# South/West TEXAS Trip w/ pics



## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

So I've been in the field for 2 days now... tonight I'm in Rio Grande City in South Texas.  Monday morning I left Austin at 6am.... I was in s/w Texas by 10:30am already finding stuff.  Hunted in Dimmit Co. for most the afternoon and then drove into Del Rio.  Drove to Sonora, TX on monday night.  Hunted around Del Rio on tuesday.  

The main reason for the trip was to find Aphonopelma moderatum in the field....  So far I have failed.  I have found 16 tarantulas in burrows over the past 48 hours, but none have been A. moderatum.  I was in KNOWN areas for them...I must be missing something...I can find the T's...just not the moderatums.  Oh well.

Herps have been pretty good:

1 DOR Mexican Milksnake
2 DOR Bullsnakes
1 live Bullsnake
2 DOR Diamondbacks
1 live Sonoran Ground Snake
1 DOR Western Coachwhip
3 LIVE Texas Desert Tortises...

Below are some of the pics of the trip so far.

Enjoy....  If y'all attend Arachnocon, all this is VERY close to you.....


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Some cacti (2nd one is a Horse Crippler)


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Here was the burrow of the 1st Aphonopelma sp. found on the trip in Demmit Co.  There are lots of big wolf spiders that build similiar burrows.... but you CANNOT mistake a T burrow once you know what you are looking for.  I also found 1 under a rock in a scrape in Del Rio.... all the burrows looked just like this one!


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Lots on Scarab beetles were out...here are a few!


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Male Aphonopelma found crossing the road....


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Texas Desert Tortise found in grass along the roadway....   I turned him around back into a fenced area away from traffic!


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Here was the 2nd Texas Desert Tortise found that morning (accross the road from the tarantula burrow posted above).  This one was eating bones....I have heard of this before BUT I have never seen it.....it's a quick way to get some calcium!  Pretty cool....


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Here in one of the 3 widows I found on an Opuntia sp. cactus.  These Western Widows KEPT their juvenile markings as adults...they looked really cool.  LOTS of widows down here in the desert!


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Here is a bad picture of a bullsnake I found in Crystal City, TX while walking in a park in the middle of the day!  It's hard to take pics and hold an uncooperative snake all at the same time....


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Here is a picture of one of the rockcuts west of Del Rio on Hwy 90 between Pandale paved and Pandale dirt....  Classic looking cut.....great herping area (although I usually don't find crap on them).  Someone found a gravid female GreyBanded Kingsnake (Lampropeltis alterna) last night in Langtry!  Lucky!


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Another rock cut RIGHT AFTER the one posted above....


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

A few yuccas I've seen so far on the trip!  I enjoy the cacti and plantlife just as much as the animals....


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Here is my new pride and joy that I'm breaking in on the trip....  I just bought this Toyota 4X4 FJ Cruiser this past week....  I love it!!!!


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

Kinda bumbed that I didn't find my target species but i still have a few days left out here...So far, South texas has been MUCH more productive than West Texas.  There has been ALOT of rain this year...everything is green...crap, there were even mushrooms growing out in Del Rio next to cacti in the desert....


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## Diggy415 (Jun 12, 2007)

I have a Q in regards to the T holes, i live out in the desert and see these holes, how would one get one out, wiggle the web and hide and then place something behind it from going back in?? easier said than done??? would like to get one from around here.


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## Gsc (Jun 12, 2007)

I normally just pour a small steady stream of water down the hole...as it fills up the hole, the tarantula comes to the enterence... about 75% of the time if you continure pouring, it'll come the whole way out.  I usually try to slide a chop stick in behind the T to coax it out if it doesn't automatically shoot out.

I like this method because it doesn't destroy the burrow and if you decide NOT to collect it, it can crawl right back into it's home....

If you have to dig it out, I still use the water trick so I can follow the burrow (wet spot in the ground)...Be super careful that you don't accidently hurt the tarantula while diffing it out.....

Good luck....


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## Gsc (Jun 13, 2007)

********* SUCCESS ***********

I finally found Aphonopelma moderatum today 5 hours south of Del Rio along the Mexican Border.... wow...I had given up.  On a side note, I found one of the regular dark Aphonopelma sp. in a burrow no more than 10 feet from a A. moderatum burrow.  I collected 3 and left all the rest....saw lots of burrows!  Sorry about the bad pics...


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## Gsc (Jun 13, 2007)

And here is a picture of the burrow....


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## Gsc (Jun 13, 2007)

And a picture of the habitat they were found in!


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## beetleman (Jun 13, 2007)

:clap: enjoy your new find! wow what an awesome place,great spider too,ive got a female aswell i didn't collect her though,but i wish i had.


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## M.F.Bagaturov (Jun 15, 2007)

Good really founding, congrats!!!
Beautiful tarantula indeed, a great one "moderatum"!


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## tarcan (Jun 15, 2007)

Very nice pictures and the A. moderatum is gorgoeus!

Martin


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## Drachenjager (Jun 15, 2007)

Gsc said:


> ********* SUCCESS ***********
> 
> I finally found Aphonopelma moderatum today 5 hours south of Del Rio along the Mexican Border.... wow...I had given up.  On a side note, I found one of the regular dark Aphonopelma sp. in a burrow no more than 10 feet from a A. moderatum burrow.  I collected 3 and left all the rest....saw lots of burrows!  Sorry about the bad pics...


is that one gravid? looks pretty fat lol


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## Gsc (Jun 15, 2007)

Thansk for the nice comments everyone.

Gary- I hope she's gravid... I'd love to have a few spiderlings to raise...If so, I'll probably release 95% of the spiderlings back to the exact locality she came from to help sustain the population....  They are beautiful spiders!


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## Diggy415 (Jun 15, 2007)

i will have to give that a try didn't think about water at all, i hate traveling a long ways and yet not seeing the burrows with the thick web to it, will have to try harder i guess.....


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## Gsc (Jun 16, 2007)

Diggy415 said:


> i will have to give that a try didn't think about water at all, i hate traveling a long ways and yet not seeing the burrows with the thick web to it, will have to try harder i guess.....


It's usually not about trying harder...it's just about getting "lucky"... like the above post said...I spent three days before I found them (all three of those days were almost completely in known territory for them).  I drove over 1600 miles (round trip)...when I wasn't driving between spots, I was looking for burrows & scrapes.  Good luck on your search...


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## cacoseraph (Jun 16, 2007)

Gsc said:


> Male Aphonopelma found crossing the road....


Hey Graham, why did the male Aphonopelma cross the road?


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## Crotalus (Jun 16, 2007)

Congrats on the moderatum success! Nice shots, its a area I would love to herp in!


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## Ehhpic (May 21, 2011)

Gsc said:


> ********* SUCCESS ***********
> 
> I finally found Aphonopelma moderatum today 5 hours south of Del Rio along the Mexican Border.... wow...I had given up.  On a side note, I found one of the regular dark Aphonopelma sp. in a burrow no more than 10 feet from a A. moderatum burrow.  I collected 3 and left all the rest....saw lots of burrows!  Sorry about the bad pics...


What county did you finally find her in?


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## BiologicalJewels (May 21, 2011)

Gary, did you collect any of those dung beetles?


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## What (May 21, 2011)

Ehhpic said:


> What county did you finally find her in?


Given that you only have one post and are asking about a highly sought after and potentially threatened species...

I highly recommend nobody give this person information regarding this species, at least for the time being.


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## Ehhpic (May 23, 2011)

What said:


> Given that you only have one post and are asking about a highly sought after and potentially threatened species...
> 
> I highly recommend nobody give this person information regarding this species, at least for the time being.


I do appologize my noobness in the hobby. It was not till I read more posts that I realized that "poaching" is common even when it comes to tarantulas. You are right that I have very few posts under my belt as I never felt the need to comment and just enjoyed looking at other's photos. I am a photographer of insects and I do have a small collection of critters that are all captive bread as I would rather look upon nature from afar rather than disturb it. 

I would ask before you quickly lumping me or other "noobs" as being involved in nefarious undertakings you rather educate us as to what is appropriate to ask and what is not. That may go a long way in keeping people on the right and proper rather than lashing out at what can be then be confused as a condescending and elitist bunch of T-huggers.

I was even able to answer my own question with publicly available sources : _*Chamberlin, R. V.  1940.  New American tarantulas of the family Aviculariidae.  Bulletin of the University of Utah 30:1-39.*_
Which clearly tell me from a scientific standpoint the counties where they are more prevalent. I am sure that an intellectual such as Chamberlain realized that knowledge is power and educating people as to these beautiful creatures will in fact do the opposite of what you imply- I believe that the more people that know about the habitats and the lives of these mysterious creatures the more protected they will be.

Furthermore I have educated myself as to the CITES list and as you well know A. moderatum nor A. hentzi are listed. With that knowledge I can no more be upset at others who have posted in these very forums of driving out and capturing them in the wild for their own pleasure in any unknown quantity. I can only hope that they would do what I would do if I ever decided to remove any from where they reside and in captivity breed them and return the slings to the wild so they can continue to thrive.

You may think that this is a very optimistic view of the actions of those that choose to inquire as to what county (in Texas counties can be 100's of square miles) the T's were found, but I think no more pessemistic than the feelings that were shared that I would only be out to raid their colony and capture enough to not only pay the $100's in gas to get to the Valley from SA but then find a market for a T that can be bought on Kenthebugguy for about $50.

I am sure I could just as easily breed some B. emilia's or B. smithi's without any of the trouble if that is what I was in it for.

Regards,

PEDRO MERCADO
USMC(R)


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## What (May 24, 2011)

Ehhpic said:


> I would ask before you quickly lumping me or other "noobs" as being involved in nefarious undertakings you rather educate us as to what is appropriate to ask and what is not.


That is why I said "at least for the time being". It was nothing against you personally, just a warning to others.

I have personally seen these spiders in the wild in both unnatural habitats and natural...there is a huge demand and quite a few localities have been *completely* wiped clean.


> I am sure that an intellectual such as Chamberlain realized that knowledge is power and educating people as to these beautiful creatures will in fact do the opposite of what you imply- I believe that the more people that know about the habitats and the lives of these mysterious creatures the more protected they will be.


Way to make such an assumption! I am all for knowledge and information being freely available, as you found, the information is all there if you spend the time looking. My post was targeted to avoid commercial collectors who often will be given localities by unsuspecting hobbyists just wanting to help another out and I have personally lost 3 spots(collected everything, turned over everything, trampled plants) to untrustworthy people I allowed into my normal hiking areas. Posts asking for localities are very suspect when, as you pointed out, those who care to search for the knowledge can find the information simply. 


> Furthermore I have educated myself as to the CITES list and as you well know A. moderatum nor A. hentzi are listed. With that knowledge I can no more be upset at others who have posted in these very forums of driving out and capturing them in the wild for their own pleasure in any unknown quantity. I can only hope that they would do what I would do if I ever decided to remove any from where they reside and in captivity breed them and return the slings to the wild so they can continue to thrive.


Just because something is not listed does not mean it is not in trouble... :? I could go out and collect all the Lutica sp. I can find from the coastal dunes of California and destroy habitat as I go if I so pleased, I could also go not collect Apomastus(a genus also likely endangered but not listed) in Laguna Beach where their primary locality there is for sale to build a house on it, but that doesnt change the fact that their habitat is dangerously rare due to people entering their domain. Any person collecting should *never* take more individuals than a population could support if 10 others were taking just the same amount(at least that is my general rule of thumb), with A. moderatum these have been commercially stripped from their habitat for profit, they are highly sought after, and they are in significant danger from people lacking the responsibility to take care of the habitat they are visiting in a quest for just another spider. 



> You may think that this is a very optimistic view of the actions of those that choose to inquire as to what county (in Texas counties can be 100's of square miles) the T's were found, but I think no more pessemistic than the feelings that were shared that I would only be out to raid their colony and capture enough to not only pay the $100's in gas to get to the Valley from SA but then find a market for a T that can be bought on Kenthebugguy for about $50.


Ask those here who have personal experience with the devastation that is commercial collecting, have it happen to one of *your* spots, and then come back to me with that. These spiders have a very specific type of habitat and afaik the majority of the remaining populations are on private property, Texas Blonde and GSC are probably your #1 and #2 best sources for info on these and their current and past status. Perhaps you should do a bit more research before getting so offended and posting such as you did. Or better yet, handle it like a normal person and ask why I was being the way I was either with a post or PM before doing it.


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