IA Born

Unfortunately, only USFS lands were removed from the bill. BLM lands within 5 (?) miles of cities (paraphrasing) is still on the table. The Parliamentarian could only throw out so much, so Jackwagon Lee left BLM lands on the table. Apparently, he doesn't realize (doesn't care) that BLM land makes up just as much, if not more in some areas, Federal lands being used by all in the west as USFS lands. And last I saw the suppressor thing was still in there.

Bump. Can bring these with me on our way to the airport July 4

Can bring this with me on our way to the airport July 4

Can bring these with me on our way to the airport July 4

Sold

Get your chance to hunt turkeys in Arizona 365 days. This is a state-wide raffle for a Commissioner's Turkey Tag, good for any open turkey unit. Make sure and check the regs because the Rio units in NW AZ are closed for now. $20/chance https://www.naznwtf.org/product-page/az-commissioner-s-turkey-tag-raffle

Last youth hunt for my son and another southern whitetail tag for me and my daughter. I'm looking forward to this October and November!

Bump. Will be coming south July 4 to catch a flight and can bring this.

Bump. Will be coming south July 4 to catch a flight and can bring these.

Bump. Will be coming south July 4 to catch a flight and can bring these.

Bump. Partial box sold. Will be coming south July 4 to catch a flight and csn bring these.

We've had 2 cancellations in the field day over the weekend. Even though the waitlist is clear, the class is showing closed. PM me if you want a spot for you and/or your kid and I can make it happen.

Flagstaff Hunter Ed Team is hosting a field day for online students June 21 from 1-5pm. This is for students who have taken the online hybrid course and still need the in-person field day. 30 spots in the class. https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/229304

1 spot left!

I thought the pic I had from helping with a research project in Chiricahua NM was me holding the blactail by its tail, but its me with it in my hook. I had it by its tail, but others were freaking out, so I played nice. Other blacktail pics are from the Santa Ritas and Huachucas. Chiricahua NM Scheelite Canyon, Ft Huachuca Madera Canyon, right off a popular trail Scotia Canyon, Huachuca Mts Right outside Ft Huachuca West Gate They all got defensive and rattled like crazy once I started messing with them, but they were never aggressive or eager to strike. In fact, all of these barely rattled at all when we walked past them. Like barely two tail twitches.

2 spots left in this field day in Flagstaff.

And that could be a product of SE AZ blacktails vs the rest of the state. I've encountered them in the all of the Sky Islands, except for the Pinalenos and everyone was about as docile as they come. Most barely rattled and were content staying quiet until I started messing with them. I've been the third person hiking out of a canyon at night and stepped within 2 inches of a blacktail and it only rattled a couple of shakes after I was past it. I was doing spotted owl surveys on Ft Huachuca many years ago and ended up sharing an abandoned cabin with one and my dog. I relocated it safely out of the cabin and down the canyon and it was all "Hey, cool view from up here!". I'll find that picture of me holding one by its tail when I get to my office tomorrow. I miss seeing blacktails, especially in SE AZ where they are so yellow in color.

3 spots left in this field day

What kind of blacktail info are you wanting? And you're talking blacktail rattlesnake (C. molossus) and not AZ Blacks, right? I've never had issues with blacktails being mean or aggressive in AZ. In fact, most of the specimens I've encountered barely rattled to let us know they were there and they were very docile when handled. I actually used to grab them by the tail and pick them up. I have a picture of that somewhere, too, from down in the Chiricahaus. The blacktails in west Texas were a whole other ballgame, though. They were aggressive AF and would strike like crazy. We had a a set of young Mohaves from west Texas with the neurotoxin. They were born in captivity to a 4-foot female that was captured near Hueco Tanks. It was fun to watch feeding time. It gave you a good perspective as to how lethal the Mojave toxin is. They would strike the mice we fed them, the mice would jump straight up, and hit the bottom of the tank dead with minimal twitching, if any. One of those beauties escaped on me during feeding time once. It hit the ground at my feet and went under some tanks/tubs on the floor. I had to go and lock myself in a 7x15 room with it and start moving tanks, tubs, and cans around to get it back in its cage. That was kind of unnerving.

In our research labs, we called them vent hoods, but they are 100% the same. We had a fancy lyophilizer machine that did all the work. We'd put the venom samples in a -70F flash freezer and then throw them in the lyophilizer when we had time. Another funny story related to that was me flying to Monterrey, Mexico to present my research at a big herp conference and forgetting I had all about 5 vials of crystallized Mojave toxin in my book bag. Somehow, I made it into Mexico and back out with no problems and it was my carry-on bag. I realized my mistake when we came through customs in El Paso (flew out of Juarez because it was cheaper) to cross back in the U.S. I was trying to figure out how to explain that one away. Luckily, the customs agent looked right past those vials.

Understand. Let me think about how to get from you in Vail to me in Flagstaff. Your H1000 caught my eye, too.

Heading to Phx tomorrow. Can throw these in

Separate one or two or selling as a lot? Any interest in trading for RL16?

PM me your email and, when I get back to work next week, I can send you some of the science papers I read that got me interested and motivated if you're interested. I can send you my research publication, too, if you need a cure for insomnia. The original work by Glenn and Straight (1983 and a couple of others of theirs) documented the hemorrhagic toxin to roughly parallel the east side of I-10 between Tucson and Phx (big generalization there) with outliers/specimens all around both towns. The areas having both neurotoxin (called Mojave toxin) and hemorrhagic toxin ran right along that I-10. The hemorrhagic toxin is very specific to a smaller area within Arizona and the area with properties of both is even smaller in AZ. Throughout the rest of their range in AZ, NM, NV, CA, far southwest UT and west Texas (east of El Paso), they have a very strong neurotoxin. Lethality results from LD50 tests puts venom from diamondbacks (all hemorrhagic toxin) at roughly 3-5 micrograms of venom/kilograms of body weight. Mojave toxin LD50 tests were at a range of 0.15-0.25 micrograms of venom/kilograms of body weight. True/funny story. I was processing vials of pure crystallized Mojave toxin in my lab one day, after getting all of the un-pure liquids off and I wasn't at the vent hood in my lab. It took me a few minutes to realize I'd been inhaling the pure, crystallized Mojave toxin. I lost feeling in my nose for three hours and had recurring outbreaks during times of hight stress due to the buildup of antibodies specific to the venom. I'd lose feeling in my nose for up to an hour. That went off/on for about 10 years.