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Old 01-09-2019, 12:16 PM   #31
ecreipeoj
Favorite Field Collecting Trips and Favorite Snake

Here are two examples of field collecting trips that I experienced that offer even more value than just capturing a Locality Snake in the wild. How about catching one that is already gravid or finding eggs! Catch me a gravid wild Anery, with a story like this you can prove, and a Golden will be yours.

The coolest field collecting experience of my life is when I lived in the Mojave Desert west of Ridgecrest CA, at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mts. I was in the 7th grade. (First Photo) I caught most of the reptiles you can find in any Field Guide in the area, including yellow and red Sand Snakes. Our land lord had a chalk board with all of the Rattle Snake and Sidewinder kills he made each year. It was always around 300-400. I killed a few in the road with my motorcycle, but I wouldn't do that today. I found a water hole that was the only one for miles. Ever animal in the area used it including all mice and Cotton Tail Rabbits. One day, I found a Mojave Green at the water hole that had just finished eating an adult Cotton Tail Rabbit. She was as big as the Amel Burmese Pythons I bred later in life. I was young, so she may not have been as big as I remember, but she looked to be 10-12 feet. I could have killed her, but she was like looking at the Grand Canyon for the first time, MAGESTIC! Can you See all of the babies in her? Can you see the pile of live baby Mojave Green babies she laid soon after I saw her? If any of the babies expressed a mutant gene like Amel, I would call it a Locality Amel Mojave Green.

The second coolest field collecting trip experience I had, was when I was looking for Pyros in the spring. I found a nice Granite Rock area. On the south side, I found a piece of granite that had broken away from the larger rock. It was about 6 x 6 feet, and 1 foot thick. It was sealed all the way around by dirt and grass. I was carrying a pry bar, so I was just able to pry this large piece of rock away from the larger piece. Under the rock, I found three female Pyros. One of them was gravid, and the other two had just laid their eggs! On the way back to camp, I also found a “Pair” of Pyros breeding in the sun! 5 adult Pyros and two clutches of eggs, before lunch, not too bad. When I got back to camp, I was telling the stories to Bob Applegate, and handed him the two that were breeding. He started dying laughing at me. Dude, these are two males! Ok, 2.3 Pyros and two clutches of eggs, before lunch, I will take that.

I know how much fun Field Collecting can be, I have done it from the Oregon Boarder around the Cape of Baja and back again. I catch and release normally, but if you can find me any Locality Corn of interest, you will be moved to the front of the line on my Golden list. If I lived in Florida, it would be a hobby me. If I lived in SC, I would hunt the Locality of the Golden capture and the Hunt Club Area. I would also Hunt the Hope Plantation, which is where the male Okeetee came from, which produced the 7.7 Okeetees the Lava gene came from. This is the reason I don't call the Lavas I have Locality Corns but rather Landrace. The male Okeetee the line came from was from the Good Hope Plantation, and all of the females came from the Hunt Club, so not from the same Locality.

The second photo is of me when I first met Lloyd Lemke, holding the coolest snake I ever bred, a Blue Green Tree Python. I had a 95% Yellow one too. Chondros are one of my favorite Snakes I have ever bred. I never did produce any Blue Chondros, but many Green ones. I did breed my $5000 adult Blue Condro female I imported from Germany , but she died egg bound. I cried more times than one over that loss, but that is what can happen when you breed animals.