I love the bright orange ring! What a cool little guy. It looks so tiny compared to those acorns!
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Ahh! Itâs a worm!
Waiting to get a call for removal, since it has such a high reward ratio XâD, plus you get to do something useful.
I roadcruise a lot just because I drive and cycle a lot, so I make time for the return journey to be slow, and using the smaller roads in better habitat.
I have a love/hate relationship with flipping. I much prefer being on foot to driving, and having the opportunity to see other things, but you really have to choose the rock well. Those that are well sealed into the soil, you can never put back perfectly, however careful you are. And it disturbs not just snakes but also scorpions and spiders.
If you can find the right rock (loose, lightweight, easily replaced) I see less harm in it, I once found the same individual under exactly one of these types of rocks, at an interval of a few days, which I take to mean that it wasnât that bothered.
However I also donât like to be seen to be flipping, lest it encourage other people. The number of rocks I find rolled down the hill or the wrong way up has left such a bad taste in my mouth that I no longer flip unless it is artifical cover intended for the purpose, that either myself or others have put down.
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Road cruising for herps is fun and often productive. In arid lands such as where I live, cruising in the early evening after a late afternoon monsoon rain is best. Blacktop roads with little traffic and safe shoulders where you can pull over are ideal. Some of the roads I used to cruise have become too busy and I avoid them for safety reasons. If you do it, just keep in mind that you can be easily distracted by whatâs in the road and not with the other vehicles you might encounter.
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Regarding flipping cover material such as rocks and logs: I agree it can be disruptive to habitat and Iâve seen evidence of that in places that were heavily surveyed by herp class field trips. Generally though if youâre conscientious and return cover materials to as you found them, the disruption is minimized. Some past surveys Iâve been on involved ripping old rotten logs for salamanders and thatâs now avoided.
On the flip side (no pun intended), Iâve moved a lot of rocks and logs that were sunk in the ground and had no underside gaps for animals to use, so in those cases I likely created some accessible cover habitat.
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I always try to be careful while flipping light rocks or logs, put them back the exact way they were. I also do love roadcruising but donât road cruise as often.
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