First Field Herping Trip

[sirtalis]

The coolest part about living in Texas is that I can go field herping even though its January lol. Yesterday I went down to the river, all I saw was a few turtles one snake that was to far away to tell the species, he was basking on a rock that was about 20 feet away from me. I caught this little guy and decided to bring him home and released him into my mothers garden
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Cheers,
Richard

[Tiny Boidae]

Oh that baby is gorgeous. I love anoles. I mean a lot of people consider them as lesser animals, only really useful as feeders, but they're just so gosh darn cute, even when they're annoyed with you.

I was down in Florida and stayed in a family member's summer home, and there were brown anoles everywhere. I'd catch them and release them all day long if I could, although there was one rapscallion in particular that was memorable.

I went to go toss the trash out and as soon as I opened the can lid, low and behold I found two little anoles stuck at the bottom of the can. It was a male and female, so I suspected the female ran in, got stuck, and a frisky male dumbly followed in. Well, it was HOT outside so I tipped the can over at which point the female bolted. The male was a lot more hesitant and after a solid minute of waiting, he was still freaking out at the back of the bin, possibly suffering from heat stroke. So, naturally, I crawled into the moldy, disgusting trash can after him and all of the life flows back to him. He pulls out that bright orange neck flap, is biting and running all to no avail. Eventually, I do manage to herd him towards the lip of the can and promptly back up to let him go free. After a moment he darts out and immediately climbs my pant leg up to my thigh, hugging it as if out of desperation. I gently pry him off, give him some water and a chance to cool down, and send him off on his way. I like to think that he was thanking me, but I doubt it. Smart little buggers though, just don't make wise decisions XD

[sirtalis]

Oh that baby is gorgeous. I love anoles. I mean a lot of people consider them as lesser animals, only really useful as feeders, but they're just so gosh darn cute, even when they're annoyed with you.

I was down in Florida and stayed in a family member's summer home, and there were brown anoles everywhere. I'd catch them and release them all day long if I could, although there was one rapscallion in particular that was memorable.

I went to go toss the trash out and as soon as I opened the can lid, low and behold I found two little anoles stuck at the bottom of the can. It was a male and female, so I suspected the female ran in, got stuck, and a frisky male dumbly followed in. Well, it was HOT outside so I tipped the can over at which point the female bolted. The male was a lot more hesitant and after a solid minute of waiting, he was still freaking out at the back of the bin, possibly suffering from heat stroke. So, naturally, I crawled into the moldy, disgusting trash can after him and all of the life flows back to him. He pulls out that bright orange neck flap, is biting and running all to no avail. Eventually, I do manage to herd him towards the lip of the can and promptly back up to let him go free. After a moment he darts out and immediately climbs my pant leg up to my thigh, hugging it as if out of desperation. I gently pry him off, give him some water and a chance to cool down, and send him off on his way. I like to think that he was thanking me, but I doubt it. Smart little buggers though, just don't make wise decisions XD

That's awesome lol. Over the years iv'e had a blast catching these guys, I remember a few years back it hit 40 f lol thats cold where I live, an I found 3 anoles that had turned a sickly greyish color, I caught them and kept them in a habitat till it warmed up a bit

[Tiny Boidae]

Down in Florida, they were everywhere. I mean as soon as you stepped out of the house you were guaranteed to find at least a dozen of them. Most of them were babies though, as it was mid-August so they probably were beginning to hatch out. The babies were faster, but the adults were smarter. Usually whenever I wanted to mess with one, I'd just go out back and walk around the walls until I was able to catch one, typically a juvenile. I'd also seen a Southern Black Racer in the middle of shedding his skin!!! That was amazing to see, and I did manage to collect the discarded skin to keep although I left the snake itself well enough alone.

The coolest herping trip I'd ever taken was in Southern Georgia though, where I went to the Okefenokee Swamp one summer. I'd stayed two days there and went canoeing one day, with gators as big as my boat swimming right up next to me as if they didn't notice I was there. Saw a couple of juvenile gators too, those were more skittish, but the big boys are what I remember most.

I read in a magazine though that there was supposed a snapping turtle as big as the hood of a car somewhere in that swamp, and while I didn't find any massive turtle, I did see a bunch of soft shells surfacing every now and again. Not to mention if I sat still enough fish would start approaching the boat, maybe expecting to be fed or just out of curiosity.

Besides reptiles, there was a mother hawk that I saw flying to her nest with a snake in her talons. I didn't get a great look at the baby birds, but I felt privileged seeing it still.

I don't really go herping often, life usually just doesn't allow the time for it, but I can definitely see the draw. Even seeing those common-as-dirt anoles left an impression on me, and I'd love to be able to do that sort of thing more often.

[Bandit]

Sounds like a good first trip! Green anoles are every here in Louisiana as well. I've enjoyed seeing them ever since I was a kid and it still hasn't gotten old. Keep us posted with any other finds you may come upon!