Dog does herps.

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
User avatar
Owen
Posts: 1924
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 12:35 am
Location: San Jose', Northern Catcrapistan

Dog does herps.

Post by Owen »

Hiking buddy likes her herps. Frogs and toads being the favorites since they hop. Racers travelling through grass are also a fun track. She followed one about 30ft to the edge of a pond. Here's a few. The nightsnake was rock flipped along the trail, but the rest were encountered on the crawl or hop.

R. draytonii
Image

R. draytonii
Image

R. draytonii
Image

R. draytonii
Image

P. catenifer catenifer
Image

P. catenifer catenifer
Image

L. getula californiae
Image

H. ochrorhyncha nuchalata
Image

T. sirtalis infernalis
Image

T. scripta elegans
Image

T. sirtalis infernalis She found this one... scent tracked it to where it was lying under the brush.
Image

T. atratus zaxanthus
Image

T. atratus zaxanthus. Jumbo size.
Image

Maligator - the indignity of it all
Image
User avatar
John Martin
Posts: 515
Joined: June 9th, 2010, 10:57 pm
Location: North end of Lake Okeechobee, Florida

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by John Martin »

That is awesome! So nice that a dog is unafraid of herps, and actually seems to like them? :thumb: A lot of dogs would be the undoing of those critters. That last pic is hilarious...
User avatar
Calfirecap
Posts: 638
Joined: June 16th, 2010, 8:09 am
Location: Santa Cruz Co. California
Contact:

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by Calfirecap »

Mali sounds like a great herping partner, Baxter couldn't care less about lizards or snakes:
Image

Now the question is who's going to find that elusive Santa Clara Rubber Boa first, you or Mali?
User avatar
Owen
Posts: 1924
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 12:35 am
Location: San Jose', Northern Catcrapistan

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by Owen »

Calfirecap wrote:Now the question is who's going to find that elusive Santa Clara Rubber Boa first, you or Mali?
ME

doggie likes stuff that moves fast (squirrel, bunny, piggy, deer), constantly moves (toads) or like frogs- hops, splashes and swims back. She listens to 'no', so as much as she wants the frog, she knows that she was told not to get it. Could care less about most snakes since they just lie around on the trail. Of course, 'tracking' allows her to use her nose and she has found a couple garter snakes that way. Now the old dog, liked to cover herself in smells like the gartersnake musk spot she's rolling in:

Image
User avatar
Kelly Mc
Posts: 4529
Joined: October 18th, 2011, 1:03 pm

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by Kelly Mc »

What a Good Girl!!
User avatar
Chad M. Lane
Posts: 567
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 4:40 pm
Location: Manteca, CA

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by Chad M. Lane »

Love it!
ramblon
Posts: 77
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:14 am

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by ramblon »

Very cool post with some neat perspectives! Kinda refreshing. What a cool Malinois you have.

Thanks for the post :beer:
BirdLover420
Posts: 2
Joined: February 8th, 2016, 11:42 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by BirdLover420 »

Such a cute post! Beautiful dog :)
User avatar
Owen
Posts: 1924
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 12:35 am
Location: San Jose', Northern Catcrapistan

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by Owen »

It's been a little harder the last 10 days with the GSD puppy in the house. He barks at everything (hikers, deer, turkey, quail) and he's clumsy as hell.

Image
User avatar
Kelly Mc
Posts: 4529
Joined: October 18th, 2011, 1:03 pm

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by Kelly Mc »

:thumb: He's in excellent hands, and I hope you share more on his journey :) , pretty much one of my favorite threads this year, for sure. I thank you and pat a rump for me please.
User avatar
Porter
Posts: 2418
Joined: March 19th, 2011, 7:43 pm

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by Porter »

Owen wrote:It's been a little harder the last 10 days with the GSD puppy in the house. He barks at everything (hikers, deer, turkey, quail) and he's clumsy as hell.

Image
Well at least he seems to have a good grasp on the whole, "walking the dog" thing :lol: :thumb: ...now you got two free hands to catch snakes with ;) 8-)

Cool post theme! :thumb: :thumb: ...nice array as well
User avatar
mfb
Posts: 275
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 6:06 am
Contact:

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by mfb »

Nice! Did you train her to seek out herps, or does she just do it on her own?
User avatar
Owen
Posts: 1924
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 12:35 am
Location: San Jose', Northern Catcrapistan

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by Owen »

mfb wrote:Nice! Did you train her to seek out herps, or does she just do it on her own?
Well, she can actually track some gartersnakes (snake to her) when I ask her to 'Track a snake'. She has found 3, but often, the track just leads to a hole. Because rattlesnakes hang in holes May through September, I limit her snake tracking.
User avatar
BillMcGighan
Posts: 2362
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:23 am
Location: Unicoi, TN

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by BillMcGighan »

Can't believe I missed this one, Owen.
Excellent...

How does she react to a rattlesnake in defensive mode?
User avatar
RenoBart
Posts: 354
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:22 am

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by RenoBart »

This is really cool. I always wondered if you could train a dog to sniff out snakes and point them out. I wouldn't ever want to deal with my dog getting bit by a venomous snake, but if he could find them and point at them from a distance, how cool would that be?

Bart
coolhl7
Posts: 26
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 6:44 pm

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by coolhl7 »

my Doberman tracks gopher and box turtles really well..she found me this EDB...luckily she doesn't get too close...

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

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

This thread has me smiling big. Love it!
User avatar
Owen
Posts: 1924
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 12:35 am
Location: San Jose', Northern Catcrapistan

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by Owen »

She doesn't go near rattlesnakes. If one rattles when I have her with me, we walk away and I say NO.

Only gartersnakes are SNAKE to her and I won't tell her anything else is a snake. She does recognize the scents. If I tell her to track a snake, most times when she finds a track, it leads to a hole.
User avatar
Kelly Mc
Posts: 4529
Joined: October 18th, 2011, 1:03 pm

Re: Dog does herps.

Post by Kelly Mc »

Tamara D. McConnell wrote:This thread has me smiling big. Love it!
Yes, Yes, This is the Best :thumb:
Post Reply