herping

[micko]

Hi guys, I have never been herping before and i would just like to know if anyone knows some good areas around south east brisbane ??

[Jonno from ERD]

G'day Micko,

Be careful, you'll get addicted and it will dominate your life!

Herping can be as difficult or as easy as you want - it all depends on the species you want to find. A big part of herping is picking your times - I don't go herping often, but when I do I normally have a lot of success as I pick the right times.

If you want to go for an easy stroll and spot a few different species, places like Boondal Wetlands, Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens and Karawatha Forest will turn up several common local species such as Water Dragons, Bearded Dragons, Water Skinks, Green Tree Snakes, Yellow Faced Whip Snakes, Red Bellied Black Snakes, Carpet Pythons and Lace Monitors...

Good luck!

[morgs202]

and what are the right times? just curious as I was on the verge of posting pretty much the same thread

[Jonno from ERD]

You'll learn to pick your times...I still get it wrong every now and then.

A few pointers...for diurnal species, the morning after a big thunderstorm is nearly always very productive, as long as the sun is out and the humidity is high. For nocturnal species, it is much the same, but you need to factor in other things like the lunar phase. Once you have been herping for a while, you will learn to recognise the different species that have activity periods triggered by different environmental factors.

[-aspidites-]

I was interested to know the same. Thanks for that :-)

Karrawatha is where I found the small barbata and frogs in the thread I posted recently. I was hoping to find some keelbacks or red-bellies... maybe some other time.

Further to that, does anyone know of any particularly good spots between Brisbane and Nanango? I'll be heading up there next weekend, so I'd be much obliged if anyone could give me a few pointers for good locations.

Need to get more practise with reptile photography. I've never been any good at wildlife photography, much to my dismay.

[micko]

Thanks Jonno,Verry helpfull.Also where do you do your venimous courses and how much is the course?

[Jonno from ERD]

G'day mate,

We currently conduct our venomous snake handling courses in Salisbury/Rocklea area, and they start at $300 per person for the two day course, which includes catering on both days.

[Brigsy]

Anyone know what speicies of herps( mainly pythons) can be found in the toowoomba area?

[Jonno from ERD]

G'day Brigsy,

You only get two species of python in South East Queensland - Carpet Pythons and Spotted Pythons. The latter are very uncommon.

[micko]

I have seen spotteds and carpets there before.

[Deborah]

Hey Micko,

I don't know Brisbane very well but I did drive through a couple of summers ago and spent an awesome evening (just past dark) driving Mount Nebo (and the other mountain next to it) and saw a Cacophis squamulosus and a few road kill Stephen's bandeds.

The other spot we went was Lamington Nat Park where we saw 3 leaf tails, a road-kill rough scaled (Tropidechis), a blind snake and a Mixophyes all within an hour or so of driving down the road... and on a short walk during the day there we saw Hemiaspis signata and a big chunky Eulamprus, can't remember which spp, I think we ID'd it to the endemic one.

Just a small word of advice, I have it on good consensus that Led Zeppelin seems to produce the best quality herp of an evening. Crank it loudly from your vehicle, with windows down... the herptiles will sense the quality!

Don't forget it is technically illegal to touch anything though (and even to photograph in some states).

Good luck,
deb

[Brigsy]

Thanx cuys will keep looking!!!!!

[micko]

Thanks Deborah,I will give it a go does it matter wich Zep album i play?lol!!