A day of herping in California...(plus a little extra)

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ErikNM
Posts: 112
Joined: June 9th, 2010, 1:54 pm

A day of herping in California...(plus a little extra)

Post by ErikNM »

Went to visit CA for the first time in my life. I was there only for a few days and the first few ones, it was cold, raining, and windy. Finally went out herping on a day that the sun shined. Special thanks to Kent VanSooy for taking us out to a great spot, and to Marisa and Mike for joining and the hospitality. Anyway, I guess if I can't find the "common" stuff (seems like that always happens to me) like Cal kings and SoPacs, I'll take the less common stuff no prob:


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- Rosy Boa


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- originally spotted this guy coiled at the edge of a rock and wanted to get an in situ shot, but realized I was standing right over another snake....->


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- another species of rattlesnake mere feet away from the above ruber, nice!


Ended up finding quite a few rubers and a few specks and then headed back to the truck. Driving down the road I saw what looked like an old Missouri treat that I used to find, a black rat snake...but that didn't compute here in southern Cali. Marisa stopped, we jumped out and wrangled up this very cool snake:

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- Baja coachwhip

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- another shot

All these snakes were lifers for me and was definitely happy to see them in the wild. Again, much thanks to the aforementioned people for helping me out!

....so what did I do on one of the rainy days while in Cali? Well being a photographer, I set up a shoot in nearby LA with a fantastic model:

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Thanks for looking!
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Dr. Dark
Posts: 380
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:39 pm
Location: Concord TWP, Ohio

Re: A day of herping in California...(plus a little extra)

Post by Dr. Dark »

Outstanding photography! We should all have your rainy-day activities! ;)
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Neil M
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Joined: April 10th, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA

Re: A day of herping in California...(plus a little extra)

Post by Neil M »

Wow now is that a first time in california or what?!?! Amazing luck on the boa, specks and coachwhip! You must have been at some awesome places. Great photography too! Thanks for posting!
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Carl Brune
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Location: Athens, OH
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Re: A day of herping in California...(plus a little extra)

Post by Carl Brune »

Awesome, especially that coachwhip!
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Andrew G
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 1:53 pm
Location: South-Central Kansas

Re: A day of herping in California...(plus a little extra)

Post by Andrew G »

I didn't know that there were black coachwhips in Cali. Reminds me of the ones we have in eastern Kansas. Cool stuff, and your off day looks pretty good too! :thumb:
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Ross Padilla
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Location: I love L.A.
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Re: A day of herping in California...(plus a little extra)

Post by Ross Padilla »

Nice finds, especially that Coachwhip. I didn't even know we had black Coachwhips in CA. :thumb:
ErikNM
Posts: 112
Joined: June 9th, 2010, 1:54 pm

Re: A day of herping in California...(plus a little extra)

Post by ErikNM »

Exactly...I had never been to Cali ever before...so when this long black snake crawled onto the road, I didn't know what to think. Black rat...black racer...nope, coachwhip! Guess this one barely enters the USA and isn't too common a find.
VICtort
Posts: 691
Joined: July 2nd, 2010, 6:48 pm
Location: AZ.

Re: A day of herping in California...(plus a little extra)

Post by VICtort »

Well done, I am sort of local, and I have only found a couple of those M. f. fulginosus, it is indeed a big deal and they have a very restricted range up here...fairly common down in Baja. Congratulations, a fete not easily accomplished. Seeing several C. ruber in a short trip is also a great blessing....lucky you, you were in very good company.

Vic
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Norman D
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Joined: November 4th, 2010, 8:10 am
Location: Sonoran Desert

Re: A day of herping in California...(plus a little extra)

Post by Norman D »

Very nice photos Erik! I also made my first herping trips to SD this year! Wish I could've seen more "photo friendly" specks, but did well with the other species. It is neat that you saw an adult Baja Coachwhip. We saw 2 juveniles in 2 trips which do not look like the adults at all. Great job and thanks for sharing
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Dell Despain
Posts: 542
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:08 pm
Location: Montana

Re: A day of herping in California...(plus a little extra)

Post by Dell Despain »

Sweet Erik, the M. fulginosus is really cool looking, and I really like the pyrrhus photo too. Sounds like you found a good group of herpers to hunt with too.

Boy, that Veronica Lavery is a little tiny wisp of girl isn't she? In the first photo she has some cotton or a booger in her bellybutton, maybe you should photo shop that out?
:lol:
-Dell
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