Wayne's World of Snakes and Reptile Rescue

March 30, 2008 - Sunday Safari - Brenham, Texas

We decided to make our annual Spring trip to the Brenham area today. I knew going into this trip that the Whitford place had probably been cleaned up and the old house torn down as the property has been up for sale for 1 year now. If nothing else, I knew we would find bluebonnets to photograph and enjoy. Friend and web mistress, Meridith, accompanied us on this trip and we all had a fun time.

We arrived at the property early afternoon, but couldn’t escape the trains that pass through on the very same dirt road that leads to the property. Weston, loving trains as he does, wanted to stop and see the train go by. Both the kids waved at the engineer and made him blow the horn. They loved this. Well, since the train decided to stop on the tracks to wait for another passing train, we decided to put a quarter and some pennies on the tracks so the train could squash them. We ended up picking those up on the way out because it seemed to take forever for the train to move.

We headed on to the property and I found I was correct – it had been cleared of the old house and nothing was left but the foundation. The swimming pool had also been filled in. There was one spot they did not find where some tin that has been piled up for years was laying. I knew since the place had been cleaned up I would find something under these pieces of tin -- a nice little Eastern Coachwhip and aTexas Rat Snake. These would be all of the snakes we found. I probably was lucky to find those.

From there, we headed to Brenham and photographed these lovely bluebonnets that in this spot, were the thickest around. The Whitford’s had thick fields of them last year, but were very sparse this time around. There were rain showers in the area that cooled the temps. Down a bit but the humidity is back!

We moved on to Oakdale Ranch where the July 4^th barbecues are held every holiday. No one was there this time, so we just photographed some more and I released all the snakes plus one the nice looking little Texas Brown snake a friend found here in Houston. We kicked back a while and showed Meridith the property, then we headed back toward Houston.

We stopped at a great little Mexican restaurant off of 290 and 36 named Las Fuentes. It’s an excellent place to eat that has great Margaritas and ice cold beer! You must stop when traveling through.

It was a nice getaway for the day and we look forward to South Texas next weekend!

Happy herping!

Caleb the Snakehunter

A few bluebonnets

I fell Dad!

Hey Daddy

Eastern Coachwhip Snake

One last standing lilly

Texas Brown Snake

Wayne, Kim, Weston and Caleb Howell

The Howell Men

A quarter waiting to be crushed by the train

Where the old house used to stand

Weston and Caleb

March 23, 2008 - Enchanted Rock

Kim and I had to plan this trip almost 1 year in advance. We went to Enchanted Rock located northwest of Austin. My close friend and webmistress, Meridith, accompanied us with her husband, Bruce. We took out on Friday morning and arrived Friday afternoon. We took our time in setting up camp. We had to haul our camping gear 75-200 yards to our camping site. This became quite cumbersome since the trail was not even and flat. There were divits, & trenches etc. that made for a hell of a tme pulling the gear to the campsite.

After we were settled, we socialized and had a few Crown and Cokes and talked about the next days festivities! The park was packed with Spring Breakers which was nice because we got to hear their guitars and singing until 1:00 A.M. We cooked breakfast the next morning and then took off for the big rock! Caleb went with Kim as we knew they would take considerable time to climb to the top. Me, Meridith and Weston hiked together to the top. This area is very interesting and the topography is amazing. Weston went through all of the little caves and caverns created when all the rocks shifted and fell undoubtedly thousands or maybe millions of years ago. It's all granite and there are some very tough areas to navigate in.

No snakes at all were seen, but at the same time, I was not really looking for any since this was not what the trip was about. Bruce was sick and not feeling well, so he was the gate keeper at the base camp and read books etc. while we all hiked.

I was very proud of Caleb doing this hike as it is very difficult for him. He fell a couple of times but ironically, only on the flat sufaces. Go figure. Weston, however. was a little whirlwind! He was wanting to go everywhere. I actually had to slow him down! A hint for anyone going to this area and to the park. There are only a few water faucets and none that I could tell were at the campsites themselves. You do have to drag your luggage etc. 75 to 100 yards at most of the sites and bring plenty of ice because you will have to drive quite a ways before you find any!

A good time was had by most of us and I would go back in the future pending a years reservation for a campsite! Enjoy the pics.

Two huge boulders

20 Million Years Ago at Enchanted Rock

The hike really wore Caleb out!

Wayne and Weston

Come back, Weston!

Easter Egg Hunt at the Campsite

Enchanted Rock Scenery

Fractured Rock

I'm going in, Daddy!

Kim, Caleb and Weston at Base Camp

Enchanted Rock Scenery

The Other Side of the Rock

Run Weston! (Hey...You're Making Us All Look Bad)

The Howells on Top of the Rock

A Nice Shady Spot to Rest

Weston Holding Up the Anvil Rock

March 9 and 16, 2008 - Sunday Safari - Pig Farm

Me, Kim and the kids started out this year by visiting the pig farm this weekend. The weather was very cool and the winds somewhat blustery. This makes for awesome field collecting. We saw several species of snakes. We saw the all present Texas Rat Snake, 3 of them in fact, and 4 Eastern Coachwhips (and that was just under the same tin pile!!!) We saw a Southern Copperhead baby, an adult Broad-Banded Water Snake, and also four ribbon snakes that were too quick to flee and I never got a shot off. I did not see my barn owl this trip, but on the very next weekend (March 16), I saw him/her fly away from the old abandoned house.

I have not seen this owl in three years and all of a sudden I was able to see it fly away from the tree next to the old house. I apologize I could not get a shot of the amazing animal! This owl is a staple at this location as it is this owls home and it has been for over 10 years that I can remember! Ed Wozniak accompanied me on this second trip to the pig farm this year. We saw many of the same snakes that I saw the weekend before. Some were the EXACT same snakes! I released an adult female Southern Copperhead out there which in fact was the mother to the baby that is in the picture shown on this update.

Fun was had by all on both of these weekends and I look forward to the upcoming season! Hope you enjoyed the beginning of the 2008 weekly updates!

Happy Herping always!!!

A Family of Texas Rat Snakes