Herping 2018!
 

I believe I was remiss in posting a thread last year with my various snake-related adventures! Anyway, here it is now, and these photos are from last year, as well as from this year so far.

I often go alone, but sometimes my son can come with me and we shed hunt together. His goal was to find 20 sheds this year, but he ended up with 16.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...r%20sheds1.jpg

Western hognose (Heterodon nasicus)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...gie%20nose.jpg

And another one. I was really lucky last year and found two – which is two more than the last 12 years I have searched for them in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Prior to this, I found three all at once in Manitoba in 2005.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...iac/hoggie.jpg

Some beautiful scenery. I live near the mountains and drive away from them as quick as I can every chance that I get. I love the rolling hills and coulees. It is the only landscape that feels magical and like home all at the same time. One day, I hope to live there again.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...iac/sunset.jpg

Greater short-horned lizard (Phrynosoma hernandesi) These guys are an absolute delight to find. When it gets too hot for rattlesnakes, I will sometimes zip over yonder to find them. People sometimes refer to them as "horny toads".
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2.../Shorthorn.jpg

Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus).
This cool little (big) dude was chilling at my campsite one day.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...disiac/bat.jpg

Portrait of a bull snake - they look a little crazy. (Pituophis catenifer sayi)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ull%20face.jpg

Now we are getting to the stuff I'm really into. (In other words, venomous.) This is a western black widow, Latrodectus hesperus.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...siac/widow.jpg

Prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis). Despite what urban legends you may or may not have heard, we do not have any other rattlesnake species in Alberta or Saskatchewan.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...isiac/face.jpg

A rattlesnake dispersing to summer feeding grounds, through an area that was burned last year.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...%20viridis.jpg

Three rattlesnakes sharing some den space. Recent research actually shows relationships between individuals, and adults that will protect unrelated young snakes from harm, demonstrating a more social animal than perviously thought.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2.../Multiples.jpg


This year I haven't taken as many photos, but posting these might motivate me to lug that camera around some more with me. :)

Nice photos, looks like a few fun times :)

Cool, wasn't actually aware we had black widows up here. Nice to see your pics.

Very well done, jeepers most head the other way when seeing these critters, you dive right in and get some great pics...the den one is a place I would want to slip into :scared0018:

Very cool pics!

Great pics. Thanks for sharing. Do you see many lizards, or are they very low in numbers?

Cool pics, thanks for sharing.

Great photos! How common is it to find those horned lizards? I just recently found out we had them in Alberta and I would love to make a trip to try find some.

Very cool, thanks for those awesome pictures!

Nice pics. You'll need to try and get a scorpion shot next time for your venomous team.

Thanks for posting! Great pics.... critters a lot of us don't get to see often.

Super low in numbers. And the only reason I even know where to go is because a friend put in the legwork first. I believe they estimate around 500 breeding adult in the province!

Great post and pictures, thank you for sharing your experiences.

Excellent pictures. Like you, I also love the coulees..living in around Med Hat was 'home' and I would have given anything to stay there. Viewing your pictures reminds me of how much I miss the south.

Forests of Sask are OK, but just not the same!

Always fun to see your posts, thanks

Thanks for sharing your pics. Nice to see the prairie wildlife.

Great pictures, I liked the black widow picture the best the red hourglass is a very clear warning.

Enjoyed these pictures. Never see these north of North Saskatchewan River.

Thank you! These guys are hard to photograph actually. And you will note that in the movies, they always display the red hourglass on the dorsal side of the spider! Drives me crazy!

I totally, totally understand you. Maybe one day you can move back too! I really hope to in about three years or so.

Excellent pictures and post. Thanks for taking the time to pull this together. There is something about the prairies that has a draw -- some love them and others cannot leave fast enough. I am in your camp of when can I get back to southern Alberta.

Good job!

Great pictures once again..I always enjoy your pictures, and you did not disappoint this time either...
Awesome stuff..
Zip:)

Photos
 

Awesome photos, thank you!

I was down in writing on stone last week and took my 5 year old on her first herp hunt.... unfortunately we didn’t come across any in our little walk... would have loved to find a bull for her. Next time maybe

Awesome pics! I like snakes, we just have garters up north here.

LC

Great photos, very interesting stuff!

pretty interesting / awesome pics, even with me having a dislike for creepy crawlies lol.

Folks always want to go to the mountains for holidays, I really suggest to go see southern Alberta it's fantastic and wild. I've never seen the lizard you posted, and didn't know they were here although from the corner of my eye I've seen "things" skitter away fast..maybe I have seen the tail end of one.

Maybe! To find them you have to basically almost touch them, or they will stay hidden. Their camouflage is better than any other animal I have seen in real life. They are usually found on bare earth patches, or ground sparsely covered in vegetation, because they camouflage with the soil. They look like tiny dinosaurs, and it is pretty amazing they exist here. I love them so much!

You must have a good eye.

Grizz

thank you very much for the pictures and the education. this has to be on the bucket list for me one of these years.