Iowa T.s.parietalis Den

[guidofatherof5]

Finally got around to posting some video from the Red Sided garter den I visited a week back. Sorry this isn't HD.
Hope you enjoy.
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[Spankenstyne]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing the video. Makes me a bit sad as we're getting more snow here as I type this. Won't be any coming up out of the dens here anytime soon

[drache]

thanks Steve - very cool
looking forward to more as the temps go up

[Jeff B]

Super cool video Steve!!!

[gregmonsta]

Great :D

[zooplan]

Beam me up there ;)

[guidofatherof5]

It's 59 degrees @ 8am. Heading for a sunny high of 69. I'm heading for the den in a couple hours.

[PINJOHN]

i will just get my shoes Steve and meet you there. I WISH :(

[guidofatherof5]

Here's a few photos from today. More to follow and some video.
The last photo shows a little male I named "Rambo". He's got a couple scars on his side.
Tough little guy.:D
I handled about 20 of these male. Not a single one musked me and only 1 bit at me.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/117.jpg[IMG]http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/210.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/42.jpg

[Stefan-A]

Very nice. :)

[guidofatherof5]

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[guidofatherof5]

The first photo is of a little male with a birth defect. I initially thought it was an old injury but it isn't.
The second photo is of my buddy "Rambo" getting a much needed drink.
A number of these snakes were very thirsty.
It must have been a long dry Winter.
Glad I could offer a little relief to these awesome snakes.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/241.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/341.jpg

[RicMartin]

Thanks, Steve. Great images.

[ConcinusMan]

Kewl.

[Mommy2many]

AAaaawwwww....

[ConcinusMan]

The first photo is of a little male with a birth defect. I initially thought it was an old injury but it isn't.

Last week I found a northwestern that had barely anything past the cloaca. I mean, no tail. Upon inspecting it, I realized it was born that way. It was pretty obvious by looking at the scales.

[guidofatherof5]

This is the HiDef video I shot the other day.
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[Jeff B]

Great stuff Steve!!!, your very lucky to have a place like that with a respectful land owner. Keep up the great work!!!

[guidofatherof5]

Later today a high of nearly 70 should have the snakes back out.
I know it will have me out with them.
Cameras and camcorders all charged and ready to go.

[infernalis]

thanks for sharing...

[ConcinusMan]

Later today a high of nearly 70 should have the snakes back out.
I know it will have me out with them.
Cameras and camcorders all charged and ready to go.

I only had one day of snake activity around here. It's right back to upper 40's and rain again.:rolleyes:

[guidofatherof5]

Yesterday was a good day at the den. There was a female out and there was mating activity but the party retreated to the den when I arrived.
I counted around 25 different males at the site. A lot of coming and going.
The ground temp I took was from a foot deep into the den.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/crescent.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/crescent1.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/crescent4.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/crescent2.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/crescent3.jpg

[ConcinusMan]

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data/500/medium/crescent1.jpg

Love that photo^^^ Those three must be the official den sentries.:D Now they just need funny hats and they're all set.

[RicMartin]

Nice den sentries.

[guidofatherof5]

I was begining to think this was a bachelor den but today I finally got a good look at the queen of the den.
Photos and video to follow.

[guidofatherof5]

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/crescent5.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/crescent6.jpg

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Nice job!!!

[Jeff B]

Now I see what you were telling me about them all popping there heads up like a group of meerkats when that dog appoached, love that photo, that is priceless.
Keep up the great work Steve.

[guidofatherof5]

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[Jeff B]

Amazing video Steve, I'm really enjoying living at the den site vicariously thru you, lol. You outta set up a permanent camera at the den site and then put that up on the internet like they did that bald eagle nest in Iowa this spring, have you seen that?

[guidofatherof5]

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Crescent8.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/crescent9.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/crescent10.jpg

[Mommy2many]

Loved watching that video!

[drache]

that is so cool, Steve
thanks for sharing
I hope there'll be more

[guidofatherof5]

Today could be the last day. Highs in the 80's and staying in the 60's at night.
I think today will be the exodus day.
I'm planning on a few hours there this morning and afternoon.

[infernalis]

Looking forward to it....

[guidofatherof5]

What a difference the right camera makes.
Much more to come.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/save6.jpg

[infernalis]

That is one nice shot Steve.. Thanks for sharing.

Looking forward to the rest.

[guidofatherof5]

Downloading video at this time.
Finally got some breeding ball video.

[guidofatherof5]

While the video is cooking here's a few more photos. I took around 250 pictures today.
I will miss seeing these snakes but am looking forward to our possible Fall encounters.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/nice1.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/nice3.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/nice5.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/nice4.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/nice.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

This is it for the season.
The temps. are high enough to keep the snakes out of the den.
It has been a honor to see these snakes. Made a few friends. Hope they will survive the wild life.
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[Stefan-A]

Always fun to see snakes in the wild doing their thing, even if it's just in videos.

[ConcinusMan]

Always fun to see...in the wild doing their thing, even if it's just in videos.


"that's what he said"

But in all seriousness, WOW! :eek:great stuff, great footage Steve.:D

[infernalis]

Nice job Steve.. really enjoyed that.

[guidofatherof5]

I was very disappointed with the quality of the last video.
I did the job on my laptop and failed to render it at the highest quality.
The new video is cooking as I type.

[guidofatherof5]

This is much better. Will be deleting the other.

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[ConcinusMan]

I didn't really notice anything wrong with the first one, but OK.

[guidofatherof5]

I did.

[Mommy2many]

Nice. I have never witnessed one first hand.

[ConcinusMan]

You still haven't.:p I did notice that there is a general misunderstanding that all garter snakes do this "mating ball" thing. I have seen thousands of snakes at the dens I have found, and a lot of snakes mating, but they just don't do that extreme mating ball thing like red sideds do. At most, you might find one female and two or three males courting her. I just don't see massive piles of males aggressively courting one female like red sideds do.

[guidofatherof5]

I've seen T.radix in mating balls also. Right outside my back door as a matter of fact.
I'm very fortunate to experienced these things.

[drache]

thanks again, Steve
amazing footage

[guidofatherof5]

Thanks for all the kind comments.
I haven't been satisfied with the quality on my recent video uploads and found out tonight it was my fault.
I've been using my new laptop to render my project without properly adjusting the properties needed for HD uploads.
I'm going to reload the last video soon.
Sorry for the problems.
Thanks for your help, Stefan.;)

[diamondsirtalis]

Steve, your videos are awesome no matter what.

[infernalis]

Oops my bad, still logged on Samantha's account, swapped hard drives, the other one was logged on as me.

[guidofatherof5]

This can be viewed at HD.
Now that's the kind of resolution I'm talking about.
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[guidofatherof5]

I was hoping my little friend "Rambo" was in that breeding ball.
Watching the video I spotted him at 4:50 on the video.
I'm hoping little Rambo makes it through the season.

[infernalis]

Nice, I just watched it at 720 HD full screen, awesome.

[ConcinusMan]

What, no 1080? Well then, forget it. I don't even want to watch it.:rolleyes:

:p Just kidding guys!

[gregmonsta]

Great stuff ;)

[drache]

wow - that does make a difference

[PINJOHN]

cant thank you enough for all this stuff Steve, and its a double whammy because during the winter when my snakes are in the cooler i will return to this thread over and over just to get my garter fix ;)

[guidofatherof5]

I'm having withdrawals and miss seeing them.

[ConcinusMan]

We've had a few nights this week with freezing temperatures overnight. Not much better during the day really, at least not for more than half a day or so at a time. I know what you mean Steve.

[Joachim]

You guys got luck!
When I was a little boy:rolleyes: I lived in WA state Seattle, my dad found snakes very often...
but we had to move for work (Boeing had to dismiss people including my dad)
I was too young to even realise there were snakes around me:confused:
And now I'm here in Belgium owning 4 garter snakes:)

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, northwestern garter snakes are extremely common in western washington and can be found almost anywhere. If you go to a creek, pond, or wetland area, you also find T.s. concinnus in SW WA, and T.s. pickeringi in the puget sound area. Lots of light green puget sound garters in the seattle area but it's most likely the snakes your dad was finding were northwestern garters.

[guidofatherof5]

I spoke to the property owner this morning.
He hasn't seen any activity at the den this Fall but assured me I would get a phone call as soon as he saw some.
I'm looking forward to seeing some of my T.parientalis(Red Sided Garter Snake) den friends this Fall.
Hoping my boy Rambo has made it.


http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/42.jpg

[RedSidedSPR]

Coooooooooooool I loooooove parietalis.

[Kantar]

your red sided look so much different than my red sided.

Its really eat seeing smaller dens at work. The narcisse den when the snakes come out they sure do come out, its not a couple or 10, not even 100, they come out in the thousands.

Hope rambo makes it. For 3 years I had a friend I called grumpy that sat under a bridge, this year I didn't see him at all.

[guidofatherof5]

The Red Sided here seem to be lighter colored then the ones up North.

[Kantar]

yeah, the ones here are pretty dark and they don't show the upper red spots like the ones in the video.

Sunny is a snake that has the upper red spots but they are barally shown, they are hidden by the black scales

[guidofatherof5]

As Winter slowly makes it way into our areas I thought I would post a few photos from the den I visit in the Spring.
I'm looking forward to Spring 2012. Hoping my friends are doing well.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//749/medium/den_spring_2010.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//749/medium/den_spring_2010_3.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//749/medium/den_spring_2010_2.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//749/medium/den_spring_2010_1.jpg

[EasternGirl]

I hope they're doing well too! I went out looking today since it was a little warm outside...but no snakes around!

[guidofatherof5]

While searching through my photos from last Springs encounter with this wild bunch I found this photo.
This little male must have seen his reflection in the lens of my camcorder.

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Whos_in_there.jpg

[Selkielass]

They are sooo calm and curious. Amazing.

[Joachim]

cool!

[EasternGirl]

I went back and looked at the video for this thread because for some reason I had not seen it before. Very nice...I wish we had something like that around here.

[guidofatherof5]

Just got "The Call".
The T.s.p. are spawning.:D
Cameras are charging and I'm cleaning off the memory cards.
Heading there tomorrow.

[mikem]

can't wait to see what you find!

[guidofatherof5]

Calling for a sunny high of 78° tomorrow. Perfect T.s.p. viewing weather.
Looking forward to seeing some of my friends at the den.
Hoping my boy Rambo survived.

[EasternGirl]

Man, I wish I was in Iowa right now!!

[guidofatherof5]

Just returned from the den. IT WAS AWESOME!

The second snake I encountered was my buddy "Rambo". He's put on some size and is looking good.
No biting or musking.

Many photos and a video to come.

[EasternGirl]

Looking forward to seeing them!

[guidofatherof5]

Here's a few.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//774/medium/crescent7.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//774/medium/crescent11.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//774/medium/crescent21.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//774/medium/crescent41.jpg

[EasternGirl]

Hello lovelies! Thanks for sharing. I tore my entire yard apart today working on my yard improvement project. If there were any snakes to be found, I would have found them today....nada, zip, zero. Perhaps when I get some flowers put down out there, they will come around.

[guidofatherof5]

While at the den on Sunday I noticed a very interesting behavior. There was a steady supply of males returning to the den on a regular basis. They would arrive, go in the den and then leave. They appeared to be checking to see if the females had come out yet. Even males that had just emerged would leave for 15-30 minutes and then check back in. You will see this behavior in the video I shot. I will try to post it as soon as I get it done.

I once again this year set out some water for them. It was nice to them getting a good drink before they took off.

[EasternGirl]

That is so cool...I look forward to seeing that on video.

[guidofatherof5]

Here's that video.

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http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//774/medium/crescent51.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//774/medium/crescent61.jpghttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//774/medium/Crescent72.jpg

[kibakiba]

Kyle and I watched it together. So cute!

[EasternGirl]

Thanks so much for sharing that Steve. I really enjoyed watching it. Awesome!

[ConcinusMan]

No sign or hope of finding snakes around Puget Sound anytime soon. We got another snow storm last night and several inches of accumulation.:cool: Seems everyone is having warm spring temperatures except for the northwest.

[kibakiba]

You're scaring the snakes away with that picture you posted on facebook.

[guidofatherof5]

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/i_m_home.jpg

[ConcinusMan]

You're scaring the snakes away with that picture you posted on facebook.

I'm pretty sure that the drenching rain and low temperatures (40's) day in and day out is keeping the snakes off of facebook. It's so wet that they would get electrocuted if they plugged in their little laptops. Not to worry, I'm sure they'll be out by sometime in July. Meanwhile back home in CA, it's sunny of course, and upper 70's. :mad:

[kibakiba]

They saw it on their little iphones! They think you're the boogiesnake. Poor little snakies with nightmares :(

[EasternGirl]

It is freezing cold here again...so the snakes must have known and that is why none have come out yet in Delaware...they all have garter ESP. Smart snakes.

[guidofatherof5]

While looking through my photos from this years visit to the den I found this photo of my old friend "Rambo".
I wonder if he was as surprised to see me as I was him.:D

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/crescent31.jpg

[EasternGirl]

What an awesome pic! It almost looks as if he's saying "Hey...I know you!"...:D.

[guidofatherof5]

The way he reacted when I picked him up made me think he remembered me.
I really wanted to bring him home but decided to leave him there to do his work.
If I see him this Fall I may just give a Winter vacation on the Ranch.:D