The Moon

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dezertwerx
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The Moon

Post by dezertwerx »

Question... How much does the full moon affect herps being out.

I have not been back into herping for too long. Started up (after many years) again early last year. Had a few snakes during that time... but was not actually herping. I would imagine this must have been covered countless times, but since everything is gone.... what the hell I thought, I'll ask.

I was out in Arizona a few weeks back with a friend and bumped into a guy looking for Rosy Boa's. It happened to be a full moon (bad timing, but was my only free weekend)... we were actually looking to see some crotes. He mentioned it was not a problem... "rattlesnakes don't care, I've seen them out during full moons" is what he said.

We ended up hitting some roads we have cruised in the past on seperate occasions.... and actually had a decent night, until the moon came up. As soon as that moon went up... didn't see another live snake. We were on roads in 2 different vehicles... and a few seasoned herpers and nothing... I myself have seen 20+ crotes on 1 of these roads during one of my last visits.

Thanks in Advance
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Brian Hubbs
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Re: The Moon

Post by Brian Hubbs »

I think you figured it out...but if not, here's something I wrote on another forum to help you out:

Full Moon vs. sorta Full Moon

I know a lot of you don't think I'm a rosy person...but I've probably found more than most of you...except billboard and Fundad. Anyway, I just want to help settle the argument in the thread below...with a scientific formula.

Here it is. If you measure the angle of the full moon and divide by the width of your knee cap, then multiply that number by the amount of 44 ounce-rs you've already consumed that evening, this will usually give you billboard's age. But, that has nothing to do with the formula...

Here it is: If the moon shines on the top of your baseball cap from directly above, it is a full moon. If not, it isn't. Hope that helps...:-)

I won't reprint some of the replies I got, they weren't very nice...
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dezertwerx
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Re: The Moon

Post by dezertwerx »

Haha...

Not really an answer... but funny anyways.

I was under the same impression... I was just a little surprised to hear someone (who happened to be an experienced boa hunter) in Arizona. Some other guys from this forumn knew him... but he was convinced the full moon had no affect on crotes, but we obviously saw the complete opposite that night.

It's just I've heard to many contradicting comments regarding this... figured I'd ask.
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monklet
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Re: The Moon

Post by monklet »

I've never had a snake on a full moon night. That's why I never cruise full moons.
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dezertwerx
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Re: The Moon

Post by dezertwerx »

I hear you... It was one of those last minute trips... at least we did see a decent amount of snakes... but like I said before it was like someone hit the off switch as soon as the moon was up.

I was just surprised to hear this herper say that...
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Brian Hubbs
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Re: The Moon

Post by Brian Hubbs »

I have seen crotes under a full moon, but not always. I think there are other factors, like humidity, pressure, etc. If some of those factors apply during a full moon, then the crotes will be out, but not much else...does that help?
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dezertwerx
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Re: The Moon

Post by dezertwerx »

Thanks Brian....

Whats up... new start for this website and I've seen no book plugs yet?
prairie dog
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Re: The Moon

Post by prairie dog »

for some reason i love the stories i've heard about full moon vs no moon.personally,i have seen a boa on a full moon ,maybe a couple of snakes,but i've never had a jackpot nite on a full moon,where i was seeing snakes all nite. i've had a lotta full moon nites when the 1st snake was a boa(last month) & then ..nothing the rest of the nite. i was already in the desert for 1 week on vacation or i would've never driven all the way out on a few moon !!!!

Tim
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monklet
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Re: The Moon

Post by monklet »

dezertwerx wrote:I hear you... It was one of those last minute trips... at least we did see a decent amount of snakes... but like I said before it was like someone hit the off switch as soon as the moon was up.

I was just surprised to hear this herper say that...
Sorry, I was just making playing with a little circular logic but I actually do avoid moons, mostly due to common wisdom rather than personal experience...I don't see any snakes moon or no moon so it really doesn't matter ;-)

Take last weekend for instance. Quarter moon rising at 12:30AM, temps in low 80s, high 70s, no traffic, miles and miles of clean asphalt through the mojave...

5 glossies - 2 AOR/3 DOR
1 gopher - 1 DOR
2 leaf-nosed - 2 AOR:)
1 speck - 1 DOR
1 sidewinder - 1 AOR

But that was in 5 hours on what should have been a stellar night!...so what do I know :?
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dezertwerx
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Re: The Moon

Post by dezertwerx »

It was still worth going out... just to find some new locals. Im so used to seeing a ton of spots at night, its refreshing to see them in the daytime.

We actually had a pretty decent early afternoon.... found a few herps out there. But like I said before... everything changed once that moon went up.

We did manage to find the following

hiking
1 - Scute
3 - Patchnose
lots of whiptails

cruising
3 - DOR Longnose
2 - AOR Scute
5 - AOR Sidewinders
2 - Longnose Leopard Lizards (1-AOR/1-DOR)
lots of whiptails (earlier in the day)
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RockRatt Rich Morgan
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Re: The Moon

Post by RockRatt Rich Morgan »

Recently on LocalityRosys we had a VERY LONG discussion about this subject. I do think that the moon does have a major effect and MANY of the guys that commented have probably 20 to 30+ years experience and data. I only commented on the post kind of jokingly since my best night/s so far happened to be May 15th and May 19th 2008 with May 20th being the actual full moon. I had only recorded some of the finds in the database for those nights since I was new at it. On May 19th into the morning of he 20th I was with a fellow roy nut and we had a 20 snake night with 5 rosy boa, glossies, long-nosed, shovelnose, and a ruber. I did not know any better back then and went out anyways.I have Not had anywhere close to the same results since. I am ure it was just beginners luck, determination, and probably some other factors like humidity, etc. All these finds were in one small area near Palm Springs. So sometimes things can work out even in the least likely conditions. That being said I am ure thoe with Way More knowledge have a better ubdertanding than I. By the way all the Rosys found that night were along a small dirt trail barely wide enough to drive on that wa covered in bushes on both ide of the trail.So they had plenty of cover to stay hidden from predators in the bright night sky. Rich
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monklet
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Re: The Moon

Post by monklet »

Thanks for the detailed reply Rich. That kind of info goes a long way in trying to decipher the mysteries of snake activity.
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jonathan
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Re: The Moon

Post by jonathan »

I went cruising on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of May. The moon looked nearly full on the 29th and 30th, and was only getting away from it a little on the 31st.

The moon wasn't coming up until past 9-10pm, so that gave some cruising time before it took effect. Once the moon did come up, there seemed to be a noticeable dropoff in activity. However, on the 30th, the night with the best temps, I saw a shovelnose at 11:06pm and a sidewinder at 11:45pm, both well after the moon was high and bright. I also found 2 DOR geckos, a DOR longnose, and a DOR sidewinder all past 11pm, and since I had gone though those areas early in the night there's a good chance that they did not become DOR until after the moon came up.

I did not see any snakes after the moon came up on the other nights, but I don't know how big a role temps may have played in that.
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dezertwerx
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Re: The Moon

Post by dezertwerx »

interesting jonathan... temps were pretty nice when we were out there... but who knows.

I think its still something I will plan around from now on.
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monklet
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Re: The Moon

Post by monklet »

Good report Jonathan. One thing about the full moon rising is that the rise also falls (depending on terrain) at just about the end of what is the brief "magic hour" just after dark, so tough to control for that. There've been many moonless night where I had my only snakes between 8:15 and 9:30PM, but that's possibly because temps were marginal those nights and the quickly cooling air may also have been a factor. This last weekend, when temps were high all night, I had action much later. In fact, I suspect had I continued cruising past 1:30AM I may have found more stuff but I was just too burnt out at that point after a very loooonnngggg day.
RobK

Re: The Moon

Post by RobK »

We've had this debate before, just search for.... err.. wait... n/m :(

Anyone who's cruised for any significant amount of time will tell you stories about conditions being "perfect" and seeing close to nothing and then having conditions that sucked and seeing a lot. I'm still waiting for Hubbs to write: The secrets of road cruising....(What makes the snakes come out?)

My road cruising notes have little devils :evil: next to the full moon nights if that means anything.

-rob aka smetlogik aka pfunkherpdaddy
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