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Why They Are Not Crawling !
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by Cro on October 7, 2006
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A couple of weeks ago I purchased a Infrared Laser Thermometer Gun off of eBay.
What is really kool about this Thermometer Gun, is that you can aim it at a road surface, or inside a reptile cage, or at a snake you find in the wild.
What a lot of herpers fail to realise, is that even though the air temperature gets to say 87 degrees during the day, that the temperature of a asphalt road surface could be much hotter than that. It could be 120 degrees, as the surface holds the heat and builds up heat during the day, much like a greenhouse traps heat far in excess of the air temperatures. And they fail to realise that the log they are placing a snake on to photograph it could be deadly hot to the snake, even though it just feels somewhat hot to a human.
Now most of you would not keep a captive snake at 120 degrees F, but you might very well take your 94 to 98 degree hand and place it on the pavement and find the pavement somewhat warm, and say, ``well, the surface is still warm, so snakes will be crawling, lets go road cruising.`` The problem with this is that what feels comfortably warm to you could be hot enough to cook a cold-blooded snake!
Snakes out on 120 degree F. roads might be quickly crossing, but will not be sitting and basking in the roads warmth. The road surface might not cool enough for snakes to cross it or bask on it until after midnight or even until 3:00 a.m. In West Texas the summer air temperatures get to 120 degrees F. and the road temperatures get to 150 degrees F ! It can take many hours until the roads cool to reasonable temperatures.
I was herping extreme South Georgia this last August, and the day time air temperatures were hitting 105 degrees F. Snakes did not start crawling at night until 11:00 p.m. because it took that long for the asphault roads to cool enough for snakes to cross them. And the sand roads were still over 100 degrees F. in late afternoon just before dark.
What is really kool about one of these infrared thermometer guns, is you can point it a road surface and instantly get road temperature, which could feel cool to you if it were 95 degrees F., as it is colder than your surface skin temperature.
Also, you could point the thermometer gun at a snake you find on the road, and at the pavement, and at the roadside. If the snake`s temperature matches the road, he has been sitting on the road long enough to warm up to the road temperature. But if the snakes temperature matches the roadside temperature, and the road is hotter, then he probably just crawled out on the road.
In the old days, we had to try to take road temperatures with metal thermometers, which dont go into roads very well, and snake temperatures by shoving the thermometer up the snakes you know what. And you had to wait minutes for the temperature to stabolise. And snakes like Western Diamond-backed Rattlesanes did not like waiting around while you took their temperatures via probe.
So anyway, this new instant reading thermometer is something that will make you a better herper. Once you start using it, you will find yourself using it all the time. You can get a very basic one for under $50.00 dollars, and they make fancy ones too, but you dont need those. I see it as one of the best investments I have made in herping gadgets.
Here is a link to a tool company who sells them. But search Froogle also, you might find one cheaper.
http://stores.ebay.com/e-toolsales-com
After you get to the tool site, search Raytek MT4 INFRARED-MINI-TEMP-LASER-THERMOMETER-GUN.
Hope this helps some of you become better herpers.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: Why They Are Not Crawling !
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by Rob_Carmichael on October 8, 2006
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Boy John, I couldn't agree with you more. I, too, take along my Raytek when I am in the field and we appreciate the in depth reasoning as to why it is such a good field herping tool; there are many applications for this device.
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL
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RE: Why They Are Not Crawling !
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by SimplySnakes on October 8, 2006
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John, I have been using a temp gun for years. Mine is Raytek. It really helps when hunting in the cooler months here in Florida. I found a Eastern Diamondback basking in a spot that was 91 degrees, moved the laser to a shaded spot about three feet away and it registered 51. This was on January 3rd of this year. I use the temp gun when checking under car hoods or plywood to see at what temps snakes are still on the surface. The lowest I have found is 42 and the snake had a meal in it's stomach. Very usefull when looking for snakes. Pro Exotics also sells some but thet are not as good as the Raytek. Raytek makes this gun for Air Condition Techs to check temps of a/c coils and supply temps.
We should put this thread under product reviews.
Paul
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