This and that

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Richard F. Hoyer
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 1:14 pm

This and that

Post by Richard F. Hoyer »

I thought I would enter a post just to kick-off this Northwest site. First off, it should be just a matter of time before the professional community will recognize the new species of snake in the genus Contia which occurs in Calif. and Oregon. Back in 2001, I described the discovery of this new species I call the Forest Sharp-tailed Snake but the scientific community will only recognize such new species when a formal description is published and that occurred late last month. The suggested name for the original species in the genus has been suggested as the Common Sharp-tailed Snake.

Secondly, in order to possibly find Goshawk territories and hopefully an active nest for a fellow falconer, this weekend was spent in the mountains east of Medford and Ashland, Oregon. Did find one old nest but no active Goshawk territories although the area is prime habitat for the species. Then between 7 and 8 PM on June 5th, the gentleman accompanied me while I released some Rubber Boas at a couple of my study sites. Despite totally overcast condition all day, with temperatures in the high 50's, we promptly came away with 6 more boas.

Same thing yesterday. After driving around and doing more hiking looking for Goshawk territories for much of the day, we visited some of my capture sites so his kids could witness and handle N. Alligator Lizards per their request. The species is very commonly found under the artificial cover objects (fabric) I use in association with rock outcrops. Came away with 6 more boas.

Richard F. Hoyer
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FunkyRes
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:19 am
Location: Redding, CA
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Re: This and that

Post by FunkyRes »

Congrats on the Contia longicaudae - now I know what to call it :)

Hopefully I can find some. Probably have as a kid, but looking at the maps in the paper, most the localities where I found Contia growing up look to be Common species.

-=-
Off topic a bit:

I also found another rather interesting paper of yours:

The Fallacy of Perceptions

Interesting read. I was seriously worried that I was witnessing a B boreas decline locally because I was seeing less and less of them, and some sites that had historic breeding I knew of had none. One creek drainage that I thought should have them had none. I contributed my observations to a DF&G questionnaire but noted that I didn't exactly do any formal surveys. Turns out I had my own bad perceptions. Last fall it rained, rained like it hadn't rained for years, and monster sized adults were found almost everywhere, except in the creek drainage I spoke of. Juveniles were found as well, indicating successful recruitment had been taking place even in the years where I saw less and less of them. Rained a lot all winter and spring, and I found evidence of breeding at all sites where I previously saw tadpoles / toadlets, and even found tadpoles in a vernal pool in the creek drainage that I was worried about (though I have still yet to see a toad there). My local Bufo now seem to be quite healthy, it was just several dry years. False perceptions are too easy to come by.
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jonathan
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Re: This and that

Post by jonathan »

Thanks for posting Richard's article Funky!

Overall I certainly agree with the point and message of the paper. Hopefully our database can start to make some small inroads into these processes, though in most investigations it will be more of a first step than anything else.

I don't think that the experiences with boas and sharptails would necessarily translate to other species, and I appreciate and support the fact that it's easier to list a species than to delist, but the main thrust that far more science needs to be done in support of these lists is a good one.

Another good corollary would be that AFTER a species is listed, a lot more good science needs to be done in terms of actually taking steps to protect it.
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