What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

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BillMcGighan
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What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by BillMcGighan »

This is your post.
It’s time to resurrect the spirit of an old, pre-crash, ‘07 theme post.


There is nothing like a herp trip to a special place… The concept that it’s do-able and long overdue…. The planning of the expenses, the equipment, the route, the logistics of who, what, where, etc. It’s all the best of experiences. Even the anticipation is to be savored.

….But….

Sometimes, on occasion, you find an unplanned herp:

• You walk into the yard to pickup that kiddy pool and find a salamander.
• You’re visiting Aunt Harry and Uncle Mary, take out the trash, and spot two headed, amelanistic Swamp Boomer on a fence.
• You’re dressed in a tux at your daughter’s wedding reception and start flipping stones, looking for an oolitic Tantilla.
(Ok...... no one would do that….Not in a Tux….Not at their daughters wedding… Not so the other guests noticed, anyway. Oops, I’ve said too much.)
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.
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This theme post has simple rules:
• Post herps that you have found in your yard, a friend’s or relative’s yard, etc. or anywhere, where you were not intending on herping.
• No animals that you found when you were out on a planned herping trip.
• Pics can be crappy or great, and of common animals or rare.
• Pics can be new or old.
• no more than three pics per day.



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Working out in the front yard last November, I peaked under a board, which often has Red Backed Salamanders at this time of the year. Today it had, among others, a YOY . Very cool.

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This is a 1979 accident waiting to happen here in TN:
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1990 Raleigh, NC.
My family and I could eat breakfast and watch a colony of Five-lined Skinks (P. fasciatus) interact on landscaping ties and a low deck.
Sometimes their basking positions alone were entertaining.

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Dr. Dark
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by Dr. Dark »

Two summers ago I found both these in my garage, about a month apart. Strangest part is, there is no body of water within a mile or more of my house!
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herpseeker1978
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by herpseeker1978 »

Found this guy in the pond in the backyard. Don't know if it wandered in on its own or was put there by the previous owners.
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Josh
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Andy Avram
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by Andy Avram »

You’re dressed in a tux at your daughter’s wedding reception and start flipping stones, looking for an oolitic Tantilla.
(Ok...... no one would do that….Not in a Tux….Not at their daughters wedding… Not so the other guests noticed, anyway. Oops, I’ve said too much.)
I had a job interview in North Carolina a few years ago with their state fish and game department (I was offered the job but ended up not accepting it) and I made it WAY too early to the interview so I found a pond and starting poking around (unsuccessfully) for herps in my suit, tie and dress shoes.

But you want pictures and successful finds. This year I bought a house and while doing various yard work I found a few herps. Quite exciting to finally own a dwelling that has SOME herps in it!

First thing I ever found was a toad, but there seems to be a decent population in the neighborhood. Here is one I caught while digging out some plants.
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Looks a little Fowlerish but it is an American. Hoping to find a Fowler’s one day here though.

Another day, after digging out some plants I rototilled the garden and then used a shovel to transfer the insanely deep mulch around to some other garden beds. Somehow when I dumped the wheel barrow full of mulch this guy fell out perfectly intact. Not sure how a blade never touched it, as it was around 10” long or so.
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Even though it is only a Brown Snake, it is still cool to have snakes in the yard.

This one may be cheating a little, as I am always keyed into herps when here, but either way, my dad and I were out birding last spring at a VERY popular Ohio birding area and I heard crunching in the leaf litter and found this baby May Turtle on the move.
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Andy
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Saunders
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by Saunders »

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Gyri
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by Gyri »

Hmm, it's hard not to break the rules a little bit because I do a lot of "yard" herping up north. One of the reasons I moved there is because it's an awesome place to herp. That being said, there were a few species that were a complete surprise and that I found completely by accident.

I was pleasantly surprised to find Jefferson Salamanders marching out of the woods toward my pond in the early Spring last year. This is one that I dipnetted the following day:
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I knew that Milksnakes are pretty common in that area and, though I see them on a regular basis, was pretty excited to find this one next to the foundation of the barn:
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The real shocker was when I was kayaking in the larger pond below my house and found a Spotted Turtle nearly a hundred miles outside of it's known range in the state. I assumed it was a released pet until finding many more individuals over the following weeks.
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SnakeStick
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by SnakeStick »

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Found this little yellow rat scaling the side of my house before school.

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Found this healthy adult copperhead right under my bedroom window. I had to relocate him. I was stoked to find him but I can't say the rest of my family was.
urodacus_au
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by urodacus_au »

Latrodectus hasselti and Hemiergis quadrilineata in the shed....

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Jordan
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Gyri
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by Gyri »

Oh man, that is awesome!
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CrashX2
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by CrashX2 »

Rough Earth
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Speckled King
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Skink
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gretzkyrh4
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by gretzkyrh4 »

Here are three of the dozen or so species of herp I've encountered while walking the dog around the apartment in Baton Rouge.

Nerodia rhombifer
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Terrapene carolina
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Hyla cinerea
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Chris
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aliceinwl
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by aliceinwl »

Some backyard herps:

Arboreal salamander from the woodpile
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Pacific treefrog on the side of our house
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California red-legged frogs from our "pond"
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ThamnElegans24
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by ThamnElegans24 »

Ok this first one was found while herping but still caught us completely off guard. In fact it is the reason why I don't take my son herping with me unless it is road cruising. I took my wife, my two year old son, my brother and his girl friend on a herping trip that I had been planning for a while. The original plan was to start along a river and find a good place where the girls and boy could swim and play while my brother and I did some herping. After about an hour of hiking along the river we found a beautiful spot between two big Cottonwood trees. Perfect. While we set up a little picnic my son wasted no time finding a stick and started chasing bird. After eating a couple sandwiches and watching my son run circles around us swinging at anything he could my brother and I were off. I got up and started my way through the Cottonwoods when my spidey senses started to tingle. I looked to my right and saw this not more than 30 feet from where we were sitting.

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It never made a sound. My wife was in tears at the thought of what could have happened if I had not seen it and left them there while my son was still running all over the place.


This Gophersnake was found under a housing building while I was working a prison demolition project.

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I was sleeping in one morning when my uncle called me to let me know that his neighbors had found this in their pool

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These Clark's Spiny Lizards were found on a job site well outside of their range

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And then of course there are the backyard lizards.

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Steve Atkins
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by Steve Atkins »

from my yard last year, not all unplanned, we do a lot of herping here

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we have a lot of black rats
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DaneConley
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by DaneConley »

When I was exploring the woods for ponds I went flip a log (just for some reason that log) found a lifer/state threatened salamander.
Mabee's Salamander
Ambystoma mabeei
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Then when walking home, I took a short cut through the woods and found this little guy.
Eastern Fence Lizard
Sceloporus undulatus
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Decided to look around while camping and found him.
Eastern Five-Lined Skink
Eumeces fasciatus
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And finally found this cottonmouth when walking on a trail to my herping spot...my herping spot is expanded after this experiance.
Eastern Cottonmouth
Agkistrodon piscavorus
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Gary2sons
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by Gary2sons »

Great idea for a post Bill!

The copperhead in the wood pile pic is a little scary. The ones in the wood pile you can't see even more so!

We have lived in our present location for 10 years now and have a fishless pond with spotted salamanders every Spring. As many as 100 some years but we have never found a very small one until a couple years ago. Found in August under a tomato plant in our garden. Makes no sense at all!

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Sometimes even a large snapper!

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But my favorite yard herp was this speckled king on our front porch. I was mowing the front yard and stopped to talk to my wife and little grand-daughter. I was talking as I walked up to them so didn't look down for a couple minutes. When I did I said to my wife, don't move even an inch because I need this in situ pic! Was able to get the camera before the snake moved at all. My wife did great and not a bad looking speckled king!

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Gary
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ratsnakehaven
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by ratsnakehaven »

Hey, Bill, how's winter going? Hope you make out this way again soon... ;)

Here's a few from my yard....

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Crotalus atrox is one of the more common snakes. This one is in hunting posture.

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We have lots of lizards, but these guys are an uncommon sight.

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We don't usually see sandsnakes in the yard either, but we did find one drowned in the pool last summer, along with one under a rock.

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How about food for herps as a theme too? It isn't another herp pic, so I don't think I exceeded the limit...LOL.

TC :sleep:
Mourits
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by Mourits »

Here are a few from my backyard:

Zootoca vivipara:

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Anguis fragilis:

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Pseudepidalea virdis:

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Rana temporaria:

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Species native to my backyard:
Rana temporaria (Maybe Rana arvalis too)
Pelophylax kl. esculentus
Bufo bufo
Pseudepidalea viridis
Lissotriton vulgaris
Natrix natrix
Anguis fragilis
Zootoca vivipara
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ratsnakehaven
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by ratsnakehaven »

Nice species list, Mourits... :)

It sounds like you might be in northern Europe some place. Can you describe your yard a little bit?

Regards...Terry
Mourits
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by Mourits »

Hi Terry, I'm glad you like it.

I actually made the whole habitat in the yard myself. I digged a pretty large pond in my garden for amphibians and Natrix natrix, around this pond i layed a lot of big flat stones in some grass that i let grow as much as possible, and planted a whole lot of the plant Calluna vulgaris -which seems to attract lots of reptiles. I did also make a big stone dyke a couple of meters away from the rest of it, where all the reptiles are used to hang out.
Below the big flat stones I usually find Anguis fragilis, Bufo bufo, Pseudepidalea virdis and Lissotriton vulgaris during the day, and some times a lizard or a snake (Zootoca vivipara and Natrix natrix) which is sunbathing on top of it.
I live just next to the ocean, in an area where the pretty rare toad Pseudepidalea virdis lives, and since I can flip so much stuff in the yard it's an easy job to find them for me :thumb: .

Here's a picture that shows a small stone dyke next to some tall grass which makes a great transition terrain for sunbathing and hiding. An ideal spot for, for example a Zootoca vivipara.

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crocdoc
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by crocdoc »

I often travel with my god-daughter to visit her grandparents (who I refer to as my faux-in-laws). There's a red-bellied blacksnake, Pseudechis porphyriacus, that lives next to their chook run (chicken coop).

J collecting eggs, blacksnake sunning, both ignoring each other
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The same snake, photo taken a day later on the other side of the chook run.
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Smallish lace monitor, Varanus varius, photographed on another day 10m or so from the chook run. It's licking its lips because I just gave it some of the food intended for the magpies and kookaburras.
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Big mofo lace monitor in their neighbour's front yard
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monklet
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by monklet »

Black snakes and monitors ...oh my! :shock: ...how cool is that? 8-)
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FunkyRes
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by FunkyRes »

Herps found in my yard:

Sierran Treefrog (Pseudacris sierra)
Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)
Southern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata)
Western Skink (Plestiodon skiltonianus) - seen once, no NAHERP voucher
Sharp-tailed Snake (Contia tenuis)
California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis g. californiae)

Herps found near my yard (within housing community)

Terrestrial Gartersnake (Thamnophis elegans)
American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)
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BillMcGighan
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by BillMcGighan »

Dr. Dark, herpseeker1978, Andy Avram, Saunders, Gyri, SnakeStick, DaneConley, and FunkyRes
Good stuff folks.
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urodacus_au
Latrodectus and lizard = great.
Reminded me of watching a Chinese Praying Mantis climb down a garage door to snatch up and eat a Red-backed Salamander!
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CrashX2
I found Rough earths in the middle of N Dallas suburbs in winter under drain spout splashes.
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gretzkyrh4
You know you’re right… My wife and I have found many, many herps, walking the dog on our 1 mile circuit!
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Aliceinwl
Very cool… Nice pond
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ThamnElegans24
OK, the animal and the two year old…. That’s scary.
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fox cove 4 and Gary2sons
Sounds like both of you have a great places, Steve and Gary. I envy you folks.
Not only for habitat and herps, but for the kids to grow up!
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Ratsnakehaven
Hey Terry, I had you (and Pingleton’s garter snakes) in mind for this one.
For those who don’t know, Terry has put in allot of work on his home plot to make the yard amenable to much local fauna.
(and yes, we’re hoping to hit the Chiricahuas again this May/June for Birds and herps.)
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Mourits
Wow, Kudos for great managing of that environment..
It tells me I have to quit procrastinating and start some rock walls and ponds!
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Crocdoc
I am knocked over by that little girl and Black.
That’s just great.

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Here are just three more:
We rode out Tropical Storm Fay in SE FL a few years ago at our daughter’s home. The rising waters brought some neat things out of hiding in the yard.

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Spadefoots in spades

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One of at least two snakes (Southern Racer) that got washed out of the yard.

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Even a mammal or two!!!

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Wow, I need to trim my nails!!!
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Excellent thread idea, and excellent contributions!

Who's the brave gentleman that found this huge serpent in his bed?
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Rags
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Re: What’s in your wallet??? I mean back yard???? - theme

Post by Rags »

Wow....loved the photo of the blacksnake waiting by the chicken run.
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