• Posted 12/19/2024.
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    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

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    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
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    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

WANTED: Field collector in SoCal!

I found one exactly like what you are looking for near lake Henshaw two years ago. That is a long way from the coast, but in my experience here all of the kings are brown and yellow until you actually get into the desert, then they are black and white. The striped ones are rare in the wild - I have only found one compared to dozens of normal banded cal kings. I later released the one I caught - a large female. Good luck.

Kevin
 
Keven, you might be looking in the wrong areas or having some very bad luck because striped kings are very common in a lot of areas in San Diego Co. Some populations can be as high as 80 percent according to Brian Hubbs book on common kingsnakes. I also know a few guys that herp from Carlsbad to Borrego desert and they find stripers everywhere but they are rare in the desert. They are way common in Carlsbad. I don't mean to correct you or anything, I just wanted to let you know. Also, habitat can also be a factor when looking for striped kings.
 
I don't do much looking in San Diego County, mostly orange and Riverside. Interesting that the stripers are so common in SD. They are not so common in Orange and RVSDE, at least in my experience.

Kevin
 
OK you are right, they are less common in those two counties. The striped kings you are probably seeing in OC are Newporters. They have a stripe down their back with aberrant markings on the side and have virtually no speckling on the sides like the SD stripers. They are a lot less common than the normal striped kings and have no markings on the top of the tail. Newports are my favorite.
 
So I am going to be in San Diego for a week, from August 9th - 14th. I plan on taking at least one day to go herping myself to see if I can possibly find what I am looking for. Any suggestions on good hunting spots? What type of habitat should I look for?
 
Its going to be tough to find any kingsnakes this time of year. Its too dry to find them under cover, so you gonna have to drive in the evening and night on some roads that are not too heavily traveled. Your best bet is to look for grassy areas or even open hills where a road goes through. I would stay on the east side of the 15 freeway near Escondido or just south of there. To find some nice roads, just google bing maps and zoom in on that area, then hit birds eye view and it will show you ariel shots of the area. Good luck.
 
So I ended up not being able to go -- our veterinary math competencies got scheduled the same week. Any herpers out there up for the challenge? Still looking for these guys. :(
 
Jennifer, you may want to contact my local reptile society, lots of field herpers. I know one guy that works with kings but he can't sell babies (no pet store permit or something, I am still not clear on the legalities as I don't work with local species).. anyways, you may be able to find someone that has CB babies from this group?
http://www.cvherps.org/
 
Thanks April! Awesome idea. My dad went out to SD with my grandpa and my brother, and my Dad said he saw a couple banded coastals but not at moments where he could really stop to get them and wasn't sure on exactly what the state laws were. So frustrating! Just wish I had my original pair back. :(
 
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