Cobb County Ga Hike

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HerpMan ATL
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Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by HerpMan ATL »

Went hiking thursday in a local park here right outside Atlanta and had a little bit of luck. The temperature started at 64 but got up to the mid 70s and sunny by 10:00 am. Perfect weather IMO.

My first find of the day. Copperhead! And a nice one too with beautiful color.

Image
Copperhead in Situ - Cobb County, Ga. by cre8foru2009, on Flickr

Image
Copperhead retreat by cre8foru2009, on Flickr

Next find...Two large Black Rat Snakes. Look closely at this one. Only one snake in this photo but more here than just the snake.
Image
Chipmunk and Rat Snake by cre8foru2009, on Flickr

Finally I flipped this beauty on my way out. I need a Macro lens. Shot at 420mm
Image
Marbled Salamander by cre8foru2009, on Flickr

One more. Not a herp but beautiful migrant.
Image
Hooded Warbler by cre8foru2009, on Flickr
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BillMcGighan
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by BillMcGighan »

Very nice. Short but sweet.
Eye candy. :thumb: :thumb:
Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Beautiful!
rtdunham
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by rtdunham »

Black Rat Snake enjoying chipmunk in my backyard (northern ky).

Image
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BillMcGighan
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by BillMcGighan »

As much as we enjoy the Chipmunks that come to the feeders in our yard, RT, I'd still love to capture the events of a natural predation!
Good job.
HerpMan ATL
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by HerpMan ATL »

rtdunham wrote:Black Rat Snake enjoying chipmunk in my backyard (northern ky).

Image
Thats a very cool shot.
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Jefferson
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Jefferson »

Awesome pictures herpman! I especially love the Cobb County, Ga Copperhead! Those can be a little scary sometimes!! If you post either the Marbled or the Copperhead to naherp with a picture, that will be our first Cobb County record. That would be much appreciated. Also, depending on your location in Northern Kentucky, you might be able to fill in an unrecorded county with the rat snake, too! Happy herping next year (or this winter if you're headed back to Ga)!
Jefferson
HerpMan ATL
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by HerpMan ATL »

Jefferson wrote:Awesome pictures herpman! I especially love the Cobb County, Ga Copperhead! Those can be a little scary sometimes!! If you post either the Marbled or the Copperhead to naherp with a picture, that will be our first Cobb County record. That would be much appreciated. Also, depending on your location in Northern Kentucky, you might be able to fill in an unrecorded county with the rat snake, too! Happy herping next year (or this winter if you're headed back to Ga)!
Jefferson

Im not in Kentucky. These are Georgia.
miltb
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by miltb »

Very nice finds! I moved to Cherokee County this summer (work in midtown) Ive seen very few snakes, although my time to look has been limited. I have seen a couple Copperheads by my neighborhood pool. I plan on relocating any I see this coming year as they are killed on sight otherwise. Here is a picture of a nice one i saw near the pool/tennis courts
Image[/url][/img]
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Jefferson
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Jefferson »

I was talking about rtdunham's shot in Kentucky about the rat snake, but Cobb County, Georgia doesn't have any records. If you post that Copperhead shot and the record to naherp, it will be the first in Cobb County! As far as miltb's Copperhead, Cherokee County, Georgia doesn't have any records either. You guys would have the first records in those counties! Pretty cool considering there are almost 200,000 records on naherp!
miltb
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by miltb »

I'll look to posting for Cherokee county. I found this guy sharing some space with the Copperhead. My picts are normally better!!
Image
HerpMan ATL
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by HerpMan ATL »

Jefferson wrote:I was talking about rtdunham's shot in Kentucky about the rat snake, but Cobb County, Georgia doesn't have any records. If you post that Copperhead shot and the record to naherp, it will be the first in Cobb County! As far as miltb's Copperhead, Cherokee County, Georgia doesn't have any records either. You guys would have the first records in those counties! Pretty cool considering there are almost 200,000 records on naherp!
I tried posting a record and it requires way to much info. Latitude, longitude, etc. That may be why there are not more records.
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Noah M
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Noah M »

I tried posting a record and it requires way to much info. Latitude, longitude, etc. That may be why there are not more records
1. You have some discretion on the accuracy of the information you provide - the lat/long just need to fall within the county you select
2. Much of the info you enter is restricted from public access - the detail is asked for should a researcher request your information
2a - You can control to some degree how much info is displayed to the public, restricting it to a species and state if you wish. Plus, you can refuse to share your data with researchers. You are asked for permission to release your records, and you can choose to not do it.
3 - One down side is that it can be time consuming. For me, it has developed into a compulsion to enter a record for every herp observed and photographed.

I obviously support using the database, but I also understand that it isn't for some people.

Either way, thanks for sharing the pictures :thumb:
simus343
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by simus343 »

captainjack0000 wrote:

1. You have some discretion on the accuracy of the information you provide - the lat/long just need to fall within the county you select
That's nice to know cords don't have to be exact. When I tried to submit some entries using the provided "Google Earth coordinates" it provided a picture of the exact location, not something that I want to show regardless of species. I deleted the entries until I could figure out how to avoid this (besides spending about $100 on a real GPS).

From what you say, I could provide the co-ords of a condo or airport within the same county, even if the herp was not seen there?
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Noah M
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Noah M »

From what you say, I could provide the co-ords of a condo or airport within the same county, even if the herp was not seen there?
Yes. It doesn't know where you found it. You can tell the database you found it anywhere that falls within the county you select. It works on the honor system and trusts that users putting in accurate data. It does have a sensitivity aspect to help with this, meaning you'll get an error message if selected location is not within your selected county. You will see the pin-drop location on your end, but that is only visible to you. Look at some of the data entries from other people. You shouldn't be able to see the picture of the exact location in Google Earth.

Here is a normal level of public access:
http://www.naherp.com/viewrecord.php?r_id=202804

You should be able to see most everything, except lat/long and locale. If you want, when entering your finds, you can check a box at the bottom of the page that reads, "Restrict public access to this record." When you do that, your record should look like this.

Here is a restricted level of public access:
http://www.naherp.com/viewrecord.php?r_id=172176

All you should be able to see here is country, state, and a couple of pictures.

I'll be honest I sometimes don't know my exact location since I don't use a GPS very often, but I will drop a pin on the road or in the park I was in when I photographed the herp. I strive for accuracy to help researchers that might request my data. Also, it helps me remember good locations. Some roads are long and parks are big, so reminding me where I was at can be useful when going back the next year looking for a certain species.
simus343
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by simus343 »

Sweet thanks. I'm going to try to find some time this weekend then to put some entries through.
HerpMan ATL
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by HerpMan ATL »

captainjack0000 wrote:
I tried posting a record and it requires way to much info. Latitude, longitude, etc. That may be why there are not more records
1. You have some discretion on the accuracy of the information you provide - the lat/long just need to fall within the county you select
2. Much of the info you enter is restricted from public access - the detail is asked for should a researcher request your information
2a - You can control to some degree how much info is displayed to the public, restricting it to a species and state if you wish. Plus, you can refuse to share your data with researchers. You are asked for permission to release your records, and you can choose to not do it.
3 - One down side is that it can be time consuming. For me, it has developed into a compulsion to enter a record for every herp observed and photographed.

I obviously support using the database, but I also understand that it isn't for some people.

Either way, thanks for sharing the pictures :thumb:
I agree. I think the database is great. I just think you would get more entries if some of these fields were not required. Just share as much info as you wish to share. I can see up side and down side to either though. I think the fact that not a single Copperhead (very common in Cobb County, Ga.) has been recorded in Cobb County is evidence that maybe the database is to complicated and people are not logging sitings.
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Noah M
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Noah M »

Just share as much info as you wish to share
This is possible, but I'll agree in a roundabout way. You may have to put in more info than you want to share, then tell it not to share it. Seems like you could just make every field optional and let people put in as much or as little as they want.
I think the fact that not a single Copperhead (very common in Cobb County, Ga.) has been recorded in Cobb County is evidence that maybe the database is to complicated and people are not logging sitings.
I think it is evidence that there aren't too many people in this hobby :lol: If it is really common, some people won't bother to record it. The researchers and other interested parties know that species is present. The DB can be complicated, but with practice it gets easier. I use the copy tool rather often. Enter in the basics for a hike, then hit copy and switch up the species and pictures. It cuts down on having to fill out each field every time for each entry. I think somewhere you can even tell it to pre-load certain things. When I pull up my HERP new record page, it automatically says I am in Florida.
rtdunham
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by rtdunham »

Jefferson wrote:I was talking about rtdunham's shot in Kentucky about the rat snake... would have the first records in those counties! Pretty cool considering there are almost 200,000 records on naherp!
I finally got around to trying the mobile mapper app and reporting my first record tonight, the chipmunk-scarfing rat snake pictured in this thread.

If I'm using the naherp search function correctly it looks like there are no records from my county in KY so it'll be fun to have posted a first, plus I'll be meticulous about recording everything when it warms up here.

Question: Do I have to enter records separately for HERP and mobile mapper? If so, why? And what's the diff between those two databases?

thanks
terry

ps: HerpManATL and simus343: Were you putting in a record on your computer or by phone? The process might not seem so difficult on a smartphone--the lat and long, altitude and etc are immediately at hand, as is a voucher. It seems a quick and easy process on my iPhone (but granted I just posted my first record, so perhaps there are complications I didn't encounter)
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Noah M
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Noah M »

Do I have to enter records separately for HERP and mobile mapper? If so, why? And what's the diff between those two databases?
I think so. I think you can import your HERP records to the mobile mapper, but I don't know about from mapper to HERP. Why? No clue. I'm not sure the difference between them. I don't use the herp mapper.

I tried finding your entry on HERP and could not locate it.
rtdunham
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by rtdunham »

captainjack0000 wrote:

I tried finding your entry on HERP and could not locate it.
Thanks. I checked again (I'm using the mobile app--what it is, exactly, is a little confusing: when opened, it says "H.E.R.P." at the top; below that there's a snake-coiled-on-earth logo saying "NAFHA" and below that, "Powered by Mobile Mapper".

Anyway, it looked like my 2 pending records (the black rat eating the chipmunk, once on H.E.R.P. and once to HerpMapper (there's another name!) had not been "synced". Apparently "synced" = submitted?

So I synced them, but both gave error messages saying the sync had failed, apparently due to an invalid API key? Any suggestions? I would like to master the seemingly simple method so I can jump in in the spring.

Terry
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Noah M
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Noah M »

So I synced them, but both gave error messages saying the sync had failed, apparently due to an invalid API key? Any suggestions? I would like to master the seemingly simple method so I can jump in in the spring.
Sorry I can't help you. I would post your problems in the main NAFHA forum and one the tech gurus who runs all of this can probably help. I'm just a user and don't have access to behind the scenes.
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Brian Hubbs
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Brian Hubbs »

OK, Hubbs to the rescue. I do not use a smart phone to enter records at all because i do not have one. This is what i do, and it's very simple:

Take picture
Jot on a piece of paper where the pic was taken, or take a pic of nearest street sign to remind you
Load picture to computer files
photoshop picture to enhance focus, etc.
re-size picture to 1 MB
save pic
Open Naherp
Click "add record"
enter pic and time and date
enter size of animal and type of animal
enter quantity of animals in pic
enter "non-sensitive", sensitive, or closed for the record (rat snakes and copperheads are all "Non-sensitive". A "bog turtle" would be "sensitive", but not a box turtle.
enter how you found it
click the little wrench above lat or long.
dial down to the spot in the google earth pic and click on it.
hit enter.
Done.

Now, any other herps seen within the area can be entered by clicking the "copy record" button at the top right of the completed entry.
Change the gps location by clicking the wrench again and moving to the new spot.
Change any other pertinent info, like name of species, age, etc.

Be accurate with your gps. A snake in the middle of a 7-11 store will not help any study or mapping project you might want to give your data to...
Click enter.

I did not get over 11,000 records in there by this process being too complicated... :o :lol:

Use that copy button...it'll save you a lot of time, especially with multiple entries of the same species from the same area. :thumb:
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Noah M
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Noah M »

Thanks Brian - you more or less described my process. They were asking about the connection between the HERP database and the Herp Mapper system. I haven't gotten on Herp Mapper and so I suggested they post their question on the main NAFHA forum. Perhaps they could ask questions about Herp Mapper on the Herp Mapper forum here:
http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=43
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Brian Hubbs
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Brian Hubbs »

Yeah, I know nothing about Herp mapper or apps...I'm old fashioned and I like to save my pics in files for future ref. or books.

I understand some of the gps fears people have, but they are all un-founded. If you don't want anyone seeing where you found a copperhead, then just don't give out the data to a request. If you want to protect a secret board spot, put the marker 100 yds away. It won't make a difference. But seriously, nobody is going to get all gaga over a copperhead. A kingsnake maybe, but not a copperhead...unless it's in Nebraska.

There are as many reasons for entering data into our database as there are herpers who do it. It's a great mapping tool for future reference, it's a great storage place for what you've seen, the "My records in google earth" function is worth it alone if you want to see everywhere you've found an animal. Here's mine:

Image

This is so cool...no other database shows you where you entered things from...and nobody can see it but YOU!
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Noah M
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Noah M »

and nobody can see it but YOU!
Unless you take a screen shot and post it all over the internet :lol:

I'm a geographer - I love the mapping feature. Sometimes I wish there was an "other" category so I could put in neat finds that were not herps. Wouldn't it be cool to have a personal map of ALL the animals you've seen, not just the herps? But then I realize I just want to map everything...
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Brian Hubbs
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Brian Hubbs »

Well, yes, unless you post it...but you can't scroll in on my posted pic and see the exact sites. You also can't see the thousands of entries buried under the entries you see. You also can't click on the icon and see the entry pic and date either...but I CAN...bwahahaha.
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Noah M
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Noah M »

I do love how Nebraska is buried. If researchers 1,000 years from now saw this, and this is all they had, they might conclude Nebraska was the herping hot spot, and that places like Florida hardly had anything.

I should take a screen of mine sometime and post it.
simus343
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by simus343 »

Okay so I did my data entry for a Crotalus adamanteus and checked the file once logged out and the map location doesn't show up. I have no issue with giving the exact coordinates to a researcher, I was just a little concerned about if someone looking for a place to pillage might see the google maps picture and go right to the spot. Fear alleviate, data submissions on the way :thumb:!
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Noah M
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Noah M »

simus343 wrote: data submissions on the way :thumb:!

That is what I like to hear! :D :D :D
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Brian Hubbs
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Re: Cobb County Ga Hike

Post by Brian Hubbs »

And remember, the main map on the opening pg. of naherp.com does not update for new countys filled in until midnight each day. so, if you enter a bunch of stuff after midnight for new counties, you won't see them turn color until the following midnight. Oh, and the potential new counties are the one's that are still white or shades of lavender on the map. FL has no new counties available, but GA does...
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