Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Tweeters Digest, Vol 55, Issue 22
Date: Mar 22 13:14:06 2009
From: Dennis Paulson - dennispaulson at comcast.net


Hello, Ted.

I agree with Scott's hotspots. I've found many rattlesnakes in those
same areas, and I've always considered Manastash Road and Robinson
Canyon primo snake areas. Basically anywhere in the Columbia Basin in
open country with a lot of rocks is the place to look. I have also
found many of them during the day, for example in and around
Frenchman Coulee and Quincy Lakes, just by walking around rocky areas
and keeping my eyes (and ears) open. By the time the summer is
heating up, they remain in shelter during the day and come out at
night, as Scott says.

There is a den on the south side of Frenchman Coulee that I have
visited many times in spring, usually at the end of April. I wish I
knew the mileage for it, but if you drive west down the coulee from
Frenchman Springs (reached from exit 143 from I-90), watch the cliffs
to your left once you actually come to the point where the canyon lip
is on your right. At one point you can see a break in the cliff top
and a steep hill where you could climb up to the top of the cliffs
from the road. To the left (east) of that there is a promontory where
one or more big rocks project out from the cliff top. Behind those
rocks I have found up to several dozen rattlesnakes on a nice day at
that time of year, apparently just leaving their den. Someone has
studied them in the past, as I have seen marked snakes.

You can also find it by turning off onto the tiny gravel road on your
left just after exiting the freeway at Frenchman Springs. Drive up
that road and park in a little open space on the right just after you
pass the pond on your left. Walk generally a little west of north
toward the top of the cliffs above the Frenchman Coulee Road and look
for the rock promontory. I think it's a place where part of the cliff
has broken away, leaving a depression behind it with lots of
crevices. That's the place. It's easier to walk there than it is to
climb up, but takes longer. Sorry I don't have a more exact
description. I've also seen plenty of rattlers while walking there. I
just looked on Google Earth to try to find the exact spot, and I
guess it's too small to register clearly. It's pretty close to
47.0304? N, 119.9563? W.

Scott, I have found one DOR (dead on road) Striped Whipsnake on the
Lower Crab Creek Road east of Beverly, but I consider this a very
rare snake in Washington. I have found it common on the road through
the Alvord Desert north of Fields in southern Oregon in late May.

Dennis

On Mar 22, 2009, at 12:00 PM, tweeters-
request at mailman2.u.washington.edu wrote:

> Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2009 14:23:49 -0700
> From: Scott R a y <mryakima at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Tweeters] Off-Topic - Finding Rattlesnakes reply
> To: Ted Kenefick <tgkenefick at msn.com>
> Message-ID:
> <edca07900903211423u4d605388ne1ffdc942357c78d at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi Ted and Tweeters,
>
> "Herping" as reptile hunting is called, is my second love, after
> birding.
>
> I have found it interesting to be out with a group of the very
> sharpest and
> most experienced birders, birders who would rarely miss a single
> bird, yet
> who are oblivious to a snake crossing the road in plain sight in
> front of
> their vehicles, sometimes even rolling right over the animal.
>
> Although rattlesnakes are often encountered by accident in many
> places in
> eastern Washington, one of the easiest ways to find them is to
> slowly cruise
> a lightly-traveled paved road through rocky terrain in on a warm
> evening
> between dusk and 11pm or so. The temperature should be above 60F.
> They are
> also often found in the late afternoon before dusk.
>
> Two of my favorite roads are:
>
> Manastash Road (near Ellensburg) between the narrowing mouth of
> Manastash
> Canyon and the end of the pavement. May through the end of summer,
> with May
> and June being the best. This road is also productive for Rubber
> Boas and
> Great Basin Gopher Snakes.
>
> Vantage Highway between Vantage and the windmill farm west of town.
> Also
> good for Gopher Snakes and Night Snake.
>
> Success will be enhanced if the search is done during moonless and
> low-wind
> periods with high humidity (cloudy or the period just after some
> rain). Late
> May and early June.
>
> North Fork Ahtanum Road (west of Yakima) between Tampico and the
> end of the
> pavement is another productive road.
>
> Cruise at about 20 mph using high beams, looking carefully at
> everything you
> see on the roadway. You may need to make several passes back and
> forth to
> be successful.
> This technique will also produce Poorwills in on Manastash Road and
> other
> places.
>
> The unpaved Crab Creek Road (Grant County) east of Beverly along
> the north
> slope of Saddle Mountain can be productive during a hot afternoon
> after the
> sun has set below the ridge. Also good for Yellow-bellied Racer,
> Gopher
> Snake.
>
> I would be happy to hear of your trials and successes! I would
> especially
> like to hear from anyone who has seen (in WA) the most elusive of
> Washington's herps, the Striped Whipsnake. Seeing this one would
> complete
> my list of reptiles in WA.
>
>
> Scott R a y
> Yakima, WA
> mryakima at gmail dot com
>
>
> On Sat, Mar 21, 2009 at 12:14 PM, Ted Kenefick <tgkenefick at msn.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello Tweeters,
>>
>> I have a bit of a "Bucket List" item to (safely!) photograph a
>> Western
>> Rattlesnake in Washington State this summer. In all my years of
>> birding in
>> Eastern Washington, I have never seen one. I have a general idea
>> of habitat
>> and some notion of decent locations as well but would really
>> appreciate any
>> and all suggestions as to good, reliable locations. What are the
>> best
>> conditions, time of day as well?
>>
>> I am on Tweeters digest so it would be most appreciated if you
>> could reply
>> directly to my email address. With the many varied interests of
>> Tweeters
>> members, perhaps this would be of interest to the entire group so
>> maybe Cc
>> to the entire group would be in order?
>>
>> Thanks so much in advance.
>>
>> Cheers and Good Birding,
>> Ted Kenefick
>> Seattle
>> tgkenefick at msn.com

-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20090322/d8b9bb15/attachment.htm