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Post by Chromiusdomius on May 17, 2004 23:19:54 GMT -5
Stinger and I went out herping last Saturday night but had no luck. We were quite amazed that we did not find any of those "Sneaky Snakes."
Eaglewoman, Stinger will be home sometime Wednesday. I'm sure he will have some good advise on ID books for you. ;D
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Stinger
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Cowboy Up!!
Posts: 183
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Post by Stinger on May 23, 2004 10:12:25 GMT -5
Eaglewoman, Crow and Sparrowhawk told me about Peterson's reptile guide so I checked it out, very cool!! Well worth the money in my opinion! Ok now for my speciality, herp sightings at Roosevelt! You are right Crow, that place is loaded with them! I share my campsite with at least 3 Whiptails, they entertain me for hours chasing each other around and there is a Zebra-tailed too but he usually gets run off pretty quick by the Whiptails! In the entire campground we have a Coachwhip and King snake, 2 Tarantulas, Whiptails galore, many Scorpions, a Western-Banded Gecko, and I even saw a psuedoscorpion aka Vinagaroon. Now I know not all of these are truly herps but they seem to fit in this section. Now as far as in the field goes, I have seen another Coachwhip, a Diamondback, actually I almost ran over them 2, I hate driving because I am always looking so far ahead that I dont always see the cool stuff! My best sighting though has to be the Sidewinder that cruised across the wash I was walking like 25 yards in front of me, unfortunately by the time I ran to where I thought he was he was gone, man they are fast for only having 3 points of their body touching the sand at once! Man and this only after 10 days in the field, I still have the whole summer to go! I wonder how long it is going to take before my supervisor tells me to quit looking down and start looking up for the WIFLs, hopefully never!!
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Post by Chromiusdomius on Jun 1, 2004 0:08:29 GMT -5
Another sighting for the Roosevelt outting. As Stinger and I were making our way into Shangri La, we witness two lizards fighting in the road. It was pretty intense. Stinger will have to fill you all in on exactly what kind of lizards they are.
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Post by Whiskey Jack on Jun 3, 2004 19:40:53 GMT -5
Saw a pretty big Black-tailed Rattlesnake near the WIFL Crew camp at Roosevelt. Watch out Stinger!
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Stinger
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Cowboy Up!!
Posts: 183
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Post by Stinger on Jun 19, 2004 10:04:54 GMT -5
Bring on the Black-Tailed, I will make him my pet!! As far as the 2 lizards that Chrom and I saw, the one being eaten was a Whiptail the other though was a female Long Nosed Leopard Lizard! (No I did not make that up!) I was told by someone on my crew that that was a pretty rare sighting and apparently they are very predatory, I would agree with that, this thing was tearing up this Whiptail! It sucked though, I had to get going so I kept creeping the Jeep foward hoping it would just move off the road but instead it dropped its meal, I was pretty bummed about that, it was so not my intention!
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Stinger
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Cowboy Up!!
Posts: 183
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Post by Stinger on Jun 19, 2004 10:19:36 GMT -5
OK, now for my snake stories! Chrom, Crow and Sparrowhawk have already heard these so y'all will have to forgive me for telling it again, it is just they were so cool! One morning I went to one of my sites alone, I was walking through some tall grass, as I stepped with my left foot I just happened to look down and in between my legs was a Diamondback!! This snake was so cold that could probably have picked him and he would have stayed balled up, I even went back like and hour and half later and he was still there! The next day, I was walking through Shangri-la along one of the main trails when this very healthy and beautiful King snake passed in front of my path, unfortunately I did not have much time to spend with him so I just watched for a few minutes. A couple of days later I was again walking through Sgangri-la on a different trail this time though, as I turned a corner around a Mesquite tree, there he was! A at least 2 foot Diamondback stretched out arcoss the trail, now this time I had some time or at least I made some time for him, I spent about a half-hour playing with this snake. He was not agressive at all, actually he was very curious about my mirror pole which I kept sliding up near his head. I was able to get him into the most perfect "S" position I have ever seen and he was in the sun but of course I did not have my camera with me!!! Ok, I am done for now! Sorry it was such a long story but that is what happend when I work 2 hitches without talking to y'all!
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Stinger
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Cowboy Up!!
Posts: 183
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Post by Stinger on Oct 25, 2004 0:27:51 GMT -5
Again this is not a herp sighting exactly but since we do not have an arachnid area this will have to do. I was driving down my cousin's street yesterday when I saw a Desert Tarantula walking across the road, actually I almost ran him over...whew! it was a close call! Then today, I driving down my sister's street there was another Desert Tarantula walking across the street, this time I was not driving so in a Steve Irwin like move I yelled to my mom to stop and I was out of the car before it stopped...this little guy was not too pleased with me trying to pick him up, in fact he reared up and tried to bite me and then fell backwards!! So I decided to let him continue to cross the road and get to looking for his mate!! Very cool!!!!
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Post by eaglewoman on Oct 25, 2004 12:55:32 GMT -5
Hey Sting, That's so cool! I saw a tarantula a few weeks ago when I was scouting for deer on Hart Prarie road. He was walking across the road. I had to get out and help him across...too many cars. I also saw one two days ago out in the Tonto Forest. He was walking across the road, too. Maybe, they like to warm themselves? Talk to ya later! Eagle
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Stinger
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Cowboy Up!!
Posts: 183
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Post by Stinger on Oct 25, 2004 15:07:26 GMT -5
Hey Eagle, Yeah the 2 I saw were very close to Tonto National, in fact only about 3/4 mile south of it! Yeah, they may be warming themselves though I think it is more likely they are out looking for a mate! The males can travel quite a distance to find a female, kinda sounds like another species I know! ;D
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Kitfox
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Posts: 149
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Post by Kitfox on Oct 26, 2004 0:10:59 GMT -5
Spiders kinda freak me out. Ok, they really freak me out. But tarantulas are pretty cool. What is it about tarantulas that makes them a special exception to many people's hatred of spiders? Is it because they're big and hairy, so they look kind of like a small mammal? I don't get it, but I'm the same way. They still scare me, but I'd never kill one. In fact, like you folks, I'd probably try to help one if I saw it in danger. Most spiders, however, I'd kill or run away from (probably the latter - I try not to kill spiders just because they scare me). I find this to be the case with many people...odd.
I should know this, but I'm drawing a total blank. Can a tarantula bite cause much damage to an adult if one bites you?
Btw, one of my goals in life is to beat my fear of spiders by allowing several tarantula to crawl all over me at once. If any of you can set up a way for me to safely do this, and feel like laughing at me as I suffer from sheer terror, let me know.
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Post by eaglewoman on Oct 26, 2004 11:40:04 GMT -5
Hey Kitfox, You crack me up!!!!! Admitting you have a problem is the first step! You're great!
As for biting...I don't know if tarantulas can....
Hey Sting, I know we all like aminals and stuffs, and I'm not neccessarily an ENT person, but we should get us a bug section here. I bet we all see interesting bugs...all the time. Bugs are wild...right? And I know ya'll like wild things!
Love, Me
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Post by Whiskey Jack on Oct 26, 2004 11:53:47 GMT -5
Viva la buggies!! I took some pictures this summer of a Tarantula, a rather large Millipede and scores of Butterflies. We should defenitly have an Insect section. Hell, a Fish section too while we're at it.
Kitfox, A Tarantula can bite, but it is far from lethal, in fact, a bee-sting would be infinitly worse. Stinger and I learned the other day that in order for a pair of Tarantulas to mate, the male has to risk getting bit pretty hard by the female. The male torments the female until she gets very mad and rears up on her back legs in a defensive posture, ready to bite. Then the male must sneak in quickly and mate, then run away as fast as he can because she'll tear him up. Pretty interesting stuff.
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Kitfox
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Posts: 149
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Post by Kitfox on Oct 26, 2004 16:52:48 GMT -5
Thanks Crow! That's some good information, and that's pretty funny about the turantulas mating techniques. It kinda reminds me of some guys I know. =) And it looks like we got our new sections! Thanks to whoever it who puts those up. Jason I imagine.
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Post by eaglewoman on Jan 17, 2005 22:40:19 GMT -5
I saw lots of gators while visiting Florida. They are big and intimidating creatures.
Sting, You're the herp/rep pro....I saw an armadillo in Fl. Is it a reptile or a mammal?
Eagle
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Stinger
Mexican Grey Wolf Member
Cowboy Up!!
Posts: 183
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Post by Stinger on Jan 17, 2005 23:23:46 GMT -5
Hey Eagle, I hope your holidays were great...as well as everyone elses...but I am guessing they were pretty cool if you got to see some gators, man I am jealous!! I have always wanted to go to Florida and hit the Glades and jump some gators on a fan boat!
The Armadillo is a mammal! The only one armored with bony plates in North America too! They are pretty cool liitle creatures!
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