Senticolis, a year in review

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vegasbilly
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Joined: April 9th, 2011, 3:18 pm

Senticolis, a year in review

Post by vegasbilly »

Did pretty well this year with these gems. I will NEVER get over the thrill of seeing one motionless (mostly) on a remote road. My ATV allows me to get into some seldom herped areas which is very nice.....


Adult female, my buddy had a much nicer camera than my Iphone
[img]http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a280/ ... 0AD678.jpg[/
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dery
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by dery »

Nice!! :thumb:
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ratsnakehaven
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by ratsnakehaven »

Hey, Billy. Did you find Senticolis in more than one range? I've found them in half doz. ranges over the years and I know they're in at least half doz. more. They are active year 'round, but I usually only look during the warmer months, because they are more common, along with other things. I probably see or could see half doz. a month, at least, meaning I could possibly see 50 or so a year. Also they are pretty easy to produce. Have you produced any babies, yet?

PS: I believe Senticolis is pretty common, but if this species were legal to sell in AZ, we could get quite a few more captive hatched babies into the hobby and there wouldn't be as much pressure on the wild population. Think so? Anyway, good luck with those and hope you raise and produce many hundreds.

Best...Terry
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Dr. Dark
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by Dr. Dark »

OUTSTANDING! :beer:
vegasbilly
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by vegasbilly »

Thanks Dave and Terry,

Dave, doI detect a slight tricep-flex for that pic? LOL. Terry I could'nt agree more. It's a damn good thing Senticolis would be almost impossible to flip or it would get AND look ugly in all those pristine canyons.

I have found them in 3 ranges now and hope to expand that next year. Have some remote dirt roads scoped out but Google Earth etc. don't REALLY tell you how rugged/trashed a road is until you get there. I ALWAYS have to remind myself that herping in remote places solo, oftentimes with little or no cell space, can be dangerous if any mishaps occur.

And it always depends on where my work takes me, where I'm working I'm herping afterwards. I try and skew it in my favor but my customers on the railroads don't always get the memos! I'm sure I'll run into you again somewhere next year and let's do breakfast again!


Bill
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dery
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by dery »

billy, you should post this stuff more often. :mrgreen:
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regalringneck
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:20 am

Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by regalringneck »

Holas VB, et al. congrats on your finds, while i agree the rattys are apparently one of the easiers colubrids to find in the right (and to me; fairly narrow elev. zone) habitat. Nevertheless the daily & annual limit (& probably az possession limit, which doesnt apply in Nv.) on these i believe is 2 & it appears from your post & subsequents that you are collecting. ??? :?
I think if i were the author of this thread, i'd also post a .jpg of my license (mebbe w/ the addy info redacted), just so everyone can see you contributed nicely to the az wildlf revenuers, ... i mean managers :p ... oh & thankyou.
I too ride 2 herp; mtn bike & cool m/c called a fatcat, always amazing to me tho is how relatively few snakes i see on 4x4 type roads & trails, tho plenty of other wildlf.
I agree, we also need to train ourselves not to be reliant on cell phones period, just bring the right gear & attitude, slow down for the mogels & life usually works out gr8t.
So heck w/ the rattys ... now its time for you to show us some silverstate boas & monsters ... & i aint typen bout rubberboas .... cheers john gunn
vegasbilly
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by vegasbilly »

For sure I am not a "collector" per se. Nor am I subsequently a "seller". My personal collection runs more "exotic".....Sanzinia, Madagascan Ground Boas, Boiga, Black Headed Pythons, Gonyosoma. I have a few locality Zonata primarily as when I started herping almost 40 years ago I had no idea what I was doing and Zs were considered the Holy Grail. They remain both magical and nostalgic to me. For me it's the planning that goes into a successful hunt that's the intrigue!

I sell equipment to the railroads and cover the entire SW US as well as Ore., and Wa. I'm gone usually 3-4 days a week on biz and Herp the areas I'm working when time permits or when I can fudge a bit. Being gone that much combined with being a husband and father of some very busy and athletic boys does not allow me to have a huge collection, my former duties garner the most of my attention and my collection/field herping are kept in their proper perspectives.

I have a license, even registered my Quad, and if I ever produce any Sanzinia I will gift them to friends. Haven't posted here in a long time, don't think I will again in the near future either.

Bill
vegasbilly
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by vegasbilly »

My bad
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regalringneck
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by regalringneck »

well i hope you reconsider, i just think your post needed more txt ...lets face it there is over (extra-legal) collection happening and we have a responsibility here to police ourselves .. and from some of the roastings ive seen, and your previous posts & discussions ... i wanted the tone to stay civil ... jus sayen : )
chad ks
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by chad ks »

I really like posts like this which focus on a specific species. So you use an ATV to find Senticolis? That is really cool.
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axeman2729
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by axeman2729 »

i cant see the pic
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ratsnakehaven
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by ratsnakehaven »

Well, I think Billy took the photos down. That's too bad. The only problem I had with the post is that I thought it makes the green rat look pretty rare. That's why I put in my post that I could easily see 50 a year, if I wanted to. I also think that letting folks produce them in captivity and sell them would relieve some of the collecting pressure. My hope is that AZ will allow sales some day. As it is now, I believe we are allowed to keep four at one time, at least since I last checked the regs. Those that we produce we have a year to give away. AZ has the policy that no native species of herp can be sold, only given away.

As far as Senticolis in the wild and their habitat, these snakes are really hard to see, except while lying on the road at times of day when they are actively moving around. They don't move around very often either. Read the field guides and see what they say about habitat. That won't give you a good idea of where they are at, except that they do use canyon bottoms at certain times of the year. But try to cruise through canyon bottoms. More appropriate for habitat are certain slopes of Sky (Madrean Mtns) Islands. Also the elevations are variable according to the direction they are facing and types of vegetation. I would like to see any accounts of green rats being seen in their native habitat, on the move, or thermoregulating. There are very few accounts of green rats seen anywhere except crossing a road.

Billy and I road cruised together one day this year. I know he worked hard to find the snakes he saw. There are only so many roads that go through green rat habitat. I imagine that the area covered by roads is less than 1% of their total habitat. Billy doesn't have much time to look for them, but I only live a short drive from several different locations. I often see green rats to the exclusion of other species. This is also because of the time and locations, however, and because I'm only looking for my study species. Green rats are not rare. There is no fear whatever that they could be overcollected, except maybe along a road in very limited habitat. The only thing I worry about is having hundreds of herpers all in the same spot. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

BTW, thanks for the post, Billy. I'm glad I got to see your pics.... :crazyeyes:
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Biker Dave
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by Biker Dave »

Damn! I'm late to the party again!
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azatrox
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by azatrox »

"The only thing I worry about is having hundreds of herpers all in the same spot. Let's hope that doesn't happen."

I for one hope that DOES happen...that way I won't have to run into them! :)

-Kris
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ratsnakehaven
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by ratsnakehaven »

If you were cruising for green rats you might worry about it; but, no, you've got to climb mtns and go to the most remote places to find your study species.... ;)

TC
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dery
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by dery »

I like herping in small groups or alone, so that neither me or any other animal gets nervous for any reason. Its also a great coping skill when you have too much on your mind or if you're upset. Small groups don't have to be small, just spreaded out over afew miles.
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ratsnakehaven
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by ratsnakehaven »

Kris and I both like to herp in places that might be considered dangerous, so it pays to have at least one other person along. Otherwise, I tend to like to herp alone myself.

TC :crazyeyes:
vegasbilly
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Re: Senticolis, a year in review

Post by vegasbilly »

Thanks Terry! Always the gentleman! I did pull the pics, caught a lot of flak and inadvertently might have given some viewers the wrong impression. I posted pics of animals seen over a very long period of time.....I don't stop for most species except to move them off the road for their own safety....and rarely take pics! I did snap a pic of a very nice Coral Snake and some Madrean Alligator Lizards as I rarely see them.....moved a Regal Ringneck off the road and it was gone before it dawned on me it was an Az. "lifer" for me and I should have memorialized it with a pic.

I do love the solitude of solo-herping as well though it's also nice to have a buddy alongside with whom to share the enthusiasm! I'd probably be a big "buzz-kill" for a lot of guys as my railroad customers start VERY early in the day so knowing I have to be up at 4:30AM-5:00AM dictates that I don't stay out late.

I have TONS of nights in hotels on biz in urban areas where I can't Herp so Google Earth/Maps get a lot of my attention.....and to have one's strategies and planning pay off on a perfect night is the absolute best reward ever! In retrospect I could have posted a lot of black pics....those with nothing in them......have more nights like that when everything SEEMED perfect to me but evidently the snakes just didn't get the memo! LOL.

Let's do breakfast again next year!

Bill
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