family trip to Oregon

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kevin h
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Joined: January 18th, 2015, 3:04 pm

family trip to Oregon

Post by kevin h »

Hi guys,

My name is Kevin Hutcheson and I'm high school herper from Kentucky who has herped all over the east. However I've only been on the west coast once in Washington and didn't find much, but I was hooked. This year my family of I have again planned a family vacation to the Pacific Northwest again with a lot herping on the side. This time we planned to go to Oregon and Northern California with our trip centering around Mount Hood, Crater Lake NP, Lassen Volcanic NP and Redwood N&SP. Obviously I know the regulations of herping in National Parks and don't plan to be doing any within the borders. That being said any and all help would be amazingly appreciated and if you'd want to meet up one day I'm sure that could be arranged. I'd love to target salamanders but rubber boas and sharp-tailed snakes would be cool as well. Please PM me if you'd be as gracious as to help.

Thanks, Kevin.
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Hadar
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Re: family trip to Oregon

Post by Hadar »

Hi Kevin,

Oregon has really strict herping laws, see http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =8&t=22860. If you want to see rubber boas and sharp-tailed snakes then you want to contact Richard Hoyer. I would recommend trying to see the endemic Mazama newt, http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =8&t=22998 if you are going to Crater Lake. With just visual encounters, pretty much the only truly legal herping in Oregon and the National Parks, you can still see a lot but you need to know your habitat, conditions, and look closely. Here is a post from a trip to the Columbia gorge and Redwood with only visual encounters, http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =8&t=22833. I haven't herped Mount Hood but have found herps at Mount St. Helen's and Mount Rainier. Once you have some dates figured out that you'll be around you should let us know and I'm sure someone could meet up with you. There are lots of great herpers in the PNW.

Cheers, Heather
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kevin h
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Joined: January 18th, 2015, 3:04 pm

Re: family trip to Oregon

Post by kevin h »

Hadar wrote:Hi Kevin,

Oregon has really strict herping laws, see http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =8&t=22860. If you want to see rubber boas and sharp-tailed snakes then you want to contact Richard Hoyer. I would recommend trying to see the endemic Mazama newt, http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =8&t=22998 if you are going to Crater Lake. With just visual encounters, pretty much the only truly legal herping in Oregon and the National Parks, you can still see a lot but you need to know your habitat, conditions, and look closely. Here is a post from a trip to the Columbia gorge and Redwood with only visual encounters, http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =8&t=22833. I haven't herped Mount Hood but have found herps at Mount St. Helen's and Mount Rainier. Once you have some dates figured out that you'll be around you should let us know and I'm sure someone could meet up with you. There are lots of great herpers in the PNW.

Cheers, Heather
Thanks Heather,

I'll make sure to read up on the laws and I have done my research on the Mazama Newt and hope to see one. It's also funny you would mention the link to your post cause I was just looking at it. As far as dates go we'll be in Portland on June 8th, then Mount Hood and Columbia River Gorge on June 9th-11th, then Crater Lake on June 12th-14th, then Lassen Volcanic June 15th-16th, then a possible day for Shasta Salamanders on the 17th, then Redwood on June 18th-20th, then stopping at Yachats, OR on the coast for one day and driving back to Portland again on the 22nd. Once again thanks for your advice Heather and happy herping.

Kevin.
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the_cw1
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Re: family trip to Oregon

Post by the_cw1 »

kevin h wrote:
Hadar wrote:Hi Kevin,

Oregon has really strict herping laws, see http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =8&t=22860. If you want to see rubber boas and sharp-tailed snakes then you want to contact Richard Hoyer. I would recommend trying to see the endemic Mazama newt, http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =8&t=22998 if you are going to Crater Lake. With just visual encounters, pretty much the only truly legal herping in Oregon and the National Parks, you can still see a lot but you need to know your habitat, conditions, and look closely. Here is a post from a trip to the Columbia gorge and Redwood with only visual encounters, http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =8&t=22833. I haven't herped Mount Hood but have found herps at Mount St. Helen's and Mount Rainier. Once you have some dates figured out that you'll be around you should let us know and I'm sure someone could meet up with you. There are lots of great herpers in the PNW.

Cheers, Heather
Thanks Heather,

I'll make sure to read up on the laws and I have done my research on the Mazama Newt and hope to see one. It's also funny you would mention the link to your post cause I was just looking at it. As far as dates go we'll be in Portland on June 8th, then Mount Hood and Columbia River Gorge on June 9th-11th, then Crater Lake on June 12th-14th, then Lassen Volcanic June 15th-16th, then a possible day for Shasta Salamanders on the 17th, then Redwood on June 18th-20th, then stopping at Yachats, OR on the coast for one day and driving back to Portland again on the 22nd. Once again thanks for your advice Heather and happy herping.

Kevin.
In Portland if you can make it to Smith and Bybee lakes you'll find heaps of garter snakes, frogs, and turtles. I would highly recommend it if you're in the city proper. Get there around 9:30 and have fun. :)
There's ospreys and bald eagles too, but snakes are way more fun right?!
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kevin h
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Re: family trip to Oregon

Post by kevin h »

In Portland if you can make it to Smith and Bybee lakes you'll find heaps of garter snakes, frogs, and turtles. I would highly recommend it if you're in the city proper. Get there around 9:30 and have fun. :)
There's ospreys and bald eagles too, but snakes are way more fun right?!
Thanks a bunch! Do you know if there are any Western Pond Turtles there?
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the_cw1
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Re: family trip to Oregon

Post by the_cw1 »

kevin h wrote:
In Portland if you can make it to Smith and Bybee lakes you'll find heaps of garter snakes, frogs, and turtles. I would highly recommend it if you're in the city proper. Get there around 9:30 and have fun. :)
There's ospreys and bald eagles too, but snakes are way more fun right?!
Thanks a bunch! Do you know if there are any Western Pond Turtles there?
I've heard there are western pond turtles there, but I've never actually seen one. To be fair, I'm usually walking around for snakes so I may not be the guy to ask.

I have 3 other suggestions: Forest Park, Wapato Greenway on Sauvie Island, and Oaks Bottom. I've seen good herps and wildlife at all of them and, importantly, they're all free. The weather is exceptionally hot right now in Portland, so getting out early is key. Have fun! :)
Entomancer
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Re: family trip to Oregon

Post by Entomancer »

kevin h wrote:Thanks a bunch! Do you know if there are any Western Pond Turtles there?
Apparently the best places to see those are further south. Historically, they were very numerous but now they are an endangered species that only occurs at a few locations, largely due to agriculture taking over the valley centuries ago and draining many of the wetlands.

I have never seen one, but the website for Fern Ridge Wetlands in Eugene lists them as one of the animals there, and I have heard/seen accounts of them there from multiple sources. I don't know about Smith and Bybee; I know painted turtles are there and at some other wetlands around the greater Portland area, but I don't know about western pond turtles.

Maybe you already know this, but unless you're lucky and you catch one walking around away from water, your best chance to see them is with binoculars. Aquatic turtles are very wary animals, and getting close to them either takes a lot of patience or a lot of guts and persistence (basically jumping into the water and swimming after them). I've found that the best way to find them is to look for open bodies of either still or slowly-flowing water with lots of large pieces of downed wood that are also exposed to full sun for the majority of the day, i.e. there is enough wood sticking out of the water that there are dry sections. Turtles seek these out as basking spots, and I've found them in places I never would have expected simply by noting the presence of downed wood and then coming back and checking often with binoculars.

If you find a turtle with a dark brown/black carapace and no red marks or yellow stripes, but with yellow spots on the head/neck and legs, it's a western. Everything else is either a red-eared slider or a painted turtle.
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