Field Herper.com

Field notes and photography by Bryan D. Hughes
Dec
5th
2012

Gila Spotted Whiptail

Here’s one of the more common lizards around the Payson area. By common, I mean you can see them darting around in the landscaping between mini-malls and the like. Though they don’t really climb much, they do what they do very well, and have apparently adapted to thrive more or less throughout the entire city. I’ve even seen them grow very large in surprising parts of town, like the bushes on Whiskey Row, feeding on the mega-fed cockroaches and crickets that cruise the sidewalks in the early morning hours.

Here’s a little one; I’m sure some Yavapai County residents will recognize it. They’re very hard to photograph – even if they don’t notice you, they continually walk around nosing and pawing at the dirt. I had to circle this little guy for an embarrassing amount of time just to get this mediocre shot. For as common as they are, this is the first of these that I have posted to this blog.

gila spotted whiptail

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