John Schilling's Herpetology Blog

Hibernation time

2007-01-05T06:25:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. All the animals are "down" for the winter in hibernation. Haven't had much time to go looking for salamanders, either, as all my coworkers are taking time off for the holidays, leaving me behind. But soon I'm going to head out and see if I can find a rubber boa (again) or a Pacific Giant salamander. Updates on my progress as it, uh, progresses.

By the way, none of the baby alterna have eaten on their own, so they too are being cooled down for the winter. Hopefully when I pull them out this spring they will take to pinky mice.

Vertigo madness

2006-11-14T08:41:00.000-08:00

A few years back I developed a bad case of tinnitus in my left ear (a high pitched squeal not unlike a smoke detector). After a few months of the very maddening sound, I started to experience slight vertigo, until one day I could hardly stand up. After a few days both the vertigo and the tinnitus disappeared, leaving me with partial hearing loss in my left ear. Now, after over a year of peace, the vertigo has come back with a vengeance (but no tinnitus this time, thankfully). I've been told by my relatives that this runs in the family, and as far as they know there is no medication available to help me regain my sense of balance. If anyone has any ideas to share, please let me know. I've now missed two days of work, which I cannot afford, and I'm also finding it very difficult to care for my reptiles in this state. Arg.

A new season starts...

2006-11-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

Summer's over, and that means no more snakes for a while. But while one season ends, another begins. With the first full rain of fall today, I found an arboreal salamander in my front yard. That's the great thing about salamander season - I don't have to travel very far to find critters.

First Aneides lugubris of the salamander season.

I luvs Halloween

2006-10-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

My favorite holiday by far is Halloween. Just thought I'd make that clear.

Here's the jack-o-lantern for this year.

The babies haven't eaten yet. Mice, hamsters, lizard scented mice, lizard scented hamsters, I tried them all. I force fed them some mouse tails just to keep them going the other day. Will try lizards next, if I can find enough small ones.

The family portrait

2006-10-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

Here they all are...

Last three gray-banded eggs

2006-10-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

The final three hatched today. Looks like the best were saved for last...

Nice!

Whoa... VERY nice.

Holy crap.

I'm certainly keeping the last two. The trouble with gray-bandedes is that they can be very picky eaters right out of the egg. Most often they will only eat very small lizards, which is not something you can buy in bulk at the pet store. As such, most breeders resort to force feeding them mice, which is very stressful and traumatic to the snake. As a result, many die. I'm planning on feeding mine lizards if they refuse mice (or lizard scented mice), however. I can get small ones, it just won't be easy. And after they gain enough weight, they should switch over to mice (maybe in a year or so). To be sure, some will eat mice right off the bat.

First baby gray banded kings (ever)

2006-10-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I can finally call myself a snake breeder now. The first gray-banded king of mine came out of it's egg last night, and two more have their heads out (with a fourth piping). HOOOO-RAY!

Here we see the first alterna is out, with two on the way and a third piping.

The first one out. This one I'm gonna keep, as he is also the first snake I've ever hatched out. Nice looking, too. Can't wait until it's first shed to see how bright it's gonna be.

I'm undecided at this point as to whether or not to go to work tonight and check the eggs again, or wait until tomorrow (the eggs are being incubated at work). The two in the photo with their heads out should be ready to go in a few hours, and maybe even the one that is piping.

Update 10/5 6:00pm

Went back to work, a second snake was out of the egg. Two more with their heads out, and four eggs with no action at all.

Lampropeltis alterna number two.

Update 10/6 11:00am

Three more snakes are out, all stunningly beautiful. Three more eggs to go. Two are opening now, the last is still closed.

Lampropeltis alterna number three.

Lampropeltis alterna number four. This one is very nice looking.

Lampropeltis alterna number five.

The eggs are opening

2006-10-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

It's almost Christmas for me. The gray banded eggs are starting to slit open (piping we call it). Well, at least one is, anyway. Should be about 24 to 48 hours for them to finish hatching. The anticipation is KILLING me. Not only are these my first snake eggs, but the father, Triumph, is a long time pet of mine, my favorite snake. Will be awesome to have some Triumph juniors running around. More photos coming as progress is made...

The egg in the center is slit open. The others *should* start later today. Notice the "bad" egg toward the left. It may yet still hatch.

Black headed snake, if only just.

2006-09-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

While cruisin the other night, Jerry and I found (he found, really) a black headed snake. These snakes are quite rare, they hardly ever come to the surface. Jerry has never seen one before, and he grew up out here. Sadly, the specimen had either just been hit by a car or nailed by an owl. There was no blood, but it was moving very erratically. It most likely didn't make it through the night. At least it was still alive when we came upon it, so we can count it as a catch.

Tantilla planiceps

We also found two baby cal kings that night, but both had been hit. Road cruising can be more depressing than fun sometimes.

Gophers a poppin', and some glossies

2006-09-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Went road cruising with Jerry again on Sunday night. Never saw so many baby gopher snakes in my life. Sadly, most were DOR (dead on road), but we did manage to get about 8 or 9 live ones. One was exceptionally nice, too, with a diamond pattern on it's back. A real stunner. We also found three glossy snakes (one dead, two live), a new one for me, and something Jerry has never seen this far north. Kind of hard to tell the difference between glossy snakes and baby gophers.

Arizona elegans occidentalis, a glossy snake. Notice how similar they appear to gopher snakes. The main difference is the belly, glossies are pure white, gophers are checkered.

A very nice juvenile gopher snake. Notice the diamond pattern on it's back.

More road cruisin' fun

2006-09-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

Made a couple of road trips these last two weeks. On the first trip I finally found my own long-nose (didn't see much else though). On the second trip (last night), I found another long-nose (not as uncommon as I thought), a bunch of DOR gopher snakes (and one live), a DOR cal king, a baby rattler and a BIG rattler (alive). Jerry and I also ran into Sam, another herper, out on the road. We pulled over to talk for a few, and then as we drove off, Sam found a baby cal king about 10 feet behind Jerry's truck. A good night all in all.

My second long-nose snake.

Sam's baby Cal King.

A big Northern Pacific rattlesnake found on the side of the road.

Oh yea, I also got my first rubber boa. I didn't find it, however, it was given to me by a friend who breeds them. Still nice to have it, though. They are amazing snakes.

A rubbery boa.

Jerry has a long nose

2006-08-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

No, his nose ain't big.

Went road cruisin' with Jerry last night, found some great stuff. A couple of NorPacs, my first nightsnake, and a lifer for both of us, a long-nose snake. Very common down south, VERY rare up here. Also saw some DOR's, including a nearly 5' long gopher (very, very sad). Still, a great night. Jerry was really excited to find the long-nose, as was I. Now I need to find my own. Although that will be tough, this may be the only one either of us ever see up here.

Rheinocheilus lecontei lecontei, a long-nosed snake.

My first nightsnake!

A nice big Northern Pacific rattlesnake. The second one we found was too grumpy to have his photo taken.

We also found a green praying mantis. According to Jerry, green ones are kinda rare. All the others we saw last night were yellow.

Fat hog

2006-08-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

Jerry, here's the picture of the fat hog you wanted me to post...

Alterna eggs

2006-08-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a shot of all ten alterna eggs incubating. I'm a little paranoid about them. Notice the blue spot on that one egg? Mold? Arg. Must not think about it right now, I'm gonna drive myself nuts.

More new animals...

2006-08-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

I've got a couple of new critters I haven't posted pics of yet. Since my radiator is busted and I can't get out into the field, I may as well post them now. The first critter is The Gimp, a blue uromastyx, with a messed up tail. He was brought into work last december from someone who didn't take very good care of him (badly burnt), so I rescued him. I've actually had him for a few months, just never mentioned it until now...

Uromastyx ocellatus macfaydeni, AKA the Gimp.

The other new animal is a midget western hognose snake I got from my friend Jerry. She's a runt, the smallest hognose I've yet seen. She's also VERY red, a nice, hard to find trait. It's going to be a challenge getting her to eat. She's way to small for all but the tiniest pinkies, and she doesn't seem to be interested in those. I may have to go out and find some baby toads for her (it's what they eat in the wild). Hopefully she'll make it.

Heterodon nasicus

Update 8/6/2006: the hognose snake ate a russian dwarf hamster pinkie. Those things are great. I have yet to find a snake that won't eat one. So now she should do just fine.

A bit plumper now.

Eggs a-poppin'

2006-08-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hooooo-ray! My female Juno Road alterna laid four eggs this morning. Six more to go. She looks like she has a ways to go on getting those out, though, so I pulled he first four and am letting her rest. I'll check back on her later today.

Weee!

Update 12:05pm: 3 more eggs out, 3 more to go.

Update 5:39pm: All ten out. All but one look GREAT, some of the nicest eggs I've seen this year. Now I just have to wait 50-60 days to see what happens. Not out of the woods yet. And then, even if they do hatch, I have to try to get them to eat pinkies (versus lizards), so there's much work to be done.

And thankfully, she wolfed down two mice after a bit of a rest. Poor girl must be exhausted.

First gravid snake

2006-07-29T23:03:00.000-07:00

Haven't been out herping since my radiator blew up, but I did get some great news. My gorgeous Juno Road alterna is gravid, with 10 eggs. This is the first time I successfully bred two of my snakes, assuming her eggs come out alright. Which they may very well not. But still, she's gravid, and that's a first for me too.

Gettin fat.

Dead car == no snakes

2006-07-23T00:19:00.000-07:00

Tried to go road cruisin' the other night, and my radiator blew up 40 miles from home. Needless to say, I didn't find anything that night. I'll try again when I can get the hoses fixed.

But on a cooler note, two of my friend Jerry's Northern Pacific rattlesnakes gave birth to some cute as heck buttontails yesterday. Check out the photos here:

Jerry's Babies

Ooops

2006-07-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got around to updating this dern blog. Sadly, I haven't been out herping in weeks. Maybe soon I'll get over to the other side of the hills for some road cruisin'.

In the meantime, here's a pic of my new tortoise. Also, a pic of a big (4 1/2') cal king I found up in the hills a few weeks back.

Lampropeltis getula californiae

Tessa

Will work for money.

2006-06-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

Been busy trying to find a programming job (Mac or web) so I can stay in california. I think my lack of a degree and experience working in a structured development environment are hobbling my chances. Seems employers would rather have someone who can tell them what they want to hear (a good line of BS) versus someone who is honest and will admit they have some rough edges but are therefore willing to learn. Anyway, I haven't had much time to go herping as a result. Maybe next week.

No artificial flavoring in Eggbert.

Road cruisin'

2006-06-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

Went "road cruisin'" the other night, and found 5 dead snakes and one juvenile NorPac. The NorPac was cute as heck, but it was sad to see all the flattened snakes at the same time. Two of them were Yellow-Bellied Racers, too, a snake which I have yet to find alive.

A buttontail Crotalus oreganus, the only living snake I found this night.

I also took a trip to Carmel with some friends on Memorial day. Didn't get much of a chance to herp, but I did find a Santa Lucia Mountains Slender Salamander down by the beach...

Batrachoseps luciae hangin' out by the ocean.

Solano county cal king

2006-05-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice cal king I found up in Solano county last week. I went searching under some boards in a field, didn't find anything. Right as I was pulling out in my car, I saw this girl lying smack in the middle of the road. Nice!

Lampropeltis getula californiae

Sad day

2006-05-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

Sad day today. The pyro I "rescued" from work had to be frozen (put to sleep). Her tumor had grown very, very large, and she stopped eating. Man, I hate having to put animals to rest. I really hoped that she could have lived with the tumor, and that it wouldn't grow, but sadly that wasn't the way it turned out. At least she's at peace now.

Sorry old girl, I tried.

On a slightly happier note, I did rescue a nice cal king from being hit on a busy road up in Benicia today. I'll post photos of her tomorrow.

Oh, and happy birthday to The Gummon Master.

Speckled Black Salamanders

2006-05-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are a couple of photos of the two speckled black salamanders I found up north the other day. Pretty cool, I think.

Aneides flavipunctatus flavipunctatus number one.

Aneides flavipunctatus flavipunctatus number two.

You know, I never gave salamanders much thought when I lived back in the midwest. All I ever found out there was the occasional redback. But there are so many different kinds, with so many variations, I'm starting to find myself becoming a salamander fan.

More photos tomorrow

2006-05-14T22:51:00.000-07:00

While up north with a friend the other day, I found three really nice Aneides flavipunctatus flavipunctatus, Speckled Black Salamanders. Always great to see something totally new. I didn't even know what they were until I got home and checked the guide. I'll post the photos of them tomorrow. I also went through and updated the list of critters I'm looking for. Right now, the california tiger salamander and california mountain king are at the top of my priority list.

First Cal Kings!

2006-05-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

Went out herpin' with a friend today, and found my first california kingsnakes! Male and female juveniles! WHOOT! Also found three gophers snakes and two rattlesnakes, and saw two golden eagles flying by. Man, what a day.

Cal king number one, a yearling female.

Cal king number two, a yearling male.

Another oreganus kinda' day...

Yet even more ratttlesnakes

2006-05-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

I found three more northern pacific rattlesnakes today. I can't get enough of these beauties. The first on was sitting out in the open, and the next two were under a board together.

Video may take a minute or two to load...

There are two northern pacifics in this video, both found under the same board. The second is well hidden and not in the mood to rattle.

A better view of the second rattlesnake.

I also found six garter snakes and one gopher under another board. Great day today for snakes.

More stuff soon, I hope...

2006-04-29T21:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a pretty busy week for me, and I haven't had any time to go a-huntin', sadly. Hopefully this coming up week I will be able to head out. The weather has taken a turn for the better, it's been mostly sunny and warm. Good for snakes.

Second rattler

2006-04-20T20:11:00.000-07:00

I went back to the same spot I found my first rattlesnake yesterday, hoping to get some better pics. I found him again, along with another northern pacific rattlesnake. This one was a bit larger, and very fat. Probably a gravid female. She was not in the mood for love, however.

Crotalus oreganus number two.

The newest member of the Schilling Zoo.

Rhacodactylus ciliatus, Crested Gecko.

First ever rattlesnake!

2006-04-19T19:50:00.000-07:00

Hey Blogger, thanks for erasing my last post about finding my first ever rattlesnake. How can a site owned by google have so many technical issues?

Sigh. Anyway, I found my first ever northern pacific rattlesnake today, my first rattlesnake ever found for that matter. What a rush! Jerry and I went out to the hills today, and at the second spot we stopped I saw a large pile of boards. At first, my thought was that it was too wet to find anything under them. But what the heck, it wouldn't hurt to look. Glad I did. First board I flipped, and wham, there is a big male northern pacific just laying there (as opposed to singing and dancing, I guess). I jumped back 4 feet, much to Jerry's amusement. Gotta get a longer snake hook. Man, what a beautiful animal. I will never forget that moment. Then, to make things even better, we proceeded to find no less than 5 gopher snakes under the same pile of boards. Then we found 3 huge newts a ways down the path. Indeed, a very good day. Kudos to Jerry for taking the time to show me all of these good snake spots around the bay area!

Crotalus oreganus under the board.

Wow!

A fistfull of newts.

Finally, some sun!

2006-04-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of the nicest days we have had so far this month, so I took the opportunity to head out to the hills in hopes of finding 1) rubber boas 2) rattlesnakes or 3) cal kings. I saw none of the above, but I did find a large gopher snake, some ringnecks, newts and ensatinas. I was really surprised that I didn't see more, the weather was in the 70's and sunny. Ah well. Sadly, I think my window of opportunity for rubber boas is drawing to an end for this year. The go into hiding toward the end of spring and stay deep underground all summer long. Ah well, there's always next year.

A big pit

Oh yea, I also got nailed by a deer tick while hunting yesterday. It's already started to get nice and red around the bite. I really hope I didn't catch lyme disease, again. Taking those antibiotics are no fun.

Too wet!

2006-04-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

Man, what is with all the rain in this state? It's better than snow, but still drives me nuts. I'm still getting out looking for my elusive rubber boa, but have had no luck at all. I'm begining to think they don't really exist.

Check out this Panther chameleon we got in at the store the other day. This is probably the best looking panther I will ever see. Needless to say, he wasn't in the store long before someone bought him. Man, I wish I was still making the big bucks, I would have taken him home in a second. Hopefully soon I can get back into the programming field and afford some sweet critters like him. It's rough working at EBV and not being able to afford to buy anything they sell there!

I've found quite a few snakes and lizards this last week, mostly ringnecks and sharp-taileds. I did find another gopher snake, too, which is nice. Maybe soon I will start seeing some pacific rattlers and cal kings, I hope. I'm going to try to get up to Mt. Tam soon, too, as I hear it is a good place to see rubber boas and rattlesnakes. I'm just not sure if the NewtWagon will make it or not. I have a crack in my radiator and a short in my electrical system.

Newt Goodness

2006-04-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

It was my friend Lisa's birthday today, and for some reason she decided to spend it with me going snake hunting up at Briones. What a great trip it turned out to be. For starters, she worked the camera, freeing me up to hunt. Second, I found a pacific gopher snake (!), a sharp-tailed snake, and a whole pile of newts. Seriously, we must have seen close to a dozen. One was huge, too. Not as big as the crazy Tarantula I saw yesterday (without my camera, of course), but still big. Ugh, spiders. It's going to take me a while to get used to those things. Still no ruber boa yet, but soon I think. Anyway, I can't complain about newts and gopher snakes. By the way, Jerry, I was going to call you, but Lisa and I didn't get around to heading out until almost 2:00.

My first Pituophis cantifer cantifer!

A teeny tiny sharp-tailed snake.

The first newt of the day, a wee little guy.

By far the largest newt I have seen yet.

Another shot of the Big Newt.

The greatest photo ever taken of a newt.

An enormous beetle we found. Kinda cool.

We found this pacific treefrog along the path. Nice to see there are some frogs left in California that aren't bullfrogs.

El loco fence lizard!

Yesterday I drove along Skyline blvd in Oakland, inspecting construction sites for snakes, and found this nice coast garter. I brought him home only because I forgot my camera. He's going back soon.

Dawgs and cats!

2006-03-31T19:58:00.000-08:00

Lotsa Dog and Cats are up for adoption right now! Please read this story and help if you can.

1971 Plymouth Valiant

2006-03-30T18:18:00.000-08:00

Got a "new" car today, a 1971 Plymouth Valiant. Just my style: junk. This will really help in the herping... I can get up to any park now, not having to rely on public transit anymore.

All your newts are belong to us.

A fistfull of Ringnecks...

2006-03-30T09:18:00.000-08:00

I had a doctors appointment yesterday, and since it was right next door to Claremont College, I decided to head up onto the campus to see what I could see. For starters, I found my first scorpion in california. Actually, I found a lot of scorpions. This must be a sign that winter is ending. I also found a bunch of arboreals and slenders, a pile of ringnecks, and some fence lizards. All in all, a good herping day...

I must have found over a dozen arboreals this day. A lot of them were very large, too.

My first california scorpion, one of many that I saw this day. I have no idea how dangerous these guys are. Any ideas?

Under one peice of bark I found 3 ringnecks. Sweeeeet!

I'm a little sceptical about this claim.

Juvenile fence lizards, über cute.

Any cat that can eat a human is OK in my book. Yay, kitties!

More pyro photos, and an arboreal salamander

2006-03-28T09:14:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of the juvenile pyros Jeff sent me. Two are het Applegate(!), two are het-hypo. Wow. I'm still in shock. These are awesome snakes.

Male 100% het-hypo, 50% het-hypoE	Female 50% het-hypo
Male het for Applegate	Female het for Applegate

Also found this nice sized Arboreal salamander in my front yard this morning.

I'm still undecided about going herping today. It's supposed to rain all day today and tomorrow. I may still go to Lafayette anyway. The rain wont kill me.

Suddenly, I'm a pyro guy...

2006-03-22T07:25:00.000-08:00

My friend Jeff Teel sent me two great looking Lampropeltis pyromelana pyromelana (Arizona Mountain Kingsnakes) yesterday, with FOUR more on the way. Now I suddenly have 7 pyros. Sweeeeeet. These snakes are awesome looking animals. Thanks Jeff!

Male Carr Canyon Lampropeltis pyromelana pyromelana

Female Carr Canyon Lampropeltis pyromelana pyromelana

I'll post photos of the other pair when they arrive this morning. In the meantime, it's supposed to be very nice today and tomorrow, sunny and in the mid sixties. So I'm heading up to Tilden today, and probably Lafayette tomorrow.

Wh00t!

Home grown herps

2006-03-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

Well, the weather here is still miserable. Cold, rainy, etc. The rain is great, it's like putting money in the bank for the summer when things dry out. But I wont be field herping anytime soon. Summer is right around the corner, though. In the meantime, I'm going to post some photos of my personal collection of snakes, lizards and salamanders...

Lampropeltis alterna, the Gray Banded Kingsnake, are my first true love. This is a new girl to my collection. I'm trying to build up a good breeding line that I can call signature "Schilling Stock", Blairs phase alterna with bright orange saddles, reduced black lines (ala Applegate pyros), and light gray background. She fits in well with these requirements.

Although I much prefer blair's phase GBK's, the pinstripe style alterna phase are pretty nice. So I took a pair from Dave Katz last week.

A nice hognose that a co-worker gave to me. I used to have a large collection of very green western hognose snakes, but I had to sell them all when I moved out west (too expensive to ship them).

Too cold

2006-03-14T09:09:00.000-08:00

Wow, is it cold up here in the SF Bay. Way too cold for herping. I'm really itching for it to start warming up so I can see some snakes, but it looks like spring is still a long way away.

Anyway, I'm still kind of sick with the flu, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Work or bust

2006-03-13T06:42:00.000-08:00

I'm tired of sitting around the house being sick, so I'm heading into work today. I'm still under the weather, but I don't care at this point. Thing is, I'm not even sure if I'm on the schedule today.

How many channels you get with that thing?

Lumpy the Arboreal

2006-03-12T10:37:00.000-08:00

Still sick as heck today. Coughing up yucky stuff.

I went outside this morning and found this poor little sick, lumpy arboreal salamander in the front yard.

Not sure what is wrong with him. Cancer, maybe? His tail is also stubby. Hopefully he makes it. Maybe I'll bring him in and try to take care of him.

Orthomyxoviridae infection

2006-03-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

I'm sick with the flu. Will be back in a few days. Nothing to report anyway, it's cold as hell here in NorCal.

Tuesday's salamander pile...

2006-03-07T18:38:00.000-08:00

Finally got out again today. The weather report said there was a 30% chance of rain in the morning, then clearing by the afternoon. It was raining when I left home, but I figured it would clear up by the time I got to Lafayette. It did, but only briefly. After about an hour of herping at the reservoir, I got dumped on. Still found a lot of salamanders, and some nice elgaria, so it was worth it. And sure enough, the minute I got home there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

A beautiful alligator lizard. This guy had a lot of black and white on him.

A juvenile yellow-eyed Ensatina.

Two juvenile Arboreal salamanders found under the same piece of bark.

An adult Ensatina, with a funky head. You can really see why they are called "yellow-eyed" in this photo.

I'm still looking for my rubber boa. I really wanted to see my first one in the wild, but as fate would have it, a man brought one he found in his driveway into work the other day. A very beautiful snake. Someday I'll see my own.

Rainy weekend

2006-03-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a bit too cold and rainy for any herping trips, plus I was just too tired. I have Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off, and I most certainly will get out one of those three days. Jerry keeps taunting me with photos of tiger salamanders and coastal giant salamanders, so I'm going to see if I can find any of those soon. I also picked up another free snake from work (thanks to a generous coworker), so I'll post some pics of that, too.

I felt my first earthquake since moving here the other day. What a rush. It felt like the house slid 10 feet to the left, and made one heck of a noise. Oddly, it was only a 2.9 mag, according to the USGS website, but everyone at work mentioned that they had felt it too.

Worn out

2006-03-03T20:26:00.000-08:00

This has been a long week. My friend is in London and I am taking care of her dog. The neighbors are moving and I am taking care of their dogs. Work is tiring (but good). No posts this week. I might go out herping tomorrow, I might just stay at home and sleep all day. Who knows.

Saturday with Jerry

2006-02-26T07:28:00.000-08:00

Great day on Saturday. The plan was to meet Jerry at Orinda around 10:30. Since I woke up early, I decided to head to Lafayette first, and do a little hunting. While I was there I found a sharp-tailed snake, some alligator lizards (of course), and a very nice arboreal. Around 10:00 Jerry called, and he decided that rather than having me come down to Orinda, he would just head up to Lafayette and pick me up, then we would head to Briones.

Our first stop was a trail just outside of Briones. After a hike down the hill we came to a sunny field where we found about 5 sharp-tailed snakes, a ringneck (Jerry was very happy to find that, as he hasn't seen one in years), a few newts, and a fantastic ensatina. As we were looking for critters, I mentioned that I had yet to see any frogs in california. Sure enough, the next board we flipped had a Pacific treefrog under it. Along with 3 baby mice in a nest.

We then headed up to Briones proper where I found even more newts (weird how I found only two until Jerry came along), and Jerry found two western skinks. Briones is fantastic. I'm sure I'm going to be finding lots of snakes up there. Jerry said he found a gopher snake there last week. We would have kept looking for snakes, but by this time we were both a bit tired.

Jerry certainly knows where to find the stuff, and his knowledge of california herps is excellent. He also knows some great night riding spots (where one drives slowly along a road at night looking for snakes). I think I'm going to be finding some great stuff with his help.

Contia tenuis. I think Jerry found this one the day before.

A nice Arboreal.

Meeces Peices.

My very first Pseudacris regilla, a Pacific treefrog.

An absolutely gorgeous Ensatina.

How cool is this? Briones park actually named this area Newt Hollow, complete with sign.

Oh yea, and I bought this guy at work the other day.

Sick pyro

2006-02-25T07:41:00.000-08:00

I took home a sick, possibly terminally ill pyromelana yesterday. She has a large tumor that will prevent her from breeding, and we certainly couldn't sell her. So rather than euthanize her, I decided to bring her home and see if I could get her to eat.

Heading up to Briones today with Jerry. Hopefully find some snakes, maybe rubbers, etc.

Lampropeltis pyromelana pyromelana

Oiyvey

2006-02-23T07:15:00.000-08:00

I'm a little worried that the poison oak has started a secondary infection. My right arm is swollen up like a balloon. It doesn't itch much, but it ain't pretty.

I'm planning on heading out to Lafayette this weekend with my friend Jerry. Hopefully find some cal kings or rubbers. It's supposed to be near 70º this weekend.

Tonight I may try to post more shots of my alterna collection.

Work work work

2006-02-22T07:22:00.000-08:00

Work is going very well. A little hard to get used to at first, doing the 9-5 thing. Haven't brought home any animals yet, but there is a jumbo tiger salamander calling my name. The crested geckos are awesome, too. Hoping to get up to Briones this weekend for some herping. My pal Jerry stopped by work yesterday and said he found a gopher snake up there the other day. The snakes are starting to come out!

Gnu job

2006-02-20T08:03:00.000-08:00

Starting the job today, so there will be no herp post. Probably no field herp postings until the weekend, actually.

Knibbler and I, 2005

Yeeeee-haw Newts

2006-02-19T18:21:00.000-08:00

I finally found some newts today!

I went to Walgreens and got some Zanfel today. Man, that stuff works GREAT. Stopped the itching right away. I then decided I may as well head up to Tilden since I had nothing to do all day. For a while there I thought it was going to be a total bust. The first hour I was at Tilden I found nothing. Nada. Zip. No newts, no arboreals, no ensatinas, not even any slenders (wow). I decided to head back to the bus stop, thinking I had just wasted the day. On the way back, I saw a log that I hadn't checked before and thought "what the heck, one more shot". Lo and behold, beneath was a very small juvenile Rough Skinned Newt. Awesome. I then decided to walk down the road from the first bus stop, where I got off, to the second, new territory. And sure enough, a little ways further, I found a big adult newt in breeding mode (smooth skin). I also saw a juvenile ensatina and some slenders by this point.

A juvenile Taricha granulosa granulosa. This guy was darn cute.

A big male Rough-skinned Newt, in breeding phase (note the smooth skin).

A juvenile ensatina, very tiny.

Sadly, someone's car tire found a newt, too.

Yes, Virginia, there are newts at Tilden park.

Fighting the Urushiol-induced contact dermatitis blues

2006-02-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

The poison oak has spread to my hands now. It seems to be getting worse, not better. I washed all my clothes and bedding, I'm not sure how or why it is spreading. Maybe it's a delayed reaction. Either way, it's making life very difficult right now. My friend Jeff Teel recommended using Zanfel, but that stuff is very expensive. I may just break down and buy some today anyway.

I really wanted to head up to Tilden park today and look for newts, as it rained a bit yesterday. But I'm thinking in this state, it probably wont happen. Maybe next weekend, if we get some more rain.

Poison Oak-land

2006-02-18T08:07:00.000-08:00

This poison oak is KILLING ME. It is still spreading, even after a full week of getting it. I'm not getting any sleep, and my arms are bleeding from all the scratching. I certainly learned my lesson. We don't have poison oak back in the midwest (or if we do, I never saw any), just poison ivy. Poison ivy is no problem, because it never grows higher than your ankles. But poison oak is at arm/head level. Ugh. I'll probably get mauled to death by a mountain lion next time I go out.

On the plus side, I found a newborn california slender this morning, the smallest I've yet seen. Cute little guy. And it looks like we are going to get some more rain today and tonight. I certainly hope so, anyway.

Start the job on Monday, can't wait. I might try and get up to Tilden tomorrow if I have the time and the money, as the rains may have brought out some newts.

Finally, some rain

2006-02-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

No herping today, it's cold and rainy. But thank God it rained today, the salamanders and newts needed it. We need more, but this helps.

My iPod was stolen the other day on the BART. Arg. It had pictures of the albino arboreal on it!

Bees 1, Newts 0

2006-02-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

I finally made it up to Tilden park today. Apparently there is a bus that heads up there. Not a bad hike, either. I was told by many that Tilden has newts and rubber boas. I did not find either. But it was really cold today (I saw ice up on the hills). While looking for newts, I got nailed by a bee right in the face. Thankfully, I'm not allergic. I didn't even swell up much. Next time I have to remember that when I hear a lot of buzzing, I need to move along the trail. I think I accidently uncovered a hive.

I did find some slenders (of course), a juvenile elgaria, a juvenile ensatina, and the mascot of UCSC, a banana slug. I think tilden may be my park of choice soon, it's very easy to get to.

Juvenile Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica

Newtless and wounded in Oakland

2006-02-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

My ankle is twisted pretty bad. The weather is "cold", and I had cleaning to do today. So no herping again. Maybe tomorrow. I'm still looking for newts. As far as I can tell, I'm the only herpetologist in california who hasn't found any yet. I'd like to get up to Tilden park, as I hear there are plenty o' newts to be found there, but no buses run up that way. It would be quite a hike from the Berkeley BART station, that's for sure.

Headache, poison oak, twisted ankle

2006-02-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

I have a migraine headache, my arms are covered in poison oak, and my right ankle is twisted. Needless to say, no herping for me today. Instead, here's a photo of my very favorite snake, Triumph, a gray-banded kingsnake.

Triumph, Lampropeltis alterna. He's a very, very sweet tempered snake.

Well, I got a job at East Bay Vivarium yesterday. Start next monday. This is my dream job, for sure. I like doing "grunt" work for one thing (cleaning, washing, etc), and the store is by far the best herp shop I have ever seen. The only issue with working there is the overwhelming urge I will have to bring every snake I see home as a pet.

Beware the leg lizard

2006-02-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

Today at the reservoir I flipped a log and a fence lizard ran out. And right up my pants.

Little freak.

This was weird. The reservoir has some runoff "troughs" down by the exit, and in one of them, a trout. It was still alive, too. Kinda sad, really. Some jerkoff must have caught it and then tossed it out the window on his way home.

Found some salamander eggs under a log. I took a quick shot and then carefully placed the log back. Hopefully I did not damage them.

It was a short trip herping today, and I didn't find anything really interesting. It looks like it might start getting "cold" again soon (not like back in Minnesota, though), so my trips may be limited this week. Hopefully we will get some rain again soon, too. It hasn't rained in a couple of weeks, and this time of year the animals are used to getting lots of water.

Nice Sunday

2006-02-12T15:09:00.000-08:00

Another good day today at the reservoir. Found two yellow-eyed ensatina's, a pile of elgaria, some fence lizards, and a sharp tailed snake (finally).

A dark phase fence lizard.

A very cute juvenile fence lizard.

An alligator lizard in typical attack mode. This guy was quite big.

On my way out of the park, I decided to stop and flip one more board. Glad I did, as I found found this guy, a sharp-tailed snake. These snakes are totally new to me. I was wondering when I was going to see one, as I hear they are quite common in the hills.

The reservoir. This was kind of sad for me. Right here at the waters edge, and not a single frog to be seen. Is is the Chytrid fungus?

We leave you with a parting view of the Lafayette reservoir.

More albino Aneides lugubris shots

2006-02-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are some more shots of the albino arboreal salamander. I found her again yesterday and got a couple more shots. Maybe I shouldn't have disturbed her again, but I wanted a couple of close up shots of the red eyes.

Aneides lugubris, arboreal salamander

Shot number two.

My legs are feeling really good today, so I'm heading back out. The weather is great, but it's supposed to get cold again next week, so I'm getting in as much herping as I can. Plus, I plan on having a 9 to 5 job soon, which will eat up a lot of my free time.

Long hike, little to see

2006-02-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to head the other direction from the Lafayette BART station, up to Briones park. It's about the same distance from the station as the reservoir, 2 miles or so. I left just around 10:30am, got to the station at 11:00, and made it to the park at about 11:30. Briones was waaaay to hilly for me right now. I haven't been hiking this much in years, and I'm out of shape. Plus, I hardly found anything there. Not a lot of ground cover for herps where I came into the park. In short, I nearly killed myself climbing steep hills and didn't see squat.

Even though my feet were killing me, I decided that since I came all the way out to Lafayette, I may as well head down the reservoir. So I hiked back down, through town, and made my way to the park. By this time, I was nearly dead. I'll sleep well tonight. I didn't see much at the reservoir either, but I was so tired by that time, I didn't stay long. I did see more Elgaria, of course, and a juvenile yellow-eyed ensatina, very cute.

One of the few things I did find at Briones was a western skink who was kind enough to pose for me. They usually scram before you can blink.

A juvenile yellow-eyed ensatina. I think these are now my favorite salamanders. They are far prettier than the pictures can show.

I think tomorrow is a day of rest for me. Other than my usual backyard sally count, that is. I have a few more photos of the albino arboreal I'd like to post, I'll do that tomorrow.

Big day

2006-02-10T17:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I wasn't planning on going out herping today, as my 15 mile hike yesterday turned my legs to jello. But the weather was awesome and I had nothing to do, so at 2:00 I headed out. Man, am I glad I did. Not only did I finally catch some snakes (two pacific ringneck snakes), but I also saw my first yellow-eyed ensatina, and something truly amazing, an albino arboreal salamander! I also saw the usual pile of fence lizards and alligator lizards, and one western skink. Still no rubber boas or cal kings yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

The first thing I found today was a snake, specifically a Pacific Ringneck Snake. We had ringnecks back home in Michigan, but in 25 years I had never found a single one.

The next log I flipped had yet another ringneck underneath, a much younger one. I knew this was going to be a good day.

A yellow-eyed ensatina. I knew these were around, but had yet to see one. They are much larger, and much prettier than I had imagined.

A little bit farther down the path, and I found something I thought I would never see in my life...
Yes, that is an albino arboreal salamander, with a normal arboreal next to it. Now that was cool.

Here's a larger shot. Amazing.

And yes, there were tons of alligator lizards around. I love these guys.

All the elgaria I have found so far have been in this one little area at the reservoir. I call it "Elgaria Valley".

Backyard fun

2006-02-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

This may not seem unusual to native Californians, but to a transplanted midwesterner like myself, it's nothing short of amazing. Every morning I do a "sally count", and see how many slender salamanders I can find in my back yard. I always see at least one, but more often 3 to 4. Insane. Salamanders back in Minnesota and Michigan are not uncommon, but can only be found in the deep woods, never in the cities. Not to mention that this time of year there is nothing to be found under rocks and logs but ice. I love this state.

Batrachoseps attenuatus, California slender salamander

First Herping Trip

2006-02-09T15:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally made it out for my first herping trip since moving to California from Minnesota in December. Although I didn't find any Charina (rubber boas), or any snakes at all, I did manage to find a lot of lizards and salamanders. No newts, though, which I thought to be kind of odd, since I was herping at the Lafayette reservoir.

Here's some stuff I found today...

A baby northern Alligator lizard, so cute.

An enormous Arboreal salamander. This guy was HUGE.

A juvenile Western Fence lizard.

A baby Arboreal salamander

I'm surprised I didn't see a single snake. It was in the mid 70's today, and I have heard that rubber boas come out when it's as low as 50 degrees. And I have also heard that there are lots of sharp tailed snakes up here in the hills to be found in the winter. Very strange. Still, I can't complain. I saw more reptiles on one february day in California than I did in 10 years in Minnesota.

I must have found a dozen Elgaria in one location at the reservoir. It seemed like every log I turned, there was an alligator lizard. One northern in particular had some great red on his back. I also found 3 western skinks. Very nice. I'm going to have to make a trip back there soon and get more pictures.