Here's my record. What's yours?





Very scary. Remember to wear gloves and flip with care!

Taylor Henry

Wow, that's a hell of a lot of helleri. They are pretty thick down there but that's still very impressive. 3 is the most I've ever flipped. 2 adult kings and an adult Gopher under a board 1½X3'. That big one looks like an Eastern Diamondback. Awesome!

4 snakes 3 species

1 yellow belly racer
1 mountain garter
2 valley garters
unfortunatly only picture i have is film
i remember a thread like this on another forum and some of the pictures were pretty impressive

Childs Play..


But seriously, thats a lot of Helleri. I have a picture of six Helleri at the old tin spot down there somewhere, but not 7 like pictured in your pic.. When I was a teenager I got sent to the chaparral rock piles in the Laguna's and turned a rock that was Helleri from beginning to end.. At least 10 under that rock, needless to say I put the rock back down FAST..

Fundad

Ross - That's a lot of snake for a pretty small board. I'm sure that was a rush...

yoloherper - That's really neat. I wish you had the picture.

Fundad - Were all those ringnecks in California?? This is a california chapter question Just kidding. That's pretty cool.

I hate flipping one rattler under a rock, I can't imagine 10

That would definitely scare someone if they were just picking up the board for the hell of it.... I mean someone not herping

Cool find.... and a good reminder to flip carefully!

Hell, even herping that would scare the bejeesus out of me haha. Makes me realize I need to get a snake hook or something i can flip things with besides my hands....

You're right... but we should know better by know and if we are in an area where that can happen (which is everywhere, around here)... one would think this should always be in our minds.

But the person who doesn't have a clue and is maybe picking up a board for whatever reason.... I would think a scene like that would seriously scare the hello out of them.

Either way a very cool find!

A lot of variation in those. I usually lift boards with the open side towards me. Maybe I'll change that in the future. Natalie and I flipped 5 Sharptails under a small piece of AC. It was a LIFER(5) for me. Lou

Gotcha beat Taylor - read 'em and weap! (goodness knows I've done some crying over these %^@^@[email protected] things lately...)

try 15... only these would fit in the shot...

ACTUALLY.... these were the crotes my partner and I used for our Rattlesnake Avoidance Training Services (Hi-Deserts R.A.T.S,) this summer. But I do flip a board up (the enclousure lid) to see them... Most of these were found on Andy's property (2400 acres) but not quite all... some were given to me, some were rescues. How many Ssp's do ypu see?
Btw... the most I've ever flipped out in the field was 3 adult specks under one rock... the big 45 in male reared up like a cobra and came at me... got pretty hairy for a while... all I had was my camera and my hook... but I ended up with decent pics of all three...

Hey Kent, How many are in the pic?

I don't have a pic, but I have a witness "Mark Highlands". Him and I found 4 ringnecks, 1 Yellow bellied racer, 2 Helleri, and a gophersnake under the same tin in the Santa Monica's. Of course it was a warm afternoon and everything except the Helleri scattered about, not allowing a photo, therefore doesn't count..

Fundad

I can see nine in Kent's shot.

Kent, I was wondering if you would chime in. Matt was telling me about you flipping quite a few a while back. I had never seen the picture... That's crazy


I imagine that was pretty shocking. I've seen two ruber under one rock, but three specks would be an awesome sight. Do you have the picture handy?


Yeah I usually don't like to flip the board open side away from me since it can make it harder to grab something quickly if necessary, but if i'm in an area I know is full of rattlers, I do. It gives you a little more peace of mind having something in between you and them.

I used to do a lot of airsofting with a bunch of friends and when we would find a new location we would go out and find junk to set up a decent field and I had a friend who started screaming when we were doing this once, and got there in time to see at least 5 rattlers leave the scene and my friend freaking out. He said we missed a few that had already left too. I have no idea how he picked it up because back when I was 11 it didn't matter but I doubt he had the opening away from him. We were more careful from then on and would drop a few small rocks on a board and listen for a rattler.

We counted eleven under that one piece of tin. It's hard to see, but there's several neo piled in the left. Another time I saw ten neonates together under a single piece.

What freaks me out is when I go back to a spot like that a few days or weeks later, and NONE of them are there anymore...

Hey Kent show pic of your 5 z's..

Fundad

Taylor,
Yeah... all 3 of those specks were warmed up and Not Happy bout getting messed with... plus, my hand/finger was still messed up from my helli bite the week before... What I found interesting was the variability of these 3... and I definantly think they were related.




The next day I went to the next outcrop and flipped one rosy, and while tripping on how nice it was, spotted another rosy under the next rock down....

To be perfectly honest... I RARELY flip multiples... twice 2 Red Coaches mating, and the specks.... other than that... all singles... but I'm in the Hi D, which is lots different from coastal flipping... cyaaa jim

Jim, that's really neat. From what i've seen (which isn't really that many), specks tend to look similar to each other in their general area, so to see that much variation under one rock is pretty cool.

Nice pics Jim

Great posts everyone.

My record is a guess at best. I once flipped a board in norcal that had somewhere between 45 and 60 garters under it of I think 3 species. They went every which way faster than I could count or ID.

I can't even imagine that. Over here I've flipped a timber twice, but under rocks leaning against other rocks. That totally makes me nervous. All those helleri... Damn, I don't even know how to fathom that. You guys live in a different world.

How about finding them under a 2x4


Found with Sam Murray

Fundad

Wow thats pretty crazy

Out of curiosity how social do you think rattlesnakes really are in regards to finding them under the same cover? Would you say it depends on the time of year or maybe if they are related?

Or do you think it is just where they all happened to find cover and they don't mind others being there?

I just find it interesting to see so many clumped under the same thing...

I spent forever looking for this photo from Kent once, and now found it by accident. A classic.

Miss you man.