Marin Herping Adventures: May

Now that I am really excited about herping, I have had the opportunity to explore the Marin area near San Francisco. So far, I have been on two trips and I have been VERY lucky on both.

The first trip was really just a reconnaissance mission to find a good herping spot. To my surprise, my mom and I found an amazing spot with lots of AC (Artificial Cover: Wooden boards, pieces of tin etc. Snakes love to hide under this stuff). We just happened upon this area and it turned out to be a great success. Right outside the car, I discovered a Western Yellow-Bellied Racer Snake. This snake is named for its speed and agility so sadly, I was unable to catch it and get photos. Then I noticed the prey of these snakes: Lizards. They were everywhere and very dark with blue bellies. The next herps were multiple frogs including a very cool Sierra Tree Frog

Next, the prize of the trip came when I flipped a piece of wood and discovered a small Pacific Ring Neck Snake. I have been wanting to see this snake for a long time, but it has eluded me. The little guy was all dark on his back but had a beautiful orange stomach and ring around it's neck (Hence the name):

Since I am relatively new to herping and I haven't found that many snakes, both the snakes on this trip were lifers for me. (Snakes that are the first I have seen of that species during my life). Along with these herps, I also saw some wild turkeys which are very common in this area.

The second Marin trip was on Memorial Day and again I found two snakes that are both lifers for me. The first was a snake that I had been dying to see; A California King Snake:

Near this guy was a pond that had many baby Sierra Tree Frogs. These tiny frogs were very fun to catch and hold because they were only the size of your pinky finger-nail. After that, my brother and I went to a water storage container that we had heard about. My friend told me that many snakes fall in and can't get out. If they don't grab hold of a pipe above the water, then they drown. As we looked in, we noticed a large, dead gopher snake in the water, but then saw a baby gopher snake that was alive. We proceeded to save this snake but he didn't understand that because he began to strike at us once on land.

The last type of herp we saw was this lizard:

Another successful day in Marin!!

Past Trips

So I recently have become very interested in herping, which is where you go out into wild places looking for HERPS (Reptiles and Amphibians). My main focus on these trips are snakes but any herp is fun to come across. Here are some of my favorite herps that I had seen previous to making this blog.

Costa Rica: Yellow Eye-Lash Pit Viper (Venomous)

Costa Rica: Green Sea Turtles Laying Eggs

Please Note: Taking pictures of sea turtles laying their eggs at night is prohibited and can greatly disturb the animals. So much so that the females will see the flash of the camera and immediately turn around into the water and not lay. While these photos look like they were taken in the dark, actually it was about 5am and there was plenty of light in the sky so the flash did not bother the turtles at all. Most of them had already retreated to the safety of the water, but we were lucky enough to find one late egg layer. This disposable camera just picked up light poorly so it looks dark.

Arizona: Gila Monster (One of Two Poisonous Lizards on Earth)

Along with these, I have seen numerous other herps including a Rough Green Snake, Indigo Snake, Garter Snakes, many Crocodiles/Alligators/Caimans, lizards and frogs. More trips and photos will be uploaded so stay tuned!