long sought lampropeltis lifer

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Paul White
Posts: 2288
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:52 pm
Location: Amarillo, Texas

long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by Paul White »

On my way back from a fairly good trip to a back road somewhere between Amarillo and Fritch...it was something like 1:40am, I was on the interstate going 60 with the windows down and A/C on to keep myself awake. I knew snakes were still out but I was getting spacey and needed to bag it. Which, it hurt to do but when I forget I'm not in Amarillo, that's a sign I need to call it a night. I'd started to wander when the hell I was going to see a convience store so I could get some soda and then it's like "oh yeah..."

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milk snake. I HAVE YOU NOW!! Well, on camera. I'd burned a U-turn (and probably a tire) when I saw a snake crawling on the shoulder, and barely got back before he vanished. Detained him about 5 minutes to get some pictures, while he chewed the living hell out of my hand. Made an already kick-ass night even better.
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the car pic was the first pic I took; the top one was the last pic I took. I forgot my camera while running to grab the snake so I had to go back to the car to get it :lol:

other finds from tonight:
baby glossy snake
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1st (fairly good sized) night snake:
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2nd, very tiny cute adorable bitey night snake:
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1st atrox (actually my first of the year, took me forever to turn one up)
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2nd atrox
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and a long nose (was actually the first snake tonight)
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it's been a good year but I've been so busy both personally and professionally I haven't really been posting much or inputting data.

here's some other finds so far:

Ringnecks--I've found more this year than the rest of my life put together
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great plains rat. Love these.
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another long nose, truly awful shot
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baby nerodia; bad shot but the conditions were awful. dusk, in moving water, from a distance
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lined snake
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skink!
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I've seen sceloporus, but not a lot of Uta (one or two), a lot of whiptails, and 0 horned lizards (which is kind of a bummer). Only one collared lizard, but I just haven't been out at the right time of day for those.

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M.J.FRANETOVICH
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:54 pm
Location: Deadhorse/California

Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by M.J.FRANETOVICH »

Nice milk :thumb:
mikemike
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Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by mikemike »

Awesome, Paul!
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justinm
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Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by justinm »

I'm always happy to hear a lifer story, congrats.
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gbin
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Joined: June 10th, 2010, 4:28 pm

Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by gbin »

Very nice, Paul! Any hunt that includes a tricolor is worth hollering about, in my view. ;)

Gerry
Zach_Lim
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Joined: June 10th, 2010, 8:37 pm

Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by Zach_Lim »

Excellent triangulum! Now to figure out the subspecies...haha!
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BillMcGighan
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Location: Unicoi, TN

Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by BillMcGighan »

Good stuff, Paul.
Good looking "gentilis"
hellihooks
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Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by hellihooks »

good to see Paul... Congrats! jim
reako45
Posts: 542
Joined: June 12th, 2010, 9:38 am

Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by reako45 »

Wow! You're absolutely right. That Milk was the capper on a great night. Love the Rhinos from Texas also. very pretty and a bit different from the ones we've got out here.

reako45
joeysgreen
Posts: 523
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 9:09 pm
Location: Edmonton, Alberta

Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by joeysgreen »

Fantastic Paul! Has me itching to one day revisit Amarilllo/Panhandle as I missed out on all of those last time. (minus DOR's)

Ian
Paul White
Posts: 2288
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:52 pm
Location: Amarillo, Texas

Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by Paul White »

yeah, the panhandle has cool herps but it can be hard herping. I can see more stuff when I visit Houston or New Mexico than I would in a similar time frame here (Sheldon Lake State Park near houston is awesome BTW). I don't think we have fewer snakes, but a lot of the land is private, and good spots are hard to find.
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John Martin
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Joined: June 9th, 2010, 10:57 pm
Location: North end of Lake Okeechobee, Florida

Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by John Martin »

Nice find sir! :beer: I've looked at this pic several times and keep noticing a strange swollen area between the third and fourth light bands. Is my eyesight getting even worse than I thought, or is something going on there?
Paul White
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:52 pm
Location: Amarillo, Texas

Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by Paul White »

I honestly don't know. I mean I can see kind of a lump, but I'm not sure when they mate locally (I've found some baby snakes this year but usually I'd associate neonates more with the fall around here).
joeysgreen
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Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by joeysgreen »

I noticed that lump as well and forgot to comment on it. It's in the cardiac region so not reproductive. I'd have to guess this is it's last spring.

Ian
Paul White
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:52 pm
Location: Amarillo, Texas

Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by Paul White »

you're talking about the one towards the anterior, gotcha.
I don't know. It's only visible in that one photo of it on the ground, not the one where I'm holding it. Weird.
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John Martin
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Location: North end of Lake Okeechobee, Florida

Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by John Martin »

Paul White wrote:It's only visible in that one photo of it on the ground, not the one where I'm holding it. Weird.
Weird indeed! Hadn't noticed that either. I still think it may have some sort of serious health problem. Any qualified anatomists on board here? :P
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Fundad
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Re: long sought lampropeltis lifer

Post by Fundad »

Way to Go on the Milk.. :thumb: :beer:

Fundad
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