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Herping Houston 04/17/2010

Pruddock

Pruddock

Gig 'Em Ags!! Whoop!!
Hey everybody, been awhile since I've posted in this forum unfortunately, but I've got good news! I recently moved to Houston from College Station, TX and hadn't been out herping yet. So, after looking over Google Earth for an hour or so and figuring out a few good spots I decided to go herp George Bush Park yesterday for a few hours and really hit it big! I found about 13 Nerodia fasciata confluens, a juvenile Nerodia erythrogaster flavigaster, 5 Agkistrodon piscivorus luecostoma, numerous RES, and numerous different species of Rana adults and tadpoles. Here are some different shots from the trip, I didn't add them all and mostly took shots of the Agkistrodon piscivorus luecostoma just because they're pretty fun to photograph and these guys were not hesitant at ALL about giving me a show lol. Oh, I also shot some video that I need to look over and edit before I put it up on YouTube, but I'll make sure to let y'all know when I do and post a link. Here's the story from the trip up on my field herping blog. Enjoy! :dancer:

This guy had something wierd and black on the roof of his mouth. I've looked at it at 100% zoom and I'm truly not sure what it was, but I didn't feel like losing a finger to find out and I didn't have tweezers to investigate...
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Found out through a post on another forum that the patch of black in the top cottonmouth's mouth is actually a group of flatworms or flukes that are common in the mouths of wild snakes. Learn something new everyday... :spinner:
 
Is that really gorgeous snake the yellow belly? Wow! I'd love to see a RES in the wild, too. Are they native, or like in Florida have been released and taken over?

Those flukes are really gross. Poor snake.
 
Thanks Nanci. The Juvenile Yellow belly is the photo just below the ribbon snake. The one I'm guessing you're talking about it a Juvenile Broadbanded. I was impressed though, even the adult Broadbandeds I was catching still had those brilliant oranges and yellows that the juvies have and the ones I caught over in CS were dull and kinda nasty lol. Always fun to catch the pretty water snakes. Makes them a little more likable lol
 
Drizzt80 said:
I was gonna go with brain worms . . . :shrugs:

D80
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I was actually in the field and trying to figure it out and the first thing that came to my mind and made me laugh a bit was, "Is that a snake with a cleft palate?" lol My next thought was some sort of parasitic worm. Great minds think alike Brent. :crazy02:
 
Nanci said:
Is that really gorgeous snake the yellow belly? Wow! I'd love to see a RES in the wild, too. Are they native, or like in Florida have been released and taken over?

Those flukes are really gross. Poor snake.
Click to expand...

To be honest I'm not sure if they're native or introduced, I just know that they're EVERYWHERE! Seriously, I don't know the last time I was around water and didn't see some of these guys around. Other than the fact that they dominate the area, they really are funny little turtles and this guy basically sat there and let me pick him up out of the water and photograph him without much trouble and he wasn't terribly camera shy either which was surprising.
 
Beautiful photos.. I wish I wouldve been there to see them.. but your photos are good enough :) I bet you had a great time.. Beautiful Nerodia as well...
 
I love the turtle shot in your first post, very nice colors! Looks like you found a great spot to go herping.
 
Thanks everybody. It was a great day out in the field and I'm looking forward to what this weekend brings! College Station herping for two and a half days! Whoop!
 
Those are great pics, Payton. I can almost close my eyes and inhale and think I was there. I am sure the air was seductively fragrant with the exotic and elegant sweet perfumes of the cottonmouths and Nerodia.
 
vetusvates said:
Those are great pics, Payton. I can almost close my eyes and inhale and think I was there. I am sure the air was seductively fragrant with the exotic and elegant sweet perfumes of the cottonmouths and Nerodia.
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"The sweet perfumes of Nerodia" Now there's one you don't here everyday Eric lol! Thanks for the compliments Eric, I really appreciate it. :)
 
I'm probably never going to get the mental picture of the flukes out of my mind. My first thought was leeches.
 
Sorry Nanci. i have to admit I got a little paranoid about the fact that I go traipsing through the woods where these things thrive all the time when I first started thinking about it. Now I just wish I had some panacure or something to give to the snake and help it out...
 
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