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07-12-2018, 12:23 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Redcliff, Alberta
Posts: 2,618
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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.
Western hognose ( Heterodon nasicus)
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.
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.
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".
Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus).
This cool little (big) dude was chilling at my campsite one day.
Portrait of a bull snake - they look a little crazy. ( Pituophis catenifer sayi)
Now we are getting to the stuff I'm really into. (In other words, venomous.) This is a western black widow, Latrodectus hesperus.
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.
A rattlesnake dispersing to summer feeding grounds, through an area that was burned last year.
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.
This year I haven't taken as many photos, but posting these might motivate me to lug that camera around some more with me.
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There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. ~ Ernest Hemingway
www.SnakesonaPlain.ca
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07-12-2018, 12:25 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Calgary
Posts: 19,421
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Nice photos, looks like a few fun times
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"The trouble with people idiot-proofing things, is the resulting evolution of the idiot." Me
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07-12-2018, 01:55 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Near Drumheller
Posts: 6,791
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Cool, wasn't actually aware we had black widows up here. Nice to see your pics.
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You should also be a member;
CCFR
CSSA
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07-12-2018, 05:40 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: At the end of the Thirsty Beaver Trail, Pinsky lake, Alberta.
Posts: 24,781
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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
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07-12-2018, 06:10 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: McBride/Prince George
Posts: 14,663
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Very cool pics!
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07-12-2018, 06:18 AM
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 2,972
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Great pics. Thanks for sharing. Do you see many lizards, or are they very low in numbers?
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07-12-2018, 06:27 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 11,443
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Cool pics, thanks for sharing.
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“One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain.”
Thomas Sowell
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07-12-2018, 06:34 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 177
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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.
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07-12-2018, 06:37 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,556
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Very cool, thanks for those awesome pictures!
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07-12-2018, 07:18 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Calgary
Posts: 1,822
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Nice pics. You'll need to try and get a scorpion shot next time for your venomous team.
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07-12-2018, 07:26 AM
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Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 290
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Thanks for posting! Great pics.... critters a lot of us don't get to see often.
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07-12-2018, 07:32 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Redcliff, Alberta
Posts: 2,618
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DougC
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.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by goldscud
Great pics. Thanks for sharing. Do you see many lizards, or are they very low in numbers?
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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!
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There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. ~ Ernest Hemingway
www.SnakesonaPlain.ca
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07-12-2018, 07:57 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Alberta
Posts: 3,650
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Great post and pictures, thank you for sharing your experiences.
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07-12-2018, 08:11 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Wakaw SK
Posts: 789
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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!
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07-12-2018, 09:52 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Edmonton
Posts: 9,697
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Always fun to see your posts, thanks
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07-12-2018, 10:55 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: central Alberta
Posts: 12,629
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Thanks for sharing your pics. Nice to see the prairie wildlife.
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This country was started by voyagers whose young lives were swept away by the currents of the rivers for ten cents a day... just for the vanity of the European's beaver hats. ~ Red Bullets
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It is when you walk alone in nature that you discover your strengths and weaknesses. ~ Red Bullets
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07-12-2018, 11:03 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: On the border in Lloydminster
Posts: 8,383
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Great pictures, I liked the black widow picture the best the red hourglass is a very clear warning.
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07-12-2018, 11:20 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 56
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Enjoyed these pictures. Never see these north of North Saskatchewan River.
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07-12-2018, 11:27 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Redcliff, Alberta
Posts: 2,618
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bat119
Great pictures, I liked the black widow picture the best the red hourglass is a very clear warning.
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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!
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There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. ~ Ernest Hemingway
www.SnakesonaPlain.ca
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07-12-2018, 11:31 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Redcliff, Alberta
Posts: 2,618
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HeavyD111
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!
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I totally, totally understand you. Maybe one day you can move back too! I really hope to in about three years or so.
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There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. ~ Ernest Hemingway
www.SnakesonaPlain.ca
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07-12-2018, 11:37 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Edmonton
Posts: 1,957
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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!
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07-12-2018, 11:40 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: AlbertaSask
Posts: 4,192
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Great pictures once again..I always enjoy your pictures, and you did not disappoint this time either...
Awesome stuff..
Zip
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07-12-2018, 11:45 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 743
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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
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07-12-2018, 11:48 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Look behind you :)
Posts: 27,791
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Awesome pics! I like snakes, we just have garters up north here.
LC
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07-12-2018, 12:27 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Sunset House
Posts: 1,257
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Great photos, very interesting stuff!
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07-12-2018, 12:56 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Calgary
Posts: 7,519
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pretty interesting / awesome pics, even with me having a dislike for creepy crawlies lol.
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07-12-2018, 02:40 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,722
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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.
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07-12-2018, 03:00 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Redcliff, Alberta
Posts: 2,618
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Quote:
Originally Posted by calgarychef
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.
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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!
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There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. ~ Ernest Hemingway
www.SnakesonaPlain.ca
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07-12-2018, 05:00 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Central Alberta
Posts: 21,399
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You must have a good eye.
Grizz
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07-12-2018, 05:00 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 109
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thank you very much for the pictures and the education. this has to be on the bucket list for me one of these years.
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