Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

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Zach_Lim
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Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

Post by Zach_Lim »

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Favorite Field Herping Finds of 2013: Snakes

2013 was an amazing year for me in regards to finding and photographing snakes in the wild. I observed many “Lifers” this year, as well as many of my favorite species in areas or methods I have never found them before. Here is to another snake filled year!

1. Coast Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis zonata multifasciata)- San Mateo County, CA
-This particular find holds a special place in my heart as it is my first rock flipped Z. To add to the allure, it was from a spot much, much further North than whee I have seen them on the crawl and under AC (dump yard) before. Plus, I was in great company during this flip (I see you Jared and Luke).

2. Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus)- Maricopa County, CA
-My first official Arizona herping happened during my band Yadokai's final tour. After playing a killer set to a bunch of insane punks in a warehouse, my buddy Tim Cota picked me up for some midnight desert hiking. Most aggressive Crote I have ever seen in the wild.

3. Northern Rubber Boa (Charina bottae)- San Mateo County, CA
-I haven't seen a baby Rubber Boa in a few years and this little guy was a welcomed find. Very cool that it was from an area I have never seen one before and that it was under a log.

4. California Nightsnake (Hypsiglena ochrorhyncha nuchalata)- Contra Costa County, CA
-What can I say, I just love Nightsnakes! Thought this particular specimen was quite the looker.

5. California Red-sided Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis)- Marin County, CA
-Hit the field with a handful of herpers and managed close to 25 individual CRSG during a duration of 3 hours. Great snakes and even better company- Luke, Jared, Dave, and Devlin!

6. Santa Cruz Gartersnake (Thamnophis atratus atratus)- San Mateo County, CA
-Very interesting looking SCGS that I found at an area where I have never found one before. Pretty snake that I wish smelled as good as it looked!

7. San Francisco Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia)- San Mateo County, CA
-My white whale for many years. After some helpful hints from Jim Maughn, I managed to observe these endangered snakes quite frequently this year. I recall one day where I vouched close to 20 individual SFGS in one day!

8. Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus oreganus)- San Mateo County, CA
-Everyone has a handful of Crotes under their belt, sure, but a tiny baby basking in late December? Well, I think that is pretty cool....haha!

9. Sharp-tailed Snake (Contia tenuis)- San Mateo County, CA
-My first road cruised Contia, ever! On a particularly hot, Fall night, I hit the mountains with Jared Heald in hopes of recreating the night I road cruised a zonata earlier this year. No mountain king, but did slam the breaks when I saw this little guy!

10. Alameda Striped Racer (Coluber lateralis euryxanthus)- Contra Costa County, CA
-Again, great company, great habitat, and a lifer gets this Yellow and Black speedster on my list!

So, what are your favorite snakes of 2013?
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Brian Hubbs
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Re: Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

Post by Brian Hubbs »

Congrats. Did you ever find a M. lateralis lateralis?
Zach_Lim
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Re: Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

Post by Zach_Lim »

Brian Hubbs wrote:Congrats. Did you ever find a M. lateralis lateralis?
Nope, no California Striped Racer, yet. I know where to find them with relative ease, but I am focusing my efforts in vouching one from San Mateo County, specifically.

Don;t get me wrong, I will hit parts of the South Bay and East Bay for one, but will try extra hard in San Mateo for one!
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Sam Bacchini
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Re: Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

Post by Sam Bacchini »

Zach_Lim wrote:
Brian Hubbs wrote:Congrats. Did you ever find a M. lateralis lateralis?
Nope, no California Striped Racer, yet. I know where to find them with relative ease, but I am focusing my efforts in vouching one from San Mateo County, specifically.

Don;t get me wrong, I will hit parts of the South Bay and East Bay for one, but will try extra hard in San Mateo for one!
Depending on where you are in the East Bay you could get M. l. euryxanthus.

Edit: Never mind, I saw that you got that one already... :)
hellihooks
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Re: Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

Post by hellihooks »

I think I just barely saw 10 species of snake this year... so will throw in a lifer that I was thrilled to get last Jan, from an area they are very rarely found... big ups to my bud J. Teel, for the spot... :thumb:
Spadefoot Toad
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Just as cool as finding this, was who I found it with... a guy named Phil I started herping with this year, whose dad I'd known from Kindergarden through 12th grade... the spade was a lifer for Phil as well, so it was a pretty cool deal... :thumb:

While looking for my first of what I hoped would be many rosys this year, I probably saw bout half a dozen of these guys...
C. Ruber
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Having never had any reactions to any plants, I had busted my way through some Laural Sumac, and wiped my face on my shirtsleeves, then had a severe reaction to our supposedly non-poisoness Sumac... took months and courses of steriods/antibiotics to heal... :shock:
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while recuperating, I managed to flip a Nightsnake working in my backyard, which was a 'yard lifer'... :)
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In Mid March, I went on the Fallbrook Conservancy Survey, and other than assorted lizards, a few Rubers, and Western toads, found my first of 5 or 6 Gopher snakes seen this year...
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Next Survey up was Tejon, where I had one of my best herping days of the year... seeing crotes, skinks, ensatinas and personally flipping 4 Cal kings and best of all (for me) seeing my first Ca Condor, which alighted on an outcrop, bout 200 ft away... :D
Cal king
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Gilberts skink
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Yellow Blotch Ensatina
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Ca Condor
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Northern Pacific
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Next up was my annual BBBB (berdoo boys birthday bash) where GeckoGuy and I (who share a birthday/hometown) go on an annual quest for lifers... no luck on lifers this year, and only two snakes seen, but good times as always... :thumb:
Coastal Patchnose
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Big bulls#!^er with a BIG bullfrog... :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Two weeks later was the highlight of my herping year, as, having been influenced by many here, including Fundad and Hubbs (despite his penchant to publish 'how to' books, which I steadfastly have refused to read), to go 'old school' and figure things out myself. Took me 3 years to find my own spot, figure out season, proper conditions, time of day, etc... and it finally paid off...
Lifer Flipped Z...
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Just to verify it wasn't dumb luck, and now a 'skill'... went back 2 days later and flipped another... :crazyeyes:
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Couple of weeks later... my one and only R. Coach of the year, cruisen through my yard...
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Having yet to see a Rosy, I went to ARC (annual rosy club) in Ridgecrest, where it was just stupid hot (117) and few rosys were found (and none by me) but good times as always hanging with the rosy bros... :thumb:
Headed up into the Sierras and saw a few more Northern Pacifics and SAW my first Desert Whipsnake which TWICE eluded me... so missed out on that as a vouchered lifer...I'll get him this year... I KNOW where he lives... ;)
Nor Pac...
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Only saw bout half a dozen Helleri this year...which is a low # for me...
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That said... I'd been trying for 4 years to pair up my 'desert phase' (35 mi range extention into the heart of the Mojave) Helleri, so this female, collected within 100 yrs of my male, is now half of the only pair of Desert Helli's in captive bred production,(that I know of) with future offspring to be gifted out.
Hot Highlight of my year...
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While fishing waaaay down in SE Ca, I walked my lifer Atrox...2 1/2 hrs walking in a midnight downpour... but I was determined and it paid off...
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Scute from a random cruise in mid Aug...
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First 4 baby desert helli's born, late August...
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And finally, dying for a drink during this drought year... this little SD/GB intergrade gopher came out of hiding to drink from the puddles under my tile saw, while at work, in late Sept... :shock: Very unusually patterned... almost blotched...
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In My Area, there are more snakes I DIDN'T see this year, than those I did... but hey... that's herping... good years/bad years... I'm glad for the ones I did see... :thumb:

The most amazing thing to happen this year, was the outpouring of help I received from members of Nafha/FHF, when my City (on bad reports) raided my house, kicked me out of it, and took all my animals (they failed to find one single animal-related violation) :roll: If it wasn't for that help received, I (most likely) wouldn't have a home to sit and type this in... so to all the awesome people who helped me... THANK YOU!!! If you ever get out my way...ALL my spots are belong to you... :thumb:
Hope everyone has a great 014 (I'll settle for 'better' :lol: :lol: ) jim
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Kelly Mc
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Re: Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

Post by Kelly Mc »

Fantastic I love all of them but the Contia well, my favorite pics of them have been yours
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ThatFrogGuy
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Re: Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

Post by ThatFrogGuy »

In no particular order...

Yellow-bellied I found under a nice looking piece of bark next to a swamp in Southern IL.
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Yellow-bellied Water Snake (Nerodia erythrogaster flavigaster) by Zach Truelock, on Flickr

My first Rough Green found in my home state, found when I totally wasn't expecting anything.
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Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys aestivus) by Zach Truelock, on Flickr

My lifer Red-bellied Snake
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Northern Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata) by Zach Truelock, on Flickr

My lifer Copperhead
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Northern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen) by Zach Truelock, on Flickr

My lifer Queen Snake
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Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata) by Zach Truelock, on Flickr

Gorgeous Milk Snake
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Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum) by Zach Truelock, on Flickr

Racer
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Racer (Coluber constrictor) by Zach Truelock, on Flickr

Ringneck
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Northern Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus edwardsii) by Zach Truelock, on Flickr

Lifer Black King
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Black King Snake (Lampropeltis getula nigra) by Zach Truelock, on Flickr

Juvenile Ribbon
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Western Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis proximus proximus) by Zach Truelock, on Flickr
Zach_Lim
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Re: Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

Post by Zach_Lim »

Zach Truelock-

Amazing finds, all of them! Excellent photography, too!

That rough green shot is stunning, as well as that copperhead in-situ.
Zach_Lim
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Re: Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

Post by Zach_Lim »

Jim,

As we herped together yesterday, I guess you already know how stoked I am about your zonata!
hellihooks
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Re: Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

Post by hellihooks »

Zach_Lim wrote:Jim,

As we herped together yesterday, I guess you already know how stoked I am about your zonata!
Oh... the ones I flipped this year.... still a bit groggy from the long drive home... thought for a sec you meant the (permitted) Matao my buddy gifted me... :D
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Big relief to have a 'papered' Nor Cal, to use for herp ed talks down here... so I can tell folks what they can't have, or even touch, down here in So Cal... :roll: :lol: :lol: jim
gretzkyrh4
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Re: Top 10 favorite snakes of 2013

Post by gretzkyrh4 »

Guess I'll join in here as I never got around to putting up a 2013 year end post.

Here's my top 10:

1. Diadophis puntatus (Mississippi Ringneck Snake)
-First snake of the year flipped under the first board of the year (before 8am on New Year's Day)
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2. Agkistrodon contortrix (Southern Copperhead)
-First hot of the year (and in retrospect my only live copperhead in 2013) flipped under the second board of the year.
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3. Leptophis nebulosus (Oliver's Parrot Snake)
-Only lifer snake during my annual Panama visit this year.
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4. Bothriechis schlegelii (Eyelash Viper)
-Always exciting, no matter how many I see.
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5. Pantherophis guttatus (Corn Snake)
-It was fresh hit (so no pics), but finding one within a few miles of my home in Louisiana was an exciting find. Hopefully, I'll manage to stumble into a live one next season.

6. Regina grahamii (Graham's Crayfish Snake)
-Can't find a pic at the moment, but this was one of my few stateside lifers this year

7. Crotalus horridus (Timber Rattlesnake)
-Another herper had found a large adult the previous day of the SC Chapter spring field trip, but I was more excited with this little guy my wife and I cruised on our way home.
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8. Lampropeltis triangulum (Louisiana Milk Snake)
-Found by jeffro while he and I lead a survey team of volunteers on a night hike during the 2013 NPS/NatGeo Bioblitz south of New Orleans.
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9. Crotalus horridus (Timber Rattlesnake)
-This big girl has been posted elsewhere on FHF by a few other herpers who had the chance to encounter her over the course of 2013, but she's one of my favorites as well.
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-Here she is stretched out to give you an idea of her size
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10. Virgina valeriae (Smooth Earth Snake)
-A poor pic, but this was one of the last snakes I saw in 2013 (Nov 17) and represented the 54th species of herp we've found at a local survey site here in Baton Rouge.
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That's it for 2013. I'm already 7 snake species into 2014. Nothing exciting yet, but here's hoping.

Chris
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