Herping Yosemite

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

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LouB747
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Herping Yosemite

Post by LouB747 »

Just got back from a few days in Yosemite. While it wasn't a herping trip by any means, I did manage to find a couple of snakes.

Lou

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Porter
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by Porter »

Nice footage and editing :thumb: especially that fade through shot from the grass to the deer. Looks like a mountain garter to me (could't see any red blotching, unless minut) I've only been there once with an old girlfriend (non-herp trip) back in 2004 and found Sierra garter on the entrance road in (pulled over to take a wiz by the creek) and then a valley garter at far end of the park (south west of that meadow, maybe) if I remember correctly... I was trying my hardest to video a bear but closest we came was an encounter at the cabin site where we stayed that we missed during the night. Man those rocks look good! Zonata are supposed to be easily seen in situ near the falls... nice boa. :beer:
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LouB747
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by LouB747 »

Thanks for watching. Yeah, I believe it's a mountain garter too. No side blotching at all. I found 3 huge plywood boards behind the house we were staying at. Thought for sure I'd see something under them. I'm guessing earlier in the year would have been good. Yeah, good rocks everywhere. I would have liked to have seen a Zonata on the crawl. Maybe next time!
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jonathan
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by jonathan »

Can anyone with experience in herping Yosemite PM me? That's something that's been on my bucket list for a long time, and I'm looking to finally plan it. I would love to see Mount Lleyl Salamanders, Yosemite Toads, Sierra Mountain Yellow-legged Frogs if possible, and any snakes or other interesting herps at all, but would need a bit of direction to maximize our time.
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John Koerner
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by John Koerner »

I just came back from Yosemite last month myself. Didn't see any herps, but got a couple of nice images out of the deal:

Image
Half Dome

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Bridalveil Falls

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Mule Deer

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Common Raven

I don't know why, but I was unable to see any video on the original post :(
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Fieldnotes
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by Fieldnotes »

WoW, stunningly clear shots! Pretty soon the bears will be in the Valley, they seem to converge there in September before heading off to hibernate.
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John Koerner
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by John Koerner »

Fieldnotes wrote:WoW, stunningly clear shots!
Thank you!

I love my new Nikons :)

The Landscape shots were taken with the D810 + a 30-year-old 15mm lens, whilst the deer and raven were taken with the new D500 + 300mm VR II + 2x TC (which gives me 900mm).


Fieldnotes wrote:Pretty soon the bears will be in the Valley, they seem to converge there in September before heading off to hibernate.
That is what a 30-year ranger told me as I picked his brain for info!

He told me I came at the absolute worst time (crowds, thousands of people, etc.).

He said fall and pre-winter are best for bears, while spring is best for the waterfalls.

He said the snow pack this year produced the best waterfalls he's seen in a decade and that I should have come 4 months earlier :(

Cheers,
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LouB747
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by LouB747 »

Saw 2 bears while we were there. Ones in the video at the end. Thought it was a brown bear. Didn't realize there are only black bears in the park.
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

LouB747 wrote:Saw 2 bears while we were there. Ones in the video at the end. Thought it was a brown bear. Didn't realize there are only black bears in the park.
Are there still brown bears in CA?
RobertH
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by RobertH »

Are there still brown bears in CA?
No, unfortunately not. Not since at least 1930, actually. But, interestingly, there is an initiative underway to reintroduce Grizzly Bears to CA:

https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/05/02 ... the-woods/

Robert
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LouB747
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by LouB747 »

Here's a frame grab from the video. I sure thought it was a brown bear.

Image
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jonathan
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by jonathan »

I've seen at least 7 bears in the wild now (10 sightings but I think some of them were the same bear), but still have only gotten the pure black ones. Are the brown-colored Black Bears limited to certain regions?


Other than a brief trip to Yellowstone with I was 10, I've yet to be in Grizzly territory at all.
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: Herping Yosemite

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

LouB747 wrote:Here's a frame grab from the video. I sure thought it was a brown bear.
Fascinating...
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