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Anyone planning any cool herp trips in 2004 or soo
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by Snakeman1982 on November 16, 2003
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Just checking to see what kind of interesting things people plan on doing this next year. I haven't made any decisions myself yet but have a few thoughts on what I will do.
1. I am definitely going to Florida for winter break but not sure if I will even herp much while I am there.
2. Possible Springbreak trip to southern Texas
3. Probably do a summer trip back to southern Arizona
4. Trying to make a summer trip or internship in Costa Rica
5. Internship elsewhere in the U.S.
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RE: Anyone planning any cool herp trips in 2004 or
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by grappler on November 16, 2003
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Got a few planned for the spring, but just got back from the Everglades this week and must say that it was the most productive trip ever. I couldn't believe the Herps out in Nov. Everything from Huge Nile Monitors in Cape Coral, which were easy to catch in a box trap with sardines but to aggressive to keep. Cottonmouths all over loop Rd in Big Cypress, and Iguannas and tegus all over the parks in Miami.
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RE: Anyone planning any cool herp trips in 2004 or
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by Snakeman1982 on November 16, 2003
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Yep, the Everglades will do that to you. I lived less than 2 miles from loop road and drove it a lot, needless to say. There are also a few better roads out there that I prefer in Big Cyprus but all will get you some incredible finds.
In Cape Coral, how common was it to find the Nile Monitors? I have been to Fort Myers beach quite a bit for parasailing and sunning but haven't made it to Cape Coral for herping yet. Are they easy to find? There is a biologist at the University of Tampa, Dr. Todd Campbell who is studying them. You might pass along any information you found on them while you were there that might be of interest to him.
I love going to southern Florida in the winter because it is like the only place in the U.S. that you can still herp. Although herping there isn't as good as in the summer, you can spend a lot more time outside your car because there are a lot fewer mosquitos!!!
I haven't gotten to catch any introduced species in or around Miami but have caught spiny-tailed iguanas on the gulf coast.
Robert Jadin
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RE: Anyone planning any cool herp trips in 2004 or
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by grappler on November 16, 2003
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They were extremly easy to find, but almost impossible to catch without a trap. We found many along the canals on the SouthWest side of the Island. We saw plenty of juvy's on the far side of the canals in the Mangroves, hanging on limbs and would drop off on hall butt soon as they saw us. We caught one about 4 ft with major teeth and a horrible attitude that I wanted no part of. I have to admit that I was bit apprehensive of letting him out and turning with a charge but he went on his way, right in the canal.
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RE: Anyone planning any cool herp trips in 2004 or
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Anonymous post on November 16, 2003
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I live on Cape Coral, and those monitors are awesome, but they are eating all the cats and small dogs. I know a few guys that are going out at night and trying to shoot some of them but to no evail, they are just many and to afraid to allow anyone within a hundred yards. THEY ARE HERE TO STAY!!!!!!!!!!
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2004??
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by Buzztail1 on November 16, 2003
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Looks like I will get to visit the high desert and low desert areas of SoCal (San Diego County) this coming year. With a little luck, I may even make it out to visit friends in Arizona.
While I recognize that a lot of folks won't think that these areas are "all that" big a trip, I have never herped in AZ and consider the deserts of Southern California to be uniquely rich in herptofauna.
It will all be a bit different than stomping through the swamps of Southern Georgia.
Karl
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RE: 2004??
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by Snakeman1982 on November 16, 2003
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A statement to the anonymous response. This is not a comment about you or anything just a thought about what I think about introduced species. I am by no means implying that you do any of this. In fact I think that it is really cool that you enjoy the monitors on Cape Coral. They seem really neat however I also agree that since they aren't a native species they should be removed.
Florida has been littered with introduced species, mostly because of the pet trade. But I take no sympathies to cats and dogs getting eaten up by Nile Monitors. First off, if people took care of their cats and dogs then they wouldn't get eaten by the monitors. Also, cats and dogs are very destructive to the natural environment, much more than Nile Monitors. Ignorant people always let their cats outside at night thinking that they will go out and hunt rats and mice. Well, they do that but they also kill and eat a lot of defenseless birds and put them endanger of population decline. I am not against dogs and cats but I am against the destruction they cause because they have to survive. So I am all for Nile Monitors eating up all the stray cats and dogs. I don't think of it as one dead cat but as hundreds of saved NATIVE birds.
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RE: 2004??
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by Snakeman1982 on November 16, 2003
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Hey Karl,
I am sure you will love the southwest. Especially southern Arizona if you get to go. No one should knock the southwestern herpin because it is the best ever. Let me explain:
Sure I can catch 10 snakes in two hours road cruising at night on my favorite road in the Everglades at 15 mph but about 90% of the snakes on the road are either Florida cottonmouths, Florida Watersnakes, southern black or Everglades racers, or peninsula ribbon snakes. Only about once a night did I find something really cool and different like a Scarlet kingsnake or striped crayfish snake. The southwest is totally different and has a plethora of species like no where else in the U.S. In eastern U.S. you can't find boas or blindsnakes (unless you find an introduced Brahminy's). The southwest has a heck of a lot more species of rattlesnakes than the east and the environments are totally natural.
I took a southwest trip this summer and had a blast. My buddy and I were in So. Cal. for one day near the imperial sand dunes. We were planning on road cruising for speckleds, lyre snakes, and sidewinders that night but the truck gave us some trouble and we had to shut down and he fixed the truck. The next morning however we took off back to Arizona and found a Desert Tortoise while still in So. Cal. We had also found desert iguanas and fringe-toed lizards there. If we would have stayed there we certainly would have found a lot more California natives and surely some snakes.
In the first week of the southwest trip we found 35 species that I had previously never seen before. In one night we caught and photographed 5 rattlesnakes (three species including a tiger rattlesnake) and one Arizona Mountain Kingsnake. My first night herping in Arizona I caught an Arizona Coral snake and my last night there I caught a Twin-spotted Rattlesnake. This luck continued with us the entire trip and with relatively little effort on our parts. The anuran and lizard populations are also incredible as well as the bird life.
The habitat and people are so different than in the east. The habitat is prestine and relatively untouched and you can go places where you see only a few cars a day. Arizona by itself is just a cool state and stands on its own with little regard for the rest of the country. Dang near everyone carries a gun in southern Arizona and no body cares as long as it isn't concealed. Arizona rejected day light savings time and you know that they are hard core over there since they rejected Martin Luther King Day, too, lol.
If you have a chance to herp Arizona or southern California then do it. I have herped all over the U.S. and nothing compares as far as I am concerned. You might not get the quantity of numbers but you will in both species and diversity. Just don't collect anything because Arizona Fish and Game are all over the place and they are busting people right and left for good reason. Not to mention it is morally wrong.
It can also be relatively cheap if you play your cards right and don't need hotels. If you get tired then you just pull over to the side of the road and fall asleep until day light, you can't do that in the east. The only problem with the southwestern deserts is the heat and lack of water but if you don't mind not having a shower for a week or more than just keep driving and herping non-stop from hotspot to hotspot. Hotels won't run you much but if you have a budget and are cheap like I am then you'll just keep the window rolled down.
To see some of the photographs that I took on my southwest trip and a list of the reptiles and amphibians that I caught check out http://snakeman1982.com/Summer2003(southwest).asp
If you have any questions just ask. Let us know how your trip goes.
Robert Jadin
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RE: 2004??
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by Naja_oxiana on November 17, 2003
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Hi Karl,
If you do get out this way, drop me an email. I, for one, would be very interested in meeting some SHHS members.
Cheers,
Roger
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RE: Anyone planning any cool herp trips in 2004 or
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by Crotalus64 on November 17, 2003
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Driving from nor-cal to San Diego then from San Diego east across southern Arizona into southern New Mexico, and north through New Mexico to Taos. Looking for what ever we can find along the way (there's a big list of the things I want to find). Leaving April 25, 2004.
-Erik
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