Over spring break we decided to take the fam to our house in San Luis Obispo where the weather just happened to be beautiful and perfect for some herping we hiked all day and as the sun began to set we did some flipping in some of my favorite spots. Didn't intend for this to be a herping trip, it just worked out this way so sorry for poor picture quality. We were woefully unprepared
We saw a ton of these juvie Coastal Fence Lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis) everywhere; more than usual that is.
Pacific Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer)
and again
Next we found an Alligator lizard (Elgaria ???) with a nasty attitude sunning on a rock
On the way back to the car, alongside a creek, I flipped a log and found several California Newts (Taricha torosa)
While we were out and about that night we went to one of my favorite spots and we flipped several NorPacs including the extremely dark phase (nearly solid black) Norpac i posted a picture of previously. Just as we were about to leave i flipped this little critter
Night Snake (Hypsiglena Ochrorhyncha
-Antone
San Luis Obispo herping over spring break
Moderator: Scott Waters
- apantaleo91
- Posts: 40
- Joined: September 12th, 2011, 10:58 pm
- Location: Pomona, Ca
Re: San Luis Obispo herping over spring break
Sounds like an unplanned herping day turned out great! My uncle lives in San Luis Obispo and sees california kingsnakes pretty often, so with that and your post I am gonna need to plan a trip there soon. Sick night snake. Thanks for the post
Re: San Luis Obispo herping over spring break
sweet finds. I myself just got back from carrizo today. Found a lot of stuff.
- apantaleo91
- Posts: 40
- Joined: September 12th, 2011, 10:58 pm
- Location: Pomona, Ca
Re: San Luis Obispo herping over spring break
Yes there are a ton of kingsnakes in the area along with NorPacs and gophers. Together the 3 make up a huge portion of the areas herps. Great place but season tends to come later and end earlier considering the coastal climate never gets too warm:/ still a fun spot to herp and one of the most beautiful on the coast!
Re: San Luis Obispo herping over spring break
Is that look typical for the nightsnakes up there?
- apantaleo91
- Posts: 40
- Joined: September 12th, 2011, 10:58 pm
- Location: Pomona, Ca
Re: San Luis Obispo herping over spring break
Pretty typical I would say although to be honest I have only found several night snakes in the area so I dont know if its enough conclusive evidence to say its "typical" haha. It was most definitely a night snake though. I would assume they don't vary much from SLO to Ventura since both are of the same species and subspecies. Do you have any shots of night snakes from down in that area, would love to see them
Re: San Luis Obispo herping over spring break
We only have one night snake from SLO county in the Database. It would be a nice addition to have your find in there as well.
Fundad
Fundad
Re: San Luis Obispo herping over spring break
Had one piece o' night snake jerky a long time ago ...that's about it, sorry But thanks for the follow-up.apantaleo91 wrote:Do you have any shots of night snakes from down in that area, would love to see them
- apantaleo91
- Posts: 40
- Joined: September 12th, 2011, 10:58 pm
- Location: Pomona, Ca
Re: San Luis Obispo herping over spring break
Fundad, I entered it into the nafha database!
- Ryan Sikola
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Re: San Luis Obispo herping over spring break
Very cool nightsnake and newt!
That gopher is a san diego gopher rather than a pacific.
That gopher is a san diego gopher rather than a pacific.
- Brian Hubbs
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Re: San Luis Obispo herping over spring break
I love SLO county. Here's something I saw this week while I was there:
Western Pond Turtle and Crawdad dinner by tricolorbrian, on Flickr
Yes, that's a little crawdad in its mouth...
Western Pond Turtle and Crawdad dinner by tricolorbrian, on Flickr
Yes, that's a little crawdad in its mouth...