primo conditions!!!

[sativa]

hey guys , turned out to be a pretty good night ,(even with the full moon) first up was a eastern small eye that was movin way to quick to get a shot , second was a massive roughy, that i missed as well , 3rd was a nice golden crown , 4th was a a giant panda snail (lol) it was pretty big , in a shot you can sorta judge a little from the side of the car door the slug was about 15 cm long , 5th was a RK coastal , poor thing , 6th was one of the biggest BTS we have ever seen , and so inquisitive was trying to climb my leg , and he thought the tongs was a tree , he was about 6 foot , 7 th was a cool blind snake , and 8th was a road kill bandi bandi , the last 2 were found on the way home , so there you go kids . dont always believe in superstitions about the moon .....enjoy ...jase

 

[redbellybite]

where are all the other pics ?

 

[sativa]

some more pics

 

[redbellybite]

nice pics but have one big problem YOUR TONGS how barbaric! , you realise the damage that can be done and is done to snakes by using those horrid things?

 

[sativa]

ya , they are bad things , thats why i dont actually use them as tongs , more as a hook at home , i sent my partner out to get me a hook and she came home with tongs :? go figure

 

[redbellybite]

good to hear that you dont use them as tongs ,besides the damage that can be done to snakes like bone breaking, tearing of the skin etc..you also stress the snake out it goes straight into a threat mode as it feels under attack so you have a agro snake on hand ,which becomes a dangerous situation and then it also gives people a false sense of security which isnt good either...snake hooks are easy to make you can get old golf clubs and cut the club off at the end shape a bit of wire and weld the tip onto the stick ...or thick plyable wire can be bent into shape as long as there are no sharp slags left on wire that works too..

 

[sativa]

and some more

 

[sativa]

i new i shouldnt have posted a pic with the tongs , regardless of how i use them , so to those of you that are reading this and dont have much experiance and want to start feild herping , dont buy tongs and catch snakes!!!!!!! just look and and take pics , ... redbelly ive been around snakes since i was 7 so thats 23 years , the only time i have ever used the tongs for real was on a massive brown that was in my mates house under his couch , they have 2 kids under 5, and the snake wasnt happy, so i did what i had to do , (without hurting or crushing the snake , then i relocated it , i dont really want to start a slagging match on here just look at the pics for what they are and enjoy , and thaks for the advice , im sure there will be readers out there that have a smarter missus than mine cheers

 

[mungus]

Love the snail...........................

 

[redbellybite]

i new i shouldnt have posted a pic with the tongs , regardless of how i use them , so to those of you that are reading this and dont have much experiance and want to start feild herping , dont buy tongs and catch snakes!!!!!!! just look and and take pics , ... redbelly ive been around snakes since i was 7 so thats 23 years , the only time i have ever used the tongs for real was on a massive brown that was in my mates house under his couch , they have 2 kids under 5, and the snake wasnt happy, so i did what i had to do , (without hurting or crushing the snake , then i relocated it , i dont really want to start a slagging match on here just look at the pics for what they are and enjoy , and thaks for the advice , im sure there will be readers out there that have a smarter missus than mine cheers

sativa i dont want it turning into a sleying match either but you add tongs to a pic and you get the rumble in the jungle ...especially from the licenced snake catchers...I appreciate,what you have said and respect that you have made comment that you dont use them except for that situation,but will stick with what I said and wont take it back with no disrespect to you either but hopefully will make others realise that tongs are for BBQ and kitchen use or holding onto food for feed time not for catching

 

[scorps]

You take tongs herping?

Even if you only use them as a hook why are they with you herping, you arnt allowed to touch the animals and yeah I know the story every one has picked up a snake for a pic but IMO taking tongs and harassing all the wild snakes is a bit to far.

 

[Kris]

Good find. I've found up here that the moon phase doesn't mean to much or the temp for that matter when looking for snakes at night. I've also been out in "perfect" conditions and found nothing and found quite a bit in "bad" conditions. Not all snakes read the books.

Kris

 

[mysnakesau]

RedBellyBite you stole those words from Scales and Tails magazine

I have tongs and have used them a couple times but only as last resort. I am hoping to further up my training where we can be taught how to get the elapids out of tight places such as cluttered sheds. My training involved chasing them across the paddock where there are no obstacles and tailing them and dropping them into our bag. So I am still a little timid of them when it comes to getting them out of holes and places.

Thankfully though, I have only used my tongs three times and no harm done except one time - once when a red belly was stuck down a fencepost hole full of water, my hook would not catch the slippery bugger. And the second time was not such a happy ending when ppl's dog come in and attacked the snake and the third time I had a red belly wrapped in and out a crate of beer bottles, I only used the tongs as support for his long body till I got him outside, then I released him, he went straight into the bag.

Sativa looks like you had a great night. I never get to see anything when I go out. Love the bandy bandy. Cute little snakes they are.

 

[m.punja]

give him a break, the tongs weren't being used in a cruel manner and he claims that he doesn't use them in such a way.

 

[m.punja]

yea great pics by the way

 

[saratoga]

If you feel that you absolutely have to use tongs (and I can't think of any reason why) then at least fit them with some type of padding....high density foam or whatever.

I can't understand even using them as a hook..that would be rather cumbersome...given that a basic hook is so easy to make or purchase.

 

[Jonno from ERD]

Good find. I've found up here that the moon phase doesn't mean to much or the temp for that matter when looking for snakes at night. I've also been out in "perfect" conditions and found nothing and found quite a bit in "bad" conditions. Not all snakes read the books.

Kris

Once you've herped for a while, you will find that most "hard to find" species do follow some fairly specific patterns that are dependant on various weather based stimulus...moon phase, humidity, air pressure, temperature etc. For the common species such as those found by the poster of this thread, they are far less sensitive than SEQ species such as Death Adders, Tiger Snakes, Coral Snakes and Stephens Bandeds.

As an example, we herped the Brigalow about a fortnight ago, two nights in a row. The first night was absolutely perfect - new moon, humid, warm and overcast with patchy storms around the place. As we expected we did really well - almost twenty species of reptile from nine families in about 6 hours. The next night I went out again, not checking the weather details...the rain had passed and the night was clear, causing the temperature to plummet and the humidity to disappear. Only 7 species from 4 families were found along the same roads at the same times as the night before.

 

[daniel1234]

Good find. I've found up here that the moon phase doesn't mean to much or the temp for that matter when looking for snakes at night. I've also been out in "perfect" conditions and found nothing and found quite a bit in "bad" conditions. Not all snakes read the books.

Kris

Some of mine read the paper

Nice pics

 

[redbellybite]

give him a break, the tongs weren't being used in a cruel manner and he claims that he doesn't use them in such a way.

punja wasnt giving him a hard time .....kathy I just got out a juvie eastern brown that was in the track of my sliding door with out tongs, hooks are alot more gentle and it was I admit a bit of a nightmare to get out as everytime I hooked up he slid off and went back under the door so had to slide it the other way :evil:but got it out eventually by blocking one part of the track off...so hooked him ,slightly pinned him with my hook,which he took great dislike too and bit into my bag,while he was busy biting i scooped him up and he dropped in..that is really my only beef, when catching ,is the tiny "hot "vens ,pains in the chocolate starfish! preffer the biggies as you can tail them alot easier and have something to work with ....

 

[sativa]

awesome . cheers guys might just keep the pics to our selves next time and just write a writen report instead of pics , as for perfect conditions , it was last night for what we were looking for , we have seen a few stephens banded's lately though , the last 2 times we saw them the first time the batteries were dead and the second we forgot the camera , easy to do when you have 4 kids with you