Herping 8-14 through 8-18

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
simus343
Posts: 566
Joined: March 30th, 2014, 1:16 pm
Location: Okaloosa ca, Fla.

Herping 8-14 through 8-18

Post by simus343 »

Last week I had some people come down from the South Carolina and farther north in Alabama to Conecuh to do some herping. As I'm still new to Conecuh, we also spent about half of our time in West Florida, where I'm familiar with a majority of the places to herp. While we missed our primary targets with the exception of 5 DOR Diamondbacks that we kept missing by maybe an hour tops, we still managed to turn up at least 2 lifers for everyone in the group minus myself. I still got some great targets that I always have on the top of my list though. The animals will come up in no particular order, but I'll give a little spinet about each.

I'll start off with some habitat shots that I took.

This shot was taken after a productive morning of hiking in Southern Alabama.

Image



This shot was after we cruised up one of my high priority finds that is always in the top 5 of my list of animals to turn up. I have been herping at this spot since way back in March and never found anything except for anurans. On this trip though, a friend that I was with spotted a nice first snake for the road we were on.

Image



On one of our nights we cruised up this little Northern Scarlet Snake that we held until morning to take some daylight photos. This was a lifer for at least 2 members of our group. It was released later that night at the spot where we found it.

Image



These grey rat snakes were found where I intern at. We have a restored cracker house that use to have a rodent problem. A few months ago though we started finding less rodent damage and feces, and more snake sheds in the house. It was only a matter of time until we found the snakes. For at least one member of the group, these were a lifer. For everyone in the group though, these were the first "light phase" grey rats they had seen. For me, these were the first I have found with the hefty girth of an adult pine snake. They weren't loaded with fresh food either (or so I think). They just had some very thick muscle on them. If there was body building snakes, these two guys (both males) were them haha.

Image


Image



These next two photos are from the road through the Pine Savanna habitat where I had yet to see any snakes. I was about 600 yards up the road when I looked back and saw the second vehicle stopped with one of my friends waving me down. I went into reverse and was greated by the question "Do you like Pine Snakes?" I instantly jumped out of my car at that point and ran in a dead sprint to where everyone else was, leaving my camera behind of course. After marveling at the beauty (I believe my first FL - Black cross, super dark for what I usually find), I went back to my car to turn it off and get my camera.

Image


Image


Image



During the trip we made a stop by the Choctawhatchee River to look for natricines. I flipped a log that had the head of a large Fanacia sticking out of a hole underneath it. Unfortunately, the snake slipped back so fast that I couldn't ID if it was a mud or rainbow. The first are more common, the later less so but have been seen on the system by biologists working on the river frequently. I did find a nice Dwarf Salamander though.

Image



Shortly after I also flipped a little Southern Ring-neck Snake. It gave a good chew, or at least tried to, on the hand of a friend after she had been holding the Dwarf Salamander. I didn't get a photo of that little event though. Here's the snake.

Image


Image



Black Racers are always abundant this time of year, so the trip had no shortage of them.

Image


Image



On the day that we did some hiking in southern Alabama (first habitat shot), on the way out to where we parked our vehicles I quickly slammed my breaks and opened the door to the sight of my personal primary target (although not the trip target - Dusky Pygmy or Diamondback). My second ever, this nice, beautiful Timber (Canebrake) Rattlesnake. While it was trying to rattle at us (almost the entire rattle was missing) his hemipenes came out, which is a first for me with a rattlesnake getting PO'd at people photographing it. I tried to get a shot of that, but by the time one of my friends pointed it out to me, and I had my camera focused, the hemipenes went back inside of the snake. I didn't want to be mean to the beauty, so I didn't bother him to try to get him to stick them back out for a photo. I snapped a few more photos and we moved him off into the woods immediately next to the road.

Image



While driving down in Florida we cruised an ever-abundant cottonmouth. We had to act fast and get it off the road ASAP because of an oncoming vehicle that figuratively screamed "I'm a snake killing redneck"! We got it off the road without a hitch and got our photos before we left it to go about its business.

Image


That is it for that trip though. I banged up my car a little bit so probably won't be herping again until "hog season" starts in late September. Hope you all enjoyed. :)
User avatar
Jefferson
Posts: 185
Joined: March 2nd, 2014, 6:50 am
Location: Southwest Missouri

Re: Herping 8-14 through 8-18

Post by Jefferson »

Some beautiful serpents on that trip! Pine Snakes are definitely making their way up my "hit list" for 2017!
User avatar
Noah M
Posts: 2293
Joined: November 3rd, 2012, 7:00 pm
Location: Gainesville, FL
Contact:

Re: Herping 8-14 through 8-18

Post by Noah M »

Sounds like a good trip all around. I've still yet to cruise a pine too. Thanks for sharing!
simus343
Posts: 566
Joined: March 30th, 2014, 1:16 pm
Location: Okaloosa ca, Fla.

Re: Herping 8-14 through 8-18

Post by simus343 »

Thanks guys. Pines are probably one of the more common "rare" snakes in W. Fla. Heck this year I have more pines than eastern hogs. They're kind of like Diamondbacks though in that I can't find them if I target them, only when I'm doing something else.

I don't know where you're based Jefferson, but Noah in central and "North" Florida I hear that agricultural areas are some of the better places to cruise pines. How did your drift fence project go, is it still in progress?
User avatar
Noah M
Posts: 2293
Joined: November 3rd, 2012, 7:00 pm
Location: Gainesville, FL
Contact:

Re: Herping 8-14 through 8-18

Post by Noah M »

The drift fence was taken down before the burn back in May, and then I haven't put it back up. It was up for about 6 months and produced some pretty nice things. However, most of the snakes were released before I could see them or photograph them.

We're toying with the idea of putting it up again in a different, less trafficked area again for fall and winter, but I've been busy with school and work. I need to graduate this semester!
simus343
Posts: 566
Joined: March 30th, 2014, 1:16 pm
Location: Okaloosa ca, Fla.

Re: Herping 8-14 through 8-18

Post by simus343 »

Yeah, probably best to focus on school right now if you're about to graduate.

As for the fence, I would recommend a less-trafficked area as well. Areas of frequent human activity can deter some animals from moving through, keeping them away from the fence. If you finish and get it up this winter (when it is cooler and easier to install) then you can get it up just in time for spring mating movement.
Coluber Constrictor
Posts: 1165
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:25 am
Location: Mobile, AL

Re: Herping 8-14 through 8-18

Post by Coluber Constrictor »

.
Tamara D. McConnell
Posts: 2248
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:42 am

Re: Herping 8-14 through 8-18

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Great post! The pine snake is stunning. I also loved the body-builder ratsnakes. Looks like a wonderful time.
User avatar
Noah M
Posts: 2293
Joined: November 3rd, 2012, 7:00 pm
Location: Gainesville, FL
Contact:

Re: Herping 8-14 through 8-18

Post by Noah M »

simus343 wrote:Yeah, probably best to focus on school right now if you're about to graduate.

As for the fence, I would recommend a less-trafficked area as well. Areas of frequent human activity can deter some animals from moving through, keeping them away from the fence. If you finish and get it up this winter (when it is cooler and easier to install) then you can get it up just in time for spring mating movement.
I'd like to get it up in September like last year. Lots of things hatch and move in the fall in the uplands...
Post Reply