Found one of those alligator lizards in my church when I lived in California (I live in Kentucky now), and when I took him outside, right before I set him down, he bit the crap out of my finger. I think I can still see where he got me! And this was about six or seven years ago!
When I lived in SoCal as a kid, one of those alligator lizards ended up living in our garden. We attempted to "rehome" him to a safer location outside (we had three cats) but he refused and continually came back (we knew it was him, because he was missing his tail, we named him Stumpy.) Ultimately, we ended up homing him in a large empty tank we had, he tamed very well and was super happy for years, even allowed us to hold him and hand feed him without issue and no biting (and his tail started regrowing!). He'd even come up to the glass to greet us each morning, then curl up under his log to sleep (they sleep in a circle!). Amazing experience, miss you little Stumpy.
I wish I could have provided this level of good husbandry to all the critters I caught when I was a kid in the 80s! The love was there, but the know-how lagged a bit behind…
That Garter was super adorable. Like how he was super scared at first and then decided that you were an adequate heatsource. So cute how he curled around your fingers. Such a beautiful snake too.
I worked with wild garter snakes this summer, a lot of them are like that if they're a bit bigger and the small ones are snappy. The most aggro snake this summer was a 50 gram snake that was no more than a foot long but man he just kept biting me in the same spot over and over!
@@spjr99 I think the reason the babies do that is because the adults are more street smart, so they know not to start fights when they're not being hurt. Babies, on the other hand, have no clue that something could just be looking at it, so they try to kill/scare away anything without realizing the possible consequences of picking a fight they can't win.
Yeah, watching this video reminded me that when I was small we had big plywood boards to cover our sandbox and sometimes they'd accidentally get left in the middle of the yard for a while and when we'd finally move them there'd be like worms and crickets and rolypolys under. Also we'd do that with garden border bricks flipping them to see the bugs.
@@samjohnson4751 ikr i used to look under some tarp in my garden when i was 6 and i would always find toads,isopods,centipedes and lots of spiders. it was so fun
Yeah I live nearby a stream/creek, pond and swamp and in the late spring and early summer I like to go there and peer into the crevices to see the isopods, diver beetle larvae etc. It's really quaint. It's a nice break from every day life.
My favorite part of Ed and Emily's relationship (as someone who obviously doesn't know them in person or anything) is the way they always match the other's excitement. Like from what I can see, they encourage each other's interests and don't ever feel like they can't be obviously excited about something.
As an Australian, seeing y’all just casually flipping trash shoots my anxiety through the roof 😅 one time I found a discarded soft toy on the side of the road, flipped it, and found a rather large red belly black snake curled up underneath it. I would love to find a python but 9 times out of 10 it’s something deadly.
Yep here in Texas it’s very likely going to be a rattler, a cottonmouth or a copperhead and we also have coral snakes that show up in people’s gardens sometimes so I’ll def pass on tracking them down lol.
@@FioreCiliegia yeah normally, but it’s best not to bother them in case they’re not. Also, the younger ones tend to be quite sassy and bitey instead of chill or fleeing. Just ask my $3000+ cat.
Appreciate you stating those "rules" to flipping as I have seen a lot of places in Colorado where you can see where people flipped over boards but didn't put them back in the same spot. Also love millipedes
Also, be careful flipping boards, as you might find a black widow or rattlesnake or worse. Find a sturdy branch to lift the board so your hands are further away. Bonus: you can use it to prop the board when needed.
Hey Emily! That wasn’t actually a tarantula you found, but rather a false tarantula! They do look very similar, but this was not an Aphonopelma at all; it was Calisoga spp. They are very unique arachnids and it was very interesting to see a little peek at something you don’t usually get to see. I would be very excited to have discovered one, as they do look very convincingly like Theraphosidae!
@@sayosweeti5757 not exactly what’s going on between those two species. That is called mimicry. In this case they look similar because they are related. False tarantulas are part of the family nemesiidae while tarantulas are theraphosidae both are within the order mygalomorphae which includes trap doors/tarantulas/ false tarantulas/etc and the physical similarities you’re recognizing are called synapomorphies or “same traits” both have that help to distinguish them from other types of spiders like all the ones we are more familiar with in the order araneae
The way Emily has literally no hesitation or fear while catching and handling animals is amazing! I am very envious of that!! I love animals but I am scared to touch a lot of them, I wish I wasn’t!
Yeah so we don't grab snakes here in Arkansas until we take a second to check that it's not a copperhead, cottonmouth, or one of several types of rattlesnake. Even the nonvenemous snakes here such as rat snakes, king snakes, and brown water snakes, will still happily bite you and hang on like a bulldog. But I love em anyway
I'd actually touch a wild snake if I was positive I knew exactly what it was, and it wasn't a venomous one!! Always prepare to be bitten of course!! I wouldn't have ever done it if it wasn't for Emily. I haven't ever deliberately gone herping, but I did see a Garter Snake randomly one day. I was in line for a shuttle bus to a Renaissance Festival, and we were near a wooded area, and there it was. If I was Emily, I'd have picked it up, or if she was there, and could tell me it was safe, I would have been more likely to pick it up!! I wanted to move it, because it was in danger of being stepped on, and my mom is afraid, and was with me. Someone in line behind me, she picked it up and gently tossed it into the nearby woods!! Maybe it was Emily in disguise 🥸 LOL Probably not, it was in Michigan.
I’ve lived in ca my whole life and I have only found an Alligator Lizard once. I was catching Western Fence Post Lizards(aka blue bellies) at a family function and one turned around and bit me. It didn’t hurt but I was confused so I went to show my grandpa the lizard biting me. On my way to Grandpa, the lizard let go and raced across the grass and climbed my 2 year old baby cousin and sat on the top of her head. Grandpa tried to get it out of her hair before all the aunts and Grandma saw it, but the baby started running because Grandpa looked big and scary. I probably should have helped him, but 12 year old me thought that watching a 6’2” linebacker chase a baby with a lizard in her hair absolutely hilarious. Grandpa was my first herping guide. I miss him.
Western fence post lizards- thats the name. I see them all the time in my backyard, and i always try to catch them when i can. They love this brick wall that divides my backyard from a local trail. Whenever i manage to catch one, i always turn it over to admire the two blue stripes- so pretty!
Me: "Wow I can't wait to find a reputable salamander breeder and start making my collection bigger!" Emily and Ed: "Hey look at this salamander I found in the ✨trash ✨!" 😄😄
Theory about the salamander rolling up: He kind of looks like a small pile of feces when he does that so maybe it's just meant to convince would-be predators that there's nothing worthwhile in that spot so they move on? I know very little about salamanders so this is just purely a guess from seeing it happen when Ed was holding the salamander.
It very much reminds me of something I saw on Facebook last week a little cartoon comic thing on there where a human asks her dog why he always likes to roll in the grass then the next panel is the grass with little faces on every blade asking to pet him
Yes! I went on vacation in Florida and the whole time I was just searching for Reptiles and amphibians I found a large American alligator and a Burmese python and many many iguanas and Brown anoles and green anoles
You know what I love? That you guys take time to find out information you don't know before sharing a video. You don't assume you know everything and hold your hands up when you don't. Massive respect!
As soon as they found the alligator lizard, I thought, "Hey, I know that species. They bite." And then it did. They're ornery little buggers. XD Strange to watch people in my area intentionally looking through trash for rattle snakes when I was taught to avoid trash piles for that very reason. I'm glad you found a bunch of little salamanders rather than rattle snakes~
Your enthusiasm for finding critters is contagious. Reminds me of when I was a kid & we would go to the local dump and the crick behind our house. My favorite find was the lizard 🦎 & that tarantula was a surprise.
I kept getting startled when you would turn over something towards you. I live in an area that has a lot of copperheads and it was ingrained in me and my kids that we don't turn things over like that. Then I realized that not only are y'all trained professionals, but you WANTED to find snakes. LOL I finally calmed down and enjoyed the rest of the video.
Sameeee. I grew up in a rattlesnake area and was taught to avoid bricks, trashpiles, or just things that look like it could serve as a hide or den for a rattler. Everytime they turned the boards, I flinched 😭😅
Watching your (Emily and Ed's) appreciation for 'adorable' creepy crawlies has really changed my perception of them. Centipedes would not be something I previously thought of as cute, in fact probably quite the opposite. Emily holding them and talking about their cuteness and personalities has made me appreciate them more. I can see them as cute now that I have 'met' them. Also, I have always thought snakes were interesting and sometimes beautiful, but now whenever I see a little or baby snake I think awe, they are so cute. You two are awesome educators. I'm an adult much older than the two of you, and you have greatly influenced me, I can only imagine the huge impact you have had on children. Still working on my spider issue. It's not as bad as it used to be, but they still give me the heeby-jeebies.
It was actually a millipede she was holding though I agree with all those legs they can be intimating and spooky... I still despise centipedes though more than likely because I get house centipedes in my basement and they seem to vaporize out of nothing to startle me!
@@nerlana1281 Oh thanks, and anything that lets itself into my house is no longer cute. A squirrel got into my basement through a door that was left open and I swear it made a sort of growling terrifying sound. It was in the beams of my basement at almost eye level when I came down the stairs. I would definitely not want the millipedes in my house. LOL
Oddly, I have seen Emily's hand so many times that I picked up that her right index finger may have been swollen in one spot. Hope it is not hurting you, Emily.
I once had a wild caught alligator lizard, she was a rescue. We found her in middle if the road not moving, so we took her home and got her warmed up and fed. We kept her in a nice warm cage and would feed her the fattest cockroaches we could find, and even once a dragonfly. We ended up releasing heron the side of the road where we found her once the weather warmed up. That was the only time I ever had a pet reptile. My mom was highly against having reptiles and still is but chose to let us keep Lizzy (that's what we named her) because my mom thought that she was gorgeous with she was. She didn't look like the one in the video tho. She was more of a grey color with blueish grey and black spots that looked like a checkerboard, her scales faded into a coppery color by her feet and near her flap with had a black stripe, she also had a regrown tail with was a silvery copper colored mix. She had probably the biggest personality I've ever seen on any reptile. If a cockroach escaped from her grasp she would get offended and chase after it full speed to get it. I miss her and loved her dearly.
Have to wonder what that experience was like from Lizzy's perspective, if reptiles could think at a certain level. :) It'd be like an alien abduction or a religious experience. "I was stranded and cold, and this giant creature picked me up and took me to a strange clear barrier and fed and warmed me. Eventually it just put me back right where it found me!" "Sure, Lizzy, tell us again about how big it was."
Can't believe you found an alligator lizard but not a bluebelly, they're so much more common! But they're probably in brumation right now Also those salamanders like to hide under plant pots too
Thank you thank you! I have always been afraid of snakes, salamanders, lizards, and millipedes, but I love watching you interacting with nature. I will never own a snake, but I love your informative videos, and I feel like you two really do respect the animals you care for. I am a furry animal "mom" and I care for them like you do yours, with attention too their needs, and respect for their abilities.
Growing up, there were cinder blocks everywhere and I remember going around with my siblings, flipping them over to look for salamanders, worms, and other creepy crawlies Looking back I’m glad no snakes decided to hide under anything we flipped over 😅
Id love a video on how to set up your yard for critter success :) like if you were ever to make a critter friendly play structure for kids at your facility? Like maybe avoid certain wood chips and paints?
My family loves your channel. I have custody of my four grandkids, hence the channel name. I use my grandsons channel to watch TH-cam. My oldest is 15 and already has two snakes. He wants to be like you. Very adamant about it too. We love what you two do. We have learned so much. Thank you. We love you both. Also we have been subscribed to your channel when you first started and I knew you were amazing from the beginning and now 2.5 million. Congratulations
I never needed to go herping for Alligator Lizards, they always snuck into my in-law's house some how. Once walked out of the bathroom to one chilling right in the hallway. Even found one under my pillow once. Man now I miss CA😔💔
I actually think the tarantula you found is either Aphonopelma eutylenum or Aphonopelma steindachneri. Aphonopelma chalcodes have a blonde carapace with blonde legs and red hairs on their abdomen and even males will have more of a brown coloration than a black one. It's still really cool that you found one though!
The animals you found were really cool but I just wanted to say thank you for also featuring the moss! That forest that you shared at the very end of the video was amazingly beautiful!! 💕
IM CRYING IM SO HAPPY I live on the west coast of Canada and I go out herping all the time and I've caught DOZENS of Northern Alligator Lizards and I knew what it was immediately after you caught it!!! I'm so so happy to see an animal I see in my own wilds in your video, I want to one day become an educator on the natural species in British Columbia. Thank you for inspiring me so much with your videos
Not me. I started watching because it's a Snake channel, didn't mind other herps but it gets old having channels ruined by that. It would be awesome if that were patreon material or they split the channel.
@@amandastakeonit7402 I agree with this, I think the original commenter just meant like in general seeing more spiders and snails, not more videos entirely dedicated to them though
I've always thought the Garters here in eastern Iowa along the Mississippi seem to also cross with one another, especially closer to the marshy areas along said river. Some have red, some are more like Plains, some more striped like a Ribbon and everything in between. Given how they live so close and pseudo communally (I remember finding 3-5 adults under the same railroad tie lol) it makes sense that the species lines blur where the wild areas overlap, especially in a species as varied and prolific as Garters lol.
I'm in west central Illinois and grew up near the Quad Cities, so it's awesome to see your comment! I totally agree, there is SO MUCH variation in garters!
Sudanese Plated Lizards have a VERY similar flap to the alligator lizard you found (woo convergent evolution!) And they use it to inflate themselves after wedging into cracks so that predators can't pick them up!
BRILLIANT! I just KNEW it was for inflating! I just couldn't back it up since it didn't inflate for Emily, but the wedging makes so much sense! I could kiss you!!! Muah! YES YES YES!!! Thank you for sharing that!
I super loved this video! The salamander had little baby dead pool arms and legs 🤣 And it was friggin' adorable when Emily pulled that pill bug out of her pocket to show Ed! 😍 Lastly, when the lizard bit Emily I was just expecting the pop up text to say something like "snack" lol 😝
As a Northern Californian who doesn’t like bugs this video was scarily eye opening lol I was unaware of the giant tarantulas and millipedes that inhabit my area😅😅
I wish y'all could come to Utah, it's a lovely place and it has some great herping spots, I even accidentally caught a Painted turtle when fishing, I made sure he was ok. But as of now it's probably not the greatest time to herp, the tail end of spring is the best time, cuz it's just warming up and it's not freezing cold or scorching hot. Yay for living in a desert
Clint of Clint's Reptiles herps Utah all the time, he lives there. They should just go hang with Clint. I live just above you, LOVE living in the desert!
That was cool. I've actually seen a rattle snake in the wild on a hike during the summer, it was just sunbathing on the hiking trail and moved off when we stopped to let it pass so it wouldn't feel threatened. I recommend checking out Crystal cove next time you're in Southern California during the summer. Even if you don't find reptiles, there's tide pools there with little ecosystems.
this reminded me of a time i went hiking in central california in the summer with my sister and on our way home it started to rain so we got out and ran around. my sister ran far ahead of me and jumped off a log about a foot away from a rattlesnake curled under a tree. her scream was so loud my dad heard her from the car and came running. well she’s not always too bright so she walked up to it to figure out where the sound was coming from. our dad got there and she was in striking distance of the snake just staring. she never got bit but man did we give her crap on the way home for not leaving it alone once she saw it. the poor thing just wanted to be left alone and not get wet lol
10:05 watch out, that lizard is going to bite...oh...did you... You know someone's a real one when they pull a power move like that. "Here you go little buddy!"
Yeah, I was utterly shocked to learn that there are species that don’t have common names. Like, you’re telling me nobody took the chance to name it after themself?
I would love to invite Ed and Emily to my grandparents farm (in Colorado) sometime in the warmer seasons because there’s a lot of rattlesnakes, bull snakes, and red racers that live there.
I grew up in rural central CA and there were so many great critters. We regularly got tarantulas, gopher snakes, and toads all the time. There was a toad that took up residence under my dog’s water bowl. Hey, we even had roadrunners and coyotes too!
I absolutely love garter snakes. I work as a groundskeeper at an interpretive center and when I mowed, I would make sure to keep an eye out for snakes/frogs/etc. and have been able to show plenty of kiddos garter snakes through the large windows 😭
Hey guys so I’ve been keeping tarantulas for 13 years and 10 of those years were in California. The tarantula at the beginning of the video is not an aphonopelma calchodes. You are correct that they aren’t usually found in California because that is a different species. American aphonopelma can be extremely similar so I’m not sure on the exact species but I do know that it is absolutely not a calchodes. No hate just wanted to let you know!
Herping- the reptile version of alien abduction, lol. Love it, love your videos. I have never been a fan of nope noodles, but having watched you guys for so long the garter snakes I find in my yard don’t freak me out quite so much. So thank you for that, lol.
Emily: An alligator lizard named for their face shape My brain: I thought it’s cause they bite a lot Lizard: *bites Emily’s hand Me: yup there it is XD
What a delight of a video! Little treasures all over the place! So happy to see the tarantula - I'm such a huge fan of spiders of any kind and up here in northern Canada, there's no way to see a tarantula in the wild (or lizards, for that matter, though we have them in other regions. Not up here in cold central!). Thanks for a fun video.
As a snail enjoyer who semi-frequently goes "snerping" (or gastropoding I guess), trash piles are also almost snail playgrounds. Not surprising some were hanging out here! Also, the snail that didn't have its eyes and tentacles out probably wasn't too concerned, just having a taste before it took the relative risk of putting its more delicate sensory hardware out.
I’ve also found a garter snake recently because I nearly ran over it with my bike (it was sunset so it was hard to see) but after I picked it up to make sure it was okay, and it looked healthy and unharmed! It is scary that I nearly ran it over but overall I was pretty happy because that was the first time I ever got to hold a garter snake. Technically, it wasn’t my lifer as before that I had seen one quickly slithering across the path in front of me when I was on my bike riding around a lake, but the first time I didn’t get a very close look, let alone hold it so the more recent one was really exciting!! btw, thank you so much for teaching me about reptiles because I used to be really scared of snakes, but now I know so much more!!
I would catch garters as a toddler. One of my most vivid memories was my mom coming out of the house, me by the steps with a garter I just caught, her yelling, put that down! Put it down, it will bite you! I looked at it, looked at her and knew she gives false information. I held him until she really made me let go. He was calm in my tiny hands but my mom was the spaz! I knew I had held garters before but I can't remember it, I just remember knowing they don't bite (they hadn't bitten me by age 3 anyway). I have always loved snakes and it started with garters because that's all I knew.
I have a guess at why they like garbage. Garbage=bugs=lizards/salamanders/ect.=snakes who eat the lizards and or mice that are also attracted to garbage. And like Emily said it provides protection to boot.
I so love that Emily put the isopod in her pocket so she could show it to Ed, because she knows how much he loves isopods. 💕💕💕
Yeah
Yesh
Yeah
I was thinking that too they was funny o3o
That’s the type of thing everyone should strive for
Funfact isopods are called ‘skrukketroll’ in norwegian, which basically translates to wrinkly troll😂
Swedish isopods - sad isopod noises
Are you Norwegian? From Norway? Do you live there?
We call them Woodlice in England. Wrinkly trolls is much cooler!
Thank you! That is a delightfully fun fact! 😄
They are also called "kaffedyr" in Norwegian, meaning coffee animals. Skrukketroll is cuter!
Love how the lizard wanted to bite Emily and she just
Was like “okay” and puts her finger in its mouth
lol
Not gonna lie I do that with the lizards and skinks I catch as well
Sometimes it even makes them give up biting while I hold them
Found one of those alligator lizards in my church when I lived in California (I live in Kentucky now), and when I took him outside, right before I set him down, he bit the crap out of my finger. I think I can still see where he got me! And this was about six or seven years ago!
Lol
He wa spike “OH YOU GONNA TASE LIKE COOKIES” “oh nope she tastes like rain”
When I lived in SoCal as a kid, one of those alligator lizards ended up living in our garden. We attempted to "rehome" him to a safer location outside (we had three cats) but he refused and continually came back (we knew it was him, because he was missing his tail, we named him Stumpy.) Ultimately, we ended up homing him in a large empty tank we had, he tamed very well and was super happy for years, even allowed us to hold him and hand feed him without issue and no biting (and his tail started regrowing!). He'd even come up to the glass to greet us each morning, then curl up under his log to sleep (they sleep in a circle!). Amazing experience, miss you little Stumpy.
That is absolutely adorable
I wish I could have provided this level of good husbandry to all the critters I caught when I was a kid in the 80s! The love was there, but the know-how lagged a bit behind…
SO CUTE
@@stellabelikiewicz1523 🐊🐍🐢🦁🦦🦇🦅🦂🕷️🐝🦛🐆🐅🦔
@@stellabelikiewicz1523 🦦🦦🦦🦦
"When it's scared, it rolls up as a defense mechanism."
ball python: "Ah, I see you are a man of culture as well."
XD underrated comment
XD
😂😂😂
That Garter was super adorable. Like how he was super scared at first and then decided that you were an adequate heatsource. So cute how he curled around your fingers. Such a beautiful snake too.
I worked with wild garter snakes this summer, a lot of them are like that if they're a bit bigger and the small ones are snappy. The most aggro snake this summer was a 50 gram snake that was no more than a foot long but man he just kept biting me in the same spot over and over!
I misread “garter” as “gator” and was so confused reading the rest of the comment until I reread it.
@@spjr99 I think the reason the babies do that is because the adults are more street smart, so they know not to start fights when they're not being hurt. Babies, on the other hand, have no clue that something could just be looking at it, so they try to kill/scare away anything without realizing the possible consequences of picking a fight they can't win.
there’s something about herping that reminds me of careless childhood memories of exploring my backyard and the nearby parks
Yeah same I loved doing that
Yeah, watching this video reminded me that when I was small we had big plywood boards to cover our sandbox and sometimes they'd accidentally get left in the middle of the yard for a while and when we'd finally move them there'd be like worms and crickets and rolypolys under. Also we'd do that with garden border bricks flipping them to see the bugs.
@@samjohnson4751 ikr i used to look under some tarp in my garden when i was 6 and i would always find toads,isopods,centipedes and lots of spiders. it was so fun
Mhm same here, I also remember a time a random millipede decided to climb my leg XD
Yeah I live nearby a stream/creek, pond and swamp and in the late spring and early summer I like to go there and peer into the crevices to see the isopods, diver beetle larvae etc. It's really quaint. It's a nice break from every day life.
Alligator Lizard: Grr, I am angry. I want to bite you!
Emily: Okay, here's my finger.
Emily could have died! She was in GRAVE DANGER of being EATEN by an ALLIGATOR (lizard)!
REX, back in her enclosure: "no she wasn't"
h m
@lil grunt =) probably patreon
@lil grunt =) basically they pay to get early access to videos ^^
Hahaha this is so funny 😂 thank you for making my day 😊
My favorite part of Ed and Emily's relationship (as someone who obviously doesn't know them in person or anything) is the way they always match the other's excitement. Like from what I can see, they encourage each other's interests and don't ever feel like they can't be obviously excited about something.
Ed: I found an isopod!
Emily: ISOPOD?! WHERE?!
I've noticed that too and I love it!!
As an Australian, seeing y’all just casually flipping trash shoots my anxiety through the roof 😅 one time I found a discarded soft toy on the side of the road, flipped it, and found a rather large red belly black snake curled up underneath it. I would love to find a python but 9 times out of 10 it’s something deadly.
Meee too (I’m also Australian)
Yep here in Texas it’s very likely going to be a rattler, a cottonmouth or a copperhead and we also have coral snakes that show up in people’s gardens sometimes so I’ll def pass on tracking them down lol.
Yeah but even if they are spicy aren’t those pretty chill?
@@FioreCiliegia yeah normally, but it’s best not to bother them in case they’re not. Also, the younger ones tend to be quite sassy and bitey instead of chill or fleeing. Just ask my $3000+ cat.
We take a stick with us when moving fly tipping in case of dead bodies
Salamanders look like the real-life version of when people draw stick arms on snake photos
Omg
Lol right
Yes xDD
You're right lol
Lol
Appreciate you stating those "rules" to flipping as I have seen a lot of places in Colorado where you can see where people flipped over boards but didn't put them back in the same spot. Also love millipedes
Also, be careful flipping boards, as you might find a black widow or rattlesnake or worse. Find a sturdy branch to lift the board so your hands are further away. Bonus: you can use it to prop the board when needed.
Me: **sees title** oh, that's sad that people would throw away reptiles like that.
Me: **sees intro** oh! Ok that's good actually
SAME!!!!!!
Same
Same!!!!!!!
Same
Same
Hey Emily!
That wasn’t actually a tarantula you found, but rather a false tarantula! They do look very similar, but this was not an Aphonopelma at all; it was Calisoga spp. They are very unique arachnids and it was very interesting to see a little peek at something you don’t usually get to see. I would be very excited to have discovered one, as they do look very convincingly like Theraphosidae!
bump
Interesting! it's cool to see certain species adapt to look like other species!
@@sayosweeti5757 not exactly what’s going on between those two species. That is called mimicry. In this case they look similar because they are related. False tarantulas are part of the family nemesiidae while tarantulas are theraphosidae both are within the order mygalomorphae which includes trap doors/tarantulas/ false tarantulas/etc and the physical similarities you’re recognizing are called synapomorphies or “same traits” both have that help to distinguish them from other types of spiders like all the ones we are more familiar with in the order araneae
@@juliangarrido3034 oh okay! So they’re related but similar? Neat!
The way Emily has literally no hesitation or fear while catching and handling animals is amazing! I am very envious of that!! I love animals but I am scared to touch a lot of them, I wish I wasn’t!
Yeah so we don't grab snakes here in Arkansas until we take a second to check that it's not a copperhead, cottonmouth, or one of several types of rattlesnake. Even the nonvenemous snakes here such as rat snakes, king snakes, and brown water snakes, will still happily bite you and hang on like a bulldog. But I love em anyway
I'd actually touch a wild snake if I was positive I knew exactly what it was, and it wasn't a venomous one!! Always prepare to be bitten of course!!
I wouldn't have ever done it if it wasn't for Emily. I haven't ever deliberately gone herping, but I did see a Garter Snake randomly one day. I was in line for a shuttle bus to a Renaissance Festival, and we were near a wooded area, and there it was. If I was Emily, I'd have picked it up, or if she was there, and could tell me it was safe, I would have been more likely to pick it up!! I wanted to move it, because it was in danger of being stepped on, and my mom is afraid, and was with me.
Someone in line behind me, she picked it up and gently tossed it into the nearby woods!! Maybe it was Emily in disguise 🥸 LOL Probably not, it was in Michigan.
I’ve lived in ca my whole life and I have only found an Alligator Lizard once. I was catching Western Fence Post Lizards(aka blue bellies) at a family function and one turned around and bit me. It didn’t hurt but I was confused so I went to show my grandpa the lizard biting me. On my way to Grandpa, the lizard let go and raced across the grass and climbed my 2 year old baby cousin and sat on the top of her head. Grandpa tried to get it out of her hair before all the aunts and Grandma saw it, but the baby started running because Grandpa looked big and scary. I probably should have helped him, but 12 year old me thought that watching a 6’2” linebacker chase a baby with a lizard in her hair absolutely hilarious. Grandpa was my first herping guide. I miss him.
Love the story! 😁😄
Thanks for sharing!
Awww I appreciate you sharing such a treasured gem. Props to awesome grandpas, may we meet them again
This was such a sweet story! Made me smile! Thanks for sharing!!
Western fence post lizards- thats the name. I see them all the time in my backyard, and i always try to catch them when i can. They love this brick wall that divides my backyard from a local trail. Whenever i manage to catch one, i always turn it over to admire the two blue stripes- so pretty!
"Is that an isopod if your pocket, or are you happy to see me?"
"Im happy to see you , so i put an isopod in my pocket"
Relationship goals
After a hard day this is just what I need: two wholesome kind people making great videos for us to watch!
I feel the same way
couldn’t agree more
Me: "Wow I can't wait to find a reputable salamander breeder and start making my collection bigger!"
Emily and Ed: "Hey look at this salamander I found in the ✨trash ✨!" 😄😄
I love that the lizard was like "hey I wanna bite you" and Emily was like "yeah sure" and just puts her finger near its mouth lol
Theory about the salamander rolling up: He kind of looks like a small pile of feces when he does that so maybe it's just meant to convince would-be predators that there's nothing worthwhile in that spot so they move on? I know very little about salamanders so this is just purely a guess from seeing it happen when Ed was holding the salamander.
Could also make it harder to find the head, and therefore more difficult for a snake to swallow it.
'Tis a pretty good guess, and does make sense. Most predators wouldn't care about some random poop spot.
I don't know why but her petting the moss made me smile.
It very much reminds me of something I saw on Facebook last week a little cartoon comic thing on there where a human asks her dog why he always likes to roll in the grass then the next panel is the grass with little faces on every blade asking to pet him
@@brandi3981 lmao thats amazing
Me too... wish I had log like that in my yard. :)
Nobody gets as excited to find piles of garbage as herpers. FACT!
Yes! I went on vacation in Florida and the whole time I was just searching for Reptiles and amphibians I found a large American alligator and a Burmese python and many many iguanas and Brown anoles and green anoles
💯% true
Counter point, hermit crabs are similarly stoked to find big piles of garbage.
*birders arise from the dump*
Except maybe raccoons… They are known as ‘trash pandas’ after all
You know what I love? That you guys take time to find out information you don't know before sharing a video. You don't assume you know everything and hold your hands up when you don't.
Massive respect!
15:50 the slug was the best part of the video hands down i freakin love slugs xD
"They don't really move much once they're comfy"
me in a nutshell
hahahaha
Lol
Lol same
for real though but someone always wakes you up though
As soon as they found the alligator lizard, I thought, "Hey, I know that species. They bite." And then it did. They're ornery little buggers. XD
Strange to watch people in my area intentionally looking through trash for rattle snakes when I was taught to avoid trash piles for that very reason. I'm glad you found a bunch of little salamanders rather than rattle snakes~
Born and raised on the central coast and I thought the same thing when I saw the lizard! Like "oh! I remember catching those as a kid! They bit me!" 😅
I'd really love to see an update on the rat breeding racks how they've been working out
Your enthusiasm for finding critters is contagious. Reminds me of when I was a kid & we would go to the local dump and the crick behind our house. My favorite find was the lizard 🦎 & that tarantula was a surprise.
When you see that 2:48 you get an idea of how snakes evolved from legged reptiles. That salamander is basically a pre-snake with tiny ridiculous legs.
If I ever get the chance to find my next reptile in the trash...
Finally a genuine reason to name it Trash or Garbage :)
Nice! I would totally do that too! 🤣
Garbador?
Lmao
Chirs do a herping video
@@apss5736 yesss
I kept getting startled when you would turn over something towards you. I live in an area that has a lot of copperheads and it was ingrained in me and my kids that we don't turn things over like that. Then I realized that not only are y'all trained professionals, but you WANTED to find snakes. LOL I finally calmed down and enjoyed the rest of the video.
Freaked me out too for a moment, then remembered it was probably chilly enough that the snakes would have been slower to react.
Same. Turn and walk away from piles and boards and logs.
Sameeee. I grew up in a rattlesnake area and was taught to avoid bricks, trashpiles, or just things that look like it could serve as a hide or den for a rattler. Everytime they turned the boards, I flinched 😭😅
Watching your (Emily and Ed's) appreciation for 'adorable' creepy crawlies has really changed my perception of them. Centipedes would not be something I previously thought of as cute, in fact probably quite the opposite. Emily holding them and talking about their cuteness and personalities has made me appreciate them more. I can see them as cute now that I have 'met' them. Also, I have always thought snakes were interesting and sometimes beautiful, but now whenever I see a little or baby snake I think awe, they are so cute. You two are awesome educators. I'm an adult much older than the two of you, and you have greatly influenced me, I can only imagine the huge impact you have had on children. Still working on my spider issue. It's not as bad as it used to be, but they still give me the heeby-jeebies.
It was actually a millipede she was holding though I agree with all those legs they can be intimating and spooky... I still despise centipedes though more than likely because I get house centipedes in my basement and they seem to vaporize out of nothing to startle me!
@@nerlana1281 Oh thanks, and anything that lets itself into my house is no longer cute. A squirrel got into my basement through a door that was left open and I swear it made a sort of growling terrifying sound. It was in the beams of my basement at almost eye level when I came down the stairs. I would definitely not want the millipedes in my house. LOL
I love how she sees the lizard trying to bite her, so she just offers her finger for him to bite 😂
Sometimes it's fun to go back and watch these old videos, can't believe I've been watching since 2020
Oddly, I have seen Emily's hand so many times that I picked up that her right index finger may have been swollen in one spot. Hope it is not hurting you, Emily.
Knowing Emily, I would not at all be surprised if it's because she was bit by something that she caught
@@the_undead probably the angry little alligator lizard that kept biting her finger lol
Yeah it's the same place the little lizard in the video got her lol
I once had a wild caught alligator lizard, she was a rescue. We found her in middle if the road not moving, so we took her home and got her warmed up and fed. We kept her in a nice warm cage and would feed her the fattest cockroaches we could find, and even once a dragonfly. We ended up releasing heron the side of the road where we found her once the weather warmed up. That was the only time I ever had a pet reptile. My mom was highly against having reptiles and still is but chose to let us keep Lizzy (that's what we named her) because my mom thought that she was gorgeous with she was. She didn't look like the one in the video tho. She was more of a grey color with blueish grey and black spots that looked like a checkerboard, her scales faded into a coppery color by her feet and near her flap with had a black stripe, she also had a regrown tail with was a silvery copper colored mix. She had probably the biggest personality I've ever seen on any reptile. If a cockroach escaped from her grasp she would get offended and chase after it full speed to get it. I miss her and loved her dearly.
Lizzy: how dare you escape me!!! 😤
Good on you for saving Lizzy but than returned her to where she belonged.
Have to wonder what that experience was like from Lizzy's perspective, if reptiles could think at a certain level. :) It'd be like an alien abduction or a religious experience. "I was stranded and cold, and this giant creature picked me up and took me to a strange clear barrier and fed and warmed me. Eventually it just put me back right where it found me!" "Sure, Lizzy, tell us again about how big it was."
Can't believe you found an alligator lizard but not a bluebelly, they're so much more common! But they're probably in brumation right now
Also those salamanders like to hide under plant pots too
Exactly! I see those all the time lol
Thank you thank you! I have always been afraid of snakes, salamanders, lizards, and millipedes, but I love watching you interacting with nature. I will never own a snake, but I love your informative videos, and I feel like you two really do respect the animals you care for. I am a furry animal "mom" and I care for them like you do yours, with attention too their needs, and respect for their abilities.
Growing up, there were cinder blocks everywhere and I remember going around with my siblings, flipping them over to look for salamanders, worms, and other creepy crawlies
Looking back I’m glad no snakes decided to hide under anything we flipped over 😅
Here early because of Patreon! 😁
good for you lolz
Lol
Ok, makes sense
Neat 🙃
The brown salamander you found was so cute and derpy looking.
Id love a video on how to set up your yard for critter success :) like if you were ever to make a critter friendly play structure for kids at your facility? Like maybe avoid certain wood chips and paints?
I am so glad I found your channel, it's so fun! And as a reptile owner myself I just love seeing other lizards, snakes, bugs, frogs, I could go on
My family loves your channel. I have custody of my four grandkids, hence the channel name. I use my grandsons channel to watch TH-cam. My oldest is 15 and already has two snakes. He wants to be like you. Very adamant about it too. We love what you two do. We have learned so much. Thank you. We love you both. Also we have been subscribed to your channel when you first started and I knew you were amazing from the beginning and now 2.5 million. Congratulations
I never needed to go herping for Alligator Lizards, they always snuck into my in-law's house some how. Once walked out of the bathroom to one chilling right in the hallway. Even found one under my pillow once. Man now I miss CA😔💔
I actually think the tarantula you found is either Aphonopelma eutylenum or Aphonopelma steindachneri. Aphonopelma chalcodes have a blonde carapace with blonde legs and red hairs on their abdomen and even males will have more of a brown coloration than a black one. It's still really cool that you found one though!
Just going to say the same. I was guessing aphonopelma xwalxwal. Definitely not a. chalcodes.
Yea chalcodes lock different
I dont believe that’s even a tarantula 😅
But its another kind of mygalomorph spider
@@Nicolas_Zanartu you’re correct. its calisoga sp.
Loved the the garter, he was so adorable!
The animals you found were really cool but I just wanted to say thank you for also featuring the moss! That forest that you shared at the very end of the video was amazingly beautiful!! 💕
IM CRYING IM SO HAPPY I live on the west coast of Canada and I go out herping all the time and I've caught DOZENS of Northern Alligator Lizards and I knew what it was immediately after you caught it!!! I'm so so happy to see an animal I see in my own wilds in your video, I want to one day become an educator on the natural species in British Columbia. Thank you for inspiring me so much with your videos
I would love to see more insects, arachnids and inverts featured on your channel! Snails and spiders do so much for our wild ecosystem 🥰
I love snails and spiders! Snails are the best
Same
Yeah tarantulas and other inverts are so cool
Not me. I started watching because it's a Snake channel, didn't mind other herps but it gets old having channels ruined by that. It would be awesome if that were patreon material or they split the channel.
@@amandastakeonit7402 I agree with this, I think the original commenter just meant like in general seeing more spiders and snails, not more videos entirely dedicated to them though
I've always thought the Garters here in eastern Iowa along the Mississippi seem to also cross with one another, especially closer to the marshy areas along said river. Some have red, some are more like Plains, some more striped like a Ribbon and everything in between. Given how they live so close and pseudo communally (I remember finding 3-5 adults under the same railroad tie lol) it makes sense that the species lines blur where the wild areas overlap, especially in a species as varied and prolific as Garters lol.
I'm in west central Illinois and grew up near the Quad Cities, so it's awesome to see your comment! I totally agree, there is SO MUCH variation in garters!
10:10
Aligator lizard : Can me bite ?
Emily : Okay here’s my finger, u may bite ! You cutie 💕
10:08 i love how the lizard is like "COMMERE IM TRYING TO BITE YOU DONT TOUCH MY FLAPPIES" and she's just like "ok" and puts her finger in its mouth
Omg the tongue color of that cute little garter snake was so adorable! Such a vibrant color! :)
Sudanese Plated Lizards have a VERY similar flap to the alligator lizard you found (woo convergent evolution!) And they use it to inflate themselves after wedging into cracks so that predators can't pick them up!
BRILLIANT! I just KNEW it was for inflating! I just couldn't back it up since it didn't inflate for Emily, but the wedging makes so much sense! I could kiss you!!! Muah! YES YES YES!!! Thank you for sharing that!
I super loved this video!
The salamander had little baby dead pool arms and legs 🤣
And it was friggin' adorable when Emily pulled that pill bug out of her pocket to show Ed! 😍
Lastly, when the lizard bit Emily I was just expecting the pop up text to say something like "snack" lol 😝
As a Northern Californian who doesn’t like bugs this video was scarily eye opening lol I was unaware of the giant tarantulas and millipedes that inhabit my area😅😅
"Leaving piles of trash is bad, but make sure you do not remove pieces of trash in case there are creatures living under it. It belongs to them now."
Emily: grabs snake fearlessly
Australians when they see a snake: “RUNNNNN!”
to be fair, australian wildlife is a lot more likely to be venomous than american wildlife
@@kikip.1156 Yes indeed
@Badatallthis Stuff ikr
I wish y'all could come to Utah, it's a lovely place and it has some great herping spots, I even accidentally caught a Painted turtle when fishing, I made sure he was ok. But as of now it's probably not the greatest time to herp, the tail end of spring is the best time, cuz it's just warming up and it's not freezing cold or scorching hot. Yay for living in a desert
Clint of Clint's Reptiles herps Utah all the time, he lives there. They should just go hang with Clint. I live just above you, LOVE living in the desert!
Can we take a moment to appreciate how kind Emily and Ed is even though all the reptiles are so adorable they still let them go 😇
That was cool.
I've actually seen a rattle snake in the wild on a hike during the summer, it was just sunbathing on the hiking trail and moved off when we stopped to let it pass so it wouldn't feel threatened. I recommend checking out Crystal cove next time you're in Southern California during the summer. Even if you don't find reptiles, there's tide pools there with little ecosystems.
this reminded me of a time i went hiking in central california in the summer with my sister and on our way home it started to rain so we got out and ran around. my sister ran far ahead of me and jumped off a log about a foot away from a rattlesnake curled under a tree. her scream was so loud my dad heard her from the car and came running. well she’s not always too bright so she walked up to it to figure out where the sound was coming from. our dad got there and she was in striking distance of the snake just staring. she never got bit but man did we give her crap on the way home for not leaving it alone once she saw it. the poor thing just wanted to be left alone and not get wet lol
You guys make me happy when I'm down. Thank you, for real. Beyond grateful.
10:05 watch out, that lizard is going to bite...oh...did you...
You know someone's a real one when they pull a power move like that. "Here you go little buddy!"
Pickle rick- 9:25
Edit: I love how when Emily was explaining the alligator lizard's skin flap she just let it bite her
I vote "coastal red banded millipede" for the common name of the truly adorable millipedes l
(Here early because Patreon!)
Yeah, I was utterly shocked to learn that there are species that don’t have common names. Like, you’re telling me nobody took the chance to name it after themself?
That salamander reminds me of a drawing of a dog from a young kid.
Sounds like a Harry potter beast that hagrid would keep as a pet
As sad as it can be to see piles of trash like that, it's really beautiful to see nature reclaiming it!
I grew up in So. Cal. and we always had scrap wood in the backyard. Reminded me of my childhood looking for critters under wood.
emily: talking about the alligator lizard
alligator lizard: *CHOMP*
I would love to invite Ed and Emily to my grandparents farm (in Colorado) sometime in the warmer seasons because there’s a lot of rattlesnakes, bull snakes, and red racers that live there.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone be so exited for a pile of rubbish lol
I grew up in rural central CA and there were so many great critters. We regularly got tarantulas, gopher snakes, and toads all the time. There was a toad that took up residence under my dog’s water bowl. Hey, we even had roadrunners and coyotes too!
I love how Emily is so brave and not scared of snakes or insects if they bite her
That salamander is the cutest thing I’ve ever seeeen! His little baby walks
Emily: let’s alligator lizard bite her
Also Emily: Keeps talking calmly with no worry 😂
I absolutely love garter snakes. I work as a groundskeeper at an interpretive center and when I mowed, I would make sure to keep an eye out for snakes/frogs/etc. and have been able to show plenty of kiddos garter snakes through the large windows 😭
The aquatic garter snake is gorgeous 😍 and so chill! I love him great find guys!
This is the first video from your channel I ever seen it’s inspired me and has changed my life thank you so much☺️
When you said you were coming to CA I knew you would go to my neck of the woods! Hope central Cali was kind to you 😀
i think it's adorable how the alligator lizard opened their mouth, wanting to bite and emily offered her finger as tribute
People: ew garbage!
Snake discovery: OMG YESSSSSS GARBAGE! WOOOOOOO!
They found a garbage snake. :D
I wish my husband liked bugs as much as i do! I loved watching you guys get so excited to show each other!
Hey guys so I’ve been keeping tarantulas for 13 years and 10 of those years were in California. The tarantula at the beginning of the video is not an aphonopelma calchodes. You are correct that they aren’t usually found in California because that is a different species. American aphonopelma can be extremely similar so I’m not sure on the exact species but I do know that it is absolutely not a calchodes. No hate just wanted to let you know!
Hi fellow patreons!
Hi
Hi!
Herping- the reptile version of alien abduction, lol. Love it, love your videos. I have never been a fan of nope noodles, but having watched you guys for so long the garter snakes I find in my yard don’t freak me out quite so much. So thank you for that, lol.
Emily: An alligator lizard named for their face shape
My brain: I thought it’s cause they bite a lot
Lizard: *bites Emily’s hand
Me: yup there it is XD
What a delight of a video! Little treasures all over the place! So happy to see the tarantula - I'm such a huge fan of spiders of any kind and up here in northern Canada, there's no way to see a tarantula in the wild (or lizards, for that matter, though we have them in other regions. Not up here in cold central!). Thanks for a fun video.
As a snail enjoyer who semi-frequently goes "snerping" (or gastropoding I guess), trash piles are also almost snail playgrounds. Not surprising some were hanging out here! Also, the snail that didn't have its eyes and tentacles out probably wasn't too concerned, just having a taste before it took the relative risk of putting its more delicate sensory hardware out.
slender salamander...my mind went straight to 'slendermander'
That's genius
Arrgh, another caption that was literally on the screen less than a second! Emily, why do you torture us so? *sniff*
10:04 I love how she sees the lizard opening his mouth and just instinctively presents her finger for him to bite 😂
Love scrap piles for discovering!!! And thank you for sharing the fern moss outtake...
You guys are so fun to watch! I hope you have a nice trip home!
There's a large family of lizards living under an old knocked down sign by my job.
I’ve also found a garter snake recently because I nearly ran over it with my bike (it was sunset so it was hard to see) but after I picked it up to make sure it was okay, and it looked healthy and unharmed! It is scary that I nearly ran it over but overall I was pretty happy because that was the first time I ever got to hold a garter snake. Technically, it wasn’t my lifer as before that I had seen one quickly slithering across the path in front of me when I was on my bike riding around a lake, but the first time I didn’t get a very close look, let alone hold it so the more recent one was really exciting!! btw, thank you so much for teaching me about reptiles because I used to be really scared of snakes, but now I know so much more!!
I would catch garters as a toddler. One of my most vivid memories was my mom coming out of the house, me by the steps with a garter I just caught, her yelling, put that down! Put it down, it will bite you! I looked at it, looked at her and knew she gives false information. I held him until she really made me let go. He was calm in my tiny hands but my mom was the spaz! I knew I had held garters before but I can't remember it, I just remember knowing they don't bite (they hadn't bitten me by age 3 anyway). I have always loved snakes and it started with garters because that's all I knew.
I love how Emily just stuck the isopod in her pocket 😂
(Edit: just realized tons of people said this but meh lol)
At 10:08 The lizard was just like can I bite you? Emily was like OK 😂
I have a guess at why they like garbage. Garbage=bugs=lizards/salamanders/ect.=snakes who eat the lizards and or mice that are also attracted to garbage. And like Emily said it provides protection to boot.