Field Herping Tips?

[FireRedGarters]

hey guys/gals i have a few questions about garters in the wild
1. what times of the day are they most active
2. where do they go when they arnt active
3. do they ever hang out in rodent burows
4. where do the sleep at night
any answers are apreciated thanks!

[guidofatherof5]

hey guys/gals i have a few questions about garters in the wild
1. what times of the day are they most active
2. where do they go when they arnt active
3. do they ever hang out in rodent burows
4. where do the sleep at night
any answers are apreciated thanks!

#1 Depends on the time of the year. If it's the heat of the year then they will be active early morning and late evening or even over night.
#2 Under cover avoiding predators.
#3 Yes. They also use them as a brumation spot.
#4 I think garters are creatures of habit and have certain spots they use all the time. I find the same snakes under the same hides in my backyard.

[Steveo]

Dawn and dusk are the best times to catch them out in the open, though garters are pretty active throughout the day. This time of year I find scrubs and hatchlings at all hours.

Usually they hide under structure - fallen timber, rocks, plywood - the bigger, the better. They like big, sturdy structures that won't move while they're underneath. I've had good success flipping logs on cool, cloudy mornings. Walking dry creekbeds has also been working well for me lately.

They probably do spend time in rodent burrows on hot days, but I haven't looked to find out. With my luck I'd stick my hand in one and a get smacked by a rattlesnake. In my neck of the woods prairie dog tunnels are good over-winter spots.

They don't have special sleeping spots, as far as I can tell. On a cool night they should just hang out wherever they're hiding until it warms up in the morning.

[the_edsta]

A little strange perhaps... but for a while when I was having trouble finding them in the summer, I bought a small shrub rake like this one:

15-Tine Shrub Rake-33797 at The Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202594878/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=shrub+rake&storeId=10051#.UE_ft42PVIk)

And then cut the handle down to just a couple feet, and kept it in my backpack (with the last several inches of the handle sticking up through the zipper). In the field, I would find brush that had insect activity under it, and spend some time raking. Passerbys thought I was some loon raking leaves in the woods... but I ended up with a handful of garters, a ringneck snake, and a pine woods snake... (though I was still a loon raking in the woods)

[guidofatherof5]

Even though the tines are plastic I would be concern about injuring the snakes.

[infernalis]

My herping advice..

Take nothing but pictures.

hands off.

enjoy.

[jon7]

I have a piece of plywood in the back yard that i flip over about once every 3-4 days. Lol, And i always find around 20-30 garters under it. but I only do this about an hour or so before dark when its starting to cool down. Its funny, I can flip the board and reach down and grab hand full after hand full and put them in a 5 gallon bucket, then i just sit down and sort through them and see if there is one I like, if not, I just let them all go again! lol.

[Stefan-A]

My herping advice..

Take nothing but pictures.

hands off.

enjoy.
I couldn't agree more with that advice.

[the_edsta]

I feel like 'hands off' is good common sense -- especially for people used to keeping domesticated garters (as this species can be somewhat resistant to beinghandled). But I also think it somewhat unrealistic considering the entire industry is predicated in part on securing wild caught specimens. All of the cool morphs in the corn snake world, for example, were drawn from a series of wild caught specimens – many right here in FL. Others WC specimens refreshed genetic pools in the bloodlines of these same aberrant genes. So while I agree that wrangling isn’t foreveryone, it is clear that it is at least a necessary condition for those the existence of our chosen hobby, and as such, clearly has its place.

Also, as someone who spent the early part of his life catch-and-release fishing, a secure-and-release herping seems a very natural progression!
J

[BLUESIRTALIS]

I feel like hands off is the best advice when it comes to field herping however i don't think it is wrong for a person to keep one or two wild snakes for outcrossing or pets as long as it is legal in that state and they can provide a healthy environment for the snake. I just can't stand when people go out and rape the wild just to make a buck and when i say rape the wild i mean they keep every single herp and insect they find and pile them in cages piled on top of each other and don't feed them. I feel like if you take something from it's natural habitat that you should do your very best to care for that animal.

[the_edsta]

True! Though in most instances keeping an animal is wholly unnecessary. I do think there is a more basic level to herping, though, that doesn't even approach keeping. I have always, since I was young, found wrangling the animal (frog, turtle, snake, etc.) to be part of the experience. I generally observe it momentarily and release it unharmed. It has seemed to me an organic way to interact with nature, and though I entirely respect the 'hands-off' philosophy, I also see how this kind of visceral interaction leads to a more intimate understanding of the animal and to developing a skill that has ultimately benefitted many snakes (e.g. when I save them from being murdered by a neighbor and instead relocate them).

[BLUESIRTALIS]

I agree as long as the person knows how to handle the animal and is not scared of the animal that it is ok to handle it. I move reptiles out of the road all the time. My only problem is these guys who set snares and glue boards to catch reptiles to resell and they don't care about the well being of the animal. I also think that a person that is scared of an animal should not try to hold it because of them being scared could cause them to accidently injur the animal.

[the_edsta]

Glue boards!? What an evil way to catch something! Now THAT has nothing to do with being a naturalist. I've caught intruders in my garage on a small cardboard gluetrap before (meant for cockroaches, has snared a few other things -- being in FL and all) and getting them free (with oil) is no bargain. Gross.