Worth going on a herping trip in July?

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CanebrakeRattlesnake
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Joined: August 19th, 2018, 9:46 am
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Worth going on a herping trip in July?

Post by CanebrakeRattlesnake »

Hey ya'll! Long time, no post. I've got so many online accounts its hard to keep up with them, and with my ADHD and other mental illnesses sometimes I just don't have the motivation to log on and post. :(

Anyways, my dad's taking two weeks off of work starting on July 1st, and said if we can find a good dogsitter then we can go somewhere. I'm already trying to figure places that would work... He already said no to Florida unfortunately, I was hoping to follow a family friend down there to do some herping and swimming but my dad's the one driving so he's in charge of the destination. :lol:

Obviously it's frowned upon to ask for specific herping locations, so I'll just say I'm interested in finding... Anything that's not Nerodia sipedon, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis, or Lithobates pipiens. My DREAM would be to find any sort of hot (especially Crotalus horridus) but despite my area being apparently full of them I've never even seen one... I need to lose weight so I can get up into the bluffs. :oops:

But while researching, it seems like it might not be the best time of year to do this anyways? So I guess my question is, is it worth it to go on a road trip to look for herps during early July? Will it be too hot? I guess it depends on where I go, but I'm leaning towards somewhere like the Great Smoky Mountains, Georgia, North Carolina, and Illinois (specifically the Shawnee National Forest). The latter has the famous Snake Road but again, not sure if there'd be much activity during this time of year. :?

Would those places work, or do you guys have other states you would suggest? Preferably near Wisconsin? Things like California and New Jersey are too far away. I'd also love places I can get into the water and do some swimming as I've got a GoPro Hero 10 coming in the mail and I'd love to do some underwater photography and filming!

I have no drivers license and I very seriously doubt my parents would want to do any road cruising, so herping roads at night is out of the question :(
stlouisdude
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Re: Worth going on a herping trip in July?

Post by stlouisdude »

You can find timber rattlesnakes in the summer that is not a problem. Try looking in and around rock crevices in suitable habitat. With some creative searching, you can probably find a known locality which will help increase the odds of finding one. Try not to get frustrated, you can spend a lot of time not having any success then suddenly stumble across several. Also keep in mind that they are sometimes hard to see so keep a close eye out once you're in a likely location, you may not see them until you're right on top of them or peering into a rock crevice at close range. Snakes can also use crevices on sheer cliffs. Some kind of a mirror or camera connected to a stick would be ideal in checking for these. I have only found one such location but I don't often hang my body over a cliff peering around for holes, I only noticed that one because someone told me it was there.
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CanebrakeRattlesnake
Posts: 13
Joined: August 19th, 2018, 9:46 am
Location: Wisconsin
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Re: Worth going on a herping trip in July?

Post by CanebrakeRattlesnake »

stlouisdude wrote: June 12th, 2022, 1:09 pm You can find timber rattlesnakes in the summer that is not a problem. Try looking in and around rock crevices in suitable habitat. With some creative searching, you can probably find a known locality which will help increase the odds of finding one. Try not to get frustrated, you can spend a lot of time not having any success then suddenly stumble across several. Also keep in mind that they are sometimes hard to see so keep a close eye out once you're in a likely location, you may not see them until you're right on top of them or peering into a rock crevice at close range. Snakes can also use crevices on sheer cliffs. Some kind of a mirror or camera connected to a stick would be ideal in checking for these. I have only found one such location but I don't often hang my body over a cliff peering around for holes, I only noticed that one because someone told me it was there.
Thanks! There's a nearby area I'd like to check out, I just have to convince my mom to crawl up the steep incline with me :lol:
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