Found in OC....

Beautiful king, Lou.
Now would that be a dashed, dotted, barred 'n striped...haha...too many names for these things!

Yeh. I'm gonna go with barred, with a few spots thrown in...

Very cool. You're killin' it w/ the Kings down there. I haven't seen one up here in the SFV. That King is a beauty! Great pattern.

reako45

I know most people really like aberrantly marked Kings, but for me, personally... I like perfectly matching symmetrical patterns... whether it be stripes, bands, bars, dots... whatever.
Not to say that king isn't cool... just for me, 'mixed-up' patterns like that kinda equate to 'messed up'...
Now... your 'Choc-back Chance' snake... that one was incredible! jim

I understand what you're saying. But this years been 75% banded, 20% Newports, and 5% others. So the "others" stand out the most. Looking back, I wish I hadn't found the chocolate backed one for my first king. It didn't mean that much at the time. As we found 3 kings that day, I almost let that one go as it wasnt the prettiest. I'd love to find another one though!

Yeah, that's why its better just to call one like this aberrant or to be more specific a San Diego striped aberrant.

Nice looking king, Lou. Neat looking pattern on that king.

Belly shot

Well, see that's what most people think that are not Cal king enthusiests. They like the beauty of the snake and that always comes first. For those who hunt these things and find nice strait striped kings all the time, this is a special treat because it is so different from the norm and not encountered very often. I think where Lou is finding these aberrants, they are a lot more common than most of the range the SD striped kings are found, because he has just found too many. You can't hunt the heart of their range and come up with this many aberrants in such a short time. I'm just adding that, so noone uses Lou as an example of how common they are.

Do you have this one in a bigger size, Lou? I'd like to put it on my website.

Yeah... even in a fairly uniform banded... a 'perfect pattern' is very rare to find. I think the nicest king I ever saw, was my one and only flipped striped king, at Bill's spot, with Bill. Not only was the striping perfect, it had this little secondary pattern going on below the lateral line that was also perfect, all the way down and on both sides. And the colors (lt brn/ lt gld) were perfect also throughout the snake. I never got a pic of it... but sure wish I had.
I made a half-hearted attempt to convince Bill that such a perfectly marked specimen REALLY should be in a breeding program, and while he agreed that it was true, he just couldn't do it... He did let me take a ringneck, for an up-coming herp talk... jim

I'm coping these from text messages sent. I'm in Japan now. Don't have any others with me except this one....


First herp of the year for me in Tokyo. Not sure what it is exactly.

Its a Long-toed Alligator Lizard. Pretty neat looking. Those pictures are fine Lou. Thanks for posting them.

Arrigator Rizard?

Figured Alli, but it's the only one I've seen here. Where I stay near Narita, it's almost 100% snakes. An odd skink every once in awhile.

Maybe a Japanese Grass Lizard....

I like that king too.. lol!

Granted, neat stuff Lou. ..and its pattern is close to being symmetrical. But my peronal aesthetics, as if anyone would care, tend to side with Jim on the aberrancy thing, I prefer really clean, symmetrically patterned normals of almost everything. I really don't seen many pics of perfect bandeds or striped, and virtually no perfectly symmetrical aberrants, as any Cal Kings that aren't striped or banded are of course

I just found one on Saturday too:

Wow, that's a nice one too. That late rain really did wonders this year for kings just like it did in 2006.

Yeh, like it too.....

Did I say there were 2 of them......

Nicer pictures.

Better first pic....

Im on my phone right now. Can't tell if its bigger. If so, thanks!

Yeh, bigger. But iPhone quality.....

Dude... I like that King.. Very nice ! I love the barred pattern.

Killer king Lou..........can you post a pic of the chocolate back one too?

Thanks,

Jer

Yeh, that chocolate backed one is from a few years back. My first king. I'm in Japan now and don't have access to pics. It's the snake in my avatar though....

Well, I found another one with a few spots. This particular Striper was found further north than any other I've found.

Did anyone else even see the " Arrigator Rizard" call of Hellihooks? I almost peed myself when I read that! Excellent call, Jim!

Wow, those "introduced" stripers are sure migrating north fast! (inside joke, Lou. I know that wasn't introduced) It looks identical to a striped king from Riverside Co. (no speckling, and triple striped). That is a really really cool find! Thanks for sharing.

I missed that myself. Thought it was a typo. Good stuff Jim!

Then... my job is done. If you ain't laughing, you ain't living... My best 'asian-based' pun was when a Japanese member of LocalityRosys was talking about his rosy being under weight... I suggested it might be a 'Ro-Calorie' Rosy... jim

In Narita (Japan), at the hotel I stay at, there's a restaurant downstairs. Beer is on the menu.

Asahi,
Kirin,
Budweiser,
and Mirra Lite

That's exactly how it's written. Makes me laugh every time I see it.