# Brewster County, Tx (Another marathon trip to the Mexican border)



## Texas Blonde (Aug 26, 2006)

Last night was an interesting night.  I had planned a trip to Alpine, Tx in Brewster County to hunt for rattlesnakes.  My friend Mike and I were going to go down to Marathon, then up Hwy 90 to Alpine, and peruse the roads around there.  Right before I was going to go pick Mike up yesterday, he calls me to tell me hes at his doctors office, sick, and cant go.  Against my better judgment I called my friends Eric and Gloria to see if they could go.  (My mom wouldnt let me go alone, its too close to the border she says.)  They said they could go, so I picked them up at around 7pm, and headed out. 

It rained on us the entire way to Marathon, and the roads were soaked.  Alpine though, was supposed to be dry, so we decided to give it a shot.  

In Alpine, we stopped for drinks at a Town&Country, and here I saw the only bugs of the whole trip.  The side of the building was littered with gorgeous moths, and huge black beetles.


























Here, Eric decides we should go to Elephant Mountain Wildlife Managment area, halfway between Apline and the border, on Hwy 118.  We didnt even know if it was open.  






When we got there, the roads were wonderfly dry and the temp had risen about 5 degrees.  It was perfect, and there were tons of rodents out.  Optimal for snakes we thought.  

Unfortunatly, the park ranger disagreed.  He pulled us over as we were cruising around, and told us to get lost.  I didnt know the way out, so I kept going straight on the road I was on, with the park ranger on my tail.  About 20 mins of this low speed chase, and he manages to flag us down again.  This time he asks me where do I think I am going.  I reply, "Out?"  Apparently this was not the way out, and I was going to have to turn around, and drive through the whole park again.  No problem, just more time to see something.

It was around this time that I learn Erics whole plan for the trip was to collect snakes to sell to his buddies.  I dont collect, and especially disagree with it for the purpose of making a quick buck.  Stupidly, I didnt turn around right there.  Instead, I kept going down Hwy 118.  

About 20 mins after leaving the wildlife area, we ran into another carload of herpers.  They were out scanning the rock cuts for grey banded kings.  When we found them, they were photographing a checkerd garter on the side of the road.  Apparently, their whole goal was just to photograph as well.

Eric picked up the garter snake, and much to my pleasure, was promptly slimed.   
















The other herpers welcomed us to follow them, but Eric got competitious and urged me to leave them behind.  I would have loved to follow them, to spite Eric, but decided I would be nice, and spare them his ego.

By now we were almost at Big Bend, and the border, very close to famous River Road.  Here the plan changed again.  We were going to drive down river road until we got to Presidio, in Presidio County, then head for home.  I thought at this point that Gloria (Erics gf) and I had convinced Eric not to collect rattlesnakes, and only kingsnakes.  Unfortunatly, as soon as we hit River Road, we came across a rattler, and Eric had it bagged almost before I could take pics.
















Gloria tried to convince him to leave it, and he threw a fit.  I thought he was going to hit her.  She had also supposedly messed up when she put the bag on the bucket for him to bag the snake, and he yelled at her to the point of making her cry.  He was still very worked up over beating the other herpers, who had planned the same route, to all the snakes.  This put me in quite a delima.  I didnt want to agrivate him more, as he would obviously take it out on her.  I also had fears of him getting violent with me.  Over three hundred miles from home, in the middle of no where, in the middle of the night, I decided it was best to just let him do his own thing, rather than get into a possibly bad conflict.

We got back on the road and the next thing we saw was a skunk.  Both Gloria and I had seen its upright tail as it moved along the ditch, and thought it was some kind of bird.  Eric responded to our turning around to check it out by again yelling at Gloria, this time for being stupid.  He also smacked her hand away when she tried to role down his window to get a better look.  






About 100y down the road from the skunk was another snake.  We stopped again, so Eric could collect it.  :wall: 
















The next snake was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.  Its very pale, with light markings.  I wish I could have gotten pics of it in a more natural habitat, and in better poses than pinned in the snake tongs.











After that last pic, the snake started fighting hard, and almost got a good bite of Erics arm.  (I was rooting for the snake.)  He had to set it down again, and repin it, before bagging it.






Thankfully, that was the last snake we saw.  We didnt even see another animal before we reached Presidio, where I almost hit a horse that was running loose in the road.  It disappeared before I could get pics, and if Eric and Gloria hadnt both seen it, I would have thought I was halucinating.  

Reaching the Border Patrol Checkpoing, I started to have flashbacks of almost loosing Martin and Volker.  Gloria is not a US citizen.  By pure luck, she had here green card, and paperwork with her.  They still searched my truck, and I hoped they would find the snakes and confiscate them, but no such luck.

The last big incident of the trip was when Eric started yelling at me, because I took a wrong turn, and almost went the wrong way down a one way road in Marfa, Tx, in front of two state troupers who were parked in the parking lot of the gas station I was headed to.  I pulled into the lot, and went to get out of the truck, because I was not about to listen to Eric.  He grabbed my arm, not letting me get out, and yelled at me for about five minutes for driving poorly, and risking him getting in trouble for illegaly collecting snakes.  :wall: 

After everything, I made it home at 7am this morning.  Just in time to help my mom feed the dogs and horses.  It was a rotten trip.  My last trip to the Mexican border was much more pleasurable.  (Despite the lack of tarantulas. )


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## GQ. (Aug 26, 2006)

Thanks for sharing all the great photos Sky.  I'm sorry to hear you didn't have all that much fun though.  Too bad you weren't able to hang with the grayband hunters.  Chances are that you would have had a better time.  Those guys usually find a variety of critters on those road cuts.  Now I'm really anxious to get back out there.  Thanks again!


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## Texas Blonde (Aug 26, 2006)

GQ. said:
			
		

> Thanks for sharing all the great photos Sky.  I'm sorry to hear you didn't have all that much fun though.  Too bad you weren't able to hang with the grayband hunters.  Chances are that you would have had a better time.  Those guys usually find a variety of critters on those road cuts.  Now I'm really anxious to get back out there.  Thanks again!


Yeah, Im going to start looking for new people to hunt with.  Im sick of it not being about the animals, but about the money and the "scare factor".  The area we were in, I know, is great.  Tons of wildlife.  Ill probably go camping in Big Bend around the end of Sept, and will try my luck and actually getting some decent photos then.


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## kraken (Aug 27, 2006)

Nice pics and story...though it sounds your buddy "Eric"  needs anger control classes bad


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## syndicate (Sep 16, 2006)

yeah your friend seems to suck lol.to bad all your pics of the snakes are ruined by him illegaly capturing them


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## Mr Ed (Sep 16, 2006)

Hey Sky, next time you get ready for a hunt, give me a holler.  If I'm not working I'm up for a road trip.


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## Sheri (Sep 19, 2006)

You were driving, right?  So you were the one that decided to stop, at least that's how the cars work in Canada.

Your "friend" sounds like a testosterone overdosed potential wife beater. I would have left him on the road without hesitation.


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## Skypainter (Sep 19, 2006)

I totally agree with Sheri.  I think men who treat women like that are absolutely worthless human beings. He also doesn't seem to respect wildlife, yet another big pet peeve of mine.  If I were you I would write this guy off as a friend and avoid him like the plague.


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## Skypainter (Sep 19, 2006)

I would have also tipped the border patrol while they searched the vehicle.  Eric would have been arrested on the spot.


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## Texas Blonde (Sep 21, 2006)

Sheri, I decided it was safest for me and his girlfriend to do what he wanted, and stop to collect the snakes.  The way he was acting, and talking, was really scary, and I didnt want to do anything to make it worse.  If you would like to hear more details about what he was saying, I would be glad to tell you in a PM, but it was alot worse than what I posted even.  

I dont talk to the guy anymore, or do any dealings with him.  Im not going to put myself in that position again.  He might very well show up on the boards posting ads, because he has recently started a wholesale business.  Or so he claims.


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