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The BEST herping trip of my life...
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by Snake18 on July 9, 2005
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Hy guys,
Here I am, one week, several hundred miles, several hundred mosquito bites and 5 wasp stings later, back from the "Macin Hills" expedition. I can only say that this was the best herping trip or expedition of my life so far. This is how it all went out:
-Day 1: We`ve arived at our destination at about 7pm. We only found some Green Lizards(Lacera viridis) and Balkan Wall Lizards(Podarcis taurica).
-Day 2: The 6 members of our crue split up; me and my girlfriend went at the base of the hills at the edge of the forest and caught loads of Mediteranean Spur-Thighed Tortoises(Testudo graeca ibera), Green Lizards(Lacerta viridis), Balkan Wall Lizards(Podarcis taurica) and a gravid female Caspian Whip-Snake(Dolichophis caspius). The other 4 "lads & lassies" went on the stony cliffes of the hills and caught the same species of tortoise and lizards + 2.1 Nose-Horned Vipers(Vipera ammodytes montandoni).
-Day 3: Me and the only other boy in the expedition went down hill, at the edge of the forest to look for some more whip snakes. He caught 1 thin female that just layd eggs, and I caught: an adult male caspian whips snake(D. caspius), a grass snake(Natrix natrix natrix), and a huge female Aesculapian Rat Snake(Zamenis longissimus <ex. Elaphe longissima>), the second Zamenis longissimus I ever caught. Back up hill where we were camping I caught a juvenile D. caspius. Podarcis taurica, Lacerta viridis & Testudo graeca ibera were also prezent.
-Day 4: This time, me and my girlfriend checked out the stony clifes looking for vipers and only found a whip snake that was just to fast to be caught. The other 4 crue members checked out the base of the hills and caught another thin female whip snake(D. caspius). We all saw or caught balkan wall lizards, green lizards and tortoises.
-Day 5: The girls stayed at camp while I checked out the stony faces of the hills one more time by my self and my friend went to explore another area of the hills. After about 10 minutes of looking I caught my first Vipera ammodytes of the year. A splendid looking juvenile 1 foot male(you gotta see the pics). Another 2 hours of climbing and hard, back-bracking searching followed but with no results. Then...on another hill side, right on the top I saw a little nose horne sticking out of a rock. It was a adult gravid female V.a.montandoni...It took me a little time to take it out from underneath the rock but I managed to do it eventualy and placed it in a bag. Having acomplished my asignement for the day I decided to return to camp and started walking down hill; that`s when I noticed another viper basking in the sun right next to a rock. I pinned it down, tailed it and was just about to put it in the bag when I noticed not one, but another TWO vipers heading twords the same rock. I let the one in my hands free and caught the bigger one. Till now it is by far the biggest Vipera ammodytes montandoni I have ever seen, over 2ft in lenght. Both of the other vipers crawled under the rock. I didn`t want to let them go that easily so I screamed for help. Luckily, the 4 girls at camp heard my screams and headed twords my position thinking I`ve got bitten or hurt or something. Of course, being a complete moron I coulnd`t wait for the girls to arive so I fliped the huge stone by my self awaitng to find the 2 vipers under it. Od course I didn`t, I found 4 adult gravid female Dobrogean Nose-Horned Vipers(Vipera ammodytes montandoni) under the rock, all curled up in striking position. One got away emidiatly, one hid it`s self under a piece of dirts(but I could still see it). So I pinned one down with my foot(very gently of course; I was wearing boots) and another one with my hook. When the girls got there, they opened the bag for me and I safely put all 3 vipers in the bag. I knew that one got away and didn`t aprove of it. So I decided to lift another rock in close proximity and, of course there it was... I was the happiest man on earth, having caught 7 Vipera ammodytes in one day, almost single handedly. That day I also caught something realy cool, the smallest species of lizard in Europe, 2 snake-eyed skinks(Ablepharus kitaibelli stepaneki).
My friend lost 3 aesculapian rat snakes that day(or so he claims).
-Day 6: I lost the 2 skinks I caught, threw a small hole in the bag. Me and my girlfriend checked out a dry ditch that ran next to the edge of the forest at the hill base. I caught 2 adult gravid female whip snakes, 1 adult male and THE BIGGEST grass snake I have ever seen. I huge adult gravid female Natrix natrix persa, over 4 feet long and as thick as my rist. I also caught another skink which I managed to keep. :) + the usual lizards and tortoises.
-Day 7: Departure day, we gathered up some arthropods, for a scientific collection for my school: 2 centipedes(Scolopendra sp), 1 praying mantis(Mantis religiosa), and several other interesting and cool looking inverts. We were all 100% pleased of the expedition. About 15 hours later we were home.
-The adult whip snakes where between 3 1/2 - 5 ft long. The juvenile was about 2ft long.
-The Aesculapian Rat Snake was about 4 1/2 ft long.
-2 vipers were about 1ft long, 1 was about 16inches long, and the other 6, were between 1 1/2 and 2+ ft long.
What do you guys think of the expedition ?
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RE: The BEST herping trip of my life...
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by Phobos on July 9, 2005
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That is one awesome expedition Alex!! Glad you had a great time.
Can't wait to see the pictures.
Al
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RE: The BEST herping trip of my life...
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by Cro on July 9, 2005
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Alex: Sounds like a fantastic collecting trip! Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: The BEST herping trip of my life...
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by Snake18 on July 10, 2005
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I kept 2 female vipers and the little male. 2 female whip snakes, the aesculapian rat snake and the huge grass snake. I didn`t manage to take a lot of pics cause both my digital camera batteries ran out and I had no place to charge them there. I`ll take some more shots of the animals here and post them. Take care guys...happy herping...
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