratsnakes.
Image

Image

Timber Rattlesnake coiled in the woods with some spider web on it's face.
Image

A Marbled Salamander with two Eastern Newts, as flipped.

Image

A couple of Longtail Salamanders.

Image

Image

Hills.

Image

Northern Copperhead.

Image

Box Turtles.

Image

Spotted Turtle.

Image

Flipped Eastern Milksnakes.

Image

Image

Image

Timber Rattlesnakes:

A neonate sliding through the rocks.

Image

Adult.

Image

I spent some time one day with a group of rattlers that included a male, some females and neonates. The snakes were very calm, so I took a seat nearby, watched, and took photos.

Image

Image

Image

Image

At one point the yellow male began courting one of the females with tongue flicks and twitches.
Image

Image

Image

Some more Rattler photos.
Image

Image

Image

A couple of semi-hidden neonates with Mom.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

A big opaque male that I found basking.

Image

He then soon moved to hang out with some Moms and neonates.

Image

Image

Image

A Black Ratsnake found on the crawl nearby.

Image

More family photos:

Image

Image

Image

Pile up!

Image

Obviously those are not all her kids, she's just doing some baby-sitting. A few minutes later the pile up had shifted.

Image

And that's it for now, thanks for viewing! :beer:

RW
User avatar
DCooper
Posts: 203
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:20 am
Location: Marshall County, WV

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by DCooper »

Wow, your trip reports are ALWAYS a pleasure to view. Amazing encounters with incredible snakes.
User avatar
monklet
Posts: 2648
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 4:44 pm
Location: Ventura, CA
Contact:

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by monklet »

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

I would assume all those neos are from multiple mothers? How long do the stay buched together like that? Do they all move in at night and then bunch up on emergence?
User avatar
canderson
Posts: 42
Joined: June 16th, 2010, 6:25 pm
Location: The Land of Enchantment, NM

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by canderson »

Wow!!! It is so good to know that there are places left where this still occurs. Thanks for sharing. I love the shots with the neonates hanging out with the adults, very nice! :beer:

-Chris
User avatar
Ross Padilla
Posts: 2666
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 6:29 pm
Location: I love L.A.
Contact:

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Ross Padilla »

That last shot is great! Its very telling. :thumb:
User avatar
justinm
Posts: 3423
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 5:26 am
Location: Illinois
Contact:

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by justinm »

The last rookery is amazing, how many clutches do you think are there?
User avatar
Crazins
Posts: 269
Joined: June 14th, 2010, 6:49 pm
Location: My car

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Crazins »

Cool post! The babies are so cute!
User avatar
Ridge Walker
Posts: 127
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:41 pm

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Ridge Walker »

monklet wrote::thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

I would assume all those neos are from multiple mothers? How long do the stay buched together like that? Do they all move in at night and then bunch up on emergence?
justinm wrote:The last rookery is amazing, how many clutches do you think are there?
I think there were about three litters in the last two photos. They do go back under the rocks at night or when the weather is not comfortable for basking. The babies disperse soon after they have their first sheds.

Here's one more photo I forgot to post, and thanks for the comments guys!

Image

RW
User avatar
ahockenberry
Posts: 362
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:46 am
Contact:

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by ahockenberry »

A+ Thanks for sharing -excellent variety of Timbers - also love the Box Turtles!!
User avatar
Carl Koch
Posts: 435
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:45 pm
Location: West Milwaukee, WI

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Carl Koch »

Oh, man, I LOVE those dark timbers! Great spotted turtle shot, too -- nice composition. The adults & neos stuff is just AWESOME...THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!
User avatar
Christopher
Posts: 140
Joined: June 22nd, 2010, 8:53 pm
Location: SFL
Contact:

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Christopher »

Wow, what an amazing post!! Must be awesome to just sit and observe a family of horridus like that, thank you so much for sharing!
User avatar
geckoguy747
Posts: 325
Joined: August 15th, 2010, 10:46 pm
Location: san bernardino mtns

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by geckoguy747 »

awesome! love the shot with all the little faces poking out from under the rock. i'm digging those long tails and that last milk, too!
will lattea
Posts: 160
Joined: August 30th, 2010, 11:39 am
Location: East Coast

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by will lattea »

Nice! What state are the horridus from? I'm jealous of those piles for sure... not a lot of reproduction in my neck of the woods this year.

-Will
User avatar
Tim Borski
Posts: 1855
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:28 am
Location: FL Keys
Contact:

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Tim Borski »

Excellent. Excellent. Excellent!!!
I love the first Horridus shot as well as the spotted on log. Momma with all the neighborhood kids is really cool too! (There's always one house on the street that all the kids hang at...)
Thanks for the candy
:beer:
User avatar
Ridge Walker
Posts: 127
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:41 pm

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Ridge Walker »

will lattea wrote:Nice! What state are the horridus from? I'm jealous of those piles for sure... not a lot of reproduction in my neck of the woods this year.

-Will
Hey Will, I herp a few states in the Northeast....reproduction was really poor everywhere I went. I realize it doesn't look that way from the photos, but those shots were taken in spots that have large rattler populations. Those spots were bound to have a few gravid girls even on an off year. I went to many spots with average populations and saw nothing. Hopefully in 2011 there will be a bumper crop of babies.

Thanks everybody!

RW
User avatar
brick911
Posts: 3488
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:52 am
Location: Morrisville, PA

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by brick911 »

I must be the only one who thinks RW's posts just plain suck.
User avatar
Tim Borski
Posts: 1855
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:28 am
Location: FL Keys
Contact:

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Tim Borski »

brick911 wrote:I must be the only one who thinks RW's posts just plain suck.
:mrgreen:
User avatar
dezertwerx
Posts: 809
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 4:05 pm
Location: So Cal

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by dezertwerx »

great post :thumb:
User avatar
Knightkrawler5
Posts: 257
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 6:54 pm
Location: Milwaukee, WI

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Knightkrawler5 »

JEALOUS!!!
DIAMONDBACK DAVE
Posts: 138
Joined: June 27th, 2010, 3:42 pm
Location: Everywhere USA
Contact:

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by DIAMONDBACK DAVE »

DBD is fed-up with all this and hanging up his boots!

But he still has to congrat his friend on a steller year of pictures, some of them just blow me away.

DBD
User avatar
Ridge Walker
Posts: 127
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:41 pm

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Ridge Walker »

Gracias amigos! And, DBD, I don't know what you're talking about...you've had a fantastic year. Texas, Arizona, the Southeast and now a great job on top of it all!

RW
User avatar
billysbrown
Posts: 183
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:59 am
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by billysbrown »

Ridge Walker wrote:
Hey Will, I herp a few states in the Northeast....reproduction was really poor everywhere I went. I realize it doesn't look that way from the photos, but those shots were taken in spots that have large rattler populations. Those spots were bound to have a few gravid girls even on an off year. I went to many spots with average populations and saw nothing. Hopefully in 2011 there will be a bumper crop of babies.

Thanks everybody!

RW
I was emailing with some PA timber guys who agreed that the year was weird. They thought everything was a few weeks early - dispersing early, dropping early, etc. I would also guess that the higher temps might have meant less need to bask in general, which can make finding the girls a lot harder.
User avatar
walk-about
Posts: 567
Joined: June 14th, 2010, 12:04 pm
Location: 'God's Country' aka western KY
Contact:

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by walk-about »

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET! Very impressive indeed.

RocK ON!

Dave
Crotalus
Posts: 180
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:05 am

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Crotalus »

Hey this post rocks. Nice work!

-JJ
User avatar
Eric East
Posts: 207
Joined: July 5th, 2010, 5:44 pm
Location: Greenwood, AR

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Eric East »

I'm speachless!
User avatar
Ridge Walker
Posts: 127
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:41 pm

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by Ridge Walker »

Thanks to everybody that replied, glad you enjoyed the post!

RW
User avatar
wayne_fidler
Posts: 165
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:50 pm
Location: onslow co NC

Re: Northeast Summer 2010: Rattler family photos and more.

Post by wayne_fidler »

great work as usual love those dark timbers.
wayne
Post Reply