How I found a rubber boa (the wrong way)
Posted: September 9th, 2019, 11:03 am
Hey all! I'm Robby, I'm 21 and have been a lurker on this forum for a few years now. I finally have something that I think is worth my first post! Ever since I was young I'd been fascinated with reptiles; growing up watching Steve Irwin my interest in them developed into a passion. When I was around 11 or 12 I started looking for snakes of my own, mostly just the garter snakes and great basin gophers that call my town of Sparks, NV home(north reno). I started to develop a knowledge of my area and the surrounding state's wildlife. My first encounter with the creature that is the topic of this forum post came from when I was 14, at the boyscout camp known as Camp Fleischmann. We had just come back from dinner as dusk started to set in and I spotted this little fella near the entrance to our camp.
That was 7 years ago and as cool as that was to me that isn't why I made this post, buckle up!
After discovering how awesome rubber boas are, anytime I was up in the Tahoe area I'd be on the lookout, reading up on this forum and doing all the research I could to find more. I set out to the sf area with a friend determined to find one but came back having seen nothing more than this:
My most recent trip into the Sierra Nevada's for the elusive boa
was this August, and also came up (almost)empty:
But this is one of those stories with a twist ending. A couple days back around 6:30pm my dad comes into my room and tells me there's a GIANT worm on the porch and I should come see. Now I live in Sparks, NV and it isn't known to be anything more than a desert out here. We have rattlesnakes and coyotes and bunnies and not much else. I go outside to see the worm and can't believe my eyes. An absolutely gorgeous boa:
I still don't know why he was there, I have pictures of the habitat around my house:
my porch
I know they like rocky outcroppings like this one in the ditch on the side of my house but I didn't think they even lived in this area!
picture from behind my backyard, ITS A DESERT!
I hope that there's an actual population of boas around here and that it's not an escaped pet(especially since they're illegal to own here). Anyway that's all I have for today! If anybody knows about the Reno area and has any insight feel free to pitch in!
That was 7 years ago and as cool as that was to me that isn't why I made this post, buckle up!
After discovering how awesome rubber boas are, anytime I was up in the Tahoe area I'd be on the lookout, reading up on this forum and doing all the research I could to find more. I set out to the sf area with a friend determined to find one but came back having seen nothing more than this:
My most recent trip into the Sierra Nevada's for the elusive boa
was this August, and also came up (almost)empty:
But this is one of those stories with a twist ending. A couple days back around 6:30pm my dad comes into my room and tells me there's a GIANT worm on the porch and I should come see. Now I live in Sparks, NV and it isn't known to be anything more than a desert out here. We have rattlesnakes and coyotes and bunnies and not much else. I go outside to see the worm and can't believe my eyes. An absolutely gorgeous boa:
I still don't know why he was there, I have pictures of the habitat around my house:
my porch
I know they like rocky outcroppings like this one in the ditch on the side of my house but I didn't think they even lived in this area!
picture from behind my backyard, ITS A DESERT!
I hope that there's an actual population of boas around here and that it's not an escaped pet(especially since they're illegal to own here). Anyway that's all I have for today! If anybody knows about the Reno area and has any insight feel free to pitch in!