PAHERP Forum » Field Herpetology

October Afternoon

(16 posts)
  • Started 10 months ago by krloucks
  • Latest reply from krloucks

  1. krloucks
    Moderator

    Took an hour long hike at one of my favorite spots with hopes of possibly finding a copperhead den. Struck out.... again, but I did manage a few new species at this spot.
    First, this longtail was found high up on a wooded hillside under some bark. The main creek was several hundred yards away, but there were seeps coming from under rocks nearby.

    This was actually my first longtail in this county...weird... I've been searching creekside all this time. :doh:

    Flipped a small racer nearby as well. I yelled and it stopped for a pose.

    Another new species added to the list was this brown snake, unfortunatley dor. Found next to my car where I parked.... it was not there when I arrived. Only it's head was clipped...

    Another unfortunate dor... more than it's head. Young milk...

    Common but welcome stuff...

    Big pickeral perched high on a rock...

    And a yoy garter. Several dors were seen as well.

    Keep watching the long range... there will be snakes in November too!

    Posted 10 months ago #

  2. Great. Glad to see some stuff still out. Will give me motivation for the next few days if I get a chance to go out.

    Posted 10 months ago #

  3. Rattler
    Member

    Got to work this morning and a guy told me to tell what kind of snake was in the back of his truck. Was a copperhead, DOR, but another guy thought different, he said it was a hognose. I told him if he dont believe me to just go to Paherp and ID for himself. Although, I must say he did agree that people are quick to jump on the coppers as being misidentified. As soon as I said copper, he said thats what everyone says, and i agreed, but he wants to find out for himself. At least he wasn't to quick to misidentify and wanted a positive ID himself.

    Posted 10 months ago #

  4. krloucks
    Moderator

    Gonna try to keep pics on my phone as well. Amazing how many arm chair herpetologists are out there. Tough battle.

    Posted 10 months ago #

  5. Rattler
    Member

    Gunna take a spin later to see what for little herp friends we can see. Hopefully the rain will bring something new out.

    Posted 10 months ago #

  6. Rattler
    Member

    Also, got quite a few reports this week from people at work about snake sightings, mostly DOR. Must be soaking up the last warmth before Old Man Winter sets in.

    Posted 10 months ago #

  7. Rattler
    Member

    Man, that hillside looks snakey. Any coppers there?

    Posted 10 months ago #

  8. Daileye1
    Member

    If we could get someone to write an Iphone app for field herpetology (like they have with the birds) with pics it would greatly improve my id skills. :-)

    Posted 10 months ago #

  9. Would be a nice idea. Sorry I can't do it as I do not have a mac to use the Iphone app software. Such a shame.

    Posted 10 months ago #

  10. krloucks
    Moderator

    Man, that hillside looks snakey. Any coppers there?

    That was the target. On top of that hill is where I have a board line set up in a field. Flipped 3 this year but have not found the den yet... but, I think I'm gettin close.

    Posted 10 months ago #

  11. Daileye1
    Member

    For my own educational benefit. "Rattler" do you describe this picture as "snakey" because of the high proportion of rock crevices and obvious sunny areas (assumed to be less sunny areas prior to leaf shed). I ask because this looks like the majority of my stomping grounds and I rarely see snakes. I'm curious if it has less to do with their abundance and more to do with my being oblivious to individuals.

    Posted 9 months ago #

  12. Rattler
    Member

    Looks like it has good exposure to sun and good cover in them rocks. Nice ground litter. Also looks like its higher on the mtn. or hill side. Basically what you said. Them coppers are tough to see. I rarely find them unless im lookin for them, I have to keep a "visual pic" in my head when lookin for them. They are not nearly as abvious TR. Also seems like the mature trees are sparce, so its looks to be fairly open to sun through the summer.

    Posted 9 months ago #

  13. krloucks
    Moderator

    This hillside has me excited for early spring as it should have full sun for the majority of the day. On top of this hill is a field where I have found copperheads under cover boards that I have laid out. They "should" be wintering nearby, hopefully on this hillside. We shall see so stay tuned. I will be doing some winter surveying and also will start a new board line. Erin, I find many spots like this that yield nothing so don't feel bad. This area has an awesome diversity of herps for some reason, so it has me really excited for March and April.

    Posted 9 months ago #

  14. Rattler
    Member

    Cover boards, I never tried that, maybe i'll give it a try this summer.

    Posted 9 months ago #

  15. flip3238
    Member

    As long as Im not too busy doing environmental consulting or doing any other copper work like last spring ill be right there with you kyle...at the top of that very spot is where we found the juvenile copper in '07. I hope Reinert comes through with his ideas as well....should keep us busy!

    Posted 9 months ago #

  16. krloucks
    Moderator

    I am thrilled with the diversity found there already, despite the human visitors to the area.

    Posted 8 months ago #

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