Photo of a young rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox), the sixth we've found so far in 2019. It’s officially Fall, and on October 1st we caught our sixth Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) of 2019. The first rattlesnake this year was found March 27th, a month earlier than ever before. ... Read More
snakes
Official Start of Summer on the Farm
Photo: A male Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) in a barrel after being captured in our backyard. The sure-fire indicator of the beginning of summer on the farm happened March 27th this year. This was a full month earlier than last year. For comparison, read my blog from last year, ... Read More
Cold Weather Snake
Photo: A female Texas Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri) on a cold early March day in South Texas. This afternoon our three dogs (German Shepherds Oso and Maya and rescue mutt Sunshine), Susie and I took a hike through our south pasture. This afternoon wasn’t a typical early March day. It ... Read More
South Texas Collecting Trip
Photo: A pair of mystery footprints in shallow water on the margins of a pond on a South Texas ranch. At the bottom is the shadow of the author's I-phone for scale. The first week of March this year I got a message from our nephew Darin Rokyta, an Associate Professor of the Department of ... Read More
Signs of Summer on the Farm
Photo above: The farm's first sign of summer, a rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) in a barrel after being captured in our yard. We know the beginning of summer on the farm not by calendar, but by nature. The clearest sign of summer is snakes. Specifically, rattlesnakes and copperheads. The ... Read More
Roof Snake
As we continue our recovery from Hurricane Harvey, on a Sunday in late March 2018 I was on the roof finishing the removal of a large blue tarp that had been keeping our roof from leaking during rains. I had to remove and replace it because our insurance company required me to pull it up for ... Read More
A Weird Short Ecotour Offer
Photo: A young copperhead in our yard. Photo by Carl Clapsaddle. For three years now I’ve been toying with offering an ecotourism venture at our farm during our copperhead season. This evening cinched the idea for me. Susie and I got home from our volunteer fire department meeting (yes, on ... Read More
It’s Going to be a “YUGE” Snake Year
Photo: A large female Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) in a barrel after capture and prior to relocation. No, this is not a political post. It appears that we are in for lots of snakes this year, hence the “Yuge!” We usually see lots of snakes; after all we’re in the country and ... Read More
Update on Fingernail Clams, Sphaerium corneum
Photo: Closeup of three Fingernail Clams, Sphaerium corneum, on a finger. Okay, I thought I could get away with a short blog (see my previous blog: http://goliadfarms.com/fingernail-clams-sphaerium-corneum/), but right off the bat its shortness and lack of natural history led to a question from ... Read More
Baby Texas Rat Snake
Photo of Oso apprehensively observing the baby Texas rat snake he had captured. The day before winter solstice, the official start of winter, Oso, our male German Shepherd Dog, and Sunshine, our female rescue mutt, went missing mid-morning. Suspecting they weren’t up to anything good, I went ... Read More