Forty years ago a friend in Europe sent me a pair of Danubian Meadow Vipers with the instructions to feed them "grass horses" and "mouse cubs." They thrived and ate almost anything offered, including raw meat. Great little snakes and now sadly, highly endangered.
Cheers,
TV
Search found 63 matches
- November 27th, 2013, 7:13 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: herping for meadow vipers in hungary -V. ursinii rakosiensis
- Replies: 7
- Views: 3964
- November 5th, 2013, 6:52 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: a paper about how my views changed with animal planet
- Replies: 40
- Views: 8763
Re: a paper about how my views changed with animal planet
There are only two nature channels on TV. Nature and Nova.
- September 12th, 2013, 6:42 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: how many examples of dual patronyms are there?
- Replies: 28
- Views: 7916
Re: how many examples of dual patronyms are there?
Storeria dekayi wrightorum. David Humphreys Storer, James Ellsworth Dekay, and the Wrights (Albert and Anna Wright were a married duo).
- May 19th, 2013, 6:27 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: EDB-like WDBs?
- Replies: 25
- Views: 7361
Re: EDB-like WDBs?
It's a 100% eastern diamondback. I'm thinking that the picture might be faked. The snake looks like it's dead to me. It's a little "tipped over" at mid-body and even at 400 magnification, the head is suspect. Just looks posed, IMO. Wouldn't be hard to get those guineas to gather around a l...
- May 18th, 2013, 6:49 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Odd Looking Northern Water Snake
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1432
Re: Odd Looking Northern Water Snake
Wait until it sheds...
TV
TV
- May 15th, 2013, 7:41 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Biggest snake you have flipped under a rock?
- Replies: 15
- Views: 4546
Re: Biggest snake you have flipped under a rock?
Justin, I don't want to get too far off topic. All but one of the boas (12) were under or in piles of volcanic rock. One was simply crawling in rainforest. All of my photos are slides, but the biggest female is pictured on page 210 of Dick Ross's "Reproductive Husbandry of Boas and Pythons.&quo...
- May 14th, 2013, 1:18 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Biggest snake you have flipped under a rock?
- Replies: 15
- Views: 4546
Re: Biggest snake you have flipped under a rock?
A nine foot long Boa constrictor nebulosa on the Island of the Commonwealth of Dominica, 1990.
Cheers,
TV
Cheers,
TV
- January 12th, 2013, 3:54 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: My EOY and Adios for a While!
- Replies: 11
- Views: 3466
Re: My EOY and Adios for a While!
Sorry. My mistake. I saw the two blacktails labeled as such then had to scroll over to see the cerberus and in doing so missed the label. Still, I've never seen an Arizona Black Rattlesnake that looked like that particular specimen. Had me going there. I've seen scores of both blacks and blacktails ...
- January 6th, 2013, 7:07 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: My EOY and Adios for a While!
- Replies: 11
- Views: 3466
Re: My EOY and Adios for a While!
Your second shot of the "Arizona Blacktail" looks suspect. Is it a hybrid?
TV
TV
- January 4th, 2013, 8:43 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Agressive cottonmouths and copperheads
- Replies: 24
- Views: 4458
Re: Agressive cottonmouths and copperheads
Snakes are not aggressive. Snakes (with the exception of giant constrictors I mentioned above) do not attack people. I know that I'm droning along and maybe beating a dead horse with this, but even experienced herpetologist get this wrong. I don't want this post to be a flaming of Bruce Means, but o...
- January 3rd, 2013, 4:07 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Agressive cottonmouths and copperheads
- Replies: 24
- Views: 4458
Re: Agressive cottonmouths and copperheads
First consider the terms "aggressisve" and "defensive." The only snakes that can be considered truly aggressive are those extremely rare giant constrictors that, upon occasion, attack people with the intent of eating them. Venomous snakes are not aggressive. A pair of King Cobras...
- October 23rd, 2012, 10:27 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: RFI: how to start with S America
- Replies: 11
- Views: 2834
Re: RFI: how to start with S America
I would suggest checking with GreenTracks. I am bias because I guided for them over a period of twelve years, but you'll get the very best cooks, knowledgeable guides, and if you book a trip with the owner, Bill Lamar, you'll have one of the world's top neotropical herpetologists on board. You won't...
- September 9th, 2012, 8:37 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Grab-U-One - on balance is this good or bad?
- Replies: 20
- Views: 6410
Re: Grab-U-One - on balance is this good or bad?
I know these guys personally. Pereglenes is also a friend of mine and I feel that he is asking for an honest opinion of us forumites on these guys' actions. Since I am intimately familiar with the situation, I think that I can shine some like on their activities. They are respected law enforcement o...
- August 12th, 2012, 7:48 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Snake Bite First Aid
- Replies: 124
- Views: 29947
Re: Snake Bite First Aid
GlyptemysNE,
Two excellent posts!
Cheers,
TV
Two excellent posts!
Cheers,
TV
- August 11th, 2012, 3:05 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Snake Bite First Aid
- Replies: 124
- Views: 29947
Re: Snake Bite First Aid
With the exception of Jason :) most ER docs simply cannot identify a venomous snake, even with a wall poster or field guide. It's just a fact. They are doctors, not herpetologists. The point is, killing the snake puts the victim at greater risk. About half of the United State's pitviper bites are dr...
- August 6th, 2012, 4:34 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Let's go cruising
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1353
Re: Let's go cruising
Daryl,
I'm up for it, but we'll have to wait for the dark of the moons.
Cheers,
TV
I'm up for it, but we'll have to wait for the dark of the moons.
Cheers,
TV
- July 15th, 2012, 8:06 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Two Inadvertant Turtles
- Replies: 10
- Views: 2497
Re: Two Inadvertant Turtles
Neat turtles! But since you brought it up, do you ever find old "poisons" (poison bottles)?
Cheers,
TV
Cheers,
TV
- July 12th, 2012, 1:26 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Middle of 2012
- Replies: 9
- Views: 2681
Re: Middle of 2012
Hi Todd,
What's up with that juvenile calligaster? Definately hypomelanistic looking.
Cheers,
TV
What's up with that juvenile calligaster? Definately hypomelanistic looking.
Cheers,
TV
- June 10th, 2012, 4:11 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: 150 year old Bufo specimen - a puzzle
- Replies: 12
- Views: 2774
Re: 150 year old Bufo specimen - a puzzle
Frank, Wait 'till you get deeper into the MC collection. There are some very old Loveridge specimens from Africa and a gigantic Canebrake Rattlesnake. The rattler is faded white and looks like an Eastern Diamondback simply because of its size, but when you look on the inside of the coils you see the...
- May 12th, 2012, 7:29 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Just moved to Mississippi (here are some crappy photos)
- Replies: 23
- Views: 5431
Re: Just moved to Mississippi (here are some crappy photos)
Hi Natalie, I was very near Kemper County this afternoon (Meridian) when the storm system moved through. Pretty impressive. I was on business and had to come back to Jackson immediately afterwards, so no herping. That week of the super moon was really wierd. Any other time I wouldn't go out but over...
- May 5th, 2012, 12:52 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Unexpected Hognose
- Replies: 27
- Views: 4801
Re: Unexpected Hognose
Look at that pattern. It's an Agkistrodon pattern if I ever saw one. I've found a few marked like this over the years and the really red ones make you hesitate...
Cheers,
TV
Cheers,
TV
Re: lodingi
Hi Tamara,
I would say that the little pine is pretty typical. They vary in dark pigment from birth. The piebalds are very different. But any Black Pinesnake is a super find and I'm sure it made your day.
Cheers,
TV
I would say that the little pine is pretty typical. They vary in dark pigment from birth. The piebalds are very different. But any Black Pinesnake is a super find and I'm sure it made your day.
Cheers,
TV
- February 20th, 2012, 8:35 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: New Member in Biloxi Mississippi Area!
- Replies: 14
- Views: 3589
Re: New Member in Biloxi Mississippi Area!
It's an interesting situation on the coast. Rampant development removes suitable habitat, then hurricanes come through and return it! Ha ha. Look in vacant lots where houses used to be, but are now grown up and full of wooden boards, concrete slabs, and cardboard. Moisture is a must. Old carpet is g...
- February 17th, 2012, 7:17 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: New Member in Biloxi Mississippi Area!
- Replies: 14
- Views: 3589
Re: New Member in Biloxi Mississippi Area!
In fact, Pinewoods Snakes are very abundant in southern Mississippi, particularly on the immediate Gulf Coast. I have collected them as far north as Wayne County, but it's the coastal flatwoods where they are most common. http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh91/tvandeventer/RhadinaeaflavilataHillisP...
- February 17th, 2012, 7:02 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Farancia (or Regina) in captivity
- Replies: 27
- Views: 6720
Re: Farancia (or Regina) in captivity
Don't kill the messenger. :D A friend has kept Graham's Crawfish Snakes alive for years in a public exhibit. He dredges-up and keeps a stock tank full of live crawfish. Now, think back to your high school biology. He snips one eye off several of the crawfish. This stimulates a molt. As soon as he ha...
- February 2nd, 2012, 2:42 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: What species is this anaconda regurging?
- Replies: 12
- Views: 2123
Re: What species is this anaconda regurding?
Young River Otter.
TV
TV
- January 23rd, 2012, 9:19 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Claxton Rattlesnake Roundup no longer killing snakes
- Replies: 25
- Views: 6952
Re: Claxton Rattlesnake Roundup no longer killing snakes
Back to Georgia supplying 50 adult Eastern Diamondbacks for the weekend event every year. Granted, that's better than a hundred, but you need to accept that those 50 will most likely die, too. Well meaning wardens and area managers will pick up snakes as they encounter them during their regular dail...
- January 10th, 2012, 5:21 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: How not to handle venomous snakes...
- Replies: 19
- Views: 3590
Re: How not to handle venomous snakes...
I watched the video of this fellow in the hospital and was amazed at the rather miner extent of the swelling. I was further alarmed that the plastic surgeon was insisting on a fasciotomy to relieve the swelling. Now, we don't have all of the information in front of us so we can't take into considera...
- January 9th, 2012, 8:34 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Peru herping advice
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1046
Re: Peru herping advice
I guided for Greentracks for about ten years. Hands down the best food of any of the Amazon tour companies, which is very important. Owner/guide Bill Lamar is one of the top , if not THE authority on herps of the area (co-author of Venomous Reptiles of the Western [/i ]Hemisphere ). Many of the othe...
- October 28th, 2011, 2:04 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Canebrake dens?
- Replies: 130
- Views: 28443
Re: Canebrake dens?
In Mississippi, Canebrake Rattlesnakes don't aggrigate for denning. I've never encountered more than two in a hibernation stump anywhere within their known range. And even though Crotalus horridus is *presently* considered monotypic, these are distinctly different animals. Any observant person famil...
- September 25th, 2011, 4:31 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: turtle ID help, please
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1641
Re: turtle ID help, please
Tamara, Your turtle in an intergrade Yellowbelly X Redear Slider. Further, it's losing its pattern as it approaches melanism. Southeastern Mississippi/Pascagoula River Basin sliders rarely turn the dark brownish-black like old male Redears over the rest of the state. Their pattern just becomes obscu...
- July 15th, 2011, 4:48 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: mississippi and alabama herping regs check
- Replies: 20
- Views: 4587
Re: mississippi and alabama herping regs check
I don't know where anyone got the idea that Mississippi Wildlife Fisheries & Parks doesn't care about nongame wildlife. We have some of the best nongame wildlife regs in the United States and as Tamara discovered, you will recieve a citation. However, I find it funny that an officer gave you a t...
- July 3rd, 2011, 11:40 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Looking for a paper
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1056
Re: Looking for a paper
Thank you, Eric!
I've been Googling for a week and couldn't get that info. I really appreciate it!
Cheers,
TV
I've been Googling for a week and couldn't get that info. I really appreciate it!
Cheers,
TV
- July 3rd, 2011, 7:52 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Looking for a paper
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1056
Looking for a paper
Good Morning, I am looking for a paper that someone out there might have. It's by Hugh L. Keegan and is titled, " Venomous Bites and Stings in Mississippi ." Hugh was an old friend of mine and I inherited his extensive herp library and memorabilia, but this important paper was not included...
- March 18th, 2011, 6:03 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Northern Mississippi area?
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1151
Re: Northern Mississippi area?
Dusty,
Send me a PM.
Terry Vandeventer
Send me a PM.
Terry Vandeventer
- March 16th, 2011, 4:54 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Top herping places in North America
- Replies: 51
- Views: 16442
Re: Top herping places in North America
West Texas
TV
TV
- March 13th, 2011, 1:00 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Venomous... the true meaning
- Replies: 13
- Views: 3149
Re: Venomous... the true meaning
Thank you, VanAR!
- March 1st, 2011, 11:09 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: TX HB 1788 introduced
- Replies: 142
- Views: 26174
Re: TX HB 1788 introduced
Calling out from Mississippi, both my wife and I will purchase them.
Cheers,
TV
Cheers,
TV
- February 21st, 2011, 4:29 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Any scientific data to back up these claims?
- Replies: 26
- Views: 3377
Re: Any scientific data to back up these claims?
When humans are involved, I think that individual rattlesnakes who sound-off are almost always killed. The vast majority never rattle or strike out, and are never seen. They rarely strike at passerbys as the old cowboy movies would lead you to believe, or as people often report. The idea of the more...
- February 20th, 2011, 6:26 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Texas House Bill 251
- Replies: 33
- Views: 5784
Re: Texas House Bill 251
The fight against this law has been one of the biggest letter-writing, emailing campaigns ever waged by the private herp community, rivaled only by the potential ban on constricting snakes by the federal government. Money spent on lawyers. Fund raisers. Generous donations. Countless meetings with le...
- February 20th, 2011, 4:35 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Texas House Bill 251
- Replies: 33
- Views: 5784
Re: Texas House Bill 251
An email I just recieved from Joe Forks, one of the highly devoted herp enthusiests who are heading up the fight for us in Texas. People please keep the negative, insulting remarks to yourselves and off the public forums. It only hurts us. Be civil. Act like adults. "We have met with Parks &...
- February 17th, 2011, 2:20 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: The worst thing thats happend to you while herping
- Replies: 215
- Views: 39982
Re: The worst thing thats happend to you while herping
Not everyone react the same when witnessing or engaging in violent acts. Not every soldier comes home with post traumatic stress syndrome. The majority don't. Many do their jobs well and suffer little if any afterwards. Some heros get PTS, others don't. They are still incredibly brave. They are just...
- February 15th, 2011, 7:08 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: New species distribution models for Python molurus
- Replies: 23
- Views: 4701
Re: New species distribution models for Python molurus
Of all the publicity and coverage on pythons in Florida over the years, I have never heard of Indian Pythons being found there. More info please.
TV
TV
- January 26th, 2011, 11:47 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Indigenous Pranksters?? (120 foot snake)
- Replies: 10
- Views: 2962
Re: Indigenous Pranksters?? (160 foot snake)
I know from time to time I come across as a bit irritating here on the forums, but I just can't tolerate some of the crap out there that is drawn into the field of herpetology. Because people will watch this stuff and believe it, sponsors pour their money into these tv shows. Again, these shows are ...
- January 1st, 2011, 4:29 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Puff caught and killed near Caledon. South Africa
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1384
Re: Puff caught and killed near Caledon. South Africa
I guess the practice of killing snakes and holding them toward the camera is not limited to the southern U.S. I'd say that puff is about nine feet long and weighs 119 pounds.
Cheers,
TV
Cheers,
TV
- December 23rd, 2010, 1:34 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Wild caught albinos???
- Replies: 264
- Views: 115184
Re: Wild caught albinos???
Leucistic snakes have been recorded in many species. To name a few; Southern Pine, Eastern Diamondback, Burmese Python, Ball Python, Eastern Hognose, Amazon Treeboa, Texas Ratsnake, etc. I personally introduced the leucistic Western Cottonmouth into the trade. I'm pretty much out of the breeding bus...
- December 22nd, 2010, 3:25 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Ga. Venomous
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1719
Re: Ga. Venomous
Amen. Totally agree.
Cheers,
TV
Cheers,
TV
- December 22nd, 2010, 3:00 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Wild caught albinos???
- Replies: 264
- Views: 115184
Re: Wild caught albinos???
The bug eyed condition is characteristic of leucism in snakes and usually occurs in the F2 generation. Wild-caught leucistics never (presumably) show this trait because they represent a single, one time, spontaneous mutation. I'm guessing that that snake was the result of captive breeding or was cap...
- December 22nd, 2010, 1:18 pm
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Question about snakes' stamina
- Replies: 10
- Views: 2852
Re: Question about snakes' stamina
Don't know how the circulatory system of terrestrial snakes affects stamina when the chips are down. I would guess that all of the things mentioned certainly come into play. For a different angle, consider coachwhips. I've found that if you can keep a coachwhip in sight and on the run for, say 20 se...
- December 19th, 2010, 5:41 am
- Forum: The Forum
- Topic: Don't try this in the field
- Replies: 21
- Views: 3915
Re: Don't try this in the field
George Van Horn has handled more venomous snakes that the combined posters at this forum have ever seen in their entire lives. He's a good and sincere person who knows his stuff. He was trained by Bill Haast. Anyone who extracts snake venom for a living, Van Horn, Haast, Ross Allen, Jim Harrison, ar...