This Wood Frog in our herp photo of the day, makes me want to go herping. Uploaded by kingsnake.com user casichelydia . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Like most, this Mojave Desert Sidewinder blends well with habitat color.
Now on to Utah where our target species was a Great Basin Rattlesnake, Crotalus oreganus lutosus (although the older taxonomy of C. viridis lutosus seems more fitting). But of course there were secondary targets to look for along the way. This night our “along the way” was in eastern California where we were hoping for a Colorado Desert Sidewinder, Crotalus cerastes cerastes, the only one of the 3 subspecies that Jake still needed. We had driven northward at dusk while darkness settled in.
Jake and I had been discussing the locales we needed to try for the Great Basin Rattler. Mother Nature, with her typical disregard for traveling herpers had continued to plague us with night temperatures just a couple of degrees too cool for night active species to be out and active. Many of the species on this trip that we had thought would be easy finds, shoe-ins if you will, had proven difficult at best. We were now down to only 3 days/nights remaining on this trip and the temperatures showed every indication of being problematic at best. So, with temps against us, we simply had to put as many hours on the road as possible.
About a half hour north of the almost ghost town of Trona we decided to turn around and head for the motel. Traffic was light but there were continually headlights behind us. Since were going fairly slow it didn’t take long for us to be overtaken. Trona was now behind us and several cars were closing the gap. Just about as several were poised to pass us, Jake hollered “sidewinder.” I had passed over it and once the cars whipped by I was able to turn and speed back. Sure enough, still lying quietly coiled in mid-lane was Jake’s lifer Colorado Desert Sidewinder.
Southward again and there was another sidewinder but we simply assured that it left the pavement. Was that a piece of rope in the other lane? I was able to stop quickly and Jake hopped out and returned with a beautiful little tricolored Variable Ground Snake, Sonora semiannulata. We were happy and now the motel was in sight.
Tomorrow Utah, tomorrow night, hopefully, a Great Basin Rattlesnake.
Continue reading “Sidewinders and a Ground Snake.” …read more
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! EXTREME closeup of this adorable Cerastes cerastes in our herp photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user Gaboonviper1388 . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
As always we highlight our venomous animals on fridays to celebrate #RattlesnakeFriday and help educate on the importance of conserving these animals and dispelling myths about them!
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This is a gorgeous corn snake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user dallashawks ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! No offense USPS!
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Is this Irian Jaya Jag in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user StonedReptiles bright enough for you? Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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We totally LOVE this Cribo in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user steve fuller ! We are so jealous! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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All that glitters is not always gold, sometimes it is diamonds too! This diamond/jungle cross is absolutely stunning in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user KWE , they still inspire us constantly! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Mercedes, at home, alert, and on snail patrol.
Mercedes is back home. And he’s still alone. So Patti and I continue on our hunt for a female with which to partner Mercedes.
Mercedes is an Asian Keeled Box Turtle, Pyxidea (once Geoemyda) mouhoti. Now an Endangered species, a mere few years back this interesting turtle was a major component of the herp trade. And coinciding with the last statement, this taxon that was once so readily available, inexpensive, and easy to keep is now (year of 2020) almost impossible to obtain and cannot, without an almost impossible to get Federal Permit, be offered in interstate trade. So what happened to all of them? There are various explanations, but two that are almost certainly accurate are that they were just a 7” long brown turtle and that they were inexpensive. In the American hobbyist’s pet trade, if some bucks, preferably big bucks, cannot be made by breeding a herp there is no incentive to either keep or breed it. And all of the Mercedes’ of the pet trade fell into these categories.
A few dedicated hobbyist/breeders did hold on to a few of these turtles and a few, now a precious few, are produced each year. But it seems now that mortality pretty much equals captive production and those few lucky owners are holding tightly to the examples on hand. Breeding males can wreak havoc on the more placid females and if not closely monitored injury or death of the female may occur.
Threats to wild populations include habitat destruction including deforestation as well as for food and mostly (probably all) bogus traditional home remedy medications. The pet trade has also figured strongly in population reductions.
I mentioned above that Mercedes (now a 30 year captive) is “back home.” For the last 2 years he has been on an apparently unsuccessful breeding loan to a chelonian breeder in the northeast. We’re glad he’s back, and now we are scouring the USA for a female that we could get on breeding loan. Please, please, if you know of anyone maintaining this turtle as a pet please drop us a line. We’d like to be a part of the future availability of this species in the USA.
Continue reading “Asian Keeled Box Turtles” …read more
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! To end the week, this Jackson’s Tree Snake (Thrasops jacksonii) comes in to represent rear-fangs for our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Claus ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! As always on Friday, we celebrate all of our venomous reptiles for their contribution to the world.
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This frillie looks a little angry our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user nydon ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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A shout out to the little guys! Loving this Vinales Anole in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user macraei ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This Wood Frog in our herp photo of the day, makes me want to blow off work and head out herping. Uploaded by kingsnake.com user casichelydia . Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This box turtle is intermediate in color between the eastern and the Florida subspecies.
Like so many of Florida’s herps, Florida Box turtles, Terrapene carolina baurii, are no longer as frequently seen as once. Of course, when you stop to consider the very real reduction in natural habitat in the state of Florida, the immense increase in the traffic volume, and the slow, plodding gait of the turtle itself, this seeming reduction of the creature seems explicable—unfortunate but explicable. Of course the inexplicable segment in all of this is the deliberate destruction of road-crossing box (and other) turtles by the ROAD-IDIOTS that just have to prove that they know where each tire can do the most destruction to crossing wildlife.
But I digress. In the quarter century that I’ve lived in North Central Florida, I had seen what I thought to be a fair number in the earlier years and many fewer FL box turtles of late. An occasional one still wanders across our property or is seen elsewhere while I’m out scouring the roads and trails for photographable herps. And I see fewer still at the supposed point intergradation of the Florida box with the Eastern Box, basically at the St Mary’s River. And what have I found there?
The changes I’ve seen are gradual, not immediate as is often seen on range maps.South of the St. Mary’s I’ve see a couple that were obviously closer to an eastern than a Florida and a couple that have been just the opposite. Since I’ve never found any immediately north of the river I can make no statements regarding them. But staying south of the river and moving a bit further westward I’ve found 3 that are showing more signs of one subspecies than the other. Two have been judged on color and one has been on conformation, the latter meaning that when the turtle was viewed from above it was proportionately broader than a typical Florida box.
So what does all of this mean? Why nothing at all, but these facts did seem interesting at the time. Have you got any data to add? If so, send it along. I’d be interested in knowing your thoughts.
Continue reading “Borderline Florida Box Turtles” …read more
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With his nose peeking through the baby goo, this boa’s first moments are here in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user dpiscopo69,! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! What a great field find Copperhead from Brown County, Indiana in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ReptileProducts ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! As always on Friday, we celebrate all of our venomous reptiles for their contribution to the world, not just rattlesnakes. They all need our help to change misconceptions.
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A True Giant. This Komodo Dragon takes center stage in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cowboyfromhell ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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We hope this Timor Python in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user carlovandunkicks your day off right! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Such a lovely contrast against the blue, this Angolan Python takes the spotlight in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user EdCB ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Sonoma County has some beautiful Black Speckled Salamanders, just like this one in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user skyserpent ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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In some of the shallows the spring-run bottom was blackened by Black Toad Tadpoles
On the way eastward we again spiraled our way upward (stopping at just under 11,000 feet!) to see the forests of the ancient Bristlecone Pines. Some of these twisted yet stately trees are more than 4,000 years old. They survive, in fact thrive only, at altitudes and temperatures unsuitable for most other trees and mammals, but are visited (at least in summer) by Clark’;s nutcrackers, a raucous raven and jay relative.
Photos taken, we then descended to a less ear-popping elevation to look up Black Toads, Bufo exsul, a protected species. The BLM access to the spring fed flat on which the narrow spring run that was home to this population of toads, was rocky and uncomfortable. But along it we saw a Northern Desert Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma platyrhinos calidiarum and some beautiful cactus blossoms.
The black toad, a species that is active both diurnally and nocturnally, is aptly named, being black dorsally with varied marblings of white and gray and a white vertebral line. Ventrally the color is white with extensive and varied black smudging. Adults are rather small, often being a mere 2 to 2 ½” in length. We did see a few of the adults as well as hundreds of metamorphs and what seemed thousands of tadpoles. Unfortunately occasional flooding carries toads and tadpoles onto the not too distant salt flat where they quickly succumb. As untenable as this may sound, this population of the Black Toad has probably existed under these conditions for centuries. It was formally described in 1942.
The breeding call, seldom heard, is a high pitched repetitive “trill” that is best described as a rapid-chuckle. After photos were made we moved onward.
Continue reading “Bristlecones, Desert Horned Lizards, and Black Toads” …read more
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Isn’t this a gorgeous Southern Pacific Rattlesnake in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Canes05 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! As always on Friday, we celebrate all of our venomous reptiles for their contribution to the world.
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If this axolotl in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user tadpoleo doesn’t make you smile, I am not sure what will! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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This female Kimberly Rock Monitor is just hanging out in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user bob! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Poised and watching, what a stunning Mangrove in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ptahtoo! Be sure to tell them you liked it here.
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Today’s herp photo of the day reminds us to always flip that tin! This five-lined skink was found with her eggs under a paving stone, uploaded by kingsnake.com user CDB_reptiles!
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Tiny but a lifer, a pint-sized example of the Mt. Lyell Salamander
More Californ-I-A
The next day was spent first in the beauty of snow-capped mountains and later at lower elevations on some saline flats.
We had found a few of the more common toad and treefrog species and Jake wanted to add at least one salamander species to the trip total. So with the help of Mike, Jake pinpointed a tiny montane creek in the upper elevations of the Inyos. Thanx, Mike, I think. I think the term “up, up, and away” applies here, because we ascended, leveled, then ascended some more. Black-billed magpies flew overhead. The road spiraled upward, getting narrower as it gained elevation. Temperatures dropped then dropped again, Rain—cold rain—began falling. Trees were largely replaced by talus slides. Finally Jake said “OK, stop here. There’s a path somewhere.”
OK, here we were and there was actually a freshet tumbling downward. Then Jake broke the news. It was the wrong creek. The one we needed to access was much further up the mountain and around in back of the next peak over. But we had to walk from here. Well, that certainly placed the locale beyond my current ability. But Jake was “gung-ho” so to speak. And away he went. An hour later he returned wet but wearing a smile. After looking hard and hoping for an adult, he has found only a 1” long metamorph. But no matter the size, it, an Owens Valley phase of the Mt. Lyell Salamander, Hydromantes platycephalus, another lifer for him.
Deep Springs area, a roadside oasis, provided another lifer, this time for both of us. This was the Panamint Rattlesnake, Crotalus stephensi. Except for tail pattern and facial scalation this pretty and variable rattler is remarkably similar to the speckled rattler, C. pyrrhus. In fact, for decades both were subspecies of what was then the wide-ranging C. mitchelli. Jake found the single example seen by us coiled half in the shade of some chaparral. We looked hard for an example of the Panamint alligator lizard, Elgaria panamintinus, but failed to find one of these early-risers. I had seen this pretty and locally distributed lizard on an earlier trip but it would have been a lifer for Jake.
Again we headed eastward, slightly downward, then wayyyyy upwards.
Continue reading “A Salamander and Panamint Rattlers” …read more
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Happy Rattlesnake Friday! Love this Harry Greene Approved field shot of a juvenile Timber in our photo of the day uploaded by kingsnake.com user jameswv ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! As always on Friday, we celebrate all of our venomous reptiles for their contribution to the world. It is our goal to help dispel the fears surrounding our beloved venomous creatures.
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Happy World Snake Day!
What is that? Well it is a day that is an easy one! It is a day to focus on conservation and education about snakes!
Snakes are one of the greatest fears in the world, but their importance to our environment as well as our health is enough reason to work to change minds. I grabbed a few fun articles for you to read and share today to help reach out and share the joy of snakes.
These articles give a breakdown on the holiday and the issues facing snakes. This post from RepublicWorld is a very basic breakdown that you can readhere. Another option is this article from Newsd. It has some fun little trivia tidbits and again very basic info and can be found https://newsd.in/world-snake-day-2020-here-are-some-snake-facts-you-must-know/.
Continue reading “World Snake Day 2020” …read more
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Happy World Snake Day!
What is that? Well it is a day that is an easy one! It is a day to focus on conservation and education about snakes!
Snakes are one of the greatest fears in the world, but their importance to our environment as well as our health is enough reason to work to change minds. I grabbed a few fun articles for you to read and share today to help reach out and share the joy of snakes.
These articles give a breakdown on the holiday and the issues facing snakes. This post from RepublicWorld is a very basic breakdown that you can readhere. Another option is this article from Newsd. It has some fun little trivia tidbits and again very basic info and can be found https://newsd.in/world-snake-day-2020-here-are-some-snake-facts-you-must-know/.
Continue reading “World Snake Day 2020” …read more
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Is this Irian Jaya Jag in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user StonedReptiles bright enough for you? Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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As you can see here in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mjmullis , there is no doubt where the name Rainbow Boa came from! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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A whole lot of AWWWWS for this newborn Collared Lizard in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user the4thmonkey! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Jake’s lifer Red Diamond Rattlesnake
Californ-I-A
Once again before leaving AZ—we expended try number 6 for the white speckled rattlers and try number 4 for the Yuman sand lizards—we failed to see either. As of now I have officially given up trying. But the desert dunes did disclose several Goode’s Horned Lizards (these are one of the desert horned lizard clan) as well as an abundance of Desert Iguanas. The iguanas were so common that they seemed to outnumber the tiger whiptails.
Now westward again.
California was less than an hour away. In southern California, where we actually stayed for a couple of days, the temperatures moderated (read that “warmed”) just a bit allowing us to road hunt by both day and night.
That night on the desert flats we did a bit better, finding besides leaf-toed and banded geckos, Colorado Desert Sidewinders, Colorado Desert shovel-nosed snakes of both tricolor and bicolor phases, a Desert Glossy Snake, a beautiful Lyre Snake, and a classic desert phase California Kingsnake. Our luck finally seemed to be changing for the better.
The next day a group of avid local herpers (none were collectors) allowed us to join their party as they searched for (as Jake had hoped) red diamond rattlers and rosy boas. Both were found (along with a bonus Red Racer that had entangled itself in some lawn netting). The first (and only) red diamond rattler was found by Jake who barely avoided stepping on the quiet snake as it rested in deep grasses near a boulder. It was the only rattlesnake found but a single beautiful rosy boa was also located and photographed.
Later that day the group also provided a Southern Pacific Rattler (that we later turned loose) and a brownish phase speckled rattler that had been rescued from a swimming pool and was also later released.
Continue reading “California Desert Dunes, Desert Flats, and Rolling Hills” …read more
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Here is to hoping this Northern Pine in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user orchidspider can cure any case of the Mondays!! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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