Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

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justinm
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by justinm »

Nick, I only took the pocket camera... Dang, you've made me so jealous I didn't lug around my rig now! Great to see you again, I still remember when you were literally a kid going down there. You're an awesome photographer man, super cool stuff.
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Nigel Smith
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Nigel Smith »

I had an absolute blast herping and hanging aroung the campfire with everyone. Last weekend will live forever in infamy. :beer:

I'll post my finds in a future post.

Nigel
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justinm
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by justinm »

Nigel it was really cool getting to hang out with you at the road and at dinner. What a dinner huh? Can't wait to see you in the field again anytime.
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Matt.O
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Matt.O »

First off let me say it was great to finally meet everyone in person, although i missed most of the meet and greet bonding around the campfire friday and saturday nights as my girlfriend was feeling a bit under the weather. Everyone was a top act and like has been mentioned before any resentments or turmoil often seen on the forum was left behind. As far as 70 plus people herping together in one area I have to say the road was in the best condition I have ever seen it after that many herpers, not anything like when you see some herp clubs and universities down there and nearly every log is ripped apart and broken and overturned rocks. My girlfriend was a little apprehensive about going, but afterwards said that besides the cold and being sick was the most fun she has had on a camping trip all because everyone was friendly and didnt care if you were an expert or novice in herping. Thanks to everyone!

Matt
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Daniel D Dye
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Daniel D Dye »

That was one heck of a trip. It was great seeing some old friends and meeting a bunch of new ones. Yvonne and are ready for the next one.

Here are a few photos from that weekend and one from Georgia on the way home.

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Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

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Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

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Longtail Salamander (Eurycea longicauda) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

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Pigeon Mountain Salamander (Plethodon petraeus) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

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Tersa Sphinx Moth (Xylophanes tersa) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

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Net Winged Beetle (Calopteron sp.) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

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White-lined Sphinx (Hyles lineata) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

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Dusty Hognose snake (Heterodon nasicus gloydi) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

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Black Rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus obsoletus) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

Daniel
TimCO
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by TimCO »

Just when you think it can't get any better, Daniel jumps in.
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Chris Smith
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Chris Smith »

TimCO wrote:Just when you think it can't get any better, Daniel jumps in.

:thumb:
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Josh Holbrook
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Josh Holbrook »

I usually don't post pictures in advanced of my big posts; but jumping on the band wagon, here's the group (and dang near everyone) taking a picture of the copperhead that took me 30 seconds of staring to see.

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AsydaBass
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by AsydaBass »

I echo what everyone has said about the trip being absolutely amazing; too many people, too little time to get to know you all. I'm not sure that these animals have received quite enough publicity yet, so here are a few snapshots from the trip

Dusty Hognose Snake (Heterodon gloydi)

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Our first Cinder Rat snake, aka P.o.o.

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Some Drymarchon-sized Black Racers. Compared to what I'm accustomed to seeing down here, these snakes are out of control!

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Hard to believe that this was the same subspecies we routinely pick up in southern Florida

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This little Western Worm Snake completely escaped my radar of potential finds until someone turned it up on our last day. Super neat species!
Carphophis vermis

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Some shiny things from the dark and damp parts of the forest

Southern Two-lined Salamander (Eurycea cirrigera) showing of his fu-manchu

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I finally got to photograph salamanders on brightly colored, distracting fall leaves!

Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)

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Despite their apparent abundance, the minuscule Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris blanchardi) was a top find for an amphibian guy like me

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It was a blast, until next time!

-Don
http://www.RainforestDon.com
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Cerastes
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Cerastes »

Hey all,

It's Steve Marks, "host" of the 'Canadian Contingent' at Snake Road each and every October .

I wanted to take the opportunity to say thanks to all the awesome people who came and shared our campfire on the Sunday night! I was hoping Mike P would come by so we could celebrate his birthday with him... and was very pleasantly surprised when a fantastic group from all over the US joined him!

We made some new friends on the this trip... and caught up with some older friends too! It was a true pleasure to see you all!
The weather didn't really cooperate, but the species diversity was still pretty awesome; I honestly don't think it's possible to get skunked at these two legendary locations!

Our group collectively found about 29 herp taxa - a far cry from our record 51 (in 2 days) - but spectacular nonetheless!

Best wishes to all, and an extended welcome to anyone that wishes to come up and herp in Canada in years to come!

Cheers!
Steve
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Dan Krull
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Dan Krull »

Herp Nation Radio speaks with Mike Pingleton about the amazing snake road NAFHA trip, and Brian Bryan Suson about field herping in Ecuador! We also speak with Sarah Hagan about how the herp community came together to help save her sick pet tegu. Enjoy! http://www.herpnation.com/audio/dks13-102212/
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Mike Pingleton »

I've attended many NAFHA events in KS, MO, CO, AL, and IL since 2007; all of them were successful events. We seemed to have gained critical mass on this one - it was our Woodstock, our weekend of peace, love and herps. By my reckoning, we had 74 people attending, including kids. And by my reckoning, 74 people had a pretty good time.

Daniel Dye and Dan Krull on the flapjack line. Dan's pancakes were delicious - I'm going to have to raise my game a notch in that department!
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Tim shows off his BAF.
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Nocturnal daguerreotypists focusing on a Cave Salamander:
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Shawnee Tree Mouse:
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Peter Berg, cooking up some delicious brats (thanks Pete!)
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A bunch of the gang:
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Trachemys megacephalus
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thanks again to everyone who attended, and extra thanks to everyone who helped out to make this event a success.

-Mike
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Andy Avram
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Andy Avram »

Mike,

Shawnee Tree Mouse? Are you kidding me? You saw a Golden Mouse? Seeing that would have easily been one of my highlight finds if I saw that. They come right up to the Ohio River in Kentucky, but haven't been found in the buckeye state. If I was in southern Ohio more often I would put some time in to find that species.

Also, I you go the species wrong on that turtle. I think it is Trachemys lotor.

Andy
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Josh Holbrook
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Andy - that's a little mouse that I saw jumping through the bushes, looking rather inebriated. Mike and I got it and couldn't ID it for positive, although I believe Mike said he thought it was a field mouse - I threw out golden mouse, but my mouse ID is about as good as my fungi ID (really really bad.) Either way, Mike and I were probably the last to see this individual alive: it had two puncture wounds on its belly, about a cm apart.
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Andy Avram
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Andy Avram »

Josh, I was at Snake Road the week before, so I couldn't have seen that particular mouse if I wanted to. But it is definitely a Golden Mouse. There really is no such thing, at least in the US, as a "field mouse", usually that phrase gets used for Meadow, Prairie or some other vole species, which look different than your mouse. Also, the only other orangish colored mice are the White-footed and Deer Mice (at least in S. Illinois), but neither are that bright. Way cool find.
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Josh Holbrook
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Andy Avram wrote:Josh, I was at Snake Road the week before, so I couldn't have seen that particular mouse if I wanted to. But it is definitely a Golden Mouse. There really is no such thing, at least in the US, as a "field mouse", usually that phrase gets used for Meadow, Prairie or some other vole species, which look different than your mouse. Also, the only other orangish colored mice are the White-footed and Deer Mice (at least in S. Illinois), but neither are that bright. Way cool find.
Cool. On the 'not seeing it' thing I was referring to the (presumed) snake envenomation.
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Mike Pingleton »

I think I said it looked like a white-footed mouse (Pteromyscus?), but for that color - never seen any Rodent of Usual Size that color, unless it was running on a wheel in a pet store.

Golden Mouse. Whaddya know.
-Mike
Josh Holbrook wrote:Andy - that's a little mouse that I saw jumping through the bushes, looking rather inebriated. Mike and I got it and couldn't ID it for positive, although I believe Mike said he thought it was a field mouse - I threw out golden mouse, but my mouse ID is about as good as my fungi ID (really really bad.) Either way, Mike and I were probably the last to see this individual alive: it had two puncture wounds on its belly, about a cm apart.
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Daniel D Dye
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Daniel D Dye »

The Golden Mouse is a White-footed Mouse, Mike. So you're right on that...sort of.

DDD
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Josh Holbrook
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Golden Mouse, huh? This calls for music.

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Andy Avram
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Andy Avram »

Edit. I reread Daniel's post and now understand what he was saying. Golden Mice are not in the same genus as the White-footed/Deer Mice but pretty closely related.
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todd battey
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by todd battey »

That looks like an amazing gathering of herpers. You guys found and photographed a bunch of animals. Many great shots, including the batch by Nick. Very nice!
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Todd McKinney
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Re: Snake Road N.A.F.H.A. Report

Post by Todd McKinney »

All around awesome post and wonderful time with new faces and old friends! Thanks guys I had a blast.
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