Herp in Ventura Co.

[cj65]

Friday night was cold, and the day was pretty warm, and the native soil was still moist from the recent rare So Cal rains. My buddy (in the white shirt in the second post) is a very knowledgeable Herp enthusiast, me I am a tag along, who also appreciates snakes and reptiles. We found over 20 snakes. At least 9 kings, and about 7 Gopher snakes, 2 ring necks, and 3 So. Pacific rattlers. We let all go, and put them back exactly where they were found. I try to teach this to my kids, to enjoy, tread lightly and respect nature, but get out there and enjoy our earth and its inhabitants. We also sprung an adult doe, and she lept gracefully away from us. It was a gorgeous day that Ventura Co. can provide for so many reasons.

This was amazing, flipped a board, and found a rattler, who was buzzing up a storm, when in comes this beautiful gopher snake! I waited til it cleared the rattler's range, and picked it up. Nice! It was incredible. Multiple snakes in the same area, at least 4 times!

The ringnecks were beautiful, the color on their under belly was orange, and the other a faded pink. The orange one was nicer.

 

[cj65]

Here are some more pics.

The pink one.

Hope you enjoy the pics.

 

[Mack]

Looks like a nice day in SoCal.
You have more guts than I do. I don't mind snakes but I'm not one to go playing with them. They just kinda give me the creeps.

 

[cj65]

Nice Mack!

My buddy and I were hungry, it was 1 PM, we had only a few hours to get in, to herp, and to get out. We chose to skip lunch to have more time to herp. And for the record, I am quite the derp! As you can see from my paunch, skipping lunch will not hurt me much.

 

[lmeister]

lot of rain this year on the central coast, nice to get outside, those rattlers look like they mean business, kinda worried about my dogs!

 

[cj65]

I kept Gracie on a leash. You can get an annual anti venom or resistance shot for rattlesnake venom for your dogs, it is 2 in a series, I think it lasts a year. The snakes were all under boards and debris, only that one gopher snake was on the move. I used to always let any and all of my dogs roam free in the wilderness. I do not want to lose Gracie, she is too precious of a dog, so we all took turns keeping her away. My buddy would have prefered I did not bring her, but she loves to be outdoors, and is a good dog. I could not tell her no.

2 of the 3 rattlers did not buzz, even though we flipped their cover off them. It was still a tad cool that day, probably mid 60's so they were pretty docile. One rattler, in the wood pile, did not move at all.

 

[PropThePolecat]

Whoa!! Thats alot of snakes you found!

In my part of the world, Scandinavia, we only have 2 different species, the nonpoisonious Grass Snake (Natrix Natrix) and the common European Adder (Vipera berus) which venom toxicity is relatively low compared to other viper species.

 

[DennisStrickland]

beautiful snakes on a nice day. snakes in general have no odor , are'nt slimy, & feel clean to the touch.let as many live as you can since they are very benefical.--dennis

 

[richard j]

cj, it looks like you had some fun. snakes can be a neat pet to have too. i have a buddy who had a 7' long burmese python that was neat. he would let it run free sometimes in the house. i would carry it around and mess with some of his friends that were sort of scared of snakes. feeding time was real neat and shows how fast these snakes can be.

 

[tonym]

Great pics! I wish I knew a Herp over here that I could tag along with.

Looks like you had fun.

 

[cj65]

beautiful snakes on a nice day. snakes in general have no odor , are'nt slimy, & feel clean to the touch.let as many live as you can since they are very benefical.--dennis

The California King snakes, the brown and yellow banded snakes, actually musk a mustard color juice when handled. It powders up quickly, quite odd, and stinks a tad. I do not mind. I shot a rattler hunting one time, we surprised each other, and hind sight, I bet it would not have bit me. My buddy said shoot it, and I did. I never will again, unless I was going to eat it, or it was truly going to strike. I know more about them, and realize how docile a creature they really are. The gopher snakes and ring necks do not odor up at all. There is no slime at all to snakes. They are beautiful creatures. They exist where rodentia prevails, and helps in the control, extremely beneficial. Cannibals they are too!