I spent the weekend putting miles on my legs/car without seeing many animals. It didn’t surprise me being the third week of march in less than ideal conditions. It was still nice to get out and do some exploring, no matter what the results were.
The temperatures were in the high 70s, but the air and ground was bone dry.
Springtime in Cochise County
The one animal found in 2 days searching Northern Cochise County and Southern Graham County turned up one neonate Mojave Rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus) out wandering the flats in relatively cold conditions. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but this little guy was only about as long as a dollar bill.
Mojave Rattlesnake
A tiny baby Mojave Rattlesnake
After hiking an area in Southern Graham county with a new friend from Sierra Vista, I went to the Santa Rita mountains to try and find a green rat snake with no luck. I started the 4 hour drive home and decided to make one last-ditch attempt to put something my CF card at a location between Tucson and Phoenix: I saw 4 snakes within 15 minutes. Go figure. These were a large Sonoran Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes) and his deceased friend just down the road, a young Sonoran Gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer affinis) and an injured Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) that I did not photograph.
Crotalus cerastes cercobombus in Arizona
One of 2 Sidewinder subspecies found within Arizona
A Sonoran Gophersnake found West of Tucson, Arizona
Tags: crotalus cerastes cercobombus, Crotalus scutulatus, Field Herping, gopher snake, mohave, mojave rattlesnake, rattlesnakes in arizona, sonoran gophersnake, sonoran sidewinder
