Best found Herp Ever?? Your Top 3

[Kristian Munkholm]

Well, there it is, ask me again tomorrow, odds are you'll get another answer, perhaps a coral, rattler and chameleon, perhaps a gator, newt and smoothie, perhaps...

What a posting!!! Thanks, Kristian, from all my heart, you really did it. The right thing.

Now maybe I'll even have the courage to present some of my rather modest, but very
dear (to me personally) finds/experiences.
Many thanks once again.

I think different
I will not change my statement before my next Trip and if I do not find a high end special something I also will not change it.

I didn’t write things like my first Atractaspis in Israel or as we found the first Rhynchocalamus in Oman ever or my first Vipera ursinii or the first Natrix mating observation or or or, because these things don`t have a big relevance to me.

The things I wrote down are very very deep in my heart and in my mind.

I realize that to some extent I broke or at least circumvented the rules and deconstructed the question. I did this because that is the only form of honest answer I can give.

I fully respect that you feel differently. Already when I read your reply the first time I gathered as much - the personal sincerity - from your not listing the "obvious choice" Rhynchocalamus.

Funny thing is, if you asked me the same question about birds I wouldn't be in doubt as to my number 1 (and it wouldn't even be a rarity). For numbers 2 & 3 the story would be the same as with the herps, though...

[Berislav Horvatic]

I realize that to some extent I broke or at least circumvented the rules and deconstructed
the question. I did this because that is the only form of honest answer I can give.

That's what I meant and the reason for my "thank you".

[Kristian Munkholm]

I realize that to some extent I broke or at least circumvented the rules and deconstructed
the question. I did this because that is the only form of honest answer I can give.

That's what I meant and the reason for my "thank you".

I know - and you're welcome.

[Paul Lambourne]

I am late to this post, due to work and IT problems.. but what a fantastic post!

So good to see that I have been there when many friends have seen their favorite species, a real privilege..

Kristians break down of the question was very concise and eloquent and echoed my own thoughts exactly..

So here in no particular order are my three all time favourites..

Firstly the olm.. something I had seen in moth eaten books in the school library and never though as a child (pre internet and easyjet) I would ever get to see.

IMG_1799 copy.jpg (38.7 KiB) Viewed 9229 times

Secondly a little lizard, raffonei.. for the difficulty in seeing the creature in its natural environment, and for the company... a very very funny trip..

and finally Daboia.. just an utter beast of a snake.. and again the company..

Cheers

Paul

[Berislav Horvatic]

Kristians break down of the question was very concise and eloquent and echoed my own thoughts exactly...

It was very far from concise, on the contrary, quite a long reading, but extremely eloquent and reasonable,
and echoed my own thoughts exactly as well as yours.

Firstly the olm.. something I had seen in moth eaten books in the school library and never though as a child
(pre internet and easyjet) I would ever get to see.

If you ever manage it to Zagreb, you're most welcome, we'll show you a lot of them in the ZOO, hidden
in a dark room (of course), behind the stage, not for "wider public", just for special visitors, the VIP's.
And, mind you, it's pretty cold in there, just as it should be - for their sake.
Personally, I really don't understand the fascination with these pale worms - I even refrained from taking
a single photo in the darkroom, when the lights were on (for a short time, of course) for the convenience
of the then VIP visitors.

[GertJan Verspui]

So, after starting this post on the 18th of december I finally found some time to look into my own top 3 and I saw the concept of Jürgen and I will use it too, not only because I can put more animals in a top 3, but also because Jürgen is a good friend who even put my find in his top 3, this makes me a bit proud!

Top 3 of what I found by myself:
1. Pseudocerastes persicus UAE 2015, my absolute favorite from the regions I have been so far the Arabian peninsula, I would have never expected to find it there.

2. Vipera monticola, Morocco 2015, 1 perfect afternoon I found 3 of them and I do consider myself lucky.

3. Botriechis lateralis, Costa Rica 2015, lovely small viper!

Top 3 of what we found in a Team:

1. Crotalus simus, Costa Rica 2015, found on the road with my whole family in the car on the last 10 minutes of the last night road cruising in that area.

2. Pseudocerastes fieldi, on my 3rd trip to Israel there were only 2 venomous (atractaspis was the other) snakes I did not see/find myself yet of which the latter one was my most wanted, this time I was very lucky that Aviad rescued one from a waterhole!

3. Montivipera xantina, Greece 2013, only seen one juvenile of this species so far, Bert found it and it was a stunning little worm.

Top 3 of best herping Observations/Activities:

1. Cerastes vipera, C. cerastes & C. gasperettii, Israel & UAE,finding them after tracking them in sandy areas, this is without a doubt the most exiting way of herping for me.

2. Glass Frogs, Costa Rica, trying to find some of the glass frogs is not very easy, locating their calls is one thing, but then trying to get closer when the animals are at least 6 meters high up in a tree, that is a challenge.

3. Salamandra salamandra, Pyrenees, 2012, the abundance of all the salamanders going everywhere, really great, driving out of that area was not so easy, we did not want to kill the salamanders.

male

female

[Mario Schweiger]

great shots, Gert Jan!
And your No 1, the most pretty P. persicus is a stunner for sure

[GertJan Verspui]

Thanks Mario!!

[Clive Brignull]

My top three, or rather our top three (as I herp with my two sons), have been chosen solely from our European trips. Rather than choosing species in relation to their rarity/aesthetics, our selection has fallen on how memoriable the find was in regards to it not only being a target species, but also the fact that only a singular individual was found on each occasion.

Third Place - Rana iberica (Spain, 2011)

Out of the hundreds of Bufo bufo toadlets, this one looked different.


Second Place - Salamandra atra (Switzerland, 2012)

Bad timing, heavy snow and blocked roads prevented us from reaching the required location and altitude. A search was conducted at a much lower altitude, below the snow line, with one specimen being found.


First Place - Iberolacerta horvathi (Slovenia, 2015)

Having searched all but the last site on the last day, a potential candidate was seen dissapearing into a hole in a wall. A long wait for it to reappear was rewarded with the target species, an adult Horvath's being positively identified.