We started early and headed West, nearly all the way to Parker. Lots happened, but nothing really worth mentioning. Eventually we ended up in the Harquahala Mountains looking for boas, which is about as tedious a practice as you’ll find in this hobby. It wasn’t long before we were back out in an old favorite place looking for the usual stuff.
First snake, a Long-Nosed Snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei):
Of course we saw a good number of Sonoran Sidewinders (Crotalus cerastes cercobombus):
Then beers, tequila, more beers, a mangy cat, and sleep. Somehow I still woke up at around 7 and took off to see if anyone else was waking up. I ended up knocking 2 animals off my life-list!
Here’s something I’ve never seen before … a cerastes out crawling around in the morning sun:
About 5 minutes later I found my first live Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum piceus). I’ve seen quite a few dead Coachwhips on the sides of roads and had glimpses as they fly across the road, but never had the chance to get close to one.
Here’s a Tiger Whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris) who for some reason wasn’t at all scared of me. He let me sit down right next to him and watch him root through the dirt and do other “busy lizard” tasks, and even came walking right up to me once.
Then a Desert Patch-Nosed Snake (Salvadora hexalepis hexalepis):
Then a SECOND Coachwhip:
A Desert Iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis):
… and finally a female Long-Nosed Leopard Lizard; my first.
Habitat:
Tags: aspidoscelis tigris, cerastes, Coachwhip, Crotalus, crotalus cerastes cercobombus, Desert Iguana, Dipsosaurus dorsalis, harquahala mountains, hexalepis, Long-nosed snake, Masticophis flagellum piceus, Rhinocheilus lecontei, salvadora, Salvadora hexalepis hexalepis, sonoran sidewinder, tiger whiptail
