Adventure Princesses go herping...

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
devlin
Posts: 155
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 12:46 pm

Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by devlin »

My 6 year old daughter, Bailey and I belong to a daddy/daughter group called Adventure Princesses. Yesterday I led a small group of our "tribe" on a herping jaunt. I took them to an old standby spot that I've been going to for almost twenty years. The first board we flipped housed a gorgeous, freshly shed kingsnake.

The girls. Olivia, Hannah, Hannah G, Georgia, Kalea, and my daughter, Bailey's arms (takin' a pic)
Image

Georgia, admiring the king. This girls was really taken by all the snakes! We may have a future herper here.
Image

Georgia and Hannah G, diggin' it.
Image

Then in the same area, they got to see a basking Rattler. Lots of oohs and ahhs but no pic. I showed one of the dads how to catch a lizard with a piece of grass. So he made grass nooses for everyone, and they all went nuts chasing lizards around. Meanwhile I found a ringneck and everyone got to hold it. Again, no pic.
We all went lakeside, to settle in for a pic-nic. I went to flip a small rock, and a massive coast garter bolted from out of nowhere. I dove and got it. much to the shock of a couple of the dads. I don't think they thought an old guy could move so fast! In about twenty years of coming here, this was my first gartersnake in this area. I HAD to catch it!

Me and the beast
Image

The beast
Image

Image

Bailey misplaced her favorite pink water bottle somewhere, so I went to look for it. On the way back, This pretty gopher was in the path.
Image

It was a great morning and fun was had by all. We saw five species of snake in two hours. On the way home, I was driving over a hill and as I came around the bend, I scared the two dads who were with me, by slamming on the brakes and yelling at the on coming car "Don't hit it!!!"...The car straddled the already clipped gophersnake. I got out grabbed it, took a couple of bites to the hand and prodded it down the hill. It had a small bit of road rash and maybe a couple broken ribs, but it was fine and feisty. It'll live to dodge cars again.... :beer:
User avatar
HoggyMomma
Posts: 31
Joined: February 26th, 2012, 6:02 pm
Location: East Bay

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by HoggyMomma »

Devlin,
What an awesome outing! Congrats on the Coastal garter find! And five species in 2 hours is wonderful! Thanks for sharing! :-)
Laila
User avatar
Neil M
Posts: 285
Joined: April 10th, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by Neil M »

Great job and im sure you made herpers out of those kids and we will see them out in the field soon! That garter is immense!

Neil
User avatar
LouB747
Posts: 1184
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:50 am
Location: Huntington Beach, CA

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by LouB747 »

Awesome. Love to see the kids expressions with snakes. Some pure fear, others joy. Very cool post....
hellihooks
Posts: 8025
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 8:12 am
Location: Hesperia, California.
Contact:

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by hellihooks »

Totally awesome! My love of herps was begun when I was 5, by my parents taking me to the Miami Serpentarium... :thumb: jim
Zach_Lim
Posts: 1607
Joined: June 10th, 2010, 8:37 pm

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by Zach_Lim »

Wonderful outting, Dev!
Same king from when you took us out?
User avatar
yolodave
Posts: 292
Joined: June 19th, 2010, 8:30 pm

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by yolodave »

What a great experience for those kids. Congratulations.
User avatar
liucommajames
Posts: 98
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 11:46 am

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by liucommajames »

I want to be an adventure princess...
User avatar
El Garia
Posts: 722
Joined: October 20th, 2011, 4:39 pm
Location: Santa Clara Co. , CA

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by El Garia »

liucommajames wrote:I want to be an adventure princess...
Done. Two wishes left...


Very cool, Devlin! Looks like you created some great memories for the Adventure Princesses :thumb:
User avatar
gordo
Posts: 27
Joined: May 5th, 2012, 10:38 pm
Location: Oenpelli Australia

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by gordo »

Great trip mate, fantastic to see kids getting among it!
User avatar
Ross Padilla
Posts: 2666
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 6:29 pm
Location: I love L.A.
Contact:

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by Ross Padilla »

Great post! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
User avatar
Natalie McNear
Posts: 1147
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 5:54 pm
Location: Northern coast of California

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by Natalie McNear »

Awesome stuff, Dev. :thumb: Good to see that place is still full of surprises after 20 years. Now you just need to get your Infernalis there!
User avatar
Hans Breuer (twoton)
Posts: 3230
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 3:19 am
Location: Kuching, Sarawak (Borneo)
Contact:

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

Most excellent adventure!
devlin
Posts: 155
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 12:46 pm

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by devlin »

liucommajames wrote:I want to be an adventure princess...
hahahahaha :lol: :lol: :lol:
devlin
Posts: 155
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 12:46 pm

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by devlin »

Thanks everybody. It was definitely my pleasure showing all the cool critters to the girls (dads too).
Nat. Yes I need to find an infernalis out there...and a boa. They gotta be there too.
Zach. I haven't compared head shots of the king yet. could very well be the same snake...
:beer:

EDIT: Different snake, Zach...
User avatar
Porter
Posts: 2418
Joined: March 19th, 2011, 7:43 pm

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by Porter »

Great post Dev :thumb: Nice variety of finds. That Coasty is huge... I found a Mountain Garter in 2010 about that big, a little smaller, and was shocked to see they even got that big. I've seen 2 big Valley Garters over the years, but normally just see the average 2 1/2-3 1/2 footers. Really diggin the orange specks on the face and the beasty head features that come with age. Awesome snake :thumb:
User avatar
socalherper
Posts: 274
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 5:46 pm

Re: Adventure Princesses go herping...

Post by socalherper »

Great post Devlin,

That was just awesome and that Garter snake is huge!
Post Reply