View Full Version : Some of my finds from 2015(so far)
I figured I'd share some of the herps that I've found this year. I haven't had a chance to do as much herping as I would have liked this year, but I have still found some cool stuff. And there's things that I wasn't able to photograph for various reason(lighting, got away too fast, etc). These are all from southern Louisiana. Hope yall enjoy!
A couple of Speckled Kingsnakes
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150513_162311_zpsqigv0out.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150513_162311_zpsqigv0out.jpg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150423_122306_zps0tel4xx8.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150423_122306_zps0tel4xx8.jpg.html)
Western Cottonmouth
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150810_205445_zpsmtlcqrvn.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150810_205445_zpsmtlcqrvn.jpg.html)
Texas Ratsnake
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150308_143743_zps9ehujy5l.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150308_143743_zps9ehujy5l.jpg.html)
Black-Masked Racer
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150415_122453_zps3bxcf1wk.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150415_122453_zps3bxcf1wk.jpg.html)
Garter Snake
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150304_093851_zps94fdk8cc.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150304_093851_zps94fdk8cc.jpg.html)
Some Ribbon Snakes(the first is one of the biggest I've ever seen)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150318_115711_zps4qndmedl.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150318_115711_zps4qndmedl.jpg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150428_160052_zps5b4ybpha.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150428_160052_zps5b4ybpha.jpg.html)
A couple of Broad-Banded Water Snakes...these are super common around here, but here are a couple nice ones. The first one is the strangest, yet coolest one I've ever seen.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150723_143152_zps2npairji.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150723_143152_zps2npairji.jpg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150624_161641_zpsqk2xlkkw.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150624_161641_zpsqk2xlkkw.jpg.html)
A large Diamond-Backed Water Snake with a Broad-banded in the background
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150304_091320_zps0qcfdkbp.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150304_091320_zps0qcfdkbp.jpg.html)
I wasn't too sure on this guy's ID...I asked around and some people said Plain-Bellied Water Snake and some said Blotched Water Snake. If anyone has suggestions let me know!
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150426_122556_zpswuohr99r.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150426_122556_zpswuohr99r.jpg.html)
Ring-necked Snake
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20141209_155405_zpsexqunppj.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20141209_155405_zpsexqunppj.jpg.html)
Dekay's Brown Snake
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150126_122036_zps1f233ecb.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150126_122036_zps1f233ecb.jpg.html)
Broad-Headed Snake
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150412_142714_zpsmiwrq7wl.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150412_142714_zpsmiwrq7wl.jpg.html)
Five-Lined Skink
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150325_151956_zpsbkxhrqfj.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150325_151956_zpsbkxhrqfj.jpg.html)
Green Tree Frog
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150521_092219_zpspigfevyx.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150521_092219_zpspigfevyx.jpg.html)
Leopard Frog
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/IMG_5597_zpsccob4ncw.jpeg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/IMG_5597_zpsccob4ncw.jpeg.html)
Gray Tree Frog
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150428_110434_zps192gb9vu.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150428_110434_zps192gb9vu.jpg.html)
Common Snapping Turtle
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150503_115129_zpsls8o5uw2.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150503_115129_zpsls8o5uw2.jpg.html)
Box Turtle
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150519_093010_zpsowic9c2j.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150519_093010_zpsowic9c2j.jpg.html)
Southern Painted Turtle that was rescued from the road and relocated
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150616_085115_zps5vvy1wbt.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150616_085115_zps5vvy1wbt.jpg.html)
Huge Softshell Turtle
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150311_114608_zpslp34rfr8.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150311_114608_zpslp34rfr8.jpg.html)
And last, but certainly not least, some alligators
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/IMG_5612_zpsewj2wklg.jpeg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/IMG_5612_zpsewj2wklg.jpeg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/P3311477_zpsboopiqa2.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/P3311477_zpsboopiqa2.jpg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/P3090064_zpstpdn6sus.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/P3090064_zpstpdn6sus.jpg.html)
Minkness
08-11-15, 07:32 PM
Man...those speckled kings...such awesome pics. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome post, keep the finds coming. Love the picture of the Black Mask Racer.
The little juvie Water Snake is in fact a Plain Belly (Nerodia erythrogaster), formerly a Yellow Belly (N. e. flavigaster). Blotched Water Snakes (N. e. transversa) are another former subspecies of N. erythrogaster found farther west in Texas.
Do you have any more pictures of the highly aberrant Broadbanded Water Snake? Crazy looking animal. Looks like it has buffet of fish at its disposal.
EL Ziggy
08-11-15, 08:22 PM
Wow, gorgeous critters and awesome photos Bandit.
Awesome post, keep the finds coming. Love the picture of the Black Mask Racer.
The little juvie Water Snake is in fact a Plain Belly (Nerodia erythrogaster), formerly a Yellow Belly (N. e. flavigaster). Blotched Water Snakes (N. e. transversa) are another former subspecies of N. erythrogaster found farther west in Texas.
Do you have any more pictures of the highly aberrant Broadbanded Water Snake? Crazy looking animal. Looks like it has buffet of fish at its disposal.Oh so the Yellow-Bellies were reclassified as Plain-Bellied?
And yeah here's another picture of that Broad-Banded. I've seen a lot of cool ones, but that stripe was just baffling.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150723_143147_zpsusggafqe.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150723_143147_zpsusggafqe.jpg.html)
Here's a couple other nice Broadbands I've seen this year
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/ATT_1439350132950_20150331_105822_zps94k80hgt.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/ATT_1439350132950_20150331_105822_zps94k80hgt.jpg. html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/ATT_1439350133096_20150318_115147_zpsffxi709y.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/ATT_1439350133096_20150318_115147_zpsffxi709y.jpg. html)
And here are a few more cool finds:
A young Ribbon Snake that thought he was a cobra
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/ATT_1439350133423_20150129_120013_zpseieus08f.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/ATT_1439350133423_20150129_120013_zpseieus08f.jpg. html)
A (very) pregnant Garter, or at least she was at the time. She would have had her babies by now
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150702_165445_zpskv960mnq.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150702_165445_zpskv960mnq.jpg.html)
And a couple more Speckled Kings
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150520_164341_zpspp0dsusr.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150520_164341_zpspp0dsusr.jpg.html)
I found this guy last night...one of the downfalls of road cruising. I found him after he had been hit, but he was still alive. I tried bringing him home to see if there was a chance that I could nurse him back to health, but he died a while later.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150811_210336_zpsq77qb028.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150811_210336_zpsq77qb028.jpg.html)
Minkness
08-12-15, 09:12 AM
Gosh I am SO IN LOVE with those speckleds!!!!
Gosh I am SO IN LOVE with those speckleds!!!!They are probably one of my favorite species to find around here. Always laid back and so beautiful.
Albert Clark
08-12-15, 12:36 PM
Thanks for all the views! The box turtle looks like one I entered into the photo contest. Love those guys!
rubbertoes
08-12-15, 01:00 PM
Thats awesome! And the unidentified one is a Blotched Water Snake, they are one of the most common snakes where I live.
I wish I could have gone field herping when I was down there:/ you found some beautiful herps, I wish I knew people from where I live that can take me out and teach me how to field herp. I'm not very good at it.
Great shots of some great animals.
that1guy
08-12-15, 04:57 PM
Awesome pics. Those speckled kings and the boxie are amazing.
I wish I could have gone field herping when I was down there:/ you found some beautiful herps, I wish I knew people from where I live that can take me out and teach me how to field herp. I'm not very good at it.
Great shots of some great animals.Well if you ever feel like making a trip to Baton Rouge let me know and I'll take you out herping!
Well if you ever feel like making a trip to Baton Rouge let me know and I'll take you out herping!
That would be awesome:) but I'm a limited in time now because of colege. :( I'd do it here but my mom is so paranoid about be finding rattlers, cotton mouths, and copper heads (which are one of the most beautiful species of native venomous snake I think) what time of day do you find is the best for herping?
[Went to bed after talking about this and ended up dreaming that a rattler was chasing my dog (I know they dont do that anyway) let's just say I was freaked out even more than the time I dreamt I was bitten by a king cobra...]
That would be awesome:) but I'm a limited in time now because of colege. :( I'd do it here but my mom is so paranoid about be finding rattlers, cotton mouths, and copper heads (which are one of the most beautiful species of native venomous snake I think) what time of day do you find is the best for herping?
[Went to bed after talking about this and ended up dreaming that a rattler was chasing my dog (I know they dont do that anyway) let's just say I was freaked out even more than the time I dreamt I was bitten by a king cobra...]I gotcha man. Well if you do have a chance just let me know. And as for time of day, it really depends on where you live and what time of year. I see you're up in Northern Louisiana, and I'm not too sure how the weather is there right now. Down here it's been in the mid to high 90s lately with really high humidity, so there hasn't been much out during the day. The only good time to go herping right now is when it's dark all the way till about an hour after the sun comes up. If it's cooler up there, which I'm sure it is, you can extend those hours to a little before it gets dark and a while longer in the morning. And I love seeing the venomous snakes. They always make things a bit more interesting.
I gotcha man. Well if you do have a chance just let me know. And as for time of day, it really depends on where you live and what time of year. I see you're up in Northern Louisiana, and I'm not too sure how the weather is there right now. Down here it's been in the mid to high 90s lately with really high humidity, so there hasn't been much out during the day. The only good time to go herping right now is when it's dark all the way till about an hour after the sun comes up. If it's cooler up there, which I'm sure it is, you can extend those hours to a little before it gets dark and a while longer in the morning. And I love seeing the venomous snakes. They always make things a bit more interesting.
The heat index is often in triple digets lately and we are having a bit of a drought where I live. (The leaves are starting to fall making it look more like fall than summer) the venomous species is the reason my parents don't like me going out there. I told them I was going to go out walking to get some fresh air and they made me take my dog with:/ (I was looking in a shaded wooded area near my house where a lot of limbs have fallen for cover. It's a lot cooler under there because there is barely any direct sunlight.)
I might hop out and check around the wood pile that is under a tree and next to a small shed. But I can't look around the pond that I know they like to be because I don't have enough manuverability (only the very bottom holds water, have to get in the pond to find the snakes and then you can't move around well enough in case a venomous one is there.:/
Btw, thanks for listening to me ramble.":)
The heat index is often in triple digets lately and we are having a bit of a drought where I live. (The leaves are starting to fall making it look more like fall than summer) the venomous species is the reason my parents don't like me going out there. I told them I was going to go out walking to get some fresh air and they made me take my dog with:/ (I was looking in a shaded wooded area near my house where a lot of limbs have fallen for cover. It's a lot cooler under there because there is barely any direct sunlight.)
I might hop out and check around the wood pile that is under a tree and next to a small shed. But I can't look around the pond that I know they like to be because I don't have enough manuverability (only the very bottom holds water, have to get in the pond to find the snakes and then you can't move around well enough in case a venomous one is there.:/
Btw, thanks for listening to me ramble.":)Yeah I gotcha. I'll pretty much look anywhere that I think there is even a slight chance of something being haha. We got a bit of rain so I'll probably cruise tonight and hopefully spot some cool stuff.
It was a pretty slow night. I saw the usual frog species(green tree, leaopard, and bull) and one baby ribbon snake(I'll upload pics later). I also saw a dead rough green snake, which really sick considering we don't see that many of them around here.
I bet that baby ribbon was cute:3
Aww :(poor thing.
Here's the little Ribbon from last night. Very laid back and also very lucky he didn't get hit. Pretty sure he was just enjoying the warmth on the pavement.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150815_203826_zps4atuquqf.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150815_203826_zps4atuquqf.jpg.html)
Well I haven't posted on this thread much recently because I haven't had much time to go herping. I managed to get out to a nearby area last night for a little while and saw about 10 Diamond-Backed Water Snakes (N. Rhombifer), tons of Stinkpot turtles (Sternotherus odoratus), and a few frog species. I didn't get very many pictures, but here are a couple of the Nerodia I came across. And excuse the low quality pictures...my phone isn't all that great with night pictures.
Here was the first thing I found. He was literally the calmest Nerodia I have ever encountered. Not only did he not strike or musk, but he was very curious. I held him for about 20 minutes while I waited on my buddy to get there and he was calmer than a lot of captive snakes that I have dealt with.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150929_211105_zpschqodntr.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150929_211105_zpschqodntr.jpg.html)
Here's another smaller individual. Typical Nerodia attitude and was not happy about us being there.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20150929_222619_zpsxi6df0ha.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20150929_222619_zpsxi6df0ha.jpg.html)
Georgia
09-30-15, 09:02 AM
My very first snake was a ribbon snake when I was 4 or 5 ��
Well on Thursday I took a trip with a couple of friends to a park that is known for having some cool species. It was sort of a bust, but we did see a few things. Here are a couple of Fence Lizards and one of the many Dwarf Salamanders we found.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151008_102330_zpskbwxjeir.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151008_102330_zpskbwxjeir.jpg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151008_103337_zps9dsaj0tv.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151008_103337_zps9dsaj0tv.jpg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/imagejpeg_0_zpsozgy1gwp.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/imagejpeg_0_zpsozgy1gwp.jpg.html)
And I also found an amazing spot to herp recently, which I will be hitting up soon. I saw a bunch of stuff just by doing a quick look. I'm sure I'll find some good stuff there. Here's one of the young Ribbon Snakes I found. He had a big scar on his side and the tip of his tail missing but he seemed to be doing fine. One of the more vibrant individuals I've seen in a while.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151010_121905_zps14w6u8l7.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151010_121905_zps14w6u8l7.jpg.html)
Princess-dad
10-11-15, 12:55 AM
I could be wrong but I think that Five Lined Skink is hanging out in a patch of American Ginseng .
Doug 351
10-11-15, 01:33 AM
OMG....Love seeing the ribbons....those and Western fence lizards are some of my favorites....however...the western fence lizards dont look right to me though...they don't match what I have....so I'm a bit confused.
OMG....Love seeing the ribbons....those and Western fence lizards are some of my favorites....however...the western fence lizards dont look right to me though...they don't match what I have....so I'm a bit confused.Okay I did misidentify... sort of. So they are actually Prairie Lizards (Sceloporus consobrinus). The reason I confused the two was because we used to have Eastern Fence Lizards (Sceloporus undulatus) and Prairie Lizards, however they were reclassified by range, so now all we have are Prairie Lizards. If you look up those two species, you'll see they are very similar. But thanks for catching that. I should've clarified between eastern and western.
Pareeeee
10-13-15, 06:52 AM
Awesome photos! Keep em coming! I wish field herping season wasn't over here.
I should be going out this afternoon/evening. The goal is a mud snake, but I'll post anything I find!
Well we decided to go to a closer spot than we had originally planned. It was really hot and the ground was very dry(we haven't had rain in weeks), so I think that hurt our chances some. Anyway, we saw a few things...Ground Skinks, Five-Lined Skinks, an Eastern Box Turtle, and a really cool Dekay's Brown Snake (which is ironic, considering it was more red than anything).
He was angry. He hissed and went into his shell and refused to even poke his head out after that.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151013_164318_zpsczzzxsif.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151013_164318_zpsczzzxsif.jpg.html)
This guy was in shed, I could only imagine how vibrant he is after a fresh shed.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151013_1657250_zps3gc8ztek.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151013_1657250_zps3gc8ztek.jpg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151013_165751_zpsm3dcfte0.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151013_165751_zpsm3dcfte0.jpg.html)
jjhill001
10-17-15, 12:48 AM
Them southern brown snakes are really pretty.
Well it's certainly been a while since I've posted in this thread. I got really busy with school during November and the first half of December. I've managed to get out a few times since then. Today is the first day we've had cooler weather in Louisiana, but before today it's been in the 70s (some days 80s) everyday. I will post pictures either tonight or tomorrow morning!
As promised, here are some of the herps I've found recently.
Pretty broad-banded water snake. I find so many of these, I don't even usually photograph them. I'll generally take a picture of the prettiest one I find and that's it.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151221_122126_zpsmvrasj0y.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151221_122126_zpsmvrasj0y.jpg.html)
Western Ribbon snake. Found tons of these as well.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151227_110228_zpscvl9fyxi.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151227_110228_zpscvl9fyxi.jpg.html)
Lifer gray rat snake
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151221_122159_zpsxcd2bdcs.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151221_122159_zpsxcd2bdcs.jpg.html)
Western Cottonmouths. I always enjoy finding these guys
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151227_104137-1_zpsqhmq8kmm.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151227_104137-1_zpsqhmq8kmm.jpg.html)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151221_131506_zpstfwmgpld.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151221_131506_zpstfwmgpld.jpg.html)
One of the five American alligators I've seen in the past week. Sizes ranged from about 4.5-9 feet.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151227_094347_zpsxuotrywo.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151227_094347_zpsxuotrywo.jpg.html)
Black-Masked racer (who tagged me several times lol)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151227_092135_zpsusptjy3u.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151227_092135_zpsusptjy3u.jpg.html)
Bahaman Anole (a.k.a. Brown Anole) - invasive, but they stick to certain areas, mainly where there are imported plants. Over the years I have noticed they are slowly expanding their range here in Louisiana.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151127_113500_zpsdedsfipo.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151127_113500_zpsdedsfipo.jpg.html)
And lastly, a garter that I found in Florida. Not completely sure if this is a checkered or a common garter. Let me know if you know!
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e313/connor323/20151213_113906_zpssa1y2sub.jpg (http://s42.photobucket.com/user/connor323/media/20151213_113906_zpssa1y2sub.jpg.html)
I also found a smooth earth snake while raking leaves last week. It was a lifer for me. Unfortunately I didn't have my phone on me so I didn't get any pictures.
Pareeeee
01-06-16, 08:02 AM
Sitting here wishing the snow was gone so I can go herping. Great pics and a little jealous :P
Sitting here wishing the snow was gone so I can go herping. Great pics and a little jealous :PThanks! I made a new thread for the new year. I've only been herping once so far, but I'm going this afternoon because it's sunny and going to hit 60 degrees. Hopefully I find some cool stuff and I'll post in the other thread.
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