Herping? A few questions

Ok, I'm planning a little day long herping trip around the Missouri rive in hopes of finding a few species in particular. Would it be best to search on the Bluffs or down by the river? Would it be good to look around trash dumps by lakes and ponds if I can find any?
Any imput on where to look for any of the species is appreciated.

Here is the list of Nebraskas snakes and I am in FAR eastern Nebraska, Less than 2 miles from the river.
http://snrs.unl.edu/herpneb/snake/basicsnakekey.html

I found an awesome place that I think I may find a few species while I was out walking. Its about 30-40' down a hill and there was what looked like a dry creek bed that was a little moist. I walked awhile and it turned into swampland. As I got further I found masses of trash. Couches, old freezers, corrugated tin, ect. In the water were tons of tadpoles but I saw no actual frogs out there. It was a hard walk through the dense trees and marshland but I think in a month or 2 this place will be crawling with herps. If it was about 100-200 miles south, I could see it crawling with copperheads.

I would say where to look would depend on what you want to find. Bluffs are good for snakes, but the river is a great place for turtles and some snakes, but toads and frogs as well. That junk pile/area sounds like a great place if it is dryer under the junk, too wet the snakes won't like it.

~mike

I'll have my new camera within the week so I can get pics of the area. It is awesome. What kinds of snakes would I expect to find on the Bluffs? There are HUGE bluffs around here.

Um, HELLO?!?!!? Search it ALL and then report back! This sounds like an excellent area to profile for a variety of species.

And I'm expecting LOTS of pics!

Happy hunting! :D

K~

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Originally Posted by KLG

Um, HELLO?!?!!? Search it ALL and then report back! This sounds like an excellent area to profile for a variety of species.

And I'm expecting LOTS of pics!

Happy hunting! :D

K~

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lol Thanks. Wednesday is supposed to be 87 so it should be a good day to go look around again. I may actually catch a few tadpoles if I can to see what kind of frogs there are.

I think you should take pics every time you go out & start a photo-journal thread here that details what you find. :) Field herping is so much fun, and I don't think we all realize how much the opportunity shrinks every day, in terms of habitat loss, etc.

:)

I agree. When I get the new camera, you better believe you will be seeing tons of pics. The reeds were taller than me in some areas. Maybe I should spread the trash out. More areas for snakes to hide. I already spread some of the corrugated tin out hoping that one of these days I will flip them and find some herps.

Go at different times of day, too. Document what you find, when, where, etc. If you can get a GPS of some sort & mark waypoints where you find different species, you may be able to offer the info to your local Fish & Game dept. for their records/protection programs, as well. Think big picture!! :D

I already have reported a few finds to the Nebraska Herp Society of Black Rat snakes and Ring necks in areas otherwise in question. This may be good training for my future goal which is as follows.
Pick a species of snake that is very much under studied and research. Get weights, population counts, ect and shed some light on that species. I was actually thinking afrocks or some sort of island boa local of some sort.

Also, I think I found the perfect place to look for hognose around here. Its about 100 yards+/- from a lake and the soil is SANDY as can be.

I'm heading down right now to see what I can find and hopefully make some trails I can walk through without hitting my head on trees AGAIN

If you are looking for snakes go out in the morning as it is starting to warm up (usually 9-11 am) then they are basking and a bit sluggish too.;)


~mike

Just got back. I found out a few cool things. The stream I was talking about flows off and on for about 2 miles. I walked up it all the way and it is the drain off of a 2-3 acre fenced in pond. The stream runs through a huge prairie setting of acres of nothing but grass and the occasional patch of trees. Also, throughout the stream, there are piles of broken up concrete, in and around the water that I plan to look around at. On 1 side of the stream there are lots of old out buildings including the outbuilding of a chicken farmer(if I can get his permission, this may be the best area for rat snakes and bull snakes.) I have also found my 2nd skull by the chicken farmers house, both look to have come from dogs. I'll have my new digital camera by the end of the week and you guys will be flooded with pics of the stream, trash piles, and rolling grass lands. I wonder if I walk through the tall grass(about knee high through waste high if I will find any bull snakes. I haven't seen any snakes this year so I'm not sure that they are all out yet. Usually I have seen atleast a few garter snakes out by now. So you think I have a better chance looking by the water or a bit further away from the water. to find the snakes?

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Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

Just got back. I found out a few cool things. The stream I was talking about flows off and on for about 2 miles. I walked up it all the way and it is the drain off of a 2-3 acre fenced in pond. The stream runs through a huge prairie setting of acres of nothing but grass and the occasional patch of trees. Also, throughout the stream, there are piles of broken up concrete, in and around the water that I plan to look around at. On 1 side of the stream there are lots of old out buildings including the outbuilding of a chicken farmer(if I can get his permission, this may be the best area for rat snakes and bull snakes.) I have also found my 2nd skull by the chicken farmers house, both look to have come from dogs. I'll have my new digital camera by the end of the week and you guys will be flooded with pics of the stream, trash piles, and rolling grass lands. I wonder if I walk through the tall grass(about knee high through waste high if I will find any bull snakes. I haven't seen any snakes this year so I'm not sure that they are all out yet. Usually I have seen atleast a few garter snakes out by now. So you think I have a better chance looking by the water or a bit further away from the water. to find the snakes?

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dude the concrete near the stream, if there are some near the edge like half in the water is a good place for salamanders, just to give ya an idea. Bull snakes are awsome!!!

~mike

I am so excited. do you think its possible that all the snakes haven't come out of hibernation? There are HUGE trash piles all over that are about 1/4 mile from the stream, do you think those may be a good area to check out?

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Originally Posted by Pork Chops N' Corn Bread

I am so excited. do you think its possible that all the snakes haven't come out of hibernation? There are HUGE trash piles all over that are about 1/4 mile from the stream, do you think those may be a good area to check out?

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Trash is a great place to find snakes. The should all be out of hibernation by now, though they may not have distributed all the way through their range from wherever they over wintered. whats the temp been?

~mike

The temps have been up and down. We have had a few days close to 100 and a few nights that the temps still hit freezing. Lately the highs have been about 75-60 while it still drops below 90 at night

they should be out by now. i would wait for a day when it is supposed to be in the 80's then head out at like 9 ish if you wanna grab som snakes. anything above about 40 is fine for amphibs.


~mike

Its supposed to be about 85 on Wednesday. I'm actually planning on making about a 5 mile ride down to the park where I believe hognose are. I'll probably go out early tomorrow and get started. Its supposed to be 78 and sunny tomorrow so if I go out at about 8 I may find something

wed will prob be good, mainly because it will have had a day to start warmin up. If you get to the desired site by 8 it may be too early, but if you leave for the site and get there like 9 30 you should be okay (for tomorrow that is). Wed 9 at the site should be good. Remember to take your time and be thorough no rush when lookin for cool stuff. Hognoses huh? AWSOME!


~mike

Ya, there are LOTS of tunnels in the area under the sandy soil that I believe either belong to snakes, toads, or rodents.

Its about a 15 minute walk from the house to this place. I have been in this area all my life(granny lives up the street about 3 houses and we just moved here) and I never knew this stream was there.

Thats awsome that you have a place you know and are excited about. i expect updates and pics and such! have at it! any hots in the area?


~mike

I believe there may be some sort of rattle snake population in the area but thats it. Not 100% on that yet

I'm gonna try hard today. Its not supposed to get terribly warm so I plan to spend most of the day out. I'm really looking for rock formations in the grassy fields as well as wooded areas where the Massasauga is found near water. Wish me luck today!

Also on my list is....
Western Ribbon Snake
Racer
Prairie king snake
Nothern watersnake
Milk snake
Lined snake
Graham's Crayfish Snake
Fox snake
Bull snake
Eastern hognose
Brown snake
and some more black rats

Lets see how many I can find by the end of the summer

I LOVE FOX snakes they are the coolest! good luck dude!

~mike

Thanks Mike. The page that shows lizards and salamanders is down so I can't look at those just yet. I'll probably head out at about 8:30 or so and get going.

I think that you need to take your camera and get out there! :)

Well that sucked. I walked about 8 miles to the flood plains of the river in hopes of finding something out there. Guess what....NOTHING!!! I spent 3 1/2 hours walking around and all I did was loose my shoes in the mud and have to walk back 10 miles barefoot. I walked about 7-8 of the 15 miles in thick disiduous(sp?) forest along the bank of a marsh flipping over anything I could physically move on my own. Didn't even see any frogs. Just a bunch of tadpoles again. This was a 7-8 mile walk just getting to where the marshy area stats mind you. I did snap a few pics on the camera of the flood plains and the forested areas. Pretty cool stuff but no snakes!?!?! Any other ideas?

Herping is funny like that.

I live 15 minutes out of Boston and the place I go to was flooded with garters and brown snakes. This place is called the rat trails to the locals here and sadly people throw everything and anything from stoves, AC's, couches you name it in this place. Bad for polution but great for snakes. This field runs along side an open sewer system. This past Sunday I took my son there and I lost count of how many snakes we found. Every single thing I turned over either had a garter, a brown or a mouse nest some of which had little pinkys in them. I will go again this coming weekend and take some pics for everyone.

Is there any kind of road (dirt, gravel, paved) that runs close to the marshy area? Could do some road cruising at night if there is.:)

I'll be in Hartford Connecticut in Early July. We are going over to Boston so maybe we can we do a bit of herping if you have free time

Not really. All the roads are a good 1000' plus away from the marshy areas from what I observed

Good news and bad news. On the prairie grass land I went walking and found a bull snake, bad news is when they had some guy cut part of the grass down, they also cut the bull snake up. It was a bummer. I did a lap around the fenced in pond and on the back side was a smaller, yet bull frog infested pond. Pretty cool.

Haha jake your funny, you lost your shoes, haha, i mean that sucks dude, (snicker snicker). I am glad you found "evidence" of a bull snake, so you atleast know they are in the area. just keep in mind that today was the bounce back from a few cold days you said, so today was prob the warm up and tomorrow there should be more snakes (theoretically). But who knows if you wanna make the trek again, you should get some good hiking boots and tie em tight. I wish i had bull snakes in my back yard, lucky!


~mike

lol Those shoes were about 2 years old so no big loss although my feet are so sore from walking all that way on hard concrete and about 1/4 mile on gravel road(not walking in that glass filled grass around there barefoot lol) My feet are too sore to go out walking today I think plus I have my doctors appointment in a bit. Maybe I can make it out before the sun sets and get a final lap to see what I can find. Is there any stratagy(sp?) to finding snakes in grass that is up to your knees-shoulders? I'm thinking just stamper around and hope I find a bull with a short temper. This dead bull snake was about 1/2 way in the water of the stream so I am assuming they may be fairly close to the water.