Mexico 2010 - April

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Kevin Messenger
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Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Kevin Messenger »

Mexico 2010

Day 1 (15 April)
I arrived in Puerto Vallarta, MX. Took a cab to the hotel where my parents were staying (they were at an international veterinary conference – this same conference is why/how I was able to go to Costa Rica the year before during the same time frame - see: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=786). And for anyone that knows about hunting Mexico you all know that April is still in the midst of the dry season, meaning you need a lot of luck if you intend to find anything! We didn’t have a car (yet) so this first night was just getting settled in, no road cruising or anything of that nature.

Some pics of the hotel:
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We went on a walk down the street:
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Day 2 (16 April)
Today we went on a family tour type deal. Seeing as how we (Dad and I) were going to be doing a lot of snake hunting later on, we felt like we should do some things mom wanted to do. Luckily mom doesn’t pick too touristy-type things to do, our guided tour was a trip into the Sierra Madre’s on unimogs. We got up around 7am to meet up with the 5 other people coming along. Our tour guide was Cesar and was a really cool guy.

Nayarit country side:
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One of my goals while down there (request from a friend) was to photograph some machetes:

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We stopped by a local homestead in the mtns for little home made snack:

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(hot sauce on the left, a cactus medley in the middle, and some incredible guacamole on the far right)

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Close up of cactus medley

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Close up of the guacamole

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(what I was told was a hybrid between a Chinese chicken and a normal chicken. Apparently Chinese chickens are bald or something… even though all the chickens I saw in China were perfectly feathered)

The rest of the tour was pretty disappointing. We drove down dusty roads and stopped once for a little hike. I told Cesar I really wanted to find a snake and he was excited to have someone that liked snakes along. He and I spent a lot of time flipping stuff and raking through leaves to try and turn something up – to the other people’s discomfort I might add. The trail we were hiking he said he has found boas and beaded lizards on in the past. We didn’t find a thing.

Later that day we met up with the other tour buses (this was something I didn’t know about – the fact that other buses were ahead of us, essentially doing the same thing). Cesar was talking to one of his tour buddies and the other dude mentioned the fact that they saw a snake. One of the girls on his tour pulled out her cell phone to show me a few fleeting pictures of a coral snake (based on the blurry pics it looked like Micrurus distans)!! They were approximately 10 minutes ahead of our group! I was pretty pissed. Had I known there were other groups I would have mentioned something to Cesar about trying to get there first, if possible, or something at least! The guy that was in charge of that group (the group that saw the coral) said the week before he saw a baby boa on that trail and the day before that he found another boa about a meter long.

Anyway, we had lunch on a nice looking beach:
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I ate my lunch, had a few alcoholic drinks and then while everyone else went swimming I told Cesar I was walking up the trail to try and find some herps. I saw a bunch of ground running Sceloporus but was unable to photograph any. They looked very similar to Slevin’s Bunchgrass Lizard (Sceloporus slevini) in the US. I continued looking around, trying to photograph the Sceloporus but couldn’t get any decent shots. I was, however, able to photograph some kind of Cnemidophorus (excuse the taxonomy if these too have been changed. It takes me a LONG time to adopt new changes):

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When we finished for the day I asked Cesar if he would have any interest in going hiking the following day. It was Friday and Saturday was his day off. Earlier he had talked about his son’s soccer game, so I figured he wouldn’t be able to, but to my surprise he seemed very excited and interested. We set up a time and location to meet the next morning. Dad was going to be wrapping up some business from the vet conference so he would not be able to attend. It would just be mom, Cesar, and I.

Walking back to the hotel I saw a Sceloporus on a palm tree:
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Sceloporus melanorhinus

Day 3 (17 April)
We rendezvoused with Cesar in his town around 10am. He took us on some back roads to get back to the highway, stopping at a few spots to pick up drinks and such.

Cesar is a really cool guy and knows tons of history. He has a degree in tourism and wants to go back and get a Master’s in tourism. I didn’t know this was possible but apparently so. He has a decent amount of knowledge of herps as well. Each little town we stopped in he gave us an in-depth account of the history.

He called these guys Black Iguanas (Ctenosaura pectinata) – not to be confused with Black Spiny Tail Iguanas (Ctenosaura similis):
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Didn’t see too many Green Iguanas on the West Coast:
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One of the little towns on our way to the highway:
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Our goal was a hiking trail on the outskirts of San Ignacio
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It was a very nice hike, but it didn’t yield much, just some lizards:
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Norops nebulosus?

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An Ameiva from Nayarit. Would love an ID…

We got to a huge rock with a gigantic crack in it. Cesar said that this is where the tailless whip scorpions (Family Phrynicidae) loved to hang out. Cesar pulled out a cigarette and started blowing smoke into the crack to try and flush one. To Cesar’s immense surprise a gecko shot out instead (and scared the hell out of Cesar):

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I thought it was just a Mediterranean Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus), but Jason Jones suggests it is some kind of Phyllodactylus (likely lanei). I will obviously yield to his knowledge when it comes to Mexican herpetology.

Some kind of magpie jay:
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Social Flycatcher:
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Some species of tarantula:
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Cesar flipped a rock and found this scorpion:
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Centruroides suffuses – after “pinning” it he said that it is an extremely dangerous species and that if you don’t seek medical treatment within 45 mins you are basically screwed. I don’t know how much of this was local myth, but based on how educated Cesar has been so far I am inclined to believe him 100%. He said after about 45 mins you start going into convulsions and have other neurological issues, loss of motor control and such.

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We reached basically the end of the trail and I saw a juvenile Masticophis mentovarius disappear down a hole… Well we were essentially defeated at this site. Cesar asked if we wanted to go back to the hotel (we had been hiking for a good 3-4 hrs) or if we wanted to try somewhere else. I told him I honestly would like to keep trying but understood if he needed to get back home or something like that. He was completely content with continuing on.

We headed over to Puerto Monteray where we had the BBQ lunch the day before. The vehicle we had kind of sucked and was 2-wheel drive and was having issues making it up some of the steep hills, so we parked it and started walking. We headed to the trail that I had started the day before, where I had seen the Cnemidophorus, Cesar says that this is a popular spot to see boas crossing the road. We looked around the area for a bit. Cesar turned up one of the big tailless whip scorpions he was trying to get earlier:

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After taking that pic I took some macro shots of the critter and then showed them to mom. These guys look so fierce but are of course harmless:

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As we walked I noticed it getting really cloudy. I asked him if it was going to rain. He looked at me and just kind of laughed. “No, it is April, it won’t rain until June or so.” I followed it up with “Really? So it NEVER rains during the dry season.” He responded with “it is extremely rare. I can’t remember the last time that happened.”

As we walked he told us about all the training he went through to become a guide. All the wilderness survival classes and such. They had to do some pretty intense tests. One included going out for 5 days without food or water or supplies and having to survive as well as carry two wounded individuals (obviously faked) – but they had to make stretchers and all the other various things. He would pick up a palm nut (like a miniature coconut) and tell us about the oil inside could be used as a fire starter or a whole bunch could be used to make a torch. In addition they were highly nutritious, so you got a lot of protein from them. He told us how they would eat termites and which termites you want to select. Very cool stuff, the type of thing I would love to do.

We finally reached the end of the trail. It lead out to a very secluded beach:
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Cesar and I

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Mom and I

Cesar said if I returned during the rainy season that he and I should come out here and look for snakes again. He said that the far end of the beach was a great place to catch lobsters. “Look for snakes, catch some lobsters, cook them up for dinner. Bring some senoritas out, drink some beers. It will be a great time!” – as I said before, he was a really cool guy. I would really like to return during the rainy season, but I am pretty sure I will be too poor to afford such luxuries.

As we headed back, it started to drizzle and then turn into a light rain. I looked at Cesar, he had the strangest look on his face. All he said was “well, you called it! I can’t believe it.” So we can experience some freak rain event that only happens once a decade or something but we couldn’t turn up a simple snake…

It was getting late and we figured dad was probably wondering where we were. We had originally told him we would likely be done around 1 or 2pm – b/c we had assumed Cesar wouldn’t be able to put in a full day, especially on his day off.

We headed back into town and dropped him off. I tried to offer him a simply tip of $40, but he would have none of it. Instead he simply said “No no, I like to get out and go hiking. I enjoyed it very much. Instead of giving me a tip, how about this, try to come back down during the rainy season and let’s try to find some snakes.” I felt bad. He gave up an entire day, his day off, his son’s soccer game to go out of his way and do some herping with some strangers – though by the end of it we were no longer strangers. He went from being just another guide to a new friend. I was now very happy that mom arranged for that tour into the Sierra Madre’s – were it not for that we never would have met Cesar. Of course we put in an incredible word for Cesar with our hotel.

Day 4 (18 April)
Today the plan was to drive as close to Guadalajara as possible. We were to meet up with a friend the following day and look around central Jalisco. We were hoping to reach the town of Ameca that night.

We set out, stopping by the quaint little town of San Sebastian. This town is considered on the “magical towns” of Mexico or something like that. What it boils down to is that they are required to stay rustic, no neon lights or things like that.

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We had lunch at this place:
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(I love food and I love photographing it)

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(very different habitat from what we had seen up until that point – cool too, around low 70’s)

We stopped by a local distillery to buy some incredible tequila (the State of Jalisco is said to have the best tequila in the country):
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As we drove out of San Sebastian we found this very recent DOR – Masticophis mentovarius, still moving:
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This puppy was nearby while photographing the DOR:
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A blue grosbeak in transit to our destination:
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We continued on towards Ameca, arriving in town just as the sun was setting. We were still about an hour and a half away from our meeting spot for the following day. Pics of where we stayed (Posada Magnolias):
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We cruised that night but had no luck. We didn’t stay out too long since we had to get up early. Once we got back to the hotel I walked around the property (there was a small pond) to see if anyone was hanging out:

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Rana berlandieri, not sure about subspecies, maybe forreri?

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Young marinus

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Rana megapoda

Day 5 (19 April)
We left early that morning (6 or 7am I think). We stopped at a small roadside taco stand for breakfast – it was really awesome, no pics though.

We finally met up with Chris and followed him to our destination for the day, we found a bunch of herps (considering the time of year):

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Sceloporus torquatus

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Eumeces callicephalus

We found this Pituophis literally within minutes of starting our hunt for the day. Dad stepped directly on it in the dense grass, I was right behind him, watching his footing and picked the snake up right behind him. We were still in the process of trying to find a way over the barb wire fence at the time, pretty damn cool:
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Pituophis deppei

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The day was already deemed a success in my eye but I REALLY wanted to find some Crotalus!

Chris had two spots in mind. The first one is where we turned up the Pituophis and nothing else (except for lizards) – he had one other spot nearby, so we went there. When we arrived he felt it was too early and we should look around for some other herps before concentrating on the Crotalus

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Hyla eximia

When I saw this guy I at first thought Queen Snake….
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Thamnophis melanogaster (Black Belly Garter) – I didn’t really get any pics I was happy with.

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We (Chris, Dad, Mom, and I) searched this habitat for a couple hours hoping to turn up a Lance-headed Rattlesnake (Crotalus polystictus)

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While looking among the rocks we came across these petroglyphs – at least I think they are petroglyphs, they look ancient to me, not something made in the last 100 yrs or so:
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We made an entire sweep as a group and then mom and dad got tired and I think kind of defeated. Chris was telling us horror stories the entire time about how this time of year is such crap and how he doesn’t really even bother coming out. He also mentioned how his buddy came out to this very spot 10 days earlier and didn’t find a single snake (and that his friend knew all of the best rocks as well). All of this made my spirits soar… (that’s sarcasm in case it didn’t come across in the writing).

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A young cow was curious about my camera bag that I left in the middle of the field.

When we reached the end and after mom and dad had given up, Chris asked me if I wanted to take another sweep through the rocks. I was so glad to hear this. I was worried he was going to also want to give up. I was willing to stay out there all day if need be – if it meant finding a polystictus – of all the rattlesnakes in the area this was a species I really wanted to see. “Of course” I replied and we started a second sweep of the area. We reached the far end and were nearly done. I found the shed skin of a Salvadora, then I walked over to another rock and found another shed skin. I picked it up and examined it, to me it resembled the pattern of a Russell’s Viper (so in other words it was a polystictus)!! “I got a polystictus shed skin over here, can you help me with this rock?” I shouted to Chris. He came over to the rock and we started to lift it, just then Chris yells “here it is right here!” I handed him my hook and he pulls it out. I couldn’t believe we found one! I was so damn happy. This REALLY made the trip for me. For awhile there I thought our 6-8 hr drive we made out to the area might be fairly crappy (given the time of year) – but this animal changed that completely:

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Such a stunningly beautiful animal!

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Chris told us that proportionally this species has the longest fangs of any snake. Pretty cool tidbit of info. So, from here we went to another spot to see if we could turn up some Lampropeltis and also have a shot at Crotalus triseriata armstrongi. We hiked along a rock wall but had no luck with herps, just some curious burros:

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We took a break for lunch. Chris took us to a local place that had a specialty dish known only from that mountain range. I don’t remember the Spanish name for the dish I just remember it involved Ram meat:
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(how they cook the ram meat)

After lunch we decided to try our luck at the first spot again (where we found the Pituophis) – this spot was another spot where Chris has found C. triseriata armstrongi in the past. We were running out of time and this was basically our last outing for the day.

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Low and behold this time!
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Well it was getting on in the day and we had a long drive back (6 to 8 hrs, I forget what it ended up being), the next morning we were flying out to the Yucatan Peninsula to try our luck out there and our flight was leaving at 6am… so we said our goodbyes and headed back to Puerto Vallarta. I was extremely thankful for meeting up with Chris, we knocked out a lot of lifers that day and it was one of the best days of the entire trip. As before with so many other awesome people I meet, we offered him some money for the day but he wouldn’t take it, we finally convinced him to take enough to cover his gas expenses.

We got back into Puerto Vallarta around 2am, enough to give us 2 hrs of sleep before having to leave for the airport…

A link to part II (the Yucatan): viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2158
r.edwards
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by r.edwards »

cool stuff! I am not a fan of polystictus but that one was pretty nice!

r.edwards
chad ks
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by chad ks »

Niiiice! What a treat those two rattlers must have been!
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Mike Rochford
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Mike Rochford »

Nice pics. Couldn't ask for a better guide. Missed the triseriatus there a few years ago.... jealous!

Mike
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Fundad
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Fundad »

Who Cares about the snakes, that food look delicious.. :shock: :thumb:

Oh yeah Cool pics and herps too.. :thumb:

Fundad
Paul White
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Paul White »

polystictus rock. I've seen them in a zoo before, but finding one in the field would be a once in al ifetime deal :beer:
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Carl Brune
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Carl Brune »

Awesome post. Some really sweet finds there. And some good looking food and a good read. Your folks are real troopers.
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croatrox
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by croatrox »

Excellent Post! I enjoyed it very much. Your parents are very cool.
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StephenZozaya
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by StephenZozaya »

Good post, Kevin. I saw some of your photos on Flickr and was hoping you'd do a post on the trip.

Cheers
Stephen
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Excellent - thanks for posting!
WW**
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by WW** »

Fantastic! I love your photos and the descriptions of people, food and country. It really makes me feel like I am there. And then it makes me feel like booking a flight...
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justinm
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by justinm »

Kevin,

I always enjoy your immersion into the various cultures you've visited. The two Crotes were pretty good lifers to add to the list for certain. Nice finds and story to go along.
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Berkeley Boone
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Berkeley Boone »

FAN-FREAKIN'-TASTIC!!!!
The Crotalus were wonderful, but that deppei takes the cake. Shoot, it takes the whole bakery, Kevin! Wow!
--Berkeley
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AndyO'Connor
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by AndyO'Connor »

As I was reading, I was really jealous of the deppei. Then you threw in the two crotes, and now I hate you :lol: Very cool post, and congrats on the finds, I know you really worked hard to get those few snakes, but they all rocked.
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JBBoiler
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by JBBoiler »

Wow, AWESOME! You sure do paint a different picture of Mexico than what we read and hear on the news.
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Cole Grover
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Cole Grover »

Excellent post, Kevin! I'd heard your trip was a success with regard to the Crotalus, so it's nice to see your photos! Your gecko is, indeed, a Phyllodactylus. The Amblypygid was fantastic.

-Cole
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Mike Pingleton »

most excellent!

-Mike
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Nshepard
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Nshepard »

You're going to teach for me this April so I can go somewhere cool, right?!
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Kevin Messenger
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Kevin Messenger »

thanks for all the comments everyone. Finding the deppei was really amazing and kind of came out of left field. As we were walking Chris mentioned Pituophis being common there - I was there for the rattlesnakes, finding that Pituophis was a very welcome surprise.

I will have to say, the polystictus REALLY made the day for me. On top of being one of the species high on my list it was a gorgeous specimen to boot. And anytime you find a rare/uncommon species outside of the prime season is always a treat as well.

Yeah Mike, our guide was superb.

Cole - didn't know my exploits made it all the way to Montana!

You all I know I love photographing food - I have an entire set on Flickr dedicated to Chinese Food. I wish I had taken more pics of some of the smaller food setups in MX...

Yeah, my parents are troopers. Mom probably deserves more credit than dad just because she doesn't really like snakes whereas dad enjoys herping just as much as I do. Mom enjoys hiking and finding everything OTHER than the snakes. She especially hates it when we find venomous and get close to photograph them. She has also gone through a lot of surgery to allow her to do as much hiking as she does. I am very grateful my parents are supportive and enjoy traveling and the outdoors as much as I do. I have even been road cruising a couple of times with my grandmother out in Kansas!

Nate - did you cover one of my labs to help me get out to Mexico? I was thinking not....
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Jon Wedow
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Jon Wedow »

Awesome trip! Great photos, great read ... now I want to go!

Jon
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ksuglennj
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by ksuglennj »

I always enjoy your posts. I've become a big pit fan of late, so that deppei is just too cool. That polystictus is just gorgeous. Looking at your Cnemidophorus, it looks like a species in the deppii group. The good news is, if I'm correct, that still makes it Cenemidophorus and not Aspidoscelis. Not going to lie, I would not bet my life on my identification because I've never been to the area.

Glenn
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Don
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Don »

Love the deppei, like the food, good to see your old man! The whole post rocks!
Rick Staub
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Rick Staub »

Fundad wrote:Who Cares about the snakes, that food look delicious.. :shock: :thumb:

Oh yeah Cool pics and herps too.. :thumb:

Fundad
Ditto. I thought I had mistakenly logged into the food and travel forum for a while until that Pituophis came up. Wow.
Jackson Shedd
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Jackson Shedd »

Very nice...MX posts are always welcome in my book. Just for your notes:

Your Sceloporus melanocephalus is S. melanorhinus.

Your Sceloporus torquata is torquatus (gender change from the familiar Hypsiglena torquata)

And I second JJ on the Phyllodactylus sp.
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Kevin Messenger
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Kevin Messenger »

thanks for the Latin corrections. I made the changes
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Dave S
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Dave S »

Wow, Great post as always!!!! Your mom rocks, she has a bigger set then I do. :( I would never get near that whip scorpion. :shock:
Dave S
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monklet
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by monklet »

Your posts are always great fun. Thanks for the hard work putting it together.
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dezertwerx
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by dezertwerx »

:shock: Great Looking Crotes! :thumb:
hellihooks
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by hellihooks »

GREAT Post,
from what I got to see... my computer sucks and couldn't handle that many pics... :roll: The pit rocks and the one crote I did get to see was way nice. I don't recall ever seeing a whip scorp posted before... I found one nearly that big decades ago, in AZ, up by Hoover Dam... never even heard of anyone seeing another, till now. good job man... :thumb: jim
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Chris_VE.
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Chris_VE. »

Awesome finds!
I would like to point out what a small world it is, because i was at that same hotel from April 10-18! I didn't go on any herp adventures sadly... BUT! every night I would find at least a dozen geckos, and in that river that ran through were a few brownish/black snakes. No idea what they were, so I didn't dare pick them up, but I watched them for hours. Oh and there were iguanas everywhere :D
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Kevin Messenger
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Kevin Messenger »

wow, that is pretty crazy. Yeah, I saw some geckos on our hotel at night. Never saw any snakes on that little river than runs through the town. That would have been pretty cool
bobassetto
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by bobassetto »

december???........how didja get the food to stay on the plate????
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Kevin Messenger
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Kevin Messenger »

I don't know about december this year.... defending my thesis and then hoping to get a grant to go to China for 2 weeks and do some stuff over there....
bobassetto
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by bobassetto »

if you need help defending your thesis.....jim and i gotcher back!!!!!......
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Ross Padilla
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Ross Padilla »

Great post! Love the colors on that pit. :thumb:
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peterknuteberg
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by peterknuteberg »

Kevin, I really enjoyed your post. I have been to Jalisco quite a few times (my wife's family lives in Guadalajara). I salivated on some of those food shots, loved the "pueblito" shots, dreamed about going to new places looking at the habitat shots, cringed at the scorpion shot and that vinagrudo--horrible, and loved the herp shots. Looks like a fantastic trip. :beer: Peter Berg.
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Don Cascabel
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Don Cascabel »

It was nice to meet you Kevin! Your parents are troopers, no doubt! I am glad we were able to scare up one of each Crote, despite the dry conditions. Right now is the time of year to be doing that stuff, you would get numerous of each in one day plus C. basiliscus as well. Oh well. I know I owe you some IDs on those lizards, just haven't gotten around to it. Your gecko I think is Phyllodactylus lanei, I am about 90% sure on that. For some reason only half the photos are popping up on my comp as well... weird, maybe the connection is too slow?

Cheers,

Don Cascabel
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Kevin Messenger
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Kevin Messenger »

thanks for the species ID on that Phyllodactylus. Great meeting you too down there, I hope one day to repeat the effort during a more appropriate time of year (like right now or a month ago). Yeah, probably the connection, they are still popping up over here each time I open it up. Anyway, thanks again for the incredible day - as I mention in the post, it was one of the best days in Mexico for me
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Thamnophis
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Thamnophis »

What a great journey his was, Kevin. Beautiful pictures.

The black-bellied Garter snake you found is, if you found it in Jalisco, the subspecies T. melanogaster canescens. Great snakes... I breed them at home.
Joezilla
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Joezilla »

arr! Thanks for the machete pics Kev
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Grimleo
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Grimleo »

I loved reading this thread. Great photos, great stories! Congrats on the finds, also. :D
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atheris978
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by atheris978 »

Thanks for putting yourself through that living hell just to share with us. Can't believe you endured all that. :lol:
Very nice!
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Kevin Messenger
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Re: Mexico 2010 - April

Post by Kevin Messenger »

thanks Thamnophis for the subspecies identification. Yes, it was Jalisco

to everyone else, thanks again, Part II (the Yucatan) will be up shortly
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