Field Herp Forum

Thanks for the comments guys, Gopher, 2 out of 5 i think on this trip were black and white. I think I had only seen 4 or 5 before this and they were all yellow. Lawrence, I would guess that it wasn't quite 20" but seemed like it could have been close. Klawnskale, yes the giant garter trapping was wi...

I wrote the narrative for this post awhile ago, but finally got around to getting it onto the forum within the last couple days. I had a great year last year almost and found a few targets that I had been hoping to see for awhile. A few of these have been posted, but most of it should be new. The be...

I'm at home right now, but I'll be heading back to school in SC right around that time. If it works out I'd love to hit the field with you.
-Elliot

Hans I've never been to Asia before, but the first snake looks like some sort of pipe snake, Calamaria or Macrocalamus. As you said though, there are quite a few species so I can't really help you further, but I think that you're on the right track.
Good luck!
-Elliot

That looks like draytonii to me.
-Elliot

Zach the islands are incredible and I would highly recommend visiting if you get the chance. If you are at all interested in marine life, rent or bring a wetsuit and do some snorkeling (or diving if you're certified) while you're there. It's an amazing spot and the kelp forests are pristine and beau...

Unfortunately the only ambystomid I've come across
Northwestern Salamander

-Elliot

I found this snake yesterday in far northern Yolo County and am wondering what others with more experience regarding atratus think about its ID. I figured it was an intergrade as that's what I'm used to seeing (about 25 miles to the south), but it looked slightly different. It definitely had more sp...

I checked and that's the one we saw. I had sent the pics to a few different biologists, but I never found out where they ended up so I was just curious

Thanks guys. I was super excited to find the ground snake. Jim, we were in San Bernardino not super far from the Nevada border in an area where Sonora have been recorded from before so I don't think this would be farther west than yours. And repaphin, I was wondering the same thing about the shovel ...

My dad, sister, a family friend and I took a trip down to the Mohave last weekend to see what we could turn up. We struck out on our targets, but still saw some cool stuff. My favorite herp of the trip was my lifer ground snake found on the crawl in the late afternoon. The first photo was taken in s...

Great post and to echo what others have said, that banded gecko is pretty awesome. Your Sibon doesn't look quite right though. Based on that pointed rostral scale and head shape, I'd guess it's a hooknose snake or Ficimia of some sort. Looks like Ficimia publia lives in the area ands some of the pic...

Looks like it could be philodryas patagoniensis. The pictures look pretty similar and the range is correct.
I've never seen the species though so I'm just going off of google

Yep. its a uta

Thanks for the replies guys. I've seen a few different striped gophers at another location about 25 minutes away, but I was excited because this spot is just a short bike ride from my house! And nice pic mike! Here's one I think I posted a year or two ago from the other spot I've seen them at. http:...

I haven't had the chance to get out yet this year yet, but this afternoon I was at my moms workplace and decided that with the sunny weather I would check a few pieces of urban AC that occasionally produce gophers. I got lucky and found 3 gophers under the first 3 pieces I lifted. The first 2 looked...

I just did a google search and it looks like Lycodon effraenis but keep in mind I have no actual experience with any species of Lycodon. Your's does look a fair bit darker and apears to have a broader head than most of the pictures I found, but this one looks pretty similar. http://m6.i.pbase.com/g4...

I would recomend Reptiles and Amphibians of the Pacific Northwest by Alan St. John. It's really nice and is specific to just the northwest region including into north into Canada.
-Elliot Schoenig

When i saw the woma and bredli i thought it couldn't get much better but the banded mendengi was amazing! Defintely one of the coolest snakes I've seen posted on here.
-Elliot Schoenig

I did a couple google searches and found a few pictures of unpatterned hourglass treefrogs. Only found one that resembled your speckled individual though. http://www.visualphotos.com/photo/1x5071365/variegated_tree_frogs_blend_into_leaf_c4016.jpg Top one looks kind of similar but with smaller speckl...

Yeah you shouldn't have too much trouble with blind snakes. Flipping anything from rocks in forested habitat to the bricks lining a walkway through my hotel produced quite a few on my last trip to Maui. Chameleons are a little harder though. Not sure where your going but i've had good luck in the Ku...

Some of those wheel bugs look albino or something. THeres two that are yeallow where they should be black.
And that last canebrake is awsome!

Looks like you had a pretty awsome trip. I went to Saint John 3 years ago and saw some of the same stuff but not nearly the numbers.I got lucky and found 1 Amphisbenid and 1 Typhlops on my first day but then only saw Anoles and ameivas for the rest of the trip. By the way, i think that the tiny anol...

The one that keeps alluding me year after year is a zonata in CA. I have been in the range and looked for every subspecies (except the 2 from baja), but I always end up striking out. Friends who live in Zonata range tell me that they have seen them the day before my family visits and hikers tell us ...

The snake they caught does look dead. Anyone else notice that he acted like sea kraits were the same species as malayan kraits saying that they spend time in the water and then come onto land and into houses?

Here's a few from the last couple years Banded gecko http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3565/3499161957_9fa5ee3c40_z.jpg Eyelash viper http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2460/3902210757_1e5fd750a3_z.jpg Pacific chorus frog http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4147221367_ca429994c0_b.jpg Sonoran mud turtle ht...

4 snakes 3 species

1 yellow belly racer
1 mountain garter
2 valley garters
unfortunatly only picture i have is film
i remember a thread like this on another forum and some of the pictures were pretty impressive

I have seen mountain garter snakes at elevations above 10,000 in the central sierras.
I googled highest altitude for snakes and got Thermophis a genus of snakes in Tibet that go up to
above 14,000 ft but like brendan said, i also saw that C. Triseriatus goes up to about 15,000 ft.

They haven't trapped one in two years now, and they believe the snakes are not reproducing anymore in the wild in east TX. WOW I didn't know they were that rare. My grandma used to live in Livingston in Polk county and had a few acres of forest behing her house. She saw one 5 years ago and one 10 y...

M. f. piceus


M. l. lateralis

WOW! The variation in the vipers is amazing. Everytime i scrolled down i was even more amazed.
The in situ retic pic is awsome too.

Banded Gecko



Eyelash viper



Red Legged Frog

The picture of the shed skin head looks like it has an enlarged rostral scale hanging of to the right side making me think patchnose.
Stripes don't always show in sheds, and often fade after awhile.

Amazing post and outstanding photography. That coral pipe
snake is one of the coolest snakes I've seen posted on the
forum. The bothrops stiking series were great too. Your first
furry snake food isn't a rat, but a mouse opossum and the
sleeping bird is a wire tailed manakin.

Awsome post. It will be interesting to see if they spreap or just stay in the same area.
Your first bug id isn't a mantis fly but i'm not sure what it is.
The second is an adult antlion.

very cool post. The chameleons are great. Il have to cross the pond sometime and see them in person! Tell me more about the silver sword plant. Is it some kind of yucca or what? Its a composite (sunflower), but it doesn't really look like one. They grow for about 50 years and then flower once befor...

Earlier this summer, my cousin got married in Maui. The trip was mostly focused around snorkling and backpacking as well as the wedding, but ther was still some time to do a little bit of herping. Since there are so few herps on maui, i had already seen most of what i saw on previous trips, but ther...

That black tail is a beauty!
Your mystery frog looks to be a toad of some sort.
I'd say a spadefoot but not sure which one or even if that's what it is.

Beatiful shots of some amazing animals.

Nice Post! That blackhead is awsome!

Awsome post! Seeing an anaconda eating a caiman bust have been amazing.

Awsome post! I love that first scenery shot and the first snake.

If your going later this summer, it will probably be pretty dry, but a friend of mine used to go every summer and said he saw some herps. Gophers and racers don't occur on the island but Two Striped Garters do. Rattelsnakes also occur on Catalina and you were right about them being helleri. There ar...

Really nice post.
I especially liked the first pine snake pic and the first june timber.
Bumber though on the coastal plains milk

Awsome shot of the helleri combat and the coachwip in the road.
Was the Gila in Cali? If so, nice job!

Nice post with two awsome species. Did you take any pictures of the Oxybelis bight?

The tentacled snake was awsome!!
I liked the rainbow water snake too.

Nice job on the whipsnake. i've looked for them a few times, but never found them.
Regarding the DOR mammal, it looks like a long tailed weasel. The black tail tip
distinguishes them from minks, and Natalie was right about muskrats having no
hair on their tails.

Two of my favorites
Road cruised colorado sidewinder


NorPac in situ under tin


Both from earlier this year