T.I.T.T.I.E.S. West Texas Trip 2008

[Texas Blonde]

T.I.T.T.I.E.S. West Texas Trip June 24th-29th 2008

As the founding member of The Inland Texas Tarantula & Invertebrates Enthusiasts Society, aka T.I.T.T.I.E.S., it is my great honor to announce the second annual T.I.T.T.I.E.S. West Texas trip. Last year was pretty low key, but this year we have pulled out all the stops.

The goal of T.I.T.T.I.E.S. is to share with people the joy of seeing tarantulas in their native and wild habitat. Thus, this trip is not about collecting, but rather photography. We are discouraging collection of any tarantula, and only limited collection of true spiders and scorpions. T.I.T.T.I.E.S. is also a supporter of Tread Lightly, and our most important belief is that the land should look the same when we leave, as it did when we arrived. When flipping rocks, its imperative to put them back exactly as they were found, and leave the land as untouched as possible. We want the land to stay beautiful for future trips, and future generations of tarantula hunters.

The home base for our trip will be the Prude Ranch in Ft Davis, Tx. The ranch encompasses almost 2,000 acres in the beautiful Davis Mountains. Our rooms on the ranch are very secluded, but still close to the dining hall, and indoor swimming pool. Our special T.I.T.T.I.E.S. price is $70 a night for a double room, with no additional charge for extra roommates. Reservations can be made by calling the Prude ranch at 1-800-458-6232, keyword tarantula.


The day plans for the trip are as follows, email me for a more detailed day schedule.

June 24th

• Everyone arrives in Texas, and gets to the hotel.

June 25th

• Meet and Greet Breakfast at the famous Old Texas Inn Drugstore restaurant in Ft Davis, hosted by TITTIES. The best pancakes and French toast that will every pass your lips!
• Hunting and Hiking on the Woodward Ranch in Alpine. Rock hunters will love this place, as it is the only place in the world where Red Plume Agate can be found.
• Hunting and hiking in Davis Mountain State Park, including black lighting for scorpions.

June 26th

• A morning excursion to see Aphonopelma moderatum in the wild! These orange beauties will take your breath away.
• Lunch in Del Rio, and the day spent lounging on the beach of Lake Amistad, swimming and enjoying the beautiful summer weather.
• Black lighting for scorpions on the Prude ranch.

June 27th

• Hiking and exploring in Big Bend National Park. The majestic beauty of this place will leave a lasting impression, and you'll understand why I make a point to return every year.
• Dinner in Alpine at the Edelweiss Restaurant in the Holland Hotel. (They have their own German style brewery, and let me tell you, the beer is excellent!)
• A Star Party at the McDonald Observatory outside Ft Davis. A star party is literally a guided tour of the night sky, given with high powered flashlights and lasers. They guide you around each constellation, and give you a background behind their names. Its really a once in a lifetime experience.

June 28th

• Visit to the Worlds Largest Live Rattlesnake Museum in Ft Davis, and for those interested, a stop at the actual Ft Davis to tour the ruins of this once important fort.
• A trip to Balmorea to swim in the natural spring pool at Balmorea State park.
• Special bbq dinner at the Prude Ranch, hosted by T.I.T.T.I.E.S.

June 29th

• Departure day. I already know its going to be very hard to say goodbye.

All field trips will be guided by myself, with the help of several other experienced tarantula hunters. All locations will be scouted ahead of time, to ensure that people are given the best chance possible of finding what they want to see. If there is a specific animal that you would like to see, please email me, and I will do my best to find us places to look for them within their range. West Texas, and the Big Bend area has a huge variety of invertebrate life, so expect to see some beautiful “bugs.”

The two closest airports to Ft Davis are Midland, Tx and El Paso, Tx. Ft Davis is about a three hour drive from either airport, so I will be helping people coordinate their flights so that we can all carpool to the hotel. This should save everyone money. If you plan on going, please keep me informed of your flight plans, so I can work with people on transportation. We are all going to have to pitch in, and share rides to keep this trip affordable for everyone. But if we work together, I know it can be done.

If anyone has any questions about the trip, please email myself. I wont be answering PMs through Arachnoboards, so please please, stick to emails.

Thanks everyone, I hope to see plenty of y'all in West Texas this June!

Sky Stevens
c.leetzi@gmail.com

 

[Texas Blonde]

I thought I would share some pictures of critters I have found during previous trips to the area that we will be hunting this year.

Unidentified Aphonopelma sp.

Diplocentrus sp. I found this one in daylight just by flipping rocks.

Rhinocheilus lecontei tesselatus (Texas Long Nose)

Coleonyx brevis

Kukulcania arizonica

And finally, the star attraction: Aphonopelma moderatum

 

[GoTerps]

Thanks for the hard work getting this organized Sky!

I'll be there!

Eric

 

[Scott C.]

Wow..... Looks like some good fun to go along with that good name.

 

[tarcan]

Can we ask general questions here for the benefit of everyone? Feel free to move or delete my post...

I understand the price of the rental of the room, but what are the costs of the activities themselves?

I was wondering if we could get somehow an idea of what can be expected as far as those costs go, would certainly help me and maybe others to look at a possible budget.

Sounds great BTW

Martin

 

[GoTerps]

Hi Martin,

Yes, feel free to ask any questions you have in this thread.

Also, feel free to contact me privately as well.

It would be AWESOME if you and Amanda could come!

It shoud be possible to keep costs at a minimum once we get out there.

I was planning on flying out to Midland from Dallas (it's pretty cheap). But if you guys can find cheap airfare into DFW, we could drive out there together if it cuts costs at all.

Take care,

Eric

 

[Canth]

Thanks for the planning of this awesome trip, Sky! I'll deffinately be there.
Unfortunately I didn't take that many pictures on the last trip aside from this beautiful katydid and the landscape

So here they are

 

[Galapoheros]

That's jammed packed with stuff to do. I don't know if I have that much energy! I may meet up for a day or two.

 

[Drachenjager]

That's jammed packed with stuff to do. I don't know if I have that much energy! I may meet up for a day or two.

weekend trip anyone lol
I cant get off work long enough for all that but maybe i could leave saturday and come back monday lol

 

[Texas Blonde]

Hey everyone, definitely feel free to ask questions here, or email me at the address I provided in the first post.

Martin, hiking on the Woodward Ranch is $2/person. Breakfast at The Drugstore is going to be covered by T.I.T.T.I.E.S. Entry into the state parks is about $6/person. The Star Party is $12. Dinner at the Edelweiss will be inexpensive, but thats always up to the person dining. They have a very reasonably priced menu, its just the beer that can get expensive, lol. The hotel has buffet meals for $10 each. Im told they are very good. Ill be supplying food for the bbq on the last night, its my treat to everyone.

Fuel is the unknown, unfortunately West Texas is vast, and there is considerable driving involved. I expect half a tank of fuel from the airport to the hotel, a whole tank for the drive to Del Rio and back, a whole tank for the drive to Big Bend, half a tank for the drive to Balmorea and back, and then another half a tank back to the airport. Thats going by what my truck uses, at 90mph. Im sure a rental will probably get better mileage than my led foot lets me get. Thats why I want everyone to carpool, to help lower the price as much as possible. I know now days the rental agencies carry some import SUVs that get good mileage.

Anyway, I hope that gives everyone a good idea of what expenses are going to be. No one is required to go to all of the things I planned, and I certainly dont mind if people go their own way. I just planned the things for those who have never been to West Texas, to give them as broad as experience of the country as possible.

There are plenty of other things to do in the area though, and I could plan things to last a month, so if anyone wants other suggestions, dont hesitate to ask.

 

[sntcruzan]

Inquiry

Will attendees be allowed to collect what they catch?

 

[tarcan]

Sky,

thanks for the additionnal info! It certainly helps, is there any registration fee for non T.I.T.T.I.E.S. members?

Eric,

thanks for the invitation, that will be taken into account for sure... road trips are always great!

So far there is only one thing that I am not convinced of not too say worried about:

"The best pancakes and French toast that will every pass your lips!"

I am the king of french toasts therefore I might just be going to sample these guys!:} :}

Anyhow, I really find it great that you take time to organise all of this, I really hope we can attend and if we cannot, it certainly is not because we do not want to.

All the best

Martin

 

[Texas Blonde]

Will attendees be allowed to collect what they catch?

As I stated in my first post, we are strongly discouraging collection of tarantulas, especially the Aphonopelma moderatum. Ill make sure people still go home with a Texas species tarantula, they will just be captive bred. Of course, I cant physically stop people, its just a question of ethics. The point of this trip is photography, and if collection is your goal, I would suggest you make your own plans.



Martin, there is no fee to become a member of T.I.T.T.I.E.S., and there is no fee to be paid to T.I.T.T.I.E.S. to come on this trip. So far, membership is pretty much at will.

 

[hamfoto]

Way to go Sky! This took a lot of effort, time and hardwork...and I'm appreciative!
If I can be there, I will...

Folks, this area of Texas is a wholly unappreciated area of the US. It is a truly amazing area...and you should come see it.

Chris

 

[mid-statespets]

Hey sky going to frown on reptile collecting ??? im not 1 of the if it moves grab it but I am a fan of the grey band and rocks. Also will we need to purchase the Texas hunting license? Not sure how that 1 works on private property.

 

[Texas Blonde]

We are discouraging all reptile collecting, just like with tarantulas. This is partly due to safety, especially concerning rattlesnakes, and partly due to Texas's recent crackdown on road hunting. While we will not be road hunting, I think now is not the time to press the matter, or give any reason for the legislature to expand the laws against collecting.

Also, because we are generously being allowed to hunt on private land, I think its best we keep our impact to a minimum. While the land owners might not mind us collecting snakes, I dont think its respectful, and don't think they should be put in any risk of an annoying run in with Texas Parks & Wildlife. When we are not on private land, we will be in state parks, and I shouldn't have to say that collection in a state park is a "no-no."

Again, I cant physically stop people, I'm just asking them to respect the beliefs of T.I.T.T.I.E.S. and its members, as we are the ones hosting the trip.

 

[GoTerps]

Here's a few pictures from Big Bend and surrounding areas that I took last fall... just to further give folks a feel for the area.

Eric

 

[Canth]

It looks like I'll be attending this year, sans mother

 

[UrbanJungles]

Oh man, I seriously have to make some adjustments on my calendar....looks like this is a trip that will be alot of fun...that's a gret part of the country!!!


:drool:

 

[Gesticulator]

Damn...Our last day of school in NY is June 26th. Looks like a fantastic outing. I'm gonna go cry now.