High school fossil hunting trip

[djansen]

Well yesterday was are senior earth science fossil hunting trip and we took a little mini bus up the mountains to go crack rocks by the river and look for fossil leaves and clams. After we got there i got kinda bored with cracking rocks so i decided to go a little ways up from the river bank. as i was waking through the brush and logs i saw a nice garter snake with yellow and red stripes. so i caught him and put him in my backpack. i spent the rest of the day looking for snakes and never found any fossils, but i did catch 2 more snakes and put them in my backpack. on the way home we made a stop for a while to checkout a waterfall and i left my bag on the buss. when i got back on my friend said i left the bag open a bit and one was going into the vent when he got on but he could not get it. so after looking in my bag he was right, only two. we were driving for about 15 min when my other friend in the front of the bus said it was coming out next to my teacher who was driving! so i went to the front to "spit my gum out" and see where the snake was. it was crawing right next to my teachers feet and proceded crawl over his foot on the gas pedal. he asked me what i was doing and i politely told him there was a snake on his foot. to make a long story short, he did not freak and we pulled off the road and i let the snake go. the other two i let go in the field by my house when i got home. and my hands smelled like musk and they pooped and threw up a worm in my bag! what a day!

[JimiSnakes]

Interesting.

[wildlifewarrior]

Sounds like a cool class, but just remember next time transplanting animals from one locality to another can cause problems (prob not too bad with garters) but disease and such can be moved around with the traveler. Glad you got all the snakes and were able to release them. Field herping is fun, but that would have been cool to find a fossil. Did anybody? and did they get to keep them?

~mike

[djansen]

Sounds like a cool class, but just remember next time transplanting animals from one locality to another can cause problems (prob not too bad with garters) but disease and such can be moved around with the traveler. Glad you got all the snakes and were able to release them. Field herping is fun, but that would have been cool to find a fossil. Did anybody? and did they get to keep them?

~mike

Yes alot of people found clams and leaves (palms!), we got to keep them too. and about transplanting the snakes, the place was only 45 min away and we have those type of garters around where we live.

[wildlifewarrior]

Yes alot of people found clams and leaves (palms!), we got to keep them too. and about transplanting the snakes, the place was only 45 min away and we have those type of garters around where we live.

Thats cool.Sorry man 45 min or 5 min doesn't matter, those animals know where their winter den site is, where their food and water sources are, and hiding places are, and in a 45 minute drive the habitat and terrain could change dramaticaly, never mind an animal's resistance to certain pathogens or diseases/parasites. So just for future notice. Also not cool to be bringing them on a bus, with some people who could be deathly afraid of herps, then losing one(luckily you found it), if you don't have a proper way to secure and transport an animal that should be enough of a reason to leave it be.

~mike

[python.princess]

just curious... where were u in the mountains? what town were u near? i'm from washington.... just wonderin

[djansen]

just curious... where were u in the mountains? what town were u near? i'm from washington.... just wonderin

church mountain, its right next to Mount Baker. I am from Lynden, just north of bellingham. where are you from?

[python.princess]

lived in kelso till 8th grade and moved around a bit. then i lived in everett all thru high school.

[Classicrocker42o]

Don't garter snakes gathers in mass groups for mating, and I think hibernation?

Hopefully those little fellers know where their at. lol