Texas Coral Snake

Gsc

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
538
Hello Everyone,
I went out herping this past Saturday (4/21/07)... we hadn't found much all day until we were about to leave. I found this coral under a rotton log. I bagged him and then realized I didn't need him for anything so I let him back go...Enjoy, I'm glad it's herpin' season again...it seemed like a long winter!

Graham
 
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P. Novak

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 12, 2005
Messages
6,218
Wow that snake is gorgeous! I would love to have snakes around here. :(
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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Jul 4, 2005
Messages
8,982
Man that's a pretty nice one. I usually see smaller ones than that. Sure wish they were easier to take care of. When I was a teenager working for the YCC, we were building bridges at a College Station park, can't remember the name, ...Bee Creek(?). Some guy grabbed a Coral thinking it was a King. He threw up and went to the hospital but was OK. Yea 'herp' is short for herpetology.
 

roach dude

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
401
Do you keep them, or like study them for a couple of days or summat?
 

Gsc

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
538
Roach Dude- I personally keep many reptile species... some nonvenomous and a few venomous (Carolina Pigmy Rattlesnakes and Mexican Beaded Lizards).... Before I took this new job I was the Collection Curator at a Natural History Museum... I had built a snake exhibition prior to my leaving. I called them and they didn't need another one.... I have another friend in Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas who is building a Museum Snake exhibition but he too already had one for display... So I let him back go...they tend to just wanna eat other snake species...I've never even had luck feeding them ground skinks.

Galapoheros- Long time no hear...hope things are going well. I'll be moving up to North Austion (off of Mopac) in Mid July... I thought I remember you saying that you lived in the hill country. If so- we need to do some serious bug hunting.... there are loads of Aphonopelma, Scolopendra polymorpha, and Scolopendra heros... not to mention the couple of scorpion species up there... I've been hankerin' for a west texas trip or possibly an arizona trip....

Have a great day!
 

LeilaNami

Arachnoking
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Jun 8, 2006
Messages
2,164
I'm going herping this summer down by the gulf. There's a nice population of bulls down there :drool: Have you gone to the areas around Little Rock, Arkansas? There's some really nice species out there like that coral snake and lots of pedes too.
 

Gsc

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
538
My dad just moved back to Little Rock, AR about 2 years ago...I need to head up that way...he said last year he saw some male Aphonopelmas...that means there are females close by :)!

Thanks!
 

LeilaNami

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 8, 2006
Messages
2,164
Yeah there's S. heros castaniceps for one. Nice skinks up there and some nice snakes. Found a dead speckled king once. Coach whips are all over the place as well. I saw a couple Aphonopelma sp. while I lived there for three years. Beware of the demonic squirrels though. No mortal animal can fall out of those 100ft pine trees, hit the ground so hard you can hear it in the house, and get back up to run back up that tree. They threw stuff at me too :mad:
 

Texas Blonde

Arachnoangel
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Joined
Dec 2, 2003
Messages
841
I've been hankerin' for a west texas trip or possibly an arizona trip....
Yall let me know when you head this way. Your welcome to scour my ranch for whatever you can find. I can guarantee tarantulas and scorpions, as well as some atrox. Our ranch house is also home to a family of bobcats, and our barn houses an incredibly large owl. They are pretty cool to see.

That tener is beautiful, btw. I cant wait to see one in the wild. Pictures just dont do them justice.
 

Gsc

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
538
Sounds like a date Sky- lol. Did you really thing you were going to move to west texas without me visiting? Lepidus are some of my favorite rattlers and you'll be moving to the town in an area with some of the thickest concentrations of them... I know a couple of herpers there in town.... Plus we could shoot down to Christmas mtns & River Road for some Diplocentrus whitei (or bigbendensis depending on who you talk to).... You are one lucky girl...I LOVE that area!

In the Davis Mtns is the big Observetory station that all the tourists go to. On the side of that hill, there are more Scolopendra heros that you coul ever dream of.... lots of trees, rocks and moisture in the desert make it a haven for inverts! Alot of my friends road cruise that road or walk the rockcut going up to the Observetory...Leps & alterna (I guess they are about everywhere in that area though). I've been ran off the side of the hill a few times by park rangers/fish game (don't remember which)...

Excitement!

(PS I'm going to be building a chopper in the next 6 moths...we'll have to go ridin' out there!)
 

Texas Blonde

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 2, 2003
Messages
841
Sounds like a date Sky- lol. Did you really thing you were going to move to west texas without me visiting? Lepidus are some of my favorite rattlers and you'll be moving to the town in an area with some of the thickest concentrations of them... I know a couple of herpers there in town.... Plus we could shoot down to Christmas mtns & River Road for some Diplocentrus whitei (or bigbendensis depending on who you talk to).... You are one lucky girl...I LOVE that area!

In the Davis Mtns is the big Observetory station that all the tourists go to. On the side of that hill, there are more Scolopendra heros that you coul ever dream of.... lots of trees, rocks and moisture in the desert make it a haven for inverts! Alot of my friends road cruise that road or walk the rockcut going up to the Observetory...Leps & alterna (I guess they are about everywhere in that area though). I've been ran off the side of the hill a few times by park rangers/fish game (don't remember which)...

Excitement!

(PS I'm going to be building a chopper in the next 6 moths...we'll have to go ridin' out there!)
Awesome! Now Im all excited, lol. Ive got access to at least 3 ranches in the Alpine/Ft Davis/Terlingua area, so we can explore those too.

A date it is. ;)
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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Jul 4, 2005
Messages
8,982
Rock! 3 ranches?! That's crazy! How'd that happen!? I've wanted property out there for over 20 years. My plan is to wait for a miracle to happen. You sound fired up. I've always liked going out there by myself, but it was a little scary last time. Didn't know if you'd remember me Graham. I went down Pinto canyon last year at around 3 am by myself. I actually got a little spooked. Started with a full tank of gas and was getting low. I got stopped by Border Patrol, I was so tired and I'm allergic to something out there. Something really makes my eyes burn out there in the Spring. I'm sure I didn't look right to him. Also, I don't hunt snakes much anymore but I'll pick up the ones I REALLY want. I picked up 2 Desert Kings there. Anyway the Border Patrol stopped me and asked me if I met anybody down by the river. I guess he thought I was picking up drugs. I said I was just looking for T's, scorps and centipedes. Then he knew I was crazy, ...HA! He looked at the floor on the passenger side. He said, "You a snake hunter?" I said "no, not anymore". He said "what do you have in the cooler in the back of your truck? I said "nothing". He said "nothing at all?" I said "no, nothing at all." He lifted it a little. I think he thought I lied to him twice. He didn't look in that cooler but it was full of old Gatorade and I had forgotten. So he knew something was in there, but he didn't look inside. Also when he left, I looked down on the floor where he was looking earlier. A big Desert King was sitting there. It had gotten out and I didn't know it. That's what he was looking at in my truck. So that guy was looking at this big snake and I told him I was not a snake hunter. He never came to my side of the truck, he stood far away on the other side the whole time. It all seems kind of weird now. I think he thought I might have had a gun or something. I just felt like getting home after that. Also, they were shooting a movie around Alpine so everything was booked up. I had to stay in a crackhouse motel looking thing. Man it was bad, felt good to get home.
 

Gsc

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
538
Strange things happen out in West Texas late at night... I have a concealed handgun permit and I always carry out there... too many times crackheads/wierdos/???? pull up on you while you're walking the rockcuts and you know somehting isn't right...

Anyways- Sure I remember you... I love the desert (I'm into herps, inverts, cacti, etc.) and am hoping to retire out there somewhere (Tx, new mexico or az)....
 

KUJordan

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
344
It's basically going out and catching herps(snakes and such).
It's going out with the intent of finding herps (reps and amphibs). Not necessarily catching them. I would like to think/hope that the majority of "herpers" don't catch everything they see, they are simply photographers who use photographs as a means to document what they have found...
 

Texas Blonde

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
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Dec 2, 2003
Messages
841
Rock! 3 ranches?! That's crazy! How'd that happen!? I've wanted property out there for over 20 years. My plan is to wait for a miracle to happen.

Well, my step-grandmother owns two ranches in that area, and then we have some family friends with property in the area. We ourselves own property in Goldsmith, Tx. I have posted photos from there before, in the field section. You probably would have to wait for a miracle to get a large amount of land in the country out there, its all owned by ranching families who tend to pass it down through the generations.
 
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