Short but very sweet: Summer herping 2015 in S TX

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
User avatar
The Real Snake Man
Posts: 405
Joined: June 12th, 2010, 4:08 pm
Location: Pasadena, CA or Mission, TX

Short but very sweet: Summer herping 2015 in S TX

Post by The Real Snake Man »

Well, I don't really feel like writing a whole lot and due to the protected status of most of the things I'm about to post, I think I'll keep the details at a minimum. Basically, I was only at home for 2 weeks this summer, and I only went herping four times. So get ready to have your mind blown. Also, forgive the slight yellowish tint to some of the pictures. For some reason the color of things on my computer is shifted blue, so when I edit photos I correct that for my computer and when seen elsewhere the pictures don't have quite the same color.

Trip 1: Down at the Sabal Palm Sanctuary, I was looking for Drymobius, but there were none to be found. Instead, though, Dad saved the day by spotting my lifer Mexican Treefrog:

Smilisca baudinii (Mexican Treefrog), Cameron County, TX, in situ:

Image

Trip 2: Mostly uneventful: a few snakes got off the road (probably glossy snakes if I had to bet), and saw a few rattlers otherwise. But there to save the night was this little gem, my dad's lifer:

Leptodeira septentrionalis (Cat-eyed Snake), Hidalgo County, TX

Image

Image

Trip 3: Blake and I went out for a night of massasauga hunting. We were unsuccessful, and only managed to find a bunch of glossy snakes, diamondback rattlers, and a ratsnake. Well, that's not entirely true. We also found a depressing, freshly dead Mexican Milksnake. And to close the night, we found a floppy little Tamaulipan Hook-nosed Snake. Oh, and I guess we did find this:

A FORUM FIRST: Cemophora coccinea lineri (Texas Scarletsnake), Jim Hogg County, TX; supposedly one of the rarest snakes in the country

Image

Image

And here's that other cool one: Ficimia streckeri (Tamaulipan Hook-nosed Snake), Starr County, TX

Image

Trip 4: Went out with Mr. Martin and we found a record-breaking 30 snakes in one night, only 9 of which were DOR. True, most were either atrox or glossy, but it was still an exciting night. My favorite find was this big fat (gravid?) longnose:

Rhinocheilus lecontei (Long-nosed Snake), Hidalgo County, TX

Image

And there you have it; my whole year of herping. Sigh.

-Gene
User avatar
Antonsrkn
Posts: 971
Joined: June 10th, 2010, 2:38 pm
Contact:

Re: Short but very sweet: Summer herping 2015 in S TX

Post by Antonsrkn »

Having never visited that corner of the country I am not sure as to the rarity or significance of any of those finds, but I quite enjoyed your photography. Very nicely shot.

Also that Ficimia streckeri is cool, not sure if I have seen one of those posted before.
double d
Posts: 50
Joined: December 27th, 2012, 5:46 pm
Location: lakeland, florida

Re: Short but very sweet: Summer herping 2015 in S TX

Post by double d »

Wow , mind blown !! Thats texas scarlet is a very amazing find , great job !! The colors on that long nose is magnificent , and yes looks very gravid. Thanks for sharing , very nice indeed !!
User avatar
The Real Snake Man
Posts: 405
Joined: June 12th, 2010, 4:08 pm
Location: Pasadena, CA or Mission, TX

Re: Short but very sweet: Summer herping 2015 in S TX

Post by The Real Snake Man »

Antonsrkn wrote:Having never visited that corner of the country I am not sure as to the rarity or significance of any of those finds, but I quite enjoyed your photography. Very nicely shot.

Also that Ficimia streckeri is cool, not sure if I have seen one of those posted before.
Kinda boggles my mind to hear that, having virtually never lived anywhere else in the country. Glad you liked the pictures. I actually wish I could afford to upgrade my set-up (I've got the whole thing planned out), but I don't think I get out enough anymore to make that worth it. Life is busy here at Caltech!
double d wrote:Wow , mind blown !! Thats texas scarlet is a very amazing find , great job !! The colors on that long nose is magnificent , and yes looks very gravid. Thanks for sharing , very nice indeed !!
The Texas Scarlet was indeed fun to find. Probably the most significant find I've ever been present for. The longnose snakes down here actually all seem to be colored that way - I guess it's just a regional thing. They certainly didn't look that red in West Texas.

-Gene
User avatar
chrish
Posts: 3295
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:14 pm
Location: San Antonio, TX
Contact:

Re: Short but very sweet: Summer herping 2015 in S TX

Post by chrish »

Cool find on the lineri, although I still consider Leptodeira a better find. I think the real prize in the valley is Leptodactylus fragilis though.

Oh ...and its not the forum's first though....I posted mine 9 years ago. ;)

Now if you can post a TX Leptodactylus, you might take that title.
User avatar
The Real Snake Man
Posts: 405
Joined: June 12th, 2010, 4:08 pm
Location: Pasadena, CA or Mission, TX

Re: Short but very sweet: Summer herping 2015 in S TX

Post by The Real Snake Man »

chrish wrote:Cool find on the lineri, although I still consider Leptodeira a better find. I think the real prize in the valley is Leptodactylus fragilis though.

Oh ...and its not the forum's first though....I posted mine 9 years ago. ;)

Now if you can post a TX Leptodactylus, you might take that title.
Haha, well that was pre-Crash, so it didn't show up on my search :) As for Leptodactylus, I know of two specimens that were found this past spring in Starr and Hidalgo counties. They were photographed very nicely, but the shots only ever made it to Facebook. I would've loved to have seen either of them.

-Gene
User avatar
walk-about
Posts: 567
Joined: June 14th, 2010, 12:04 pm
Location: 'God's Country' aka western KY
Contact:

Re: Short but very sweet: Summer herping 2015 in S TX

Post by walk-about »

Holy Crow! That is some pretty dang cool finds. Yep on what everyone else has already said. The Tamaulipin Hook-nosed is pretty cool for sure and I am not sure that I have ever seen a Texas Scarlet Snake posted here on FHF or if so, I think it has been a few years. Very COOL! That specimen looks nothing like any other Cemophora I have ever seen. SO I have to ask - in Texas, this guy - Jim Hogg, I mean he must have been the Boomshizzle to have both his first and last name for one county. LoL. I laughed when I saw that. Thanks for posting.

Dave
User avatar
The Real Snake Man
Posts: 405
Joined: June 12th, 2010, 4:08 pm
Location: Pasadena, CA or Mission, TX

Re: Short but very sweet: Summer herping 2015 in S TX

Post by The Real Snake Man »

walk-about wrote:Holy Crow! That is some pretty dang cool finds. Yep on what everyone else has already said. The Tamaulipin Hook-nosed is pretty cool for sure and I am not sure that I have ever seen a Texas Scarlet Snake posted here on FHF or if so, I think it has been a few years. Very COOL! That specimen looks nothing like any other Cemophora I have ever seen. SO I have to ask - in Texas, this guy - Jim Hogg, I mean he must have been the Boomshizzle to have both his first and last name for one county. LoL. I laughed when I saw that. Thanks for posting.

Dave
Thanks! And yeah, I'm pretty sure Jim Hogg was a Texas governor or something. He's more famous for naming his daughter "Ima" actually.

-Gene
User avatar
chrish
Posts: 3295
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:14 pm
Location: San Antonio, TX
Contact:

Re: Short but very sweet: Summer herping 2015 in S TX

Post by chrish »

The Real Snake Man wrote:
chrish wrote: As for Leptodactylus, I know of two specimens that were found this past spring in Starr and Hidalgo counties. They were photographed very nicely, but the shots only ever made it to Facebook. I would've loved to have seen either of them.

-Gene
There were a couple of photos/recordings posted on inaturalist this year.
Post Reply