Yes….. if you can believe it, hunting for reptiles along public roadways has been outlawed. The way that it became outlawed was very underhanded and dishonest. There is a large effort underway to correct this ridiculous law. Please see this article about this issue and see what you can do to help fix this problem:
http://www.kingsnake.com/alterna/sos.html
There has been some severe abuses of power by some in Texas recently and there has been some behind the scenes trickery that has resulted in the passing of a bill that effectively bans the observation and collection of reptiles from public roadways. Since public roadways are the only way for someone to view or collect reptiles and amphibians in the state of Texas (since the remaining land in Texas is all privately owned) this effectively has banned reptile hunting in Texas. I can’t believe that this nonsense has happened. There are now efforts underway to encourage the Governor of Texas to veto this bill and or to pass legislation during future sessions to make it legal again. Please visit this link in order to participate in stopping this bill from becoming effective! Every voice counts, you do NOT need to be a resident of Texas to voice your opinion. Please click the link below:
I have several pictures to post on the blog. I have had the chance to see several Chuckwallas up at South Mountain Park in the past few weeks. I found a patch nose snake yesterday morning, but it escaped before I could photograph it. Here is a photo of one of the Mohave Rattlesnakes that we found last Saturday.
The season is well on its way. We had a nice dust storm with some light sprinkles this past weekend and decided to see what would turn up out in the desert. Headed out west of Phoenix and found several critters including Mojave Rattlesnakes, Sidewinders, a Gopher Snake, and this pretty little Ground Snake:
I just received word that the land along Sun Valley Parkway, west of the White Tank Mountains in central Arizona is now scheduled for development. The area is a vast expanse of open desert land in central Arizona west of Phoenix. The road, Sun Valley Parkway was a favorite local herping spot for Phoenix residents for years. It is now being developed with new subdivisions and thousands of new homes.
I personally have always avoided the area since I knew that this would inevitably happen. The White Tank Mountains will now be completely surrounded by development and the habitat will be lost.
The area was home to many desert reptiles including Gila Monsters, Desert Tortoises, California Kingsnakes, and many others. All of these reptiles and other plants and wildlife will be gone.
This reminds me of another issue. Why doesn’t the Arizona Game and Fish Department do something about this? While they cannot do anything to stop the developement, they could at least make some use of this situation. Gila Monsters and Desert Tortoises are both protected in the state of Arizona. You cannot legally collect these animals from the wild. They are thought by some to be in danger of over collection and have been protected from take by the Arizona Game and Fish for quite some time. Why can’t these animals that are certainly facing extermination be collected by Arizona residents? Why is there no special procedure or permit to allow for this? If these animals are so endangered, why not allow animals from this population whose days are numbered to be legally collected by those who care about these animals and would like to be able to legally possess them?
Hopefully wildlife laws will someday make sense and actually serve both humans and wildlife both. I wish there were something that could be done. I apologize in advance for such a sad post to this blog.
I went and did a little reptile display and education for a group of Cub Scouts on thursday. I brought several varieties of corn snakes, a few baby rosy boas, and a gray banded kingsnake. I showed them some rattlesnake photos, some snake skins and also gave them an opportunity to watch the rosy boas and corn snakes have a meal. I think they all really enjoyed the presentation….including the adults. Another person brought their sulcatta tortoise to the display as well. It turned out really well. One of the parents also bought a corn snake!
The Crocodile Hunter was killed by a Sting-Ray this morning. Irwin was a great entertainer and a great teacher. He took the camera into the animals habitat and gave his viewers a perspective of the animals not often shown. To appreciate something, you need to understand it. Steve Irwin encouraged people to appreciate animals by helping them understand them My sincerest condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.
This Great Basin Gopher Snake was found road cruising along the Spokane River.
This Wandering Garter Snake was very aggressive. Found the exact same snake in the same spot 2 days later.
This Western Skink was found under a pile of rocks in a forested area.
