Snakes

Black Widow vs. Scorpion

2010-09-30T22:01:00.001-07:00

Just in case anyone was wondering if a black widow was tougher than a scorpion, this was something interesting that was found earlier this year while snake hunting. This photo shows what happens when a scorpion gets together with a black widow spider. The scorpion becomes just another meal. In this area, it is extremely common to find black widows with abdomens the size of quarters. The first time I found a black widow this large, my heart started pounding and I checked my clothes repeatedly to make sure I didn't have one on me, but now we have become used to finding them and have very little fear of them.

The scorpion is just a lesser arachnid and becomes hollowed-out web discard:

Great Basin Rattle Snake By Request

2010-09-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

My cousins were out here the other day. One was telling me of some alligators he caught back home recently, but he also mentioned that he had never seen a live rattle snake. He lives right in the middle of palmetto habitat, so I don't know how that is possible, but I immediately made it my goal to find him a live one. We would have only 45 minutes of searching after the sun went down before he had to be somewhere. The first snake we would find would be a gopher snake that was trying to absorb some heat. My cousins liked the gopher snake. This one didn't hiss or get tough with us and was calmer than some of my pet snakes.

After looking for a while, I started to wonder. Then I took a separate trail and almost immediately found what we were looking for. His first ever live rattle snake was a Great Basin Rattle Snake. The rattle snake was very calm. It never rattled and only held this defensive posture for a few seconds after I kept blocking it's escape.

When the rattle snake was on the ground, it was hard to see it, but it had 2 distinct prey lumps. They were easier to see with the snake suspended over a stick.

Kangaroo rats were most likely what the snake had eaten. We saw quite a few of these guys hopping around. Kangaroo rats never need to drink water their entire lives. They have special kidneys that allow them to survive on only the moisture from things that they eat. I have no idea what purpose the super-long tail serves. Really, the tail encumbers the rat (mouse) and makes them easy to catch.

We saw some of these hairy scorpions in the same area:

Canyon Tree Frog Behavior:

2010-09-08T22:03:00.000-07:00

This is a canyon tree frog exactly as we found it on a warm, nearly vertical canyon wall.

The canyon tree frog exactly matches it's surroundings because it is covered in the same sand that is also covering the rock. Is the frog intelligent enough to camouflage itself by rolling around in the sand, or does the frog's natural behavior just provide this perfect sand camouflage without the frog even realizing it?

The canyon tree frog looked much cooler after my neice poured some creek water on it and revealed it's spotted pattern.

We found a lot of red spotted toads in the same area. There were also leopard frogs in the same area, but to get photos of more than just their eyes and noses with horrible reflections, I would have had to damage some habitat.

Toads do not ever have to submerge in water to keep their skin healthy. They have super absorbant skin on their rear-ends that can absorb any little bit of moisture that they sit on.

A couple tiny toads that recently transitioned from water to land:

This is a chorus frog. These are the frogs that are often heard and seldom seen. They are classified as tree frogs, but are usually found at the edge of bodies of water

I have found that chorus frogs are very calm and will eat moving insects right out of your hand. This one is a female:

A light rain brought out hundreds (maybe thousands) of tiger salamanders on this night. The road was turning gray in one area with salamander guts because so many were getting smashed. My son and a friend jumped out to save some, but it was a futile effort because more were coming onto the road than could be removed. Stopping on the road nearly got us hit and also attracted a sheriff's deputy, who questioned us for a while. I explained about the salamanders and the gray salamander guts all over his tires and what that nasty popping noise was as he was unknowingly running over so many salamanders. He took my license, ran our plates, and then told us to get out of the road. I took a few shots before he made us leave:

Another shot of the same group of live ones:

This one was really cool looking:

The large one in this shot is albino:

Seeing hundreds of tiger salamanders smashed in the road like that was horrible.

Western Toads

2010-07-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

Toads are really cool creatures. They're a lot less slimy than frogs, but they seem to have a never-ending supply of pee when you pick them up. A close-up shot of a western toad reveals some cool markings. The black and gold pattern in their eyes is awesome.

A light rain while road cruising brought out dozens of these, even in areas far away from any body of water.

The toads were content to sit on hands.

A group photo was a lot trickier:

We found a lot of cool things this night, but the toads were the most entertaining to my son.

Let me get back to the bugs.

Toads don't really give you warts.

Getting 2 toads to pose isn't too difficult.

Three requires a little work.

Six active toads was as many as I could try to photo.

Gopher Snakes in Rock Piles

2010-06-14T16:50:00.000-07:00

A common but spectacular sight in Utah Valley:

We tried our luck with some rock piles:

The cactus flowers were worth a look:

In each of the many

colors:

This was a breeding pair of gopher snakes. They were copulating when found and then decided to take off in different directions when they saw us. Both of these gopher snakes were about 5 feet long.

Judging by their huge heads, these were really old gopher snakes. The male, being held on the right, had girth like a python.

Another pose with the well-fed couple:

We made sure they escaped in the same direction:

Both didn't quite fit in this hiding spot:

Some of the scenery. We also observed a juvenile hawk being chased away from a high cliff nest repeatedly. It was complaining loudly and kept trying to return to the nest, which probably had this year's chicks in it. We were fortunate to have found any snakes in this small canyon with a hawks' nest overlooking almost every part of the rock slides.

This is the first bat that I have ever flipped. It literally scared the pee out of it:

The bat made some of the most unusual noises that I have ever heard. I thought that bats hung out in groups and in caves.

I put the thing back by the bark to allow it to climb back in and it gave us a bat farewell.

We stumbled upon 2 fawns:

These fawns froze and wouldn't move a muscle:

The fawns wouldn't even flee when approached:

It was cool to be able to pet wild fawns, but

then we wondered if the mom would abandon them because of our scent.

Great Basin Gopher Snakes

2010-06-01T18:58:00.000-07:00

Most people that have spent time outdoors in Utah have seen gopher snakes. They are pretty hard to miss, especially in the spring. I never get tired of seeing gopher snakes.

Gopher snakes are easily the best-looking of all snakes with keeled scales. They are better looking than most smooth-scaled snakes. The eye stripes are awesome.

Most gopher snakes make great pets and eat pre-killed mice without trouble.

Gopher snakes and a sage lizard:

Gopher snakes are said to grow to over 6 feet, but I haven't found many that are even 5 feet in length. I have found large skin sheds, but the skin can stretch during the shed, so that is not an accurate representation of length. Adult gopher snake length doesn't come close to adult gray rat snakes, but gophers are much more handsome.

Like I said, they're pretty tame for a wild snake:

A niece who loves to pick up reptiles:

A nephew who likes to taste reptiles:

Where did that fence lizard come from?

A big dark one:

with a black and white yearling:

There were quite a few heavy-laden female fence lizards on the rocks where we unloaded the 4-wheelers:

Plenty of gopher snakes to go around.

I like the ones where the black turns to rusty brown:

One of these had pretty bright yellow:

A small fence lizard:

Side-blotched lizard variability

2010-05-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

Side-blotched lizards have a spectacular variety of color patterns and like fingerprints, no two are the same. This is a group of 3 males (on the left) and 2 females, which appear to be full of eggs. The 3 males of this group represent all 3 levels of male dominance. The center lizard is an orange-throat and is able to defend a large area with many females. The lizard 2nd from the left is a blue-throat and is only able to defend a small area with one female. The lizard on the far left is a yellow throat and cannot defend itself against the other two. It must sneak around the other males' territories to find females. It is still a beautiful lizard.

This is a good shot of the orange-throat blending in well with the lichens.

A belly shot of the dominant male:

A contrasting shot of one of the females:

This was the only whiptail that we would find on this day. We placed the whiptail on the rock for a good background. Whiptails seldom climb rocks.

A close-up of a cool lizard. You've gotta love those fingernails and large ear openings:

And a belly shot. Whiptails won't hold this pose very long:

Patch-nosed snake, rattlesnake, and baja rat snake?

2010-04-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

On a recent work trip to San Diego I found a couple hours to get to the hills east of the city to see what I could find (like any other eccentric weirdo would do). I just drove up as high as I could and found a SW facing rock pile that looked like prime mountain king habitat. Could I be that lucky? The conditions seemed perfect, but there were still homes all around. Looking around and flipping some large stones only turned up scorpions and unusual spiders like these:

Giant centipedes were common here:

While walking around the area, a large lizard about 3 feet in length took off right beside me. I gave chase, but only managed to scratch up my legs while running after it. It was incredibly fast and guessing from it's size, I'd have to say that it was someone's escaped monitor lizard pet or something. I just haven't ever heard of any native lizards being that huge. Hundreds of whiptails were running from me everywhere I walked. Most of these were 6-8 inches in length, although a few were as long as the 16 inch whiptails that I find in Utah. As these photos show, the San Diego whiptails look very similar, but they were found to bite when caught. That is something that I have never seen from whiptails before.

Cool pattern on the backs of these:

Their undersides matched the rocks perfectly:

As you can see, this one had it's mouth open and was panting like a dog:

I first thought this snake was a whipsnake, but then I noticed the odd nose scale for digging, which earns it the name desert patch-nosed snake (Salvadora hexalepis hexalepis). The snake was found inside the coastal patch-nosed snake range, but looks more like a desert than a coastal to me:

I dropped my wife's camera in the sand while going after this guy and then was treated to musking, defecating, and an everted rectum being rubbed all over my arm. I guess it was worth it.

Cool snake after it calmed down.

Then I came across this cute little critter:

A Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crostlus oreganus helleri). There is something about juvenile rattlesnakes that always makes me want to put them in a jar and take them home, even though that would be illegal and stupid. They are just so neat.

This one had a prey lump and was about 21 inches or so.

After the photo session, the rattler headed down a hole:

When I turned around and started retracing my steps, I saw a really large snake that looked like a big stick laying across where I had just walked. It quickly doubled back on it's travel path after seeing me and took off under a barbed wire fence that had "no trespassing" signs on it. Not very far from the fence was a farm house. I just couldn't bring myself to jump the fence to pursue the large snake. As excited as I was, the thought of trying to explain myself to someone holding a 12 gauge was too discouraging. I probably should have jumped the fence though, because when I got to a field guide I found that the snake most looked like a baja rat snake and would have been a very rare find. I am surprised that I didn't find more rattlesnakes. I am not surprised that I didn't find a mountain king, given the short time I spent even though conditions were nearly perfect.

Arizona Mountain Kingsnakes: The Beauty Called Pyromelana

2009-11-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

Arizona Mountain Kingsnakes are labeled "pyromelana" by science. Lampropeltis pyromelana means "shiny-scaled fire-against-black". The name is about the best in the snake world and so is the appearance of this awesome snake.
(CLICK ON THE PICTURES FOR CLARITY)

The best-looking milk snakes just aren't as pretty as pyros are. Even the beloved scarlet kingsnake is not painted quite as brilliantly as these mountain kings.

The amount of black and the triad (3 colors repeated) count varies greatly with pyros. One thing that is consistent is the red in pyros. Unlike the red in milk snakes, which varies greatly, the red in pyros is almost always the same, even in the albinos. The red in pyros comes as close to orange as possible without actually being orange.

Living in mountains that are covered with snow for a large part of the year and possessing such coloration, pyros really are a freak of nature.

This is a captive bred pyro that has some staggered triads or "zipper".

The coolest pyros available from 12 different locations can found at http://www.ophidiarium.com/

Great natural camouflage:

Mexican mountain kings are a pyromelana subspecies labeled knoblochi. They typically have nearly twice the triads as Arizona mountain kings and also the white bands connect at the bottom in a chain-link pattern. They are just a different kind of awesome and are just as available in the pet trade as pyros are. This is my captive bred knoblochi:

Stumbling upon a knoblochi or pyro is about the height of field herping, but take only photos.

If your snake collection consists of only one snake and that snake is a pyro, your collection is still complete.

Garter Snakes

2009-11-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

It is November and the fields around here are still very active with garters. There are also plenty smashed in the road as the blacktop lures them with warm temps. These are the first snakes that are seen around here in the spring, along with racers. They seem to thrive with a short hibernation period.

This close shot shows how the garters scales are "keeled", that is to say that there is a raised ridge running down the middle of the scales like the keel on a boat.

Most of these garters have battle wounds from cats or other animals. I'm not one for numbers, but I think if we were trying to go for garter numbers we could probably round up 50-100 of these in a day.

Snakes and Parenting

2009-10-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

After getting a pet snake a while back, the snake was brought home and placed in a typical display tank. The top on this tank was not the sliding type, but it fastened shut in another way. I was excited. My son was also excited and he had held the little snake for some time when I brought it home. The next day my son showed the snake off to one of his friends and afterwards the top of the tank was not secured properly and the snake escaped. When I found out that the snake was gone I was angry. The more I looked for the snake, the angrier I became. My son apologized for what had happened, but I was stern with him and didn't immediately accept his apology. At that point I guess I was acting more childish than he was. The snake was eventually found, but that really didn't matter.

I learned that what matters most to me is being a good parent . It is important for a child to be the most important thing in a parent's life and that they know it. When a parent causes a child to feel less important than a pet, a hobby, or anything else, that is clear communication to the child. Also, spending more time with an interest than with one's own child can cause this. I believe that when a child receives this communication, it can only be overcome with consistent and improved actions by the parent, because words mean so much less at that point. Looking back on this situation, I learned that if I fail to give adequate instructions to my kid, the consequences are not my kid's fault. The fault is my own. Parents should never punish their kids for things that they haven't been adequately instructed on. Only bosses can get away with that. A good parent is willing to discard an interest or even a career that makes their child feel unimportant.

Leopard Frogs

2009-10-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

Next to snakes, frogs and other amphibians are some of the coolest creatures on the planet. They are cooler than most people in my opinion. Frogs are also thought to be good indicators of environmental conditions because they cannot tolerate very much pollution in the water. Leopard frogs are very common in the southern United States, but not all that common in the north.

These leopard frogs were found in a crystal-clear pool at about 7,000 feet elevation. The water was so cold that my hands went numb in just seconds when reaching for frogs.

Some more shots of frogs:

We thought this was the mama frog because it was the biggest frog at the pool. It croaked loudly when picked up, so it had to be a male.

These frogs by law are controlled for collection, so I only grabbed about 30 of them to sell in the classifieds. Just kidding.

Kids' Bug Collection

2009-07-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

It is always good to start the day out with scenery like this:
These standing rocks looked like creek bed guardians:

We found that mormon crickets eat grasshoppers. I meant to get a picture of that, but didn't.

There were hundreds of mormon crickets all over. Here are 3 more:

This is a borer beetle. Non-native borer beetles are destroying many forests in Utah and there doesn't seem to be a good solution to the problem.

This is a robber fly. They sound like WWII airplanes when they fly. Robber flies prey upon other flying insects including honey bees, which they catch in the air and inject with venom. They then suck out the insides like a spider. These look like they might be a young dragonfly, but they are not related to dragonflies. They actually eat adult dragonflies that are much larger than themselves. There is another robber fly photo coming up in this post that looks like a bee, but is just a common variation.

These scorpions are common to Utah's deserts:

The beautiful markings of a dragon fly:

Another dragonfly that has a great wing color (I put the dragonfly against white to make the color pop out):

Dragonflies are not actually flies.

Tiger swallowtail:

Wounded dragon. Sometimes this happens when the kids try to catch these guys.

A young buck that seemed to have very little fear of people:

Thermoregulating sage lizard:

Side-blotched lizard keeping an eye on us:

I took these pictures as an afterthought. I was looking for snakes and my son was looking for bugs.

Cabbage white butterfly. These never stay still.

Pulling back some bark revealed ant tunnels:

The ants quickly began moving the eggs to safety:

Is this a bee? No, it is another robber fly.

The robber fly landed near the ants and I wondered if it would eat one.

The pattern of this rocky mountain parnassian butterfly cannot be seen until it is caught and held still. When it flies it simply looks tan.

A parnassian that is ready to get back to the flowers of the meadow:

A beautiful piece of living art:

With some silver underneath:

A tiger swallow tail that was lacking it's swallow tails. Though it had a tear on one of the rear wings, it appeared that the swallow tails were not ever formed:

A front shot showed some blue near where the wing tails should be:

This one was smaller, but had it's wing tails and was in perfect shape:

The diversity of butterfly colors and patterns is incredible. I think that a person could study butterflies their entire life and still require a field guide for complete identification.

This one had white on the wing's edges:

A shot from the bottom. Crazy eyes:

This little guy had a spectacular pattern when its wings were open, but it wouldn't cooperate for a picture of that.Another variation of the cabbage white butterfly:

White admiral butterfly:

The wings were showing some wear:

Box elder bug hangout:

If anyone can identify the above and below plants, please do so in the comments.

Another white admiral:

A mushroom cookie growing out of a log:

Some red under the tattered white admiral's wings:

A white admiral with less mileage:

Some really large slugs were found out in the morning moisture. These were huge & spotted:

Corn Snake Genetics

2009-07-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

This corn snake belongs to a friend of the family:
As you can see, this corn snake is quite a bit different than any of mine. It has a broken up stripe that connects the pattern in the middle and towards the tail:

The variations in corn snake genetics are incredible. This snake is also high white and is very tame, like a typical corn.

To see an awesome variety and latest corn snake morphs, check out http://www.moreptiles.com/

Ruby is an entirely different flavor:

Lizard ID Challenge

2009-06-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

Test your lizard id skills. What species is this and where does it range?

Whip snake, whiptails, scorpions, and others

2009-06-23T23:06:00.000-07:00

****DOUBLE CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE****
After finding a huge golden eagle and a lot of other cool desert wildlife, we arrived at a spot that looked good for finding snakes. This little whiptail was the first herp that I could get a picture of:
In less than 5 minutes we had found several scorpions. They are all curled up when you first flip the rock they are under:

They quickly spring into defensive posture:

They will nearly flip over thrusting their stinger toward you:

A true desert survivor could remove the stinger and pop the scorpion into their mouth for a snack. I prefer to just hold out until I can get to an Arby's.

These little guys seemed to have very good sight for having tiny eyes.

This was the largest of the scorpions and it had black claws:

It was not to be messed with. I put all of the scorpion homes/rocks back exactly as I found them.

We spotted a lot of side blotched lizards basking on rocks:

Another side blotched lizard:

This area had a concentrated population of whiptail lizards.

Most of these whiptails had some blue above their front legs.

The full-grown whiptails were 15 to 20 inches long from their snout to the end of their tails.

While being pursued they would often stop to lay for a moment on warm rocks and then take off again.

When they bask, whiptails usually lift their legs:

Photographing whiptails usually involves some running and chasing.

There were a lot of holes in the area, but the whiptails were reluctant to go down them when they were being pursued. This gave me hopes of finding snakes.

Another whiptail that is probably wondering why I am chasing it with a camera:

The pronghorn antelope: the fastest land animal in the western hemisphere.

Finally, a snake:

When we walked up to this rock slide, this striped whip snake came quickly slithering out.

Every whip snake I have ever picked up has rolled in my hands. Those that have handled whip snakes know what I mean by that.

Whip snakes are good-looking creatures:

Off goes the whip snake:

To terrorize the lizards.

This yellow side-blotched lizard was regrowing it's tail, possibly lost to the whip snake as it was found in the exact same area.

This fence lizard couldn't find a fence to hang out on:

These lizards are about the easiest lizards to catch. The are quick, but they let you get really close before they decide to flee.

Same lizard, different angle:

Blue and orange:

The orange is mostly in the arm pits:

A closer shot of the arm pit:

Unlike most, this lizard would not go to sleep when we turned it over and rubbed it's belly:

Another side-blotched:

Another big fence lizard:

The camouflage wasn't working with this guy:

After looking for cool rocks and finding more than we could take home, we photoed more of the whiptails while looking for snakes.

There were so many whiptails here that I had to stop several times to avoid running them over. The whiptails were also chasing each other around in circles, which made us laugh.

The smaller lizards lived right amongst the whiptails.

Whiptail lizards never bite when caught. Their defense is their speed.

As cool as whiptails are, they should not be kept as pets. There are just too many captive bred lizards that can be purchased cheaply and are easier to keep.

The kids like holding whiptails when we find them:

I have never seen a whiptail's tail detach like other lizards. Maybe they don't.

I think I took too many whiptail pictures. I guess that is what happens when only one snake is found.

Spiders and Creepy Crawlies.

2009-06-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it is fun to turn attention to things that have a few more legs than snakes. Take a look at this caterpillar. This pattern would look awesome on a snake:
When this caterpillar was not crawling, it was hard to tell which end was which because of the eyes on the rear:

This was a ladybug hotel:

This is one of the easiest spiders to identify. Black widows were very common in the area we were flipping. Whenever I reached under a rock and felt a really strong web, I stopped and found another handle.

Another black widow:

And another:

This was a surprise:

This wolf spider was even bigger than the one from the previous spider post and had a huge egg sack.

The spider allowed me to move it to a better place for photos.

This shot is from almost directly behind the spider. They really do have eyes in the back of their heads:

Spider and caterpillar:

This spider was nearly 4 inches in length.

This thing had eyes all over. Even its abdomen had a pair:

Nightsnake neighborhood

2009-06-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

I snapped a sequence of photos that showed this spider attack. These funnel-shaped webs were everywhere in the area and there were also countless grasshoppers flying in every direction. This grasshopper landed in the funnel-shaped web and as it struggled, the spider came running out and captured it.
The funnel web is a grasshopper's worst nightmare:
This shot shows the spider lifting it's fangs in preparation for the kill:

Death crawls closer:

After observing the funnel-web assault, I began flipping rocks on the same hill and found 2 night snakes. I took quite a few photos of those.

This night snake actually flattened it's head and made a small hiss when I lifted its rock. This is something I didn't think I would ever see a little night snake do. It is shown here still puffed:

These are Utah's state flower: the sego lily. They hint at how small the night snakes were:

A larger shot of the same type of flower:

A nocturnal snake that had to endure the sun and a few photos:

My son wanted to keep this one:

I have to admit that night snakes are pretty cool, especially their eyes, but the answer was no.
We found a basking fence lizard:

I didn't attempt to catch this one.

We saw sage lizards by the millions and I took pictures of some:

As common and colorless as sage lizards are, they are quite cool in my opinion:

Lizards always keep an eye on intruders:

I wonder how agile these guys would be without the claw footwear.

Sage and side-blotched lizards were found on the same logs. They apparently get along fine.

This side-blotched lizard was extremely good-looking with a blue leopard pattern:

We found quite a few of these mormon crickets while flipping:

The females have pointy things on their rear ends for laying eggs:

The males lack those:

Another female:

I had to photo this bumble bee on a thistle:

We found some skinks:

Skinks are just shiny, fast lizards.
These are the lampropeltis (shiny scaled) of the lizard kingdom:
This one was a biter, but I couldn't get a focused picture of that.

We found this one with a blue tail. The blue tail indicates a juvenile, even though this one was about the same size. The predator is supposed to go for the colorful tail, which easily breaks off and allows the skink to escape. We managed to let him keep his tail.

Stay still!

I managed to get one clean shot of this lightning bolt without holding it:

My son carried this gopher snake with him for over 3 hours while we herped:

I think if my son had more hands, he would carry more reptiles:

This was a cool thing to see:

A wild gopher snake feeding on a mouse. Who needs the discovery channel?

The eyes began to bug from pressure:

I am glad my Mexican black king snake doesn't require live food any more.

After his meal, the gopher snake was in a really bad mood and didn't want to be handled:

He did some hissing and striking and we let him be on his way.

This was a garter found the evening before this outing:

And another garter found near home the same day:

Snake Photography

2009-06-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

We found this really nice gopher snake and I took a bunch of pictures of it. The snake was found while flipping and hissed and struck at anything that came near it. It bit my pantleg and then a few moments later was calm enough for kids to hold. It actually seemed to like being held after all the fuss:
The color pattern near the tail on gopher snakes is the coolest:

Utah wouldn't be as cool without Great Basin gopher snakes.

Swerve or stop when you see one of these on the road:

This snake was about 3.5 feet long. It can grow to over 6 feet.

I think it was trying to spell something:

Keep an eye on the head:

All of the pictures in this post are of the same gopher snake

This is the snake when it was all riled up:

Male and female mormon crickets:Female:

The beauty created by storms:

Rain coming to the desert:

The mountains are our compass:

A young mormon racer found the same day:

Racers don't race when they are cold.

This snake was only about 13 inches long.

This photo gives more size details:

One with the tongue out:

2009-06-04T05:53:00.000-07:00

Killdeer Rescue. Sorry, no snakes in this post.

2009-05-27T17:39:00.000-07:00

After a hail storm the other day, we witnessed a hopeless situation as 2 killdeer parents had attempted to move their chicks. For those that don't know, killdeers are really pretty birds that are closely related to plovers. They fly very well, but nest on the ground, relying heavily on camouflage. Killdeer eggs are even colored to match the rocks where they're laid. Anyway, the chicks were stuck on the road because of the high curbs on each side. It wouldn't be long before the chicks were either hit by a car or eaten by a cat or dog. They needed help. My wife looked at me and pleaded with me not to get involved because we were in a hurry as usual. She knows me better than that. I first helped the larger chick over the curb and it ran quickly to some tall grass. The smaller chick was wet and seemed very weak. While I began to help the

smaller chick over the curb, both of the killdeer parents would come close to me and fake an injury by flopping all over the ground as if their wings were broken. This is just their instinctive behavior to draw predators away and is entertaining to witness. The smaller chick didn't run to the tall grass and was almost too weak to stand. In the confusion, one of the parents flew to the smaller chick and started pecking at it. I intervened and walked up to the chick and picked it up. As I walked back, I could tell my wife was completely thrilled that we were now going to adopt another animal. I quickly did some research on raising killdeer chicks and found out that it is impossible to do. Besides being against the law, even killdeer experts cannot raise killdeer chicks. This is because killdeer parents never feed their chicks. From the moment they hatch, killdeer chicks have to find their own food. They must learn how to find food by watching and learning from their parents. After learning this, I dried off the smaller chick and quickly ran it back to the area thinking that I might have sealed this poor chick's fate. I was relieved to hear the chick calling loudly back to the parents and they flew up to me and faked injuries again. I set the chick at the edge of the tall grass where the larger chick had gone and then I withdrew. One of the killdeer parents then flew up to the chick and I feared that the parent would again peck the chick, but the parent led the chick into the tall grass to safety. That was really good to see. It was a good feeling to think we helped this bird family.

Snakes, lizards, and grasshoppers

2009-05-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

On this warm morning I decided to head to a spot where gopher snakes and rattle snakes are sometimes found by the dozens. We started finding gopher snakes before we even got half way there. I'm not sure how many gopher snakes we found, but this was the first live gopher snake. It was calmer than most pet snakes and was a little over 4 feet long:
Another shot of the first snake since I had my camera out:
Snakes are so much easier to find when they are stretched out across the road:
Going:
Going:
Gone:
This was the only snake found in the shade this morning:
Me in my preferred habitat and the snake from the shade:
This shot shows rattlesnake vs. road machinery. I actually waved to the guy that was operating the road grader as I drove past, but I wasn't thinking kind thoughts. He had gone out of his way and off the road to accomplish this:These are large grasshoppers that my kids asked me to catch. Try getting 2 grasshoppers to stay still for a photo.

This dark-colored fence lizard was found. This is about as big as a western fence lizard gets:

More shots of the same lizard as I chased it around the rock formations. The .22 shell in the background gives some perspective as to the size of this guy. Because of its size and color, I think it is the same lizard that I have caught here the last several years.

Pretty lichens and cool reptile:

I had to get a belly shot after putting the old lizard down for a nap:

This smaller adult gopher snake was found on the way back. We were late getting back, but I had to stop and get the snake out of the road and into another basking spot.

Snakes: Handling Racers

2009-05-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

In an area near an abandoned town off HWY 89, there is a lot of short grass and some debris on a SW facing hillside. This is known good habitat for many different snakes, but so far this year only racers have been found there. Whenever you come upon a basking racer, they don't waste any time fleeing; hence the term racer. To get photos of a warm racer, you must be quick to grab the tail:
Be ready for the immediate backlash:
A racer bite isn't any worse than getting snagged on a thorn bush.After grabbing and releasing the tail several times, the racer will then stand its ground. This is when you can take pictures if you care to.

Considered to be trash snakes by some herpers, I find racers to be really good looking snakes and definitely better than finding nothing when I am looking during the day.

Snakes and lizards in Kaibab

2009-05-09T11:38:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to visit Kaibab National Forest for 2 days. Short-horned lizards were active and somewhat easy to find while hiking. There were tiny ones:

Small ones:

Medium sized:

Medium skinny:

And larger, handsome ones:

There were common tree lizards:
While photographing this common tree lizard, I accidentally chased it into another tree lizard's territory and they got into a fight right in front of me.

In a different area there were striped plateau lizards:

This was a pretty big one:

There were sage lizards:

There was spectacular terrain and scenery. A whiptail was seen, but it dashed into the briars before a good photo could be taken.

Kaibab is known habitat for the rarely seen Arizona mountain king snake, so that was the goal.

But no mountain kings were found on this trip, even with considerable effort. This wandering garter snake was found. It had just eaten what looked like a large short-horned lizard.

This is the garter, exactly as it was found:

When I moved the garter to the grass for a different shot, it did the usual defecating/musking.

Snakes in Dry Canyon

2009-05-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

It rained most of the day but the sun came out in the afternoon and heated up the rocks. I was hoping to find a rubber boa, but found Mormon racers instead.

This racer was not happy about being disturbed. It flattened its head:

This is racer language for "free body piercing"This racer blew itself up like a balloon to try to look bigger:

Calm down girl!

This racer struck at me repeatedly, but I couldn't time the picture to catch its mouth open.

This canyon is pretty and easily accessible.

Snakes-Garters

2009-04-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

Garter snakes are usually the first and last snakes found in the valley. This is because they live right in most neighborhoods and finding them doesn't require planning an outing. They seem to get along just fine if they can avoid cats and lawnmowers and snake-hating, shovel-carrying people.

The amazing thing about garters is that they seem to just pop out of the ground in the spring in places where there aren't any obvious hiding places. A lot of these snakes are more than two feet long, yet they can simply disappear. Being serpentine has advantages.

For those that don't know, garters almost never bite but will musk or defecate when caught. Sometimes they will whip their tails around while defecating and leave you covered.

I love it when I catch them with their tongues out:

Some snake keepers feed garter snakes to their king snakes or milk snakes. I consider that to be very cruel, but then I am sure there are mouse lovers that frown on feeding rodents to snakes.

Garter snakes and most other snakes are underdogs in environmental struggles, but they can survive in neighborhoods that have yards with some vegetation and that is good to see.

Snakes-Milk and King Feeding Time

2009-04-27T08:45:00.001-07:00

Like most snake keepers, I feed my snakes separately and in different containers than their normal terrariums (Note: empty costco nut and animal cracker containers make perfect feed containers for young snakes). Feeding snakes outside their home generally keeps king snakes and milk snakes from considering each other as a meal or confusing a hand for food.

King Snake Surrenders

2009-04-10T12:34:00.000-07:00

After Ramses came out of his first hibernation, I used his hunger to switch him to frozen/thawed mice instead of live mice. This is more humane for the mice, helps Ramses avoid the "farewell bite", and makes my life a little easier. Ramses is no dummy. I have tried all of the tricks numerous times to get him to eat pre-killed food, but he would simply not eat something that he hadn't killed himself. He would move the dead mice around to determine whether they were alive or not and when the mice did not move, Ramses would not eat them no matter what they smelled like. His habits are so well-defined that I can predict his every move and I am counting on him eating frozen/thawed from now on.

Do Snakes Chase People?

2009-03-31T08:04:00.000-07:00

This is a gopher snake's best imitation of a rattle snake.
And another tough gopher snake:
Unless you are a rodent or other prey item, snakes will not chase you. Even the most venomous and feared snakes in North America will not pursue people and are sometimes hard to photograph because they quickly flee when approached. I have witnessed water moccasins swim up to investigate when people are splashing in the water, but they swim off after seeing people. The closest I have come to being pursued by a snake has been the result of gopher snake encounters. When an adult gopher snake assumes a hissing/defensive posture, it will sometimes pursue for several feet in an attempt to scare someone that isn't heeding its warning. This has never been more than a few feet and is always the result of me intentionally getting too close to a defensive snake.

Snakes: Do Rattlers Always Warn Before Striking?

2009-03-23T17:25:00.000-07:00

This is an absolute myth. Experience has proven to me that the personalities of snakes are as different as their colors. Sometimes a great basin rattlesnake doesn't rattle at all (note: some are not capable of rattling and some just don't) and will simply try to slither away when found, but be careful because body heat will almost always trigger a strike. Almost all snakes will vibrate their tails when they are grumpy. My Mexican black kingsnake and one of my corn snakes will vibrate their tails quite often. They would be quite noisy if they had rattles, yet they have never bitten. When you are hiking in rattlesnake territory, watch out where you step. Wouldn't you bite someone that stepped on you? Rattlesnakes do not want to bite in defense. They would rather save their venom for prey, but don't rely on a buzz warning.

Another Snake Myth

2009-03-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

It is often said that the highly venomous coral snake has to "chew" to inject its venom. I have also heard people claim that coral snakes are limited to biting only parts of the body that it can fit its small mouth around. Neither of these assumptions are correct. The coral snake can open its mouth wide enough to swallow something twice the size of its head. While it has small fangs, it can bite like any other snake of similar size.

Rhymes with snakes

2009-03-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

Yellow touching red: you're dead. Red touching black: safe for jack. Red against yellow can kill a fellow. You might have heard one of these rhymes used to determine whether a snake is venomous or not. For the most part these rhymes using colors are correct and can be applied, but not always. Look at these two snakes:

The shovel nose snake (bottom photo by Tom Brennan) looks very similar to the coral snake (top photo). The rhyme doesn't work for the non-venomous shovel nose (and some others like one of my milk snakes), so then a new rhyme will have to be created to add confusion: Red touches yellow, might be safe for a fellow? If you find a snake on an outing, it is best to just leave it alone. Stay at least 3 feet away and maybe get some pictures for bragging rights. If you find a venomous snake on your property or near where kids play, just call a local reptile rescue and have the snake relocated. Killing snakes doesn't accomplish anything.

Return of Pyro the mountain king snake

2009-03-18T21:19:00.001-07:00

After thawing out mice the other day to feed my snakes, I left for about 5 minutes. When I returned, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was my Sonoran mountain kingsnake stretched out on the basement counter near the thawing mice. This was a happy day for me, because Pyro escaped his tank about 8 months ago and hasn't been seen until today. Not only do I have one of my coolest snakes back, but there is no longer a snake loose in the house. I had discovered a partial snake shed a few weeks ago, but I disregarded it thinking that it was maybe left from one of the milk snakes. Pyro gets his name from his scientific name, which is Lampropeltis pyromelana knoblochi. "Knob" would be a more accurate name for him, but Pyro just sounds better. He is more than a year older than the milk snakes and about 6 inches longer, but he is about half their diameter from not eating. I hope he learned his lesson.

Do corn snakes eat corn?

2009-03-07T21:24:00.000-08:00

Rat snakes eat rodents, but do corn snakes eat corn? Do milk snakes drink milk? What do king snakes eat? Most myths about snakes are sillier than these questions. I have heard several reasons why corn snakes have been given that name. I have heard experienced herpers say that corn snakes are called that because they live in corn fields. I have never found a corn snake in a corn field. They are found in the same wooded areas that their close relative, the gray rat snake is found. Corn snakes do not eat corn, so why are they called corn snakes? Take a look at their belly scales:

The corn snakes belly scales resemble maize corn patterns:

Ramses' Awakening

2009-02-19T16:49:00.000-08:00

My kids came running up from the basement to announce that my Mexican Black King snake had emerged from his hide for the first time in months. Around late August last year he quit eating so in late September I turned off his heat and allowed him to hibernate, which is part of his natural instinct. He hasn't even attempted to hibernate previously. Maybe the economy triggered it. I went down to see him moving very, very slowly and getting a drink of water. Snakes are very, very low maintenance when they are hibernating and this is necessary for breeding, but you do lose your pet for a large part of the year.

Ramses' awakening came just in time to be a visual aid for my son's report (on the genus lampropeltis, go figure). The boys and girls in the class couldn't be restrained. They all had to touch the snake and a lot of them had snake stories to tell. Needless to say, the report went well.

Proper Care and Feeding of Ruby

2009-02-10T11:26:00.000-08:00

Before shed begins:

One week prior to sluff:Brand new paint job:

This is Ruby. She is my albino (reverse okeetee) corn snake and she is beautiful. Ruby was an unwanted pet snake. I purchased her and some supplies for only $10 from someone that was ditching her because the exciting newness had worn off, but finding a pet a good home is always a more responsible alternative than neglect. Originally I meant to find her a good home, but I have had her now for a year & a half, so I guess I did find her a good home. Captive bred colubrids are among the easiest pets to care for. Room temperature, a terrarium of proper size with clean substrate, a locking top, hide rocks, a heat pad if desired, water, and the occasional rodent will result in a healthy/happy snake. After having grown up in prime corn snake habitat, these are forever some of my favorite snakes. At the same time, I also grew up in indigo snake habitat, but I will never pay several thousand dollars for something that will require me to clean up it's poop. The pictures show the color change that snakes can go through during a shed. Ruby goes from a bright orange to hot pink. Her color change is sometimes pretty drastic during the shed cycle. The snake in the last picture is named Okee (very original name, right?). He is a normal Okeetee corn snake and provides a good comparison between a normal and a reverse. Every bit of black and gray on a normal is replaced with white on a reverse. Aren't genetics great? Okee and Ruby are roughly the same age, but Ruby is almost twice the size as Okee. This is because Ruby will eat any time a meal is offered, while Okee is the pickiest eater of any corn snake on the planet and causes me a lot of work.

True Field Herpers

2009-02-02T12:34:00.000-08:00

Rat snakes from south Georgia:

This post is a pat on the back to those that constantly explore nature for the pure love and appreciation of this beautiful earth and it's amazing wildlife. From the nature outings that generated childhood <-I originally wrote boyhood. Sorry girl herpers) curiosities to the incredible feelings of finding cool snakes that most people will never see, true field herpers are as rare as some of the snakes they find. When I say true field herpers, I mean the ones that leave habitat and environment unharmed and those that devote time to study and protect species without exploiting anything. I remember catching my first snake when I was a kid. It's beautiful glossy scales glistened and it writhed as I tried to calm it. I used as much nonverbal communication as I could to say to the frightened/defensive serpent that I was not trying to hurt it. I think I even talked to the snake, but it probably didn't understand me. After a few minutes, the snake calmed down and seemed to enjoy me holding it or at least it did not try to bite or flee. In that very moment I became immune to all of the snake myths that produce so much fear in so many people. I was holding an incredible creation as it's tongue flicked out to taste the air and smell me. It tried several times to hide in the folds of my shirt. After a while, it didn't fear me at all. Even the motion of my hand toward it's head didn't cause any reaction. Even if that first snake had bitten me, I don't think it would have made any difference about how I have grown to love snakes. I understand them.

Birding in the winter?

2009-01-04T19:13:00.000-08:00

A quote from a legendary herper reads:
"Only with awareness of all life - plant and animal - can the greatest pleasure be gained from field activities...As with a lovely mosaic, each piece by itself may have beauty of line and color and possess a certain independent aesthetic value, but when it finds its place in the pattern as a whole, and is viewed in relation to its fellow pieces, it attains the greatest worth and gives the greatest delight". -Karl Kauffeld, (Snakes: The Keeper and the Kept)
This is a wonderful thought, but I almost totally disagree. When it comes to plants and vegetation, it is enough for me to know which ones will tear into my flesh so that I can avoid them (note: if snakes slither into Urtica dioica, do not pursue without gloves & long sleeves). I can identify some plants/trees that I find attractive, but to tell the truth w/o a field guide I can't distinguish between astragalus deserticus and gilia caespitosa and yet I thoroughly enjoy myself anytime I go outdoors. Only a few insects amuse me, but I try to be kind to them all.
There was a time in my life when birds, especially birds of prey were very fascinating to me. Utah has an abundance of bald eagles, golden eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, kingfishers, and other cool birds that are easy to find (I saw an almost completely white snowy owl the other day), but many times I have witnessed kestrels catch and feed on herps. This doesn't make me happy. If anything that preys upon snakes suddenly goes extinct, I probably wont be found shedding any tears over it.
Bird watching in the winter could be a replacement for herping, but so could snowmobile hill-climbing!

Seasonal Depressions

2008-11-10T09:48:00.001-08:00

It is widely known that people can suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) in the winter. Those that like to field herp can suffer even worse from something called HAD (Herp Absence Distress). The most common symptom is constant frowning, even after looking through field guides:

Recommended treatments include looking at photos of places where cool snakes have been found:

(Dense populations of Crotalus Oreganus Lutosus near home)

And planning herping trips for that first warm week in the spring:

Whiptail Nutcase

2008-11-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

My wife and kids and I were hiking a canyon in S Utah near where the Colorado River meets the Green River. This was our first time in this canyon and we were exploring the beautiful scenery (well, they were checking out the scenery and I was checking out the herps). The creek was full of tadpoles, frogs, crawdads, and other things most hikers miss. The canyon walls and rocks had different types of lizards all over them. There were a lot of colorful birds and some other hikers as well. I kept seeing Grand Canyon Whiptail Lizards running around in pairs or groups of up to 4. Most of these lizards were more than a foot long and extremely fast. Observing how these lizards moved their heads around to see things and the way their tongues lashed out made me think of little dinosaurs. At one spot in the canyon I found a group of these lizards in an area that seemed possible to catch one of them (note: catching one of these bare-handed is not easy). I quickly climbed down a 12 foot ledge and started herding the lizards towards the sheer rock face where there would be less chance that they could disappear into the cracks of rocks. Just then a group of hikers came by and began to watch me try to catch these lizards. (Great!) I wanted them to just continue on their way but they stayed to watch and I could tell from the looks on their faces that I was their sideshow entertainment for the moment. As I herded the lizards up close to the rock face, the group of hikers moved closer to the edge of the trail so that they could see, and an old man in the group nearly fell down to where I was. He didn't fall, but he did drop his water bottle down by me. A few moments later a young woman then asked me to get the water bottle for them. Was she crazy? I wasn't going to let the whiptails get away, so I told her I would get the bottle in a minute. I caught one of the whiptails and afterwards got a lot of stares from the hikers as I made my way back up to my kids, who were totally excited. Moments like this make me realize that when a young boy chases after frogs, lizards, and snakes, he is normal. But when a grown man chases after frogs, lizards, and snakes, he must be some type of an oddball.

Goblin Valley

2008-10-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

After learning that the weather would be warm this weekend, we headed down to see the goblin rock formations. They were pretty cool:

Then we drove out of the state park and did some hiking. Colorado Side-blotched Lizards of all sizes and geodes were everywhere (note: the Northern Side-blotched lizards found up around Highland are much more colorful). Lizards seem to be able to deal with freezing temps at night as long as the sun comes out and the daytime temps are still in their range.

There was ocean front property?
There were castles in the sky:

I flipped a lot of small rocks:

The only snake seen on this outing was a Striped Whipsnake that was badly smashed on the road. Goblin Valley has Midget Faded Rattlesnakes, but overnight temps had dropped low enough to make them impossible to find. I asked a ranger if he had seen any snakes lately and he told me that I wouldn't have to worry about snakes in the goblin area. I then told him that I was looking for snakes to photo and he told me where a Midget Faded den was. We will have to return in the spring.

More Garters on 10/16/08

2008-10-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

My son and his friends (all herper converts) rounded up more Garters. This wouldn't be too unusual except that we had snow on the ground the other day. The large Garter had more yellow. I also saw numerous roadkill snakes this day.

California Herping From 2004

2008-10-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

I didn't think that I had many pictures from past herping. My wife has been the one taking all the pictures up until this year and she usually snubs the herps, but I dug into the photo files and found something from a Coastal California trip we took in 2004 to Lompoc. We found a California King Snake, numerous Gopher Snakes, lizards, etc. At one section of road right near the beach one evening, the snakes were so numerous that I had to drive carefully so that I didn't smash any of them. I jumped out and started grabbing snakes and running back to the car to hand them to people. At that point a new in-law announced that she wasn't comfortable having snakes that close to her, so I stopped collecting them (If I had another herper to go with me, I would have cruised roads all night that night. As it was, my in-laws acted like my herping fascination was some sort of mental illness and maybe it is). I'm realizing that I should have had a camera all these years, but there will be good finds to come and they will end up right here on the blog.

(note: after enjoying their company for a short time, the herps were all released)

Still Herping On October 7

2008-10-07T17:30:00.001-07:00

My son greeted me with a Garter Snake today. He found some Garters in a hollow log near our house. In the years that I have lived in Utah, I don't remember temperatures allowing for herping this late in the season. I took some pictures of the snake and told him to release it where he found it so that it can hibernate somewhere other than in our house. The snakes that I already have are enough work for me. Garter Snakes and other Diurnal snakes have huge eyes and very good vision.

The Snake Called "Hiss"

2008-10-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hiss became part of our family 2 times this past summer. The first time we found him was during a tee ball game. I should have been watching the game, but I slipped away for a couple innings to the nearby woods and flipped some boards and rocks (I can't resist). When I flipped the rock that Hiss was under, it sounded like someone started letting the air out of a tire. He was a real windbag. He had a cool personality. After hissing loudly, he would then snuggle up against your warm skin. The kids loved him. I brought Hiss home because construction was closing in on all 4 sides of his habitat and I figured my relocation would be friendlier than what would happen when someone else found him (Note: a 6.5 foot snake skin was found near some construction discard. This was probably from Hiss's mama). Even though gopher snakes are very common in Utah, every kid within miles of our home came to see the snake that hissed. After a while and for no apparent reason, Hiss quit eating. I tried a lot of tactics to get him to eat, but he wouldn't. I realized that it was time to return him to the wild, but on the day that I went to release him in a good spot I couldn't find him anywhere. The clamps were on the cage properly, but somehow he had squeezed out of the small corner crack or something. After a couple months went by, we had forgotten about Hiss. Then my mother-in-law came over one day and found him on our front porch. He was a little bigger, so he had been eating something. He also had a recent flesh wound on his back that looked like chew marks. This wound was probably from a mama mouse defending her babies. Finding him again was cool, but we still had to find him a home. We let him go on an outing in a perfect spot that was a long way away from roads. I flipped some rocks and found a mouse nest under one. That was the perfect new home for Hiss. Most of the pictures were taken on the day we released him. We wish him well and maybe we will see him again. Perhaps there will be another Hiss post next summer. (Note: Hiss is a Gopher Snake and his pattern of light and dark rectangles is typical of the countless Gopher Snakes around here)

Should've Hibernated

2008-10-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

Finding herps in Utah in late September or into October is usually tough, but with the temps and absence of snow in the valley the herps are still active. Unfortunately for the Gopher Snake pictured, the long nap should have come sooner, or if I could have crossed his path first I could have escorted him off the road. My sister in Tallahassee told me the other day when I called that she has about 15 green Tree Frogs on her window and that she has witnessed an Oak Snake climbing the trim to catch them. If I can get her to catch that on camera, it will definitely show up on this blog. As for the snake hunts, I might be down to the last few of the season around here. At least I have my pet snakes to observe, hold, etc.

Night Snake & Other Herps

2008-09-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

Whenever weather allows (and even when it doesn't) we spend time outdoors. This outing included a lot of 4-wheeling and also some good nature finds. The snake pictured is a Night Snake and is not so common to find in this valley. We rode over the mountains west of Santequin and found a cool canyon. After crossing a creek and climbing a hill, I stopped to flip some rocks. I am always looking for snakes and herps and my brothers decided to flip a few as well. One of my brothers flipped 5 or 6 rocks before finding the Night Snake (beginner's luck). The snake was photoed and released. I usually don't photo toads, but they are getting pretty hard to find in Utah County. The pics don't show it well, but the Northern Side-blotched Lizards that we caught had a lot of blue specks on their backs. Also, the grasshoppers in one area looked like an explosion of blue when they hopped and flew. I caught some to photo their blue wings. The photo of the bee on the flower was just me practicing photography while catching some of the beauty in the desert.

Mexican Milk Snakes

2008-09-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

My birthday came a little early this year. I purchased 2 more snakes at the Wasatch Reptile Expo. I had made my mind up about what kind of snake I wanted to purchase next, but going to a reptile expo and seeing so many cool snakes all together quickly changed all that. Instead of standing at a distance and scowling at me, my wife actually helped pick out the Mexican Milk Snakes. The price made the snakes quite a bargain, which is great because every $10 I spend on snakes allows my wife to spend $1000 on whatever she wants (that is her rule). Milk Snakes (in all their varieties) are about the prettiest snake in the pet trade. Their beautifully contrasting bands of colors, small size, relatively low prices, and calm personalities make them an easy choice. (Important care note: Milk Snakes don't drink milk)

Morphing Racers

2008-09-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

When a racer starts out life, it is a completely different looking snake (see top pictures) than when its an adult (other pictures). I misidentified the baby racer when I found it. I thought I had found a Desert Glossy Snake or a Night Snake. It took eyes more expert than mine to identify the snake. I am not a complete walking field guide like a select few are (I hate to admit that). After about a year, the racer's cool pattern gives way to a solid green or an almost turquoise color. I haven't ever kept racers for very long, so I have not ever been able to observe the transformation from a pattern to a solid color. I am not sure if this occurs in one shed or over a period of time. I could probably do some quick research to find out this, but I guess I don't need to know it. The adult Yellow-Bellied "Mormon" Racer pictured was one of the best looking racers that I have ever come across. Its pretty green scales were flawless and its belly was banana yellow. Wild racers are typically "beat up" from their normal wear and tear activities. On the list of snakes that I would not collect from the wild, racers are at the top. They cannot race in a terrarium and deserve to be free.

The Ultimate Color Morph

2008-09-14T22:00:00.001-07:00

My wife and I recently restored our 1968 Camaro's interior (new seat foam, seat covers, OEM carpet, everything). The last day we worked on it all afternoon/evening and didn't stop until 4:00 in the morning. The reason we worked straight through is because for things like this my motivation comes and goes, and when it goes, its gone. The new parts to restore the interior had sat in the garage for the last 2 years in boxes. This car is an obvious piece of muscle car history and is in incredible shape. The car is also a piece of family history. It is the car that my wife rode to elementary school in. Her dad bought the car back in the '70's when it was only about 5 years old. My first car was a 1968 Camaro similar to this one, purchased w/my own earnings when I had just turned 15. There are a lot of 1st generation Camaro stories in the family and I have personally owned 4 of them (all 1968's), but I will try to bring this post back to the world of herps. I couldn't help noticing how well my Mexican Black Kingsnake matches the paint color of this family keepsake. I will say this: if a snake breeder can come up with a color morph combination of black, berry red, and chrome....that breeder will be able to name his price to me (any price).

Note: the kingsnake charges $5,000 per photo shoot

Robby (field herper from the old school)

Garters

2008-09-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

My brother brought me some Garter Snakes the other day. He was mowing his lawn and was humane enough to collect them so they didn't get chopped up. I relocated them, but they have probably been devoured by predators by now.

Labor Day Herping: Mostly Lizards

2008-08-31T21:38:00.000-07:00

We took a Labor Day weekend trip to Central Utah to ride 4-wheelers and enjoy the outdoors with a lot of our extended family (mostly mine). With an approaching storm, decent temps, and a lot of time to spend looking for snakes, I thought this trip would get me some really great pictures of a lot of snakes. The first day I was only able to catch some Common Tree Lizards and a Western Fence Lizard (note: the Fence Lizard on its back is not dead or injured. Turning a lizard onto its back and rubbing its belly puts them to sleep immediately. This was done to photo the blue belly markings. Just seconds after snapping this photo the lizard took off quicker than lightning and couldn't be found). The only snake seen this day was seen by my mother-in-law and was likely a Gopher Snake from the description and location. I went to the area where it was seen and looked for a while without finding anything. There were so many rodent holes around. I'm sure it disappeared down one of them. That night I talked my father-in-law into driving the roads with me to look for snakes. We drove the roads for hours and saw only mice and rabbits. He probably thinks I'm crazy. It would have been cool to find at least one snake to let him experience the joys of field herping. Oh, well. The only snake I found on this trip was found near the lake when I was flipping logs and rocks. It was a Wandering Garter Snake and its color was very different from the ones that I find up here. It was piebald and there was very little yellow in it. Piebald (random blotches of white) is a strange thing to me. Some snakes in the pet trade (Ball Pythons especially) are highly valued for their piebald characteristic. For myself, I consider piebald a flaw and would never purchase one. I would sooner purchase expensive art with BBQ or Ketchup stains on it.

...

p.s in the last photo, I had climbed up to get a picture of two owls and found a petroglyph and an ancient dwelling

Another One of Steven's Snakes

2008-08-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

My brother sent pictures of what the hurricane recently did to their property in S. Georgia and after the storm his son found another cool snake, this time a pretty Ringneck Snake. I have said this before: storms bring out some of the coolest snakes. Stephen: Ringnecks don't drink V8 juice.

Snake Killers

2008-08-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

After visiting my brother's house in Santaquin, I decided to drive a canyon on the way back in hopes of finding a cool snake. This canyon normally has little or no traffic, but I forgot that the bow hunt had just started, so there were a lot of vehicles going in both directions. A lot of these "hunters" are a danger to themselves and everything within their range, so I thought it was best to stay in the car for the most part (I'm not into body piercing). The only snake I would find this night was a recently run-over Yellow Bellied Racer. The person who ran the snake over probably did it intentionally. The bright green is hard to miss and these snakes are almost always moving and the canyon road doesn't allow fast speeds in the area where the snake was killed. Anyone who thinks that they have done the world a favor by running over a snake is an uneducated idiot (that includes people that otherwise seem very intelligent). If it was possible to ask the millions that died in Europe of the plague whether they would have wanted snakes to control their rodent population, I'm sure the answer would be an emphatic "yes". Snakes are very important to the environment. It always disgusts me to see a snake killed on the road, but I guess its less traumatic than finding a person killed on the road. I will have to pick another canyon for my next snake hunt, but right now I can't think of one that won't be full of hunter traffic.

Stephen's Snakes

2008-08-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

My nephew has started doing some herping on his own in south Georgia. He found a nice looking Banded Water Snake. Finding a lot of cool snakes is a lot easier down in the SE. The last time I visited my older brother down there, I woke up to someone yelling "snake". That was music to my ears. There was a snake that was trying to come into the house (I wish I had that problem). The snake had already made its way past a screen door and would try to come into the house whenever the inside door was opened. It didn't seem to fear people much. That morning I walked around their property for about 2 hours and found 2 Gray Rat Snakes, a large Black Racer (the Racer lived in their barn and they saw it frequently), and some water snakes. Florida and Georgia just have so many species of snakes. My nephew found a Garter Snake when he came out here. He has a lot to learn about keeping snakes. They don't like potato chips or Dr.Pepper.

BC Herping

2008-08-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

Another Rattlesnake.

2008-08-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

This evening I had a few free hours, so I took my 2 sons and headed for Fort Canyon. I am not the only herper that visits this canyon. Every good hide rock has been rolled over and left that way. It is best to lift the rocks, check for snakes, and then lay the rock back exactly where it was. When we arrived at the starting point there were about 15 cars parked around the gated entrance and teenagers in swimsuits heading to and from the creek (this is very unusual for this canyon). I knew this would be a short outing because my younger son made me carry him. We went a different direction than the swimmers to increase our chances of finding snakes. We flipped some logs with no luck. Then we found a tiny Side-Blotched Lizard that my sons wanted me to catch for them to hold. After releasing the lizard, we walked around until I found an old galvanized pipe in some tall grass. I knew there would be snakes around/under that. I started to walk around the pipe and heard a loud rattlesnake rattle. When I approached the snake I should have had my camera out, because it quickly slithered under the pipe. It was a large Great Basin Rattlesnake with about 9 rattles and would have been cool to photo. It probably could have injured/smashed the snake to have rolled the pipe, so the snake was left alone. I might come back to this area later. This is about the 10th rattlesnake that I have found this season and they are beginning to seem to be one of the easier snakes to find. When we were leaving, a group of guys showed with cameras and dressed in hiking gear. They are probably the ones flipping all the rocks and leaving them flipped. Either that or they were there to take pictures of the teen aged girls swimming in the creek. I am hoping they were herpers.

In-House Snake Adventures

2008-08-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

All of my snakes are escape artists. The snakes are cared for so well (better than I care for my own health) that you wouldn't think that they would ever try to escape, but that is just the nature of snakes. Their instincts prompt them to explore their world. About a year ago my Mexican Black Kingsnake was found to be out of its terrarium. I told my son not to tell his mom about this. The last thing I want my wife to know is that she has a 4 foot black snake loose in the house. That is her worst nightmare and it doesn't do much for my campaign to keep snakes as pets. My son and I frantically searched the basement until I found the snake behind the stereo system. The snake rattled his tail and was very defensive as if he was being collected from the wild. One of our baby Corn Snakes got out of a terrarium that was as tall as the snake was long. It should not have been able to get to the top, but I guess Corn Snakes are incredible climbers, just like they are said to be. The Corn Snake was later found when I was running hot water to thaw some frozen pinky mice and he came out of the sink. One day this past week I went down to do the usual inspections and maintenance and the first thing I noticed was that one of the clamps on the Arizona Mountain Kingsnake's cage was not down all the way (darn kids). I checked the cage and he was gone. This is bad. An Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (Pyromelana) is one of the most secretive snakes that I know of. They spend almost their entire lives hidden at the bottom of rock piles and almost never surface. If my captive bred Pyro is anything like his wild relatives, I might not see him again until next spring. For now I go down to the basement quickly at night and check around everywhere. I have tried to get my Dachshund to sniff out the snake, but everything in my basement probably smells like snakes. I might start leaving out some thawing mice to draw him out. For now, I feel pretty dumb going out to look for snakes when there is one that needs to be found in my house.

Tree Hugger or Herper?

2008-08-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

My younger brother, my son, my nephew, and I hiked up to Silver Lake (UT). I turned over every rock and dead log on the way up looking for snakes. I trick people into going hiking with me and it turns out to be a snake hunt. We only managed to find 3 Wandering Garter Snakes. One of them appeared to be a gravid female or at least it was very lumpy. All 3 snakes were found within feet of the creek. I have found so many Wandering Garters lately, its like finding a penny on the ground. I sometimes don't even pick them up. Don't get me wrong, I like all snakes, its just that the Wandering Garters are so common here. Most Garter Snakes are brown (One local collection of Garters is pretty awesome because of the diversity). Maybe color is the reason that they are so common. Maybe they would be heavily collected and wouldn't be so common if they had more red or orange (note: at least one Garter subspecies with red is nearly extinct in the wild). It would be very difficult for anyone to know for sure how bad collection harms wild populations, but it is interesting that the dull-looking snakes with only browns or grays seem to be abundant. In Florida, Gray Rat Snakes are considerably more abundant than the closely related Red Rat Snake and their habits/habitat are nearly identical. Gray Rat Snakes (Oak Snakes, as they are called) are almost non-existent in the pet trade, while Red Rat Snakes (Corn Snakes) are the most common snake available in the pet trade. It should be said that there are more brown snakes that are diurnal (active during the day and hence, more visible) and that land development/habitat loss does more to eliminate snakes than collecting ever could, but the collection of snakes certainly cannot help. My wife's good friend called us one night last winter with news of a horrible snake crawling around in her basement. She was going to throw it out in the snow. I went over to find a young Garter Snake in surprisingly good health. I kept the snake until spring and then released it at a good spot near the Jordan River. Would I have kept the snake if it had brilliant colors? Maybe. Maybe not. Compared to my other snakes, the Garter Snake stunk because it ate fish and it also required more work. I was actually glad to see it go, but I hope it is doing well.

Badger Encounter

2008-07-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

When I am out searching for snakes, I always stumble across a lot of other wildlife, none of which is nearly as interesting as snakes. This trip was no exception. I started out early in the morning hiking next to a creek north of Timberlakes (NE of Heber, UT). The bank on one side of the creek is very steep and in some areas it is a straight drop off with the roots of large trees hanging out exposed from erosion. I was looking for a reasonable place to cross the creek to make the hike a little easier and I found a large tree that had fallen across the creek, providing a bridge across the creek (well, almost). The tree was about 6 feet above the creek and was large enough to be sturdy, but small enough that I decided to crawl across on my hands and knees as there was nothing to hold onto. When I was about 1/2 way across the log, out of the corner of my eye I noticed something moving and turned to see a large badger running along the side of the creek that I was trying to cross over to. I was not in a good position to run (obviously) so I kept still and hoped that the badger would not see me and just go on its way. The next few seconds were really tense for me as I watched the badger run up to the other end of the log that I was on. I don't know if this is normal for a badger, but this one ran with its head looking/pointing straight down and had not seen me yet. It also could not hear me starting to move backwards on the log because of the noise of the rushing creek water below. I was hoping that it would smell me and run off scared. Instead, it began crossing the creek on the log that I was on. I realized that the badger was going to run right into me because of how unobservant it was. I have heard stories of how these animals can take down an elk. My heart was now pounding and not from the hike. I waved one of my arms hoping to get it to see me. It didn't. I then yelled as loud as I could (note: when I say yelled, I mean I screamed like a little girl. I am glad no one else was with me to witness this). The badger stopped where it was on the log. It finally looked up and saw me. It sniffed towards me. It was only about 5 feet away from me. It then turned around and trotted back in the same exact path that it had traveled to get to my log bridge. It looked back one time at me and then was out of sight. I sat on the log for a short time wondering if I should continue across and then I did cross the creek and resume my snake hunting and I was just very grateful that the badger was not a bear.

(Note: I was not able to get a picture of the badger so the pictures are just generic)

Utah Beauty

2008-07-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

Who could see the beautiful scenery in Utah and even consider living anywhere else? On a summer evening, just pick a canyon and go. This time we went up Diamond Fork to the Red Ledges area and brought some chicken dinner. The kids and their cousins had a great time (go figure). Getting out into nature increases my chances for finding snakes, so I had a good time as well. The Red Ledges have many different types of lizards crawling all over the rock formations. This attracts lizard-eating snakes, which attracts snake hunters like myself. I was finding dead snakes on the road. By the way, if you find a dead snake on the road and it is bright blue, that is not its natural color. Smooth Green Snakes turn blue after they die, because all of the yellow pigment quickly goes away after death (I have heard that the Yellow-Belly Racers do this also, but I'm not absolutely sure). As always, Garter Snakes were out in abundance. The creek was pretty and the kids had to spend some time throwing rocks into it (they can do this for hours). Good feelings always accompany our nature outings like this or at least I forget about stressful things for a while. Enough psychology talk: enjoy the photos.

THE ORANGE GROVE (circa 1981)

2008-07-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

When I was young, my dad's dad owned a large citrus grove in central Florida near Moss Bluff. My brothers and I stayed at the grove quite often in the summertime. At the beginning of every trip to the grove we would go down to the big lake and flip over the boats and my grandad would shoot the venomous water moccasins (this seems futile because we would then swim in a moccasin infested lake right afterward). There were always large bullfrogs under the boats as well. I would wait until the shooting was done and then try to catch some of the frogs that were fleeing to the lake. The amount of wildlife at the grove was incredible. There were alligators, lizards, frogs, salamanders, opossums, armadillos, various birds, turtles, butterflies, raccoons, squirrels, and SNAKES. All my reptile collecting was "catch and release". This was mostly because we didn't know how to care for the snakes or lizards properly and their health would decline. Letting them go was easy because there were so many others to catch. I found so many different species of snakes that I don't remember them all. Even Indigo Snakes were somewhat common back then. One reptile that my grandad did keep for a while was a baby alligator. He insisted that I hold the thing. He tried to hand the gator to me. It had it's mouth open (we didn't know to tape it shut) and I jerked my hands away just as my grandad was letting go of the neck (I was supposed to grab it's neck). The little gator whipped around and latched on to my grandad's thumb. They say that even small alligators have a powerful bite and I think that is true, judging by all of the yelling and swearing from my grandad. I got brave and held the gator a while later. I thought it was really cool. The grove was a wildlife paradise. We always had a good time and we got to bring home a trunk full of the most delicious oranges available.

100% Het. For Herper

2008-07-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

Reptile/amphibian enthusiasts (herpers) can seem to speak their own language. The herp language is not that difficult to learn. Just memorize the scientific names of 10 or more snakes common to the pet trade and you can fit right in. Start with Elaphe Guttata Guttata (the corn snake). This is the snake most herpers start out with and every pet store in America has them, but you'll need to know how to recognize a sunglow motley zigzag freckled hypo Miami phase corn or you'll look stupid. Elaphe Guttata means "spotted deer", which makes you wonder how smart the scientists were that applied these names. Even non-herpers can tell the difference between a snake and a deer. The scientific name for Racer is "Coluber Constrictor". Whoever applied that scientific name never observed these snakes as they never constrict anything, they simply bite, hold on until the prey gives up, or swallow quickly if the initial strike is in the right place. Our local Great Basin Gophersnake has been given the scientific name "Deserticola", which sounds like the namers became thirsty out in Utah's west desert. If you find the "normal" phase of any snake to be appealing, keep it a secret or you'll end up looking even more stupid. Normal is not exotic and snakes are supposed to be exotic. If you like normal pets, go buy a dog. I know a person that thinks normal pueblan milk snakes are the prettiest of all snakes, but wouldn't admit it in certain company. Some snakes are distinguished from other similar looking snakes by the number of lower labial (bottom jaw) scales. Who would have ever thought to count those? Scale count knowledge isn't as important for impressing fellow herpers as it is for avoiding wildlife laws in some states. At reptile shows, any snake with the title "het" in its description will be more expensive. The word heterozygous simply means that an animal looks normal, but will have offspring that are predictably not normal. By this definition, we can all be considered heterozygous for something. When it comes to our own offspring, most of us hope we are 100% het for normal.

Are all big brothers this mean?

2008-07-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

The Black Racer snake is one of the first snakes that I ever caught in the wild. It is a very beautiful glossy black with a white chin. One characteristic of the Black Racer is that they are very defensive when you are trying to catch them. They will bite repeatedly and strike so fast that you don't have time to react. When you think that you have them, they actually have you. The best way to catch them is to follow them until they think they are camouflaged. They will then stay still and if you slowly approach them, you can pin them down with a flexible stick or something that won't injure them. Then grab them carefully behind the head. (note: Black Racers are listed with a top speed of 8 m.p.h., but my experience is that they can be much faster. At Alfred B. Maclay Gardens in Tallahassee I noticed a Black Racer's head standing up above the tall grass like a periscope. I started sprinting full speed toward the snake and thought for sure that I could catch it because it was in a large open field about 30 yards away from me. The snake, which was about 5 feet long, fled toward the woods. I was gaining on the snake, but not quickly enough because it beat me to the woods and disappeared into the thick vegetation. My estimation of the Racer's top speed is 14 m.p.h.) After you catch the crazy snakes, it is usually only a minute or two before it is calm enough to release the head hold. The snake will then have no interest in biting you. With wild-caught racers, you must go through the head hold/calming procedure every time you get them out of the cage or you can expect a vicious bite. One day my sister, who is a year younger, and her friend came to the back yard where I had about 20 Black Racers in a large cage (note: all of my snakes were released after a short time) and I was holding 2 of them. My sister had never taken one out of the cage and was not aware of the necessary calming procedure, but she wanted to show off one of the snakes to her friend. She asked if she could hold one. I said sure and then began to watch, knowing what would happen. She reached for the largest Black Racer in the cage and it immediately struck and bit her arm. She was shocked, hurt, and embarrassed in front of her friend. For some reason she didn't trust my snake advice after that. She still reminds me about that to this day, but she has forgiven me. Strangely, out of my 6 siblings, she is probably the only one that would have a pet reptile or hold a snake. I guess I will take credit for that.

Snakeless in Omaha

2008-06-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

With gas prices being so cheap, we decided to drive to Omaha, Nebraska to see my sister. Her husband goes to Creighton University. Also, our favorite college team made it to the college world series (I am from Tallahassee) and we thought it would be cool to see them play in one of the biggest events in college sports. Our team lost badly, but the college world series experience was something that I would recommend to anyone, sports fan or otherwise. It is an incredible event (pageant). When I first walked into Rosenblatt Stadium the evening before the game and saw the field, it looked like an extremely well-cared-for golf green. I could literally feel the history of college baseball all around me.
The stadium shares a parking lot with the Omaha Zoo so we hit the zoo as well. The Omaha Zoo is one of the best zoos we have ever visited. Every exhibit was amazing. Utah's Hogle Zoo just doesn't compare.
The two days before the game, which was on Saturday, we spent hanging out with my sister and her husband. They showed us around Omaha. I did not realize that the Missouri River separated Omaha from Iowa. We spent a lot of time around the river walk area. There had been tornados and severe weather the day before and there was a large amount of debris floating down the river, including whole trees. We looked for snakes (when I say we, I mean mostly me) and found some shedded snake skin, but no snakes. The next morning, my brother-in-law and I went snake hunting. He is not into snakes and may have been asked secretly by my wife to go with me to make sure that I did not get lost. My wife does things like that. I told my brother-in-law that we needed to go to a wooded area that had a stream and he suggested a place that he had been to. When we got there, I could tell that the area was probably too developed for finding snakes, but there was a creek and woods like I had asked for and we had limited time, so off we went. My brother-in-law kept asking questions about what I was doing as I broke apart rotten logs and lifted rocks. I gave him a nature lesson as far as I knew how. He seemed a little concerned when we came to a large tree that had had the bark stripped off it up to about 7 feet. This tree was in the middle of some dense vegetation and it looked like we might have been the first people to have gotten that far into that area of the woods, at least for some time. I told him that I didn't see any bear claw marks on the tree and that seemed to ease his mind. We searched the entire area. I then asked an old man who was trimming some weeds near the beginning of the jog path if he had seen any snakes. He asked if I was really looking for snakes, like I was kidding him or something. It turned out that two women had seen a 6-foot snake (likely a Gopher Snake)near where we were looking the day before. I asked him what time of day they had seen it and he said about 10:30am. It wasn't even 8:00am when we were searching, but that news really gave me some encouragement. We then walked around searching carefully until I could tell that my brother-in-law became certain about my insanity. It would have been so nice to have found a milksnake or something, but in a way I usually hope not to find a snake that is too cool. That is because I will then have to talk my wife into letting me keep it. She has actually tried to get me to sign a contract stating that I will not under any circumstance acquire any more reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, etc., etc. I have refused to sign the contract to this point and have chosen to negotiate in other ways.
On the way back from Omaha I saw a lot of places that would be sure to yield snakes, but I just couldn't bring myself to ask my wife to wait while I disappeared into the woods only to return with the something she hates most in the world. We must have a really good working relationship to put aside differences like we have.

Rattlesnake No-No's in Corner Canyon

2008-06-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

So, finally a warm day this month on my day off. Utah is famous for delayed spring or intermittent spring. I got up just after sunrise and started to get ready for the hike. My son woke up and wanted to come with me. He is seven. I usually don't take anyone with me because I can get into some crazy stuff sometimes. Taking one of my kids allows me to spend time with them and that is fun, but it does limit the hike. When my son and I got to the starting point of the hike, we looked around before just taking off. There is a creek that comes cascading out of granite rock formations that is totally awesome. The first part of the hike is through the rock formations. The horizontal morning sunlight was incredible the way it detailed the terrain (this happens nearly every day while I'm stuck at work). No artist could completely capture the way the vegetation just grows off ledges. The grain and angles of the rocks are pure sculpture. Most people that have lived in Utah for a while quit noticing this kind of beauty. I try not to let this happen.

We started up the canyon on the west side of the creek and within 15 minutes we came across a young Rattlesnake. It was about 17 inches long and probably 1.5 years old. This was a pretty little snake, but still a venomous snake. Also, all pit vipers are illegal to collect in Utah. We left it in the same spot and continued up the creek. About five minutes later we found another Great Basin Rattlesnake that was at the base of a huge boulder.

It was about 4 feet long and was thick. Just looking at the snake made us uncomfortable, because we were in an area where we had to place our hands and feet over and around rocks that could easily hide numerous snakes. I wanted to hear the snake's rattle so I got a stick and started to move the snake with it (note: this is stupid-never do it). It took a few minutes to get the snake irritated enough to rattle. When it did begin rattling, it sounded more like a buzz. At this point my son told me he wanted to go home. I told him to never go near a rattle snake. I know that I'm a bad example, but at least I didn't pick the snake up. My son told me that he was really scared and wanted to get out of there and I didn't realize that I was also a little scared until I took a couple steps back from the boulder and a sharp scrub brush stuck the back of my leg. I nearly jumped out of my pants. We left the area. On the way back, I caught a couple of Western Fence Lizards and Side-Blotched Lizards for my son. This made him feel a little better about the outing because he loves to hold lizards (we have had lizards as pets). When you turn the male lizards over on their backs, their bright blue bellies can be seen. I have no idea why so much color is hidden in a spot that is almost never seen. Fence lizards' backs are just gray or brown with arrow shaped patterns. One of the lizards was attempting to catch flies when I caught it, so I thought I would help it out and catch it a fly. It had its mouth open to bite me and I put the fly in it but it spit it out (ungrateful reptile). After messing around by the lower creek area and rolling logs over (my son loves to see the large ants, beetles, etc.) we headed home. While we didn't have the greatest success finding the target snakes this time, the outing was a great success. This was the most that I had talked to my son one-on-one in some time and we will probably remember this for a long while. Time spent with family can be very precious.

Warning: Snakes May Cause Marital Stress

2008-04-08T19:58:00.000-07:00

I can't explain why, but looking for snakes in the wild is one of my most favorite things to do. I think that I would rather find a cool snake or other reptile when I am hiking than a gold nugget. For me hiking is usually just a bi-product of my searches for snakes. I have tried to figure out why I have this obsession (so has my wife) but I haven't been able to yet. I just know that I like to be around other herpers because it makes me feel normal. I currently have 6 snakes. This is 6 snakes too many for my wife. She has never held one. She gave me a limit of 4 snakes and said that if I get any more, I would have to choose between the snakes and her. She is just lucky that I am not fond of burmese pythons, which can get to be more than 20 feet long. All of my snakes except 1 have been purchased and not taken from the wild. I usually release the snakes I catch in the same spot that I caught them, but some snakes are more difficult to release than others. It would be a dream for me to visit SW Texas and find an alterna (Gray-banded Kingsnake) even though they can be bought under $100 locally. I guess this is the equivalent of a fly-fisherman spending a lot of time and money to catch something that could have been purchased cheaply at the local supermarket.
So far this year, I have caught a variety of snakes. Wandering Garter Snakes and Black Headed Garter Snakes are so common around here that it would be unusual to not find them in most areas. I have found them in the valleys and also high up in the mountains. At Payson Lakes, UT 2 days ago I found a Wandering Garter Snake at an elevation of about 8,000 feet. Gopher snakes are also very common around here. Almost every time I go 4-wheeling in the summer, I find them. Last week when riding bikes up the canyon we happened upon a 3 ft long Gopher Snake (they can grow over 6 ft). It hissed at us when I picked it up. Some people call this snake a blow snake because of the hissing characteristic. Gopher Snakes make good pets because they almost always eat well in captivity and calm down easily. Even this hissing Gopher Snake calmed down enough to release the neck after just seconds and didn't try to bite. I have only been bitten by 1 adult gopher snake and I have handled many. They just need to be given assurance that they are safe. A few weeks ago I caught 2 Western Yellow Belly Racers. These are beautiful snakes (some field herpers scoff at Racers, but I like them). After catching the second Racer, I rolled over a rotten log and found some young mice. I grabbed 3 of them and put them into the same bag as the Racer. It immediately latched on to one of the mice and began swallowing. (Captive care note: if you ever have a snake that is determined not to eat, catch a wild mouse in an area away from farms and pesticides. Stun the mouse by shaking it hard in a container and use it to rub scent on store bought frozen/thawed mice. Scenting may require killing the wild mouse and cutting it open. This seems mean, but it may save your snake because the wild scent is almost irresistible) The Racers were later released in the same area. Racer is a good name for this snake. They are very fast when they are warmed up.