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My Best Find Yet!!! Dusty Hog-nosed in Missouri
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Posted by cryptobranchidae (cryptobranchidae@hotmail.com) on Mon, Oct 10, 05 at 23:54
This species was considered extirpated in the state of Missouri until a lone specimen was discovered in a remnant sand prairie of south east Missouri in May of 2003 buy two biologists. Until this specimen was discovered there had been no recorded sighting of this snake in over forty years in the state. Unfortunately the sand parries of south east Missouri have largely been developed for agriculture.
I had scouted around and found some of this habitat during the summer and planned on checking it out more thoroughly as soon as things cooled off. After a weekend at Snake Road (which I'll report on later) I stopped by one of these sand prairies. The weather was in the mid sixties and overcast so I really didn't expect to see any thing out moving; not to mention, I didn't even know if this snake existed in this prairie. I decided to simply take a walk around the smallish prairie to enjoy the rare habitat. After a long walk I came across a large Southern Black Racer that had more blue than most Blue Racers I've seen (which makes me wonder if there is a genetic link to the Blue Racers that live in similar habitat in Illinois). I grabbed the racer for a photo, due to its sticking color, and was carrying it to a clearing for the photograph; that’s when things get blurry; I remember seeing the snake out on the crawl right under my feet. The next thing I remember was looking at the snake in my hand and trying to come to terms with the fact that this was really happening and not just my imagination. Needless to say I quickly forgot about the racer and let it on its way. After recording the locality and taking a few photos I returned the hog to the exact spot I found him and watched him crawl away. As far as I'm aware of this is the second of the only two found and photographed in over forty years!
Enjoy the photos, Mike
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: My Best Find Yet!!! Dusty Hog-nosed in Missouri
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| Holy Cow! That is a spectacular find!! Outstanding! With that kind of luck you might as well look for Scarlet Snakes in Missouri for your encore ;-). I'm speechless.. That is beyond awesome! |
RE: My Best Find Yet!!! Dusty Hog-nosed in Missouri
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| Thanks Wayne, It doesn’t get much better; I’m pretty excited about it. Mike |
RE: My Best Find Yet!!! Dusty Hog-nosed in Missouri
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| Awesome! Wow! Just Wow! I don't think I have ever found anything quite that rare. Any Hognose is a thrill, but a Dusky?!?! Might be time to search for Missouri Scarlet Snakes or Smooth Greens :-). Or Maybe Cottonmouths in Livingston County North of the Missouri :-). Or Massassaguas in St Charles County :-). |
RE: My Best Find Yet!!! Dusty Hog-nosed in Missouri
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| That's crazy! Have you ever found an eastern there? Congrats! |
RE: My Best Find Yet!!! Dusty Hog-nosed in Missouri
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| Amazing and incredible find! Hard to really express how huge a find that is! It will be very interesting if you can find out where the 2003 sighting was. What a great pic of of an adult with what appears to be a good size. CONGRATS BIG TIME! |
RE: My Best Find Yet!!! Dusty Hog-nosed in Missouri
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| Thanks Guys, Keith, This was great but at the same time I'm not sure what to look for in our state next, but who's complaining:) courtgaverth, I haven't found an Eastern there but I've only been there once. Gary, Thanks, and it was nice meeting you this weekend. I'm not sure where the 2003 siteing was but I think it may be the same area. |
RE: My Best Find Yet!!! Dusty Hog-nosed in Missouri
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| Not only is it s rare snake, but that is a really cool looking Dusty Hog anyway. You should see about Cemophora there Mike. They love that sand.... chad |
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