Field Herp Forum

That would be an awesome thing to see. I've never seen a snake eating a chuck!

Here are a couple of lizard eaters, if you don't mind some additions to the thread.

There are a handful of factors that are touched on as suggestions to increase success rates of translocated animals, but very little research that actually incorporates it. The majority of work I've seen done on the subject doesn't incorporate the single greatest factor in the short-term behavioral ...

There is a pretty full spectrum for Costa Rica. On one end of that spectrum is Jay Savage's book The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna between Two Continents, between Two Seas , and while not practical for use in the field (it is enormous), it is an excellent book for identifica...

Is the main purpose for the trip herping, vacation with family, etc...? Strictly herping, no family, and I don't require a lot of comfort/sleep. As the previous poster pointed out, this is pretty well covered in this forum, though any additional advice is great. Specifically, field guide comparison.

What are the essentials? I'm looking to plan a trip, and this is step one. Any recommendations?

Any general advice on timing, etc, on herping Costa Rica would be great too

Holy carp Cameron, those videos are amazing. How long have you been following that group of animals?

There are a lot of great years' end field reports coming in, and I'm not even close to done with 2014 photos, so I'll be sitting this one out. Instead, I think I'd like to share my favorite observation of the year. In the Spring I spent about a week at some C. lutosus den sites up North. I spent a c...

A snake relocated 50 feet from where it was captured and released incorrectly has a higher chance of death than one relocated a mile and released properly. Death by predation is different than death by starvation. Relocation by distance alone will have a different rate of success than relocation tha...

Those are great Are they comfortable enough to wear on a long hike? I have some that started out as store-bought, but I modified them to be more comfortable and easy to get on and off, and now I don't herp without them.

Something else you'll discover, you're also cactus-proof.

Nice stuff! Some really cool behavioral observations.

Great job! I like the format of the list, too. You came and saw what there was to see. I personally like the look of that mojave.

Bryan Hamilton wrote:Best time is never. A lot of people think Arizona is the center of the universe but its overated.

It is a fun state to herp but as yoda said "there is another..."

Definitely. Never come here. That should answer your question, Matt.

Beautiful shots. Believe it or not, I was also in that valley that morning and saw that low cloud. Really an amazing time to be in that place.

Paul:

"Also, that paper on pyros is one of the biggest pieces of crap I ever read. "

Could you expand on that? I have heard this about that paper a few times from a few individuals, but no specific arguments. Thank you.

Great shots, Norm!

Great stuff! PA timbers are the only ones I've seen, and these photos make me want to return sooner than later.

Matt,

What species of horned lizard are you most interested in seeing?

Looks like splendida to me.

There's a guy named Scott who would probably know, since it's his snake.

Right on Orry, I'll be watching every one of these, or at least the ones I haven't already watched on Facebook if you've already put them there!

I see this pairing pretty often:

I'd try to go further up the hill to more sun exposure and smaller rocks; not as much moss and better conduction.

Great stuff, I really enjoyed your style of photography, and take on herping in general. I think there's a lot to learn from your patient approach.

Great post and photos! Thanks for completely changing the outlook of my Sunday from "sit around" to "where's my boots?".

For me, if it's in the wild, photographed in the habitat, living and healthy, it counts. Who cares who saw it first?

Sierra Vista!

The places they're NOT are often just as important to take note of as the places they ARE. If you want to learn quickly, I'd advise buying a new pair of boots with the goal of wearing the soles through by the end of summer ... you'll see stuff.

"Again.......we are interviewing Russ Johnson of the PHS tomorrow for Herp Nation LIVE with Dan Krull. It will be posted saturday afternoon/evening. We want to give them an opportunity to respond to the video, as well as answer some of these questions/concerns that have been raised. Look for that on...

I feel an E. O. Wilson debate in the wind.

A rather loose observation of mine is that the oldest, largest rattlesnakes I've found also tend to be the least defensive, top the point of making it difficult to photograph them as they just lazily crawl off.

I avoid having to suck the wound by wearing a knight's armor while herping. With thisI can safely free handle any snake slow enough to capture. Works great for walking through cottonmouth filled swamps and rattlesnake infested weeds. I'm screwed if lightning rolls in, though! I have a rubber suit f...

Don't use cocofiber. Sand is questionable. Many keep them on it, but it can cause major respiratory problems if the sand isn't absolutely dust-free. The best thing you can do is get ceramic tile or adhesive-free shelf liner (cheap at home depot). ChrisNM, the issues with sand is due to the variety o...

I just went through the best rattler pics and I have to say some of you guys are in a league of your own. I am amazed at the photographic talent we have on our forum. To Bryan Hughes, how did the Diamond back in the water picture come to be? Was he retreating and just happened to stand his ground t...

Thanks yous guys. It's been driving me nuts that I can't out much more than a few miles from my house this year, so I'm making the most of it with the local critters.

Even though I live in AZ, I won't be making it to the S.E. this year. I'm sticking close to home and spending more time learning about the stuff I see all the time than counting heads. Here's some local critters, with one Eddy County molossus thrown in for the hell of it. http://farm5.static.flickr....

Byron wrote:Hello all, my job keeps me very busy so long trips are tough.
If anyone goes hiking close to tucson please let me know.
Thanks

Bryan-lol, I did understand the post but it seemed a bit extream from a newbes veiw.

It was purely a joke.

Yes, but don't admit that there are snakes living in the Tucson area or you could get yelled at.

The best part is the number of emails I've received from people who are flat out lying ... not because of the misinformation of the topic itself, but the "My brother took these" or "A guy I work with is holding the pole". A guy on Twitter who was posting this around told me just the other day that h...

Why is this even a discussion? NO! How is this old wive's tale still in circulation? Everything from my Wilderness First Responder handbook, to my Boy Scouts of America Handbook says DO NOT DO this. Also, if you think about, how would it even work? Its not like you can suck blood out of a pin prick...

Here's a self-publishing company owned and operated by a good friend.

http://www.abooksmind.com

Obviously it would be an investment, but the design and layout is part of the package, and you get 100% of the $$$.

My favorite, though only really heard from the newest of the new:

"I'd love to go herping tonight! I have to be back at 8:30 though. Problem?"

There was an interesting study by Sean Bush (the venom ER guy) on the benefits/damage of using the extractor type suction kit on snake bite. I can't seem to find the full article anywhere, but check this out: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11055564 That's a good one, thanks. Do you know of any ...

Obviously well covered in the old-forum, and gone now. This body of knowledge from this community is very useful, and it should be replaced. Please give your take.

Here's some fuel: http://www.wxii12.com/news/24370643/detail.html

Brian-I don’t see it as hypocritical-I mean what are you saying, anyone that’s been shown any site over the years has no right to use their better judgement and withold any of their own information from anyone? When herping sites are so variable, comparing something very temporary like a trash site...

ugh wrote:

Most of us probably have, but what's that got to do with anyone using more discretion for the sake of a population of any given species' best interest?

It doesn't, just pointing out the revolving door of hypocrisy that exists in this activity.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1271/4708280788_f306956ec0_b.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1306/4708279550_9034820211_b.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1292/4707630589_ea6919f850_b.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3404/3666720118_4f4b84e86d_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3560/3431047...

Raise your hand if you've never once received information from someone about a location or behavior.

That's awesome. This was a perfect way to spend my lunch hour.

I'd take the rain and go look for coralsnakes and neonate everything.