2 Wild Florida corns

[StrangeCargo]

Just got back from Florida and had a chance to herp around Miami & the Everglades.

First pic: In-situ juvie corn we found around 1am in a waist high bush eating an anole. It was my first time ever finding a corn eating in the wild.

Second Pic: A screamer thick bordered corn. Found him in south Dade County in a palm plantation. This is the coolest corn I've found in the wild! I love the borders...

It was a great trip- went to Disney, saw American Crocs and hung out with friends/family!

 

[MotleyMedusa7]

cool pictures-that 2nd corn looks awesome!

 

[Fishin Pole]

Your very fortunate to have the experience of seeing corn snakes in the wild.......Here in PA when hiking, the only thing i ever see is the occasional Timber rattler or Black Rat and Garters.......Need to work my way down to Florida for a Herp vacation!

 

[Nanci]

Beautiful wild corns, Graham!! I've only seen two, ever.

(I wouldn't mind seeing a Timber rattler or a black rat! I guess it just depends what you see every day...)

 

[rich333]

Nice Shots!!! that 2nd one Is a stunner!! wow!! Loving the thick borders!!!

 

[dave partington]

Whoa, wait, whut? You found cool non-striped snakes in the wild? Didn't know you knew how to do that. Thanks for sharing-

 

[Reptilekyle64]

Awesome pictures and really nice find of the feeding snake. I think we would all love to have a chance to find corn snake field herping =).

 

[mattsnake]

Wow those are some amazing wild corns you got on camera! Did you catch and handle the one that wasn't eating with the bordered blotches? If you did how was the temperment?

 

[Airidies]

Very nice wild corns. They both look amazing!

 

[StrangeCargo]

Wow those are some amazing wild corns you got on camera! Did you catch and handle the one that wasn't eating with the bordered blotches? If you did how was the temperment?

I brought back a bag-o-goodies for friends. Most neonate snakes gave quick defensive bites. Every adult we caught (corns & a big yellow rat) firmly affixed themselves to whatever body part they could. Below is a pic of a large miami phase looking corn we found (most corns found around miami have tan backgrounds...this one was silvery!)

 

[StrangeCargo]

Nanci & Dave- lol- thanks guys. We saw a ton of snake but I only brought back a dozen (2 for myself- thick bordered baby corn & baby everglades)- the rest went to local friends who have been bugging me for a while when they heard I was heading to Florida. One of the yellow ratsnake babies went to a close friend whose big yellow rat is 17 years old and won't be around for much longer- he was stoked with the suprise!

(Sorry for the crappy pic- taken with my cell phone)--even though they look big, nothing more more than probably 1.5 years old...

 

[MysticExotics]

Wow! Nice score on the field herping!

 

[crotalis40741]

Great pics thank you for sharing.

 

[chris68]

:cheers: Looks like fun Graham

 

[exar15xe]

Awesome finds Graham, the thick border and Miami are both super sweet!

 

[El Jefe]

I want to know your hot spots. Send GPS. LOL

 

[StrangeCargo]

I want to know your hot spots. Send GPS. LOL

like an idiot I didn't mark 'em... I was with some locals and these were their secrest spots. It's not like herping anywhere else... you gotta get into those palm groves/plantations---walk up and down the rows pulling back the dead palm fronds... every now and then a snake will be there. Many of the litter/trash piles had snakes in them too...

We didn't see many snakes at the below pictured dumping area (just some ringnecks) BUT we saw 2 wild (and HUGE) Tegus... the place looked good-I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff there...

 

[StrangeCargo]

Here is the canal that we walked looking for Brooksi. The kings live in the maze of holes throughout the limestone sides. My friend gave me 1.2 from this exact spot (1.0 wc & 0.2 are hatched from eggs laid by a gravid WC female)- pretty stocked to have PURE WC brooks kings!

I owe my Florida friends and EPIC TEXAS HERPING BONANZA when they come out this way!

Pics of canal/kingsnake habitat
Pic of the WC adult gravid female that my friend owns (mom of the 0.2 yearlings he gave me)
Last pic: One of my florida buddies (Alex) vs. a big angry yellow ratsnake. We just wanted a pic of the snake before we released it... he's wasn't happy-lol

 

[StrangeCargo]

Here's alittle better pic of our "bucket/bag -o-snakes" from the palm grooves earlier in the day before we hit a few other spots. These were all juveniles....

BTW everyone- this is what wild caught MIAMI (dade co., FL) corns really look like- every now and then you'll luck out and get one with more of a silverish background BUT nowhere as nice as our selective bred lines of stunning miami corns--- heck, I just bought 2.0 Top Shelf Miamis from Carol after my trip! Still beautiful animals...maybe if I lived in South Florida and hunted as much as I do here in Texas, I'd stumble accross some REALLY NICE Miami phase animals. Daniel Parker (sunshine serpents) is a Florida guy and HE did exactly just that- check out his handcollected bloodline of miamis--- http://www.sunshineserpents.com/Corn Snakes/Miami.htm ---nice!

 

[RobbiesCornField]

Here's alittle better pic of our "bucket/bag -o-snakes" from the palm grooves earlier in the day before we hit a few other spots. These were all juveniles....

BTW everyone- this is what wild caught MIAMI (dade co., FL) corns really look like- every now and then you'll luck out and get one with more of a silverish background BUT nowhere as nice as our selective bred lines of stunning miami corns--- heck, I just bought 2.0 Top Shelf Miamis from Carol after my trip! Still beautiful animals...maybe if I lived in South Florida and hunted as much as I do here in Texas, I'd stumble accross some REALLY NICE Miami phase animals. Daniel Parker (sunshine serpents) is a Florida guy and HE did exactly just that- check out his handcollected bloodline of miamis--- http://www.sunshineserpents.com/Corn Snakes/Miami.htm ---nice!

I find the one in this picture ( http://www.sunshineserpents.com/images/Corn Snakes/MiamiCorn/MiamiCorn_male2ed.jpg ) to be fascinating. The banding is incredible, and the head pattern suggest some sort of masque(?). Either way, it's an absolutely gorgeous specimen.