Kenny had already visited it. I had never heard of it. You'll love the Bruni dump he told me. Cool stuff. Really cool.



If you're a herper, you'll probably already have guessed that it was not the trash that was of interest to us. It was what had found their homes beneath the trash: the herps, and for me at least, the small mammals, that were the "cool stuff."

We jogged down a couple of short blocks, paralleled the railroad tracks for a block or two and voila, instant herp habitat. Even before we left the car we were able to observe the first herp, a group of very alert and active prairie racerunners, Aspidoscelis sexlineatus viridis.

We flipped a few pieces of trash and beneath a piece of tarp, we found the first snake, a beautiful Texas patch-nose, Salvadora grahamiae lineata. Cool indeed.

Beneath a small piece of plywood was a pair of flat-headed snakes, Tantilla gracilis. Then our luck dried up for a while.

But just before we left, beneath a huge torn and discarded tarp we found the prize of the day--a magnificent adult Schott's whipsnake, Masticophis s. schotti. Cool stuff for sure!

Picture taking time now.