how to herp hunt

[australia09]

i live in wellington nsw, 50km from dubbo nsw.
i was just wondering what would be out this way and how to find them. im mainly after tarantulas,frogs and snakes but ill settle for anything now.
we get some blue tounges but i would get sick of taking photos of them.
any ideas like how to look for them in trees ect, i cought a frog the other week which was pretty cool, i let him go and his jumps were amazing like 3 meters long.

any info will help thanks. also best time to herp.. late arvo,during day,night,morning?​

 

[bredli_lover]

I've heard damp nights are good...
Unfortuanetly, I don't do much herping myself.

 

[australia09]

i think it would be a good idea, can i go bush walking.. looking ect?

 

[mcloughlin2]

Best times for herping is just before dawn or early-late evening on a nice warm humid night. Take a torch and look on the ground and trees.

 

[ryanharvey1993]

get of the computer and start looking, there isnt much to it, different species are active at different times and in different weather. the only way people can help you is if you want to find a certain species. thanks.

 

[ryanharvey1993]

Best times for herping is just before dawn or early-late evening on a nice warm humid night. Take a torch and look on the ground and trees.

what are you gonna find just before dawn, the sun isnt up, its really cold and most likely nothing is gonna be out, maybe a few nocturnal snakes if the night was warm enough.

 

[mcloughlin2]

I'm in a rush at the moment but I find getting out just before dawn when the sun comes up you are often able to position yourself in the best spots prior to the reptiles emerging rather then having to scout out an area and potentially miss something. Like you have said it depends on what your after though.

 

[daniel1234]

get of the computer and start looking, there isnt much to it, different species are active at different times and in different weather. the only way people can help you is if you want to find a certain species. thanks.

Thats funny when you first start reading it

Bush walking, hmm doesn't seem to work down here but you guys in the east seem to walk out your back yards and find something cool. Although I climbed up a 4km hill last week (we call it a mountain but it is just a big hill) and saw heaps of garden skinks Mother in law was in Brisbane a few weeks ago and saw Water Dragons in the coffee shops! So jealous:evil: And no pic's as she is a herpaphobic for the most part.

 

[australia09]

lol no photos dang, well im going to lake lyle and would like to have a look out for water skinks, frogs ect.
if i see a snake and would like it to go on a branch for e.g. how would i move it? or better of just trying to take a photo of where it is.??

 

[underbelly]

As a keen shooter and flyfisherman I get about the bush quite a bit. Crossing streams or just fishing from the middle of them offers plenty of what I call snake time. Having handled most of them without to much drama and l am always very keen to learn more.

 

[australia09]

thanks underbelly. i enjoy a bit of fishing my self. fly fishing is also great. almost 100% of the time i go fishing their is some sort of herp about.

 

[underbelly]

australia09,
I was in Tassie last year and found black tigers all over the lakes I walked. Had a bit of a look at them up close, in fact, every one I released I soon located another close by. Ended up catching 9 of the dozen or so I saw. Some had a deep black & almost purple/blue barring. I sat and watched one diving in amongst the rocks for about an hour. Ended up taking a short video with my digital camera.
My eldest son is looking for his first snake and is leaning towards a young children's. I haven't purposly had him out with me hunting for slips as most of what we come across leave little room for error, if you know what I mean.

 

[Jungle_Fever1]

if ur looking for Ts u will have to head up to far north queensland mate.

and as for everything else walk and lift logs lol

 

[australia09]

thanks, in my backyard their are holes in the ground and spiders come out, to me they look like t's ill get a few shots for ya

 

[Jungle_Fever1]

most proberly wolf spiders,,, possibly trap door.

i have had adult Ts, trust me u will know one when u see it lol

 

[australia09]

ok guys, went to lake lyle. only seen water dragons strange enough. better luck next time i surpose

 

[phillthediamond]

hey i live in orange, good time for herping is in the arvo during summer but now its getting colder the day time is just as good, would probably get a lot of brown snakes, black snakes around where welllo black snakes especially down along that river. might be a few water dragons along the river as well just a matter of sneaking up and catching a good shot. maybe have a poke out at burendong damn see what u can find. if ure lucky u might spot a carpet python of an arvo.

 

[Nellynake]

what are you gonna find just before dawn, the sun isnt up, its really cold and most likely nothing is gonna be out, maybe a few nocturnal snakes if the night was warm enough.

Wouldn't it be damp then? that would be why. I take it foggy mornings would help because it's normally damp.

 

[CaptainRatbag]

Here at Landsborough on a property 1 km from town, I just go to the back door and often find a 1m long black and yellow monitor trying to get inside during the day, geckos everywhere.... at night walking out the back door.... nearly trip over a couple of kangaroos.... they just sit there and look at me .... later, I get mollested by a couple of northern brown bandacoots, there is a couple of GTF's and some tiny weenie little frogs, no bigger than your thumb nail (some are green, some are brown and yellow)....... then I go to my rat shed and empty out all the wild coastals trying to get the rats have another one out there now... the big boof headded one :lol:

When it rains, I get blind snakes in the laundry, bandy bandys in the garden and have seen a few snakes around the outside of the house..... its like a zoo up here

 

[Mulgaaustralis]

This is a very old thread.

But for anyone interested.
You need to be able to read weather and work out what will be out and about.

During the day you really want to look for humidity, little cloud cover, little to no wind and of course warm temperatures. This will bring out certain species of snakes, agamids and monitors.

(No clouds = better for basking, high temps = reptiles are endothermic, no wind = helps with surface temperature and more insects will be around, humidity = brings out array of food for reptiles to hunt)

Now if you are still keen to find animals in the cooler months during the day you can still find a few things.
But you have to find a great spot with very little traffic and lots of rocks and logs to flip.
As to what rocks and logs to flip, you work that out for yourself.

(Reptiles will hide under debris because it's a easy way to stay warm and safe during the colder months. Flipping won't be very successful during summer as the debrii will be too hot, generally)

Now night herping can be very easy and usually produces a lot of animals
Go to a national park, look at a good field guide and work out what's there. AROD is a good website for that as well.

Depending on what you're looking for you can simply drive the roads at low speeds looking for animals soaking the road heat up or you can get out and walk.

Both will produce differet things.

Driving will give you animals that live in habitats that aren't exactly specific. (I.E easier to find a Mulga driving the roads than it is to find a leaf tail on the roads, but that's not to say you won't)

Night walks, bring a good head torch and at least two more torches (they break), look for eye shine. You will soon be able to work the difference between insects and reptile eye shine.
Night walks allow you to really target what you're looking for. (I.E levis in sand dunes)

Favourable conditions for night time herping include high humidity (brings out insects which brings out frogs and lizards which brings out snakes), moon phase (new moon is generally best, less light for reptiles to be seen by predators), high temperatures (endothermic), low pressure system (humidity and cloud cover) and cloud cover (can help on nights when the moon isn't so empty, also acts as a insulator and keeps the air warmer for longer).

Herping is just like any other skill, some people have a natural nack for seeing minute geckos on the road while doing 130km/h or finding stuff by pure coincidence and luck.
Most people will have to work at it for a while to get results.
It really helps when you have someone to help you out and point out certain things to you that you might otherwise miss.


Just note these are general hints. Not all animals love these conditions.

Cheers
Mulgaaustralis