Gotta keep your eyes peeled.

Wow...who would've thought we'd find a red-ear slider in the middle on a country highway, with no  pond in sight?   Of course we did find the big one in our driveway last year.  But this guy was way different.  As you can see, he's slightly bigger than a quarter.  Of course, from a distance it looked just like a small rock in the road, a common occurrence.  Passed over him, the shape was too perfect to be a rock and thought we saw him move.   Since we could turn around easily, we went back for a second look.  Yup...a live turtle!

We don't recommend endangering yourself if you "think" you saw a turtle, or snake, or whatever.  But if you're unsure, take a look, go back, you'll only regret it if you don't satisfy your curiosity.  And believe me, more often than not you're wrong, but when you're right, it's a thrill!  Of course then everything after that, for a while, must be a reptile, but with practice, you'll be able to differentiate.

Visitor of the day...update...

If you read about the black rat snake that I found on the road, and thought it might be saved, but alas had indeed been run over, and died on the way home, this is an update.  I saw a vulture taking advantage of the meal laid out for him/her.    This is what was left.

As you can see, this was in a rather grassy area.  Those birds must either have extreme eyesight or extreme senses of smell, or both, because there wass nothing else in that particular field, which is about 3-4 acres, to attrract their attention.   I opted not to keep any parts, but let the field mice finish off the carcass.

Visitor of the day...

Got home this afternoon to find this guy attached to the cement on the side of the house.   He appeared much more grey, and closer to the color of the cement than this photo would attest.  If you look closely you can see a few little green spots peeking through. Might be the same one who was quite green when attached to the screen on our back door last summer.

Then there was this unfortunate fellow.  I was going down the road and saw this rather large black rat snake in the middle of my lane.  I swerved, stopped, ran back and picked him up.  He was coiled as though daring someone to hit him.  He had his mouth gaping in a mad posture.  I thought he was just fine and darned lucky.  Unfortunately not so.  If you look at the middle part of his body you can see a slight irregularity where he had been run over. 

He never felt bad (meaning "squishy" for lack of a better term) or lost use of his back end and tail, but I guess the internal injuries were massive.  Just shows you that a snake that has been run over, even though looking well and acting fairly normal, probably will not survive. 

And he was "posed" in my pasture for this picture.  I figure he can be dinner for some hawk owl or vulture later today. 

Sounds...

For an interesting experience, especially if you have a variety of animals, go into your herp room, in the dark, and just sit and listen.

I did just that today, as I was putting some feeder fish in with our alligator snapper.  As most of the animals could not see where I was, they were doing various things.  One large sulcata tortoise was grunting.  Almost sounded like burping.  Our Yacare caiman was roaring, or rumbling, as he was calling out to our female crocodile.  He does that when, we assume, she's in heat, although we don't know where or when.  She never exhibits any signs, and they cannot see each other.   Today he was out of his pool.  When  he does it in the pool, you can see the water bubbling. 

Occasionally you'll hear the rattlesnakes rattling.  They flexing their muscles or are they seeing shadows?  Perhaps just dreaming?  Like when your dog whimpers and runs in it's sleep?    All in all, very interesting!

Look what we found!

Came in from the shop this afternooon to find this guy next to the foundation of the house. He was all coiled up and doing something so we observed him for a moment. See if you can make anything out.

Here's another photo, and you can see his head a bit better.  He was eating!  Can you identify his food source?  Remember, this is a "kingsnake!"

That colorful curl in the center of the picture should be a good hint! Sorry, no prizes will be given, just an "Attaboy!"

Ouch!!!!! or @#$%%^$&#*@

 

 

You may have been wondering how the rhino iguana, that we "rescued" is doing!

Obviously he's progressed to "solid food" and has a very healthy appetite.  We haven't had the time to make him a more appropriate cage, but it will definitely be one where we can feed him without getting our hands (or fingers) too close, as pictured! 

When people ask me if I've ever been bitten, they're most always talking about snakes.  They seem to forget that lizards can bite too, and very hard! I must admit my language was not printable during this encounter. 
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P.S.  Haven't had time to post new pics (which would entail handling this charmer) but we did make a nice large cage for him, and he settled in nicely, and eats anything and everything with a special fondness for bananas!