Recent creek adventures.

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ThatFrogGuy
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Recent creek adventures.

Post by ThatFrogGuy »

Some finds from recent trips to a couple different spots on a creek that runs through my town.
Midland Watersnake Nerodia sipedon pleuralis
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Some kind of butterfly, ID?
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Southern Two Lined SalamanderEurycea cirrigera
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Two lined larvae
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Some neighborhood kids found a snake for me :rolleyes:
In-situ...
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CAPTURED!
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You can see about halfway down his body he has a checkerboard pattern. I don't know if this is unusual or not, but it is the first I've seen like that.

There were more people around this spot so I got lots of weird looks and stares. :rolleyes: The kids were fascinated and amazed that I caught it. I got to teach one lady the difference between water snakes and copperheads so that was neat.

Anyways I have a question for you snake wranglers, how do you get the snake to coil for pictures? (if you do that is, I don't want to force it or anything but it would be nice to get some full body shots without my hand in the picture.)
Grass709
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Joined: May 27th, 2011, 5:21 pm
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by Grass709 »

step on their head. usually stops movement for a little while. (kidding of course) i usually let them crawl under a board or something then lift it and get a pic as quick as possible. a lot of times they'll pose nicely like that.
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FLjeep74
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by FLjeep74 »

That's a pretty neat looking water snake. I have no clue as to what their normal patterns are, but it's a neat looking snake.

I see you've got quite a few posts so you probably know about the Image Lab/photography section that's within this forum. There are enough posts there to keep you busy for hours and hours with all kinds of tips and hints but even better (for me) basic photography 101.

I've read/seen people use all types of things to cover a snake to calm it down or get it somewhat 'posed' for pictures. I've been using the bottom drain plates from plastic garden pots. You can buy them seperately in quite a few different sizes at your local Home Depot/Lowes, and they're cheap. They stack well within each other, are light and don't take up a lot of space. Something I found helpful that I've done on one of every size (I have 2 of every size) is to grind/notch out a little half moon (like a mouse hole in the wall from the old Tom & Jerry cartoons). It's helped me in some cases where it's almost impossible to get a snake to completely curl up small enough to fit under your desired photography 'cover'. I just lay the upside down plate with the half moon in it, then hold the snake and let him slither into this small hole. About 95% of the time (so far) they've never turned around and tried to head back out the hole. They seem to just hold up and feel safe... then after a few minutes I'll remove the plate and try to get around to whichever side he's facing.

I hope some of this rambling made sense. If you'd like I can post some pictures of my plates.

There are many, many others on this forum with much more experience who I'm sure will also chime in.

Good luck and keep up the educational aspects with the neighborhood!

Mike
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Crazins
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by Crazins »

One word: Patience. A good snake shot can take nearly an hour to prepare, depending on the species and the individual. I like to use my hands to pose it; you can feel when they've stopped moving and where their head is at so you can set up your shot.
For example, this one took freaking forever to pose...
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Garters, kings, and all of the small stuff tend to be the worst, in my experience.

Good luck and keep at it! Pm me if you want any more tips.

-Marisa
urodacus_au
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by urodacus_au »

I use plant pot drain dishes like FLJeep. The vast majority of the snake species within 2000kms of where I am are venomous so the hand posing isnt ideal. I find your hands tend to warm the snake up more as well, a cool Parasuta or Demansia is far easier to photograph than a warm one. Try and pick something the snake just fits under (rather than something it will get lost under) as they tend to spread out a bit when the cover is removed.

Jordan
Coluber Constrictor
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by Coluber Constrictor »

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DaneConley
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by DaneConley »

If we are still able to meet up this summer I can show you.

I have never tried using materials to pose them, but sounds like it is faster and less frustrating.
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ThatFrogGuy
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by ThatFrogGuy »

Thanks everyone, sound like some good methods.
FLjeep74 wrote: If you'd like I can post some pictures of my plates.

Mike
I'd appeciate that.
DaneConley wrote:If we are still able to meet up this summer I can show you.

I have never tried using materials to pose them, but sounds like it is faster and less frustrating.
As far as I know, we probably need to come up with a date soon though.
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justinm
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by justinm »

I use pot drain plates of 4 different sizes. I try to get the snake tight under one, depending on it's size. Milk caps are good for really small snakes too. I have modified mine to have rope handles on the top. This is so that if a hot is under that plate I can use a stick or hook to get the lid off and not get into a dangerous position. I can post pic if anyone cares to see what I've done.
Erik Williams
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by Erik Williams »

I use a hat. Then I don't have to carry it.
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ThatFrogGuy
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by ThatFrogGuy »

Erik Williams wrote:I use a hat. Then I don't have to carry it.
haha thays very good I might use that.
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ThatFrogGuy
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by ThatFrogGuy »

I went out on Saturday and brought a plastic flowerpot with a hole cut in the side like a mousehole. It made photograhing them soooo much easier. You can see the report here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7242
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fitzcarp
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by fitzcarp »

Some do it on there own, but there's a loy of tricks.
In this pic od the Estern Milksnake, i used my hands cupped over him until he settled down
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Same with this Ringneck
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But you could also try the hat trick, bring a hat with u try placing it over the snake, they think there hidden. When u get ready to take the hat off of the snake make sure your camera is ready, and snap away. Believe me some snakes never stay still, so a friend comes in handy.
Or you just get lucky and they pose for you.
Eastern Hognose
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Sometimes it's just good old fashioned luck.
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MeesterSir
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by MeesterSir »

Very nice post. Once again I appreciate your enthusiasm for Nerodia, I've found it difficult to maintain interest in certain common species after all of these years. Personally, I enjoyed your pics just the way they were. There's something to be said for the people on this forum who take those stellar herp photos but I get quickly annoyed with people when the herping is brought to a stop because one individual has to have a lengthy photo session with the animal. I usually get a quick photo to voucher the animal and if it is a particularly good find I may spend 5 or 10 minutes with it. As for getting them to coil I cover them with thin plastic plates used to rest flower pots on. You can get them in various sizes from walmart.

-MS
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ThatFrogGuy
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Re: Recent creek adventures.

Post by ThatFrogGuy »

MeesterSir wrote:Very nice post. Once again I appreciate your enthusiasm for Nerodia, I've found it difficult to maintain interest in certain common species after all of these years. Personally, I enjoyed your pics just the way they were. There's something to be said for the people on this forum who take those stellar herp photos but I get quickly annoyed with people when the herping is brought to a stop because one individual has to have a lengthy photo session with the animal. I usually get a quick photo to voucher the animal and if it is a particularly good find I may spend 5 or 10 minutes with it. As for getting them to coil I cover them with thin plastic plates used to rest flower pots on. You can get them in various sizes from walmart.

-MS
Thanks, well the main reason I like them so much is that this is the first year I have really gotten into snakes, and the first year I have caught and handled them. And they are the only snakes I can ever find anyway. :lol: Thank you for complementing me on my pictures, I liked them but I kind of got tired of having nothing but head shots or shots with my hands in them. Depending on the animal, setting, and time of day, I might spend up to 20 minutes photgraphing. Thats usually only if the animal found is a lifer or a species I really like, and if the lighting is bad or something, thus making me take more to get a decent picture. But I can see how that would be annoying to other people in a group. I usually am by myself anyway. But I actually think my new method takes less time, since they would always freak out when I was holding them and I would have to wait for them to sit still.
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