I herp for miles, along the highway...

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Natalie McNear
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I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Natalie McNear »

...Well that's that just my way, of sayin' I love snakes
I'm always walking after midday, searchin' for herps


Today I found about 50 snakes just by pulling my car over on the side of the road and walking... All of them were found a stone's throw from Highway 1 (too specific? LOL), most of them right next to the pavement. Didn't spend much time getting quality photos since I was mainly just scouting locations, but here are some shots of just a few of them:

Image

Image

Image

And that's all I have to say about that.
Image

Image

Image

Image

As you can see, they're all garters. Sorry. Well, there was one surprising non-Natricine, considering how cold and drizzly the weather was on the coast.



And that's all I have to say about that.
carlo bongio
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by carlo bongio »

Natalie,you are the garter snakemaster! By the way I catch Steelhead in that creek as well as racers and garters.Carlo :D :thumb:
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JAMAUGHN
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by JAMAUGHN »

Awesome, as always. I can't believe it's been more than twelve years since the last time I saw more than the last four inches of a CA red-sided. I've got to get home to Marin Co. one of these days...

I was going to say that I'm really impressed you managed to get that yellow-bellied without it tagging you, but then it looked like it tagged you. So instead I'll say I'm really impressed you only got tagged once.

They're bitey little things.

JimM
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Natalie McNear
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Natalie McNear »

Thanks!

Carlo - Interesting that you mention that... When I was there I did see some BIG fish in the water. Not sure what they were, but they were definitely large enough to make a meal of an adult garter.

Jim - Haha, the racer actually did tag me several times after I stopped filming that. He was in shed and probably had the second worst temper I've seen in C. constrictor, after a Southern Black Racer I caught in AR earlier this year (which literally attempted to eat my thumb).
devlin
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by devlin »

Natalie, goin' all "lefty" on the racer! One of the infernalis looks like an inlander...Waddup this weekend???
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M.J.FRANETOVICH
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by M.J.FRANETOVICH »

I thought you where the Boa Queen? And now your the garter snakemaster :D very nice post Natalie. I do appreciate a good looking garter now and again! :thumb: I have looked for them along hwy1 with no luck, much further south of you thow!!!! Nice job :thumb:



Mel
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by JAMAUGHN »

I'd heard some coluber species were thumbavores (pollexavores?). Interesting to have first-hand evidence... :D

JimM
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by mikemike »

Niiice. I'm hoping to get a little bit of a garter fix after AZ...
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Norman D
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Norman D »

Nice finds but how about some rattlesnakes? lol
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Natalie McNear
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Natalie McNear »

Rattlesnakes... Pfft.

LOL, I dunno how I got a reputation of being a boa queen/garter master, I just post a lot of them because they're easy to find and they live near me.

Mike - No, get your garter fix IN Arizona. :D
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Porter
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Porter »

Nice snatch Natalie :thumb: How did you get the vid player to show up?? I tried Edgars method in the past but, it didnt work...
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Natalie McNear
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Natalie McNear »

There are YouTube tags that you can use, you just put the url of the video in them. The only problem is how small the video shows up. :(
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Porter
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Porter »

For some reason thats not working... over on Edgars site, you have to delete a portion of the URL...then it works. I tried the same method on this forum with no success. Heres the full URL and the kind that works on CV... what am I doing wrong? (full URL is from right clicking on the video)

full:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWx_tway ... rofilepage


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWx_tway ... rofilepage[/youtube]

[youtube]v=oWx_twayTRU[/youtube]

[youtube]be/oWx_twayTRU[/youtube]

[youtube]oWx_twayTRU&feature[/youtube]

[youtube]=oWx_twayTRU&feature=[/youtube]


short:

http://youtu.be/oWx_twayTRU

[youtube]http://youtu.be/oWx_twayTRU[/youtube]

[youtube]youtu.be/oWx_twayTRU[/youtube]

[youtube]/oWx_twayTRU[/youtube]

[youtube]oWx_twayTRU[/youtube]

[youtube]oWx_tway[/youtube]
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Natalie McNear
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Natalie McNear »

You have to use the old-style URL (the longer one at the top of the page), but cut off all the extra bits, anything after the unique sequence of letters and numbers that identify the video. So "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWx_tway ... rofilepage" would just become "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWx_twayTRU".
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Porter
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Porter »

Sweet! that worked, thanks :thumb:
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by hellihooks »

Porter wrote:Nice snatch Natalie :thumb: How did you get the vid player to show up?? I tried Edgars method in the past but, it didnt work...
For God's sake Porter, please change it to 'grab', 'catch'... anything... :roll: I can't take it no more. :crazyeyes: :lol: :lol: jim
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Natalie McNear
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Natalie McNear »

LOL Jim, I think your mind is in the gutter more often than anyone else on here. I didn't even notice that till you pointed it out. :lol:
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by hellihooks »

Truthfully...ever since my right hand basically became a claw some 36 yrs ago, and I pretty much had to switch from being right-handed to left handed... it switched the dominance in my hemispheres (yes... it's a hemi... :crazyeyes: ) from logical to 'creative'... and I think the wiring got mixed up some. EVERY SINGLE WORD I read or hear immeadiatly produces a cascade of weird associations... hence... all the bad puns and jokes/wordplay. So... it's not that my mind is in the gutter all the time... EVERY WORD is like putting a pinball in play... a certain amount of them are going to be 'gutterballs'... which I have to admit are the funniest... :crazyeyes: It's a weird way to have to live...and interestingly, a lifelong effect of my snakebites... :shock:
Could be worse... coulda ended up stoopid, I guess... :crazyeyes: :lol: :lol: jim
BTW... last time I said that to a girl I got slapped... :lol: :lol:
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Porter
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Porter »

Uhhhhh.... :roll: I plead the fifth? :lol: :P
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Chad M. Lane
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Chad M. Lane »

Nice snatch Natalie :thumb: How did you get the vid player to show up?? I tried Edgars method in the past but, it didnt work...

Is what he meant.

Though I don't think Jim is the only one with his mind in the gutter with that wording either..... :beer:


Nice finds Natalie! The atratus is neat looking.




Cheers,
Chad
devlin
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by devlin »

Hahaha...I don't think Jim's mind is in the gutter more often than EVERYONE on this forum. I just bit my tongue when I read that! Besides Nat, Jim's AND my mind would have to scoot over to fit your's in that gutter! Ms. Queen of TWSS jokes!
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Chad M. Lane
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Chad M. Lane »

Hahaha...I don't think Jim's mind is in the gutter more often than EVERYONE on this forum. I just bit my tongue when I read that! Besides Nat, Jim's AND my mind would have to scoot over to fit your's in that gutter! Ms. Queen of TWSS jokes!
HAHA oh man second funniest thing I've read all day!

Natalie hit me up tomorrow.



Cheers,
Chad
devlin
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by devlin »

Chad M. Lane wrote:
Hahaha...I don't think Jim's mind is in the gutter more often than EVERYONE on this forum. I just bit my tongue when I read that! Besides Nat, Jim's AND my mind would have to scoot over to fit your's in that gutter! Ms. Queen of TWSS jokes!
HAHA oh man second funniest thing I've read all day!

Natalie hit me up tomorrow.



Cheers,
Chad

Guess I didn't see that...Mind was in the gutter!
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by mikemike »

devlin wrote:Hahaha...I don't think Jim's mind is in the gutter more often than EVERYONE on this forum. I just bit my tongue when I read that! Besides Nat, Jim's AND my mind would have to scoot over to fit your's in that gutter! Ms. Queen of TWSS jokes!
It's true.
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Natalie McNear
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Natalie McNear »

LOL.
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Norman D
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Norman D »

Natalie McNear wrote:Rattlesnakes... Pfft.

LOL, I dunno how I got a reputation of being a boa queen/garter master, I just post a lot of them because they're easy to find and they live near me.
haha Natalie. I hear ya. Near my area, I find lots of the desert rattlesnake species - so it is easy to find/photograph them.

Keep up the good work. Its nice to see people photographing garter snakes, especially some of those pretty ones you find. I personally like the Narrowheaded Gartersnakes though they aren't very colorful.
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by hellihooks »

What's 'TWSS'... I'm old... :roll: And BTW... the 'gutter' is often a great place to find herps... besides... it's fun down here... :crazyeyes: :lol: :lol: jim
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Natalie McNear
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Natalie McNear »

Herps? Is that like herpes?
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KingCam
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by KingCam »

Natalie McNear wrote:Herps? Is that like herpes?
God I hate it when people say that. :evil:
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Porter »

hellihooks wrote:What's 'TWSS'... I'm old... :roll: And BTW... the 'gutter' is often a great place to find herps... besides... it's fun down here... :crazyeyes: :lol: :lol: jim
T-hats W-hat S-he S-aid. Example: 2 guys are flippin boards... 1 guy find a 5 ft kingsnake... guy says "DAMN, you got a big one!! ...the other guy says "Thats what she said"

"Herpes???!!" :shock: ...thats what she said 8-)
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by hellihooks »

Porter wrote: T-hats W-hat S-he S-aid.
Duhhhhhh... use it all the time... :roll: T-hanks :lol: jim
Richard F. Hoyer
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Richard F. Hoyer »

Natalie:
When I viewed your post, my first thought was how your experience with snakes near roads was at odds with a number of professional herpetologists that have claimed (and published articles in scientific journals) that road mortality produces negative impacts on snake populations.

A fair number of years ago on the national PARC (Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation) web site, snake road mortaility was discussed and back then, I disputed what seemed to be the conventional wisdom within the conservation biology realm that road mortality produced significant impacts on the overall populations of snakes.

From my own experiences in herping, I don't believe I have yet to find a road where I couldn't find snakes in close proximity, sometimes under debris up to the edge of the shoulders. Hwy. 9 west of Saratoga is such a road.

Nice post and by the way ---- I have found Rubber Boas right next to roads during day time searches.

Richard F. Hoyer
hellihooks
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by hellihooks »

I've heard of all sorts of herps on that section of rd you mentioned, Richard, and have on more than a couple of times, tried every turnout/ac spot along it (taking the kids to see the ex-box in Boulder Creek) and have nearly always struck out... save for YE's, slenders, and a Patternless NAL. Probably always there way too early... X-mass/NY's to spring break... :roll: All I ever find snakewise are Forest Sharptails... :thumb: jim
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Natalie McNear
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Natalie McNear »

Thanks for the input, Richard! I don't know how road mortality affects snake populations (it probably varies by species), but I do know I've found tons of snakes hanging out next to roads. The alert, diurnal varieties like garters and racers seem to be aware enough to avoid oncoming cars - not always, but compared to the amount of them I've seen living next to the road, there's a comparatively small number of DORs. A month or two ago, Devlin and I were walking along a stretch of Highway 1 and counted at least 23 garters on a stretch of road no longer than 100 yards as we were walking back to the car. Not a single one had been hit... I think they become used to cars speeding past and just bask on the edge of the pavement or shoulder without getting hit.

Species like kings, gophers, and possibly boas (haven't found enough of those near roads to know for certain) seem to linger on roads a bit longer than garters or racers, and consequently seem to get hit more. But I doubt road mortality plays a significant role in population size even in those species, since the area paved is such a small percentage of their habitat within a given area.

Jim - I wish I could have a bit of your Forest Sharptail luck! That's one species I still haven't found. I've been checking all the ones I find here in Marin County too, but so far they've all been C. tenuis.
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by hellihooks »

Natalie McNear wrote: Jim - I wish I could have a bit of your Forest Sharptail luck! That's one species I still haven't found. I've been checking all the ones I find here in Marin County too, but so far they've all been C. tenuis.
Road perimeters usually have more ac than further afield...fallen billboards, dumped ac, ect. Snakes don't know what roads are, or what they are for, what a car is, ect. the ones who stay off the roads live... the others die. and don't forget the raptor/owl clean-up crew... dor #'s might be higher than we think... :roll:

Nat... flippen for sallys, when I find forests... had to make a special trip up round Oakland to get my lifer C. tenuis.Only one I've ever seen... :roll: Swap spots next time I'm up there? :crazyeyes: :lol: :lol: jim
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by Richard F. Hoyer »

Jim:
In about 1999 - 2000, my youngest son Ryan and family lived in San Jose (now lives in Utah). On my way back from the San Bernardino Mts. where I was conducting a study of the Southern Rubber Boa, I stopped in San Jose for a visit. I got there about 3 hours before Ryan was due to get home from work so I drove up Hwy. 9 to the intersection with Hwy. 35 to do some herping.

But that time, I was reasonable certain that the different looking female Sharp-tailed Snake I had found along Hwy. 128 in Mendocino County in July, 1998 represented a new species. And my research of preserved material form the Cal Academy of Sci. had indicated the new species also occurred in the Santa Cruz Mts.

I first searched some talus against a small cliff along the east side of Hwy. 35 about 0,5 mile south of Hwy. 9. Bingo! Found a Forest Sharp-tail sifting through the live oak leaf litter mixed in with the small talus. I then drove down Hwy. 9 stopping at a few turnouts and searching under leaf litter near and just above the curb. Found two more Forest Sharp-tails, a good number of slender salamanders, and a few yellow-eyed Ensatina. These searches were all on the shaded, south side of the highway below the hill embankment.

I then searched a few spots on the open and sun covered north side of Hwy. 9 along the shallow berm protected by the guard rails. There was a fair amount of trash on the shallow berm such as cardboard, hubcaps, etc.. Came across a few garter snakes, I believe one juvenile racer, and two Ringneck Snakes. I don't think the total time I conducted searches was much more than 2 hours.

Richard F. Hoyer
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Re: I herp for miles, along the highway...

Post by hellihooks »

Wow... that's pretty cool that some of the 1st Forest Sharptails came from right near where I find them... :shock: I was born/raised in Highland, and now live in Hesp... so yeah... the Berdoos I KNOW... :lol: My buddy J. Teel has told me bout doing rubber boa research with you in the Berdoos. In fact, several years ago I had secured permission to herp Devil's Canyon, which has been closed to the public for some 25 years. With escorts, I could have brought 4 other herpers with me, and one photographer, and Teel was gonna ask you if you wanted to go. It was gonna be me, Jeff and a friend looking for Z's, rosys, specks and lyres, possibly Lemm to look for YE frogs, and you for your boa research... got too late that spring, so we put it off for a year, and subsequently fell through... :roll: Maybe one day... :thumb: jim
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