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March 31, 2004 - Travis County, Texas by Jack Jeansonne
I just realized that today was a first for me. My first LIVE emoryi
and my first EVER racer. Not a bad day at all.
Here are some of the particulars-
Participants:
Marty Wamsley, Tim Cole, Adam Dawson, Dana Larsen, Lee Hoy, Jack Jeansonne
Totals:
8 Pantherophis (Elaphe) guttata emoryi - great plains rat snakes
1 Pantherophis (Elaphe) obsoletus lindheimeri - TX rat snake
2 Crotalus atrox - western diamondback rattler
1 Coluber constrictor - eastern yellowbelly racer
1 Masticophus flagellum - western coachwhip
Several Bufo valliceps - gulf coast toads
Several more Hemidactylus - mediterranean Geckos
Animals we were surprised not to see:
Green anoles, ground skinks
People we were surprised not to see:
Dr. Phil Ralidus
Other people who should have come even if their mother-in-law WAS in
town (or maybe because of it):
Ed Acuna
Person who found 2 rattlesnakes under 1 board and is immune to the
evils of poison ivy:
Tim
Person who is still squeamish about getting a little snake bite:
Dana (he is used to python bites, and even though we tell him
colubrid bites are not so bad, he still doesn't buy it).
Person who gladly watched with his camera while we did all the work:
Marty, who happily danced off to class with his goodie bag.
Person who found 4 colubrids and wisely grabbed the coachwhip first,
then called for help on the rat snakes:
Jack
Person who got snakebit the most today(a baby TX ratsnake), and is
also immune to poison ivy:
Adam
Person who used a sunbeam snake as a burrowing desert snake to shock
and awe old ladies in his congregation:
Lee, who also found the lovliest little emoryi ever.
We had a lot of fun. That site is a good luck charm for me. Thanks a
ton, Tim and everyone for a fantastic day.
PS: One the way home, I stopped at another trash site and found a
huge, gorgeous TX rat snake. It was the most orange I've ever seen,
even with its being opaque. If I had the nerve to keep a fiesty 5+-
foot long TX rat, I would have kept it. Also, I found a small
coachwhip under the same board.
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