And the curse was lifted

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Shane_TX
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Joined: June 8th, 2010, 6:44 pm
Location: Upper TX Coast

And the curse was lifted

Post by 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:

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

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

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

Shane
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chris_mcmartin
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Joined: June 9th, 2010, 12:13 am
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Re: And the curse was lifted

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Congratulations!
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Soopaman
Posts: 924
Joined: March 18th, 2012, 7:34 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: And the curse was lifted

Post by 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.
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Tom Lott
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Location: south-central Texas
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Re: And the curse was lifted

Post by 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?

:beer:
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chrish
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:14 pm
Location: San Antonio, TX
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Re: And the curse was lifted

Post by 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
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Joined: June 16th, 2010, 5:50 pm

Re: And the curse was lifted

Post by 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!
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Soopaman
Posts: 924
Joined: March 18th, 2012, 7:34 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: And the curse was lifted

Post by Soopaman »

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