And the curse was lifted

[Shane_TX]

Two weeks ago I had an opportunity to visit one of my favorite herping areas, and conditions were perfect. I decided to look for a particular snake that had always managed to elude my efforts in the field. Doing some rough math I know that I've personally put in a good 30+ field hours looking for them under good conditions, and combining that with friends who have accompanied me the man-hours are well over 45. And that's just at one locale with a very good population. Possibly a bit atypical in good habitat, but nonetheless a long time coming!

I did a quick drive through the area just to see if anything had changed in the last five years. Nothing to the naked eye. I parked at a spot where the snakes seemed to be more common than average based on roadcruising finds, and hit the woods with my cell phone. My mobility was a bit limited due to a double-whammy sprain (knee and ankle). I didn't want to aggravate matters too much, but still, it's a rare opportunity for me.

Habitat is post oak savannah with lots of water nearby:



I don't think I was even five minutes into the field and hello:





Perfect. I'll never forget that find. I snapped a couple of more photos and we parted ways.







I looked around for about ten more minutes and called it a day......hard to beat that.

Shane

[chris_mcmartin]

Congratulations!

[Soopaman]

Nice job!

I was out in, I'm guessing, the same area a couple of weeks ago as well and didn't quite have the same luck. I'll be up there again this coming week.

[Tom Lott]

Congratulations, Shane! Was that by any chance in one of those areas where they are known historically but few if any have been seen in the past few decades?

[chrish]

Congrats.

I went out with some researchers a few years back who worked on pygs in Florida. One of the things I learned from being in the field with them is that pygs are a lot more common than they appear to be and are incredibly easy to overlook. There are probably a few more in than first photo....somewhere.

[John Williams]

Congrats Shane. That's a great way to find a hard earned target. I believe that same snake is at the top of my list for hours spent specifically targeting them with no success. Even at their most famous (or infamous) Texas locale. Maybe a tie with vernalis.

Great photos as well. Also some neat plants in there!

[Soopaman]

I was pleasantly surprised to field herp one myself today! It was certainly a lot of work getting there.