Here are a couple – I’ll post others another day.

See him there? I could have gotten closer, but lately I’ve enjoyed taking shots like this – the snake in the environment it’s in, which better tells the tale. Photographers tend to gripe about it, the subject being so small, but that’s not really what this is all about.

Crotalus-lepidus-klauberi-090812

This one was showing off some caudal luring skills. If I were a lizard, I’d certainly think that yellow wiggler was breakfast.

Crotalus-lepidus-klauberi-2-090812

This one

This one usually has a diamondback friend, though not this time around. He smells like a cow, which is how I found him the first time.

Desert Tortoise

G-morafkai-1-070211

We saw several on the trip, and I admit I took my favorite home with me; a lemon yellow beauty that is on his way to being a monster, if he keeps eating and shedding as he has since August. Here he is in the sun, about an hour before the photograph with the copperhead was taken.

Bogertophis subocularis, the 'suboc'

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

This first one is more typical of upper grasslands. Big, mostly brown, with less distinct coloration.

Glossy Snake

This one is from a little lower in the desert, out in the Colorado river desertscrub – a place you’d mistake for a dead zone if you didn’t know better. In my experience, they tend to be a little more vivid in color and contrast, especially the young ones. This one is an adult, and still has a lot of that nice, red coloration between the scales.

Arizona elegans

I’m not sure why, but for a few years, I saw very few of these … then suddenly they are everywhere. Last Spring they had to be one of the most ocmmon colubrids I found, aside from Spotted Leafnosed Snakes and Longnose.

This first one is my nose pressed firmly on the back of my camera taking photos of at least 3 timbers hiding in a crack. I am sure there are at least 3 ticks on me at this particular moment, with their sweet lyme disease kisses.

Heeere timbers!

From the same trip, this is my first meeting with the Nerodia genus, or watersnakes. We don’t have them here in Arizona, so I was more pleased than I should be to let this guy work his anticoagulant saliva into my hand; just to make sure it works. Guess what? It does. I bled for about a half hour from just a few tiny holes.

nice to meet you too, jerk.

Once again I find myself way behind in the whole posting thing, so I’ll try to catch up in the off season. Here it goes!

This is from the Spring of 2012, easily the largest Western Banded Gecko, Coleonyx variegatus, I’ve ever seen. Usually in Arizona, a huge one is about as long as a finger, and as big around as a soda straw. This one, flipped on a windy, rainy day in S.W. California, was the size of a small leopard gecko. They’re really common of course, but these have to be the prettiest U.S. lizard. There are some Eastern Collared lizards that wear their colors well, of course, but these little geckos always look amazing.

Western Banded Gecko

Crotalus tigris

Later in the night, I found two more sitting out together.

Crotalus-tigris-1-070412

Many.

You can't see me!

This young guy let me try out my lizard stalking technique of getting low to the ground and keeping more or less parallel or lower once I start moving. It seems to work pretty good, as I can usually get to within a foot or two without them darting off again. Beautiful lizards and a bizarre landscape; I’ll be back soon!

Crotaphytus-bicinctores-2-05282

Crotaphytus-bicinctores-1-0528

Still, I’m happy to get a shot of one full-body with habitat shown.

Nerodia-sipedon-sipedon-3-051012

Crotalus horridus

Along the way, and throughout the entire trip, we saw what was probably over 100 of these eft-stage newts out clumsily crawling over the wet ground. It’s hard not to step on them.

Notophthalmus-viridescens-viridescens-1-050912

Crotalus-horridus-3-050912

… and another just a few feet away. The heavily ridged nose on them looks very different than the rattlesnakes I’m used to seeing in Arizona, as well as the large size.

Crotalus-horridus-4-050912

Nerodia-sipedon-sipedon-1-050912

A short time later, before I had even learned that the above snake was a watersnake, I spotted on sticking its head out of the rocks catching some rays.

Nerodia-sipedon-sipedon-2-050912

Then I got to experience Nerodia’s famous personality, as well as it’s anticoagulant saliva.

Photo by Kris Haas

154574_4161498079103_1333615260_33824740_1173094143_n

These are the first two, with more to come. We found 11 total at this spot, with the adults nowhere to be found except for signs that we just missed them.

Crotalus-horridus-1-050912

I have yet to go through most of the photos yet, but here’s a shot of the second of our ruber finds, out on the crawl and worked with for this shot.

Crotalus ruber

I also must note that as this post is being published, I am back in Pennsylvania, probably looking at a timber rattlesnake right now. Woo!

I waited until their trucks disappeared around the corner and released the snake to the same place. I guess I’ll have to find another diamondback for my ‘research’.

The snake was massive, I’d estimate between 50-55″ based on its length compared to my 46″ hook. He did not deserve to be a belt; not today.

Crotalus-atrox-1-042212

Crotalus-atrox-2-042312

Also, tomorrow at this time I’ll be on a plane on my way back to PA for more timber rattlesnakes!

Success came on the first night, finding two absolutely knockout animals. After careful comparison, I decided that the larger, and higher contrast, of the two would come home with me. Before leaving the area, however, I took this photo of him in the rocks near where he was found, stretched out in the cold rain.

Crotalus molossus

For comparison, here is another blacktail, found in the McDowell mountains earlier in the year. You can clearly see why I looked to find mine in the range that I chose.

Sleepy lady

Crotalus-oreganus-lutosus-2-090111

Here’s another shot, fashioned up HDR style.

C-o-lutosus-1-090111

Long-Nosed Snake, Rhinocheilus lecontei

longnosed snake

Desert Spiny Lizard, Sceloporus magister

desert spiny lizard

Sonoran Groundsnake, Sonora semiannulata

Groundsnake

We ended up seeing a great variety of species; much more than I had planned on. The most impressive to me were the timbers, but I have to say I was most excited for the two Eastern massassaugas we got to photograph. The weather was cold and very wet most of the time (I learned ‘rain gear’ isn’t all created equal), and it was very strange to me to even be out looking in such conditions … May in Arizona is already too hot in the daytime to be looking beyond a few hours after sunup.

Within 2 hours of stepping off the plane in Buffalo, we’d seen 9 rattlesnakes. Incredible! What is great to mention as well, as that this was made possible because of this blog I’ve been keeping for awhile. The couple of guys that hosted me and showed me the amazing sights originally had contacted me a few years back about meeting up here in Arizona, and we’ve kept in contact since then and get out fo see some snakes once a year. This site has helped me meet not only many herpers all around the world, but the right kind of them; conservation minded, animals-first kind of people. This Springtime trip to PA symbolizes all that for me.

Anyway, just a bit of an explanation before I start posting all these East coast animals. I’ll still be posting lots of animals from Arizona and New Mexico, but I need to start getting these into the mix as well. To wrap it up: a few timbers.

It’s a greater short-horned lizard, Phrynosoma hernandesi.

Greater Short Horned Lizard

Sonoran Coachwhip, Coluber flagellum cingulum

Coachwhip

He’s pretty cool looking, too.

Crotalus cerberus

Arizona Black Rattlesnake

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox

Crotalus atrox

I’ve come to realize this year that, with most of these species, I now am practiced enough that I could just go see one whenever I want (of course conditions being somewhat favorable), and I have more than enough photos of the same old diamondback pose to last several lifetimes sitting on my hard drive. I’m starting to favor taking less photos overall, and trying to do more to capture the environment and feel of the time/place of the observation than the animal itself. When I am hiking these days, my snake hook only serves as a walking stick, and very occasional annoying-blade-of-grass-mover to get a shot. The vast majority of animals photographed are disturbed not at all or very little. I don’t know, too much detail here? I’m just very happy that this thing seems to progress on its own.

In a week I’ll be traveling to the Grand Canyon area to spend several days looking for 2 of the last 3 species of rattlesnake I have left to see in Arizona, before going to South Western Idaho to look for Western Rattlesnakes (and visit some old friends). I’m realizing that I have posted very little of my finds from the year, but I need something to do in the winter! I’ll try to throw up some of the backup and at least get the ball rolling, and hopefully that will make this blog at least seem a little bit alive while I finish up my season.

I’ll wrap up this this bore-fest with a baby black-necked gartersnake, sitting as found on one of the driest days of the year.

T-cyrtopsis-1-062111

Here she is as found.

diamondback

She nosed around the bush for awhile, and eventually decided to move to the other side.

C-atrox-3-042011

… and after looking in and out of a few holes along the opposite side, she coiled up against the warm dirt wall, which is how I left her a few minutes later without so much as a tongue flick in my direction.

C-atrox-1-042011

Here’s one of dozens of Mojave rattlesnakes one can see out on the crawl in April, this one being a little darker and interesting looking than is typical for the Phoenix area.

Mojave

I spend so much time looking for these guys that it’s amazing that people don’t see a bright yellow, 3.5′ animal as big around as a coke can laying in the middle of the road. I realize that quite often hitting a rattlesnake is the intentional act of the cowardly miniscule manhood crowd of the American Southwest, but sometimes it’s not. Birders are notorious for it … not that they mean to, but they’re looking UP and just miss whatever’s on the road. In the South East, there have been plenty of times I’m caught behind a binocular-faced duo in an economy car leaving writhing, dying reptiles in their wake. Just last May I found a nearly 7′ gophersnake crossing the road … just massive, brightly colored … impossible to miss. I stopped the car before they ran over it, and they said they were glad I did because they didn’t see it at all. Can’t blame them though … when I’m out looking for snakes I can’t say I’m looking in the trees.

Hope this guy is ok.

C-m-molossus

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

One more of the little lady …

Crotalus atrox

Here’s another one found a ways off, a male, with milky pre-shed eyes.

Diamondback

Very beautiful, very venomous, not too dangerous; the Sonoran Coralsnake, Micruroides euryxanthus:

Micruroides euryxanthus

Closer, you can see those tiny venom glands slightly swelling behind the eyes. It takes an act of extreme stupidity to actually get envenomated by these guys, who tend to fart as a primary defensive move. The Chihuahuan Hooknosed Snake will also fart in defense, and I have to say that their performance is more impressive than these little corals. The ‘cloacal popping’, as it is more nicely put, sounds like little armpit farts in the hooknosed snake, while the coral sounds more like someone walking across a freshly waxed floor in rubber shoes.

These are one of the very few Elapid species found in the United States. The Elapidae family is better known for its inclusion of Cobras, Sea Snakes, and Mambas, with whom these little coralsnakes have neurtoxic venom in common.

Anyone that’s tried to catch one of these, too, knows just how disorienting the pattern can be. They seem to move in an exaggerated S-pattern when trying to escape and will more or less disappear in front of your eyes, like a color wheel given a spin.

Sonoran Coralsnake

It was the only one I saw in 2010, and I really hope 2011 is better.

Also, while I’m thinking about it … the tiger rattlesnake was the very first species of rattlesnake I ever saw in Arizona, seen dead on a South Mountain trailside with my friend. It had been killed by a hiker, and the only reason I know it was a tiger at the time (this is before I really thought too much about rattlesnakes every day) because thinking back, my thought was “wow, what a weird little head”. Still little, still weird, and I still love seeing these guys out and about.

Here’s another one from just down the way of the above fellow. We would have walked right past him if he wasn’t buzzing up the side of the hill at the sight of us.

Please cover the eyes of any juvenile reptiles in the room before viewing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beDXxSh3Sqg

He’s missing the usual black eyescale that these guys have, and is a pretty standard desert-phase coloration. He was found crossing the road near a canal, so the best I can figure is that he was crawling between rock piles somewhere off on the horizon and got “stuck” against the uncrossable line, and had followed it here.

Interestingly enough, it’s not the first time I’d found a ‘mountains only’ kind of snake in this spot. The lyresnake (another snake that lives in the hills and mountains) in my collection was found less than a quarter mile from this spot. Strangeness.

Diamondback Rattlesnake

Here’s his ladyfriend/roomie out hunting early one morning. There are at least 4 different diamondbacks that I’ve seen that live in this one hole, and 14 total within a half mile that can be visited with regularity. The hole is within 20 feet of a popular walking trail, too, but from the tracks they leave it looks like they don’t go that direction. Good for passive hikers, good for the snakes.

This is the same snake as I featured recently, sitting in a crack in a rock. We saw him there, and returned later to see him sitting out, and got some more photos. These are probably my favorites from the trip, and I must again say that this is my favorite species

Northern Black Tailed Rattlesnake

I can’t believe how awesome this snake is; blacktails make me pretty happy to be around. The latter half, as you can see, is more or less patternless, while the front half has a simplified pattern reduced to single yellow chevrons fully encased in that rich brown. It’s very different than what I’m used to here in Arizona, and I hope to visit this individual again next time I’m out that way.

I love this thing.

Arizona elegans

While I’m on the subject, here’s another example of this species that I found in New Mexico in 2010 of the “Kansas” subspecies. This is a snake that even one of the snake books I own confuses with the somewhat similarly patterned Gophersnake, but some familiarity with glossies and there’s nothing about them that is the same in the least bit. Most of them have that wonderfully clean outlines to the dorsal spots, and they really can be quite beautiful out in the grasslands.

Arizona elegans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ_CaCsjCEk

Fast forward 3 days, and in a different burrow, with a different tortoise and different snake, not even 50 yards away:

I returned to the area every day for the next couple of weeks (except a few lazy days). The tortoise was always there, but the diamondback moved on. Still … it’s not common you get a chance to make up a missed shot.

Here’s a big boy caught by my friend Diego in the Maricopa mountains. That guy can catch some lizards. He also nabbed a baby collared lizard that day, and that’s not easy.

Dust storms: New Mexico does them right. My first night there, winds were over 50 mph and dust stung my eyes … I still found snakes though.

Here’s a big old boy I found one evening just before the sun went over the Guadalupe mountains.

Here’s another one from a few years back. What a beautiful snake …

My parents live in Carlsbad, so even though I didn’t find everything on my list, I know I eventually will.

For comparison, here is a young, higher-contrast individual from the same area

Here’s another one for the hell of it. This one is from the Santa Rita mountains just South of Tucson … just a little bitty baby.

The only reptiles I saw that day, aside from a beautiful red prairie rattlesnake that was hit by the car in front of me later on, were a big group of spiny lizards out catching some sun. The temperature up there in the snow was only in the mid-40′s, but the rocks themselves were warm enough for basking. I count 9 lizards in this photo; only a fraction of the ones that scattered away as I approached.

Entomologists? Any help with the ID?

This species is usually in the 4,000′ and above range, with lower records being about  3,000 or so. This one was at just over 2,300′, making it by far the lowest elevation I’ve ever seen one at, and definitely a rare treat for an area I would never expect to see one. It’s a cool looking snake as well.

Arizona Black Rattlesnake

Arizona Black Rattlesnake

Blacktail

Blacktail

Here’s where he was sitting when found:

Crotalus molossus molossus

Crotalus molossus molossus

Western Banded Gecko

Greater Earless Lizard

Desert Horned Lizard

… and one more of that last guy, since he is awesome.

Phrynosoma platyrhinos

Nightsnake

Nightsnake

mojave

mojave

The sidewinders were out in force this night. We eventually just stopped pulling over for them, even though I had some out of state friends here to see them.

sonoran sidewinder

Sidewinder

Crotalus atrox

Crotalus atrox

Crotalus molossus

Crotalus molossus

Blacktail

… and you’ll have to endure my playing with HDR and the RAW format.

HDR version

This snake’s color, in real life, is incredible. Looking at it, you can’t tell if it’s pink, green, white, or a mix of all. They seem to have almost translucent scales, solid grey with undertones shining through in all colors at once. This one came home with me.

Crotalus tigris

Tiger Rattlesnake

Tiger

Crotalus atrox

… about an hour and a half later, we found another one on the move near a river. He posed nicely for us.

Diamondback Rattlesnake in Yavapai County, Arizona

Crotalus atrox

We also found this moth hanging out near the water’s edge.

moth

Coleonyx variegatus

Here are a couple more I found with my friend Diego a week later under some dumped plastic.

Western Banded Gecko

So, in my first official marketing statement, for safe & humane rattlesnake removal services, call Phoenix Rattlesnake Solutions at 480-237-9975.

Rattlesnake Relocation in Phoenix

Here are a trio of diamondbacks found along the way:

Diamondbacks

diamondback

atrox

diamondback

Here are a couple of the many canyon treefrogs we saw as well.

Frog

canyon treefrog

… and some indian art on a rock, right near where we parked.

art

Here’s about the scariest thing you can find in Arizona, an open nest of bees. Fortunately, these guys usually make enough noise so that you can see them well before you piss them off.

bees

And finally, a patchnosed snake we found on the way out to our next location.

Patch-Nosed Snake

Crotalus molossus

blacktail rattlesnake

rattlesnake in the superstition moutains

black tail rattlesnake

molossus

We got back to our car just before dark and found this baby Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox, right away. We didn’t take too much care with the pics on this one. Photographed and moved off the road.

Crotalus atrox

Then we found one of my favorite Colubrids, the Sonoran Lyresnake, Trimorphodon lambda. He had kind of a jacked up lower jaw as if he had swallowed part of it, but it looked to be healing, and it had some food in the belly, so it looks like he’ll be fine.

lyresnake

Trimorphodon lambda

popeye face

Sonoran Lyresnake in Arizona

On the way out, we found the last thing I expected, a Couch’s Spadefoot Toad. These are pretty common during the monsoons in the flats, but we were still well within the foothills when we found him. Weird.

Couch's Toad

Stripe-Tailed Scorpion, Hoffmannius spinigerus

Stripe Tailed Scorpion

Harcuvar mountains, on a chilly snake-less afternoon.

Harcuvars

The foothills North of my home in Anthem, Arizona.

Anthem

An outcrop near New River, Arizona

New River Rocks

… and the same hill in the other direction. It’s not snow, it’s a hill of crumbled white quartz, early in the morning.

New River

Amblypigids

Big creepy arachnid with a nightsnake:

desert dance party 3000

Email me and I’ll tell you if you’re right.

First, this is, as Mr. Price put it, “intended to be a ‘science’ book”, and that it isn’t. The majority of the book is photography by the author and a few other field herpers, sprinkled with a couple pages of text here and there that more or less give some context to the next grouping of photos. Though lean on the science, what is there can be pretty useful. The phenotype information is about as detailed as the book gets, but this is very useful when combined with the maps, habitat shots, and various shots of lepidus from different mountain ranges.

The real stand-outs are the animals, of which Michael Price has done a great job showing off the amazing variation of the species. The photography is very good, though I do wish there were a few more scenic shots of the animals in their environments. The part that is personally most useful are the habitat shots. Each mountain range is a little different, and it takes some work to find that sweet spot where everything is just right for snakes. I even recognized one rock photographed in the Guadalupe Mountains, where every time I drive by, makes me think “I bet that place is crawling with leps.”. Now I know for sure it is, and this will be one of the first places I visit on my trip.

All in all I think it’s a great book to have if you’re a lepidus lover, but not the best if you have a more casual view of them. While pages and pages of pictures of different rock rattlesnakes is very interesting to field herpers, it might not be the best way to spend $25 if you don’t actually plan on someday visiting all of these.

A Guide to the Rock Rattlesnakes of the United States is available on Amazon.com, and in the bookstore on this site.

A Guide to Rock Rattlesnakes of the United States

He was easy to find; I just followed the sound. He was under a tree a good 100′ or more from where we first heard him inside the truck with the engine running. Crazy luck.

Here’s the little guy, followed by the angry noise maker.

Crotalus scutulatus

Pissed Off Rattlesnake

Here are a few.

Gartersnake in Arizona

Blacknecked Gartersnake

Thamnophis cyrtopsis

Garter Snake

Garter Snake in Arizona

There is a snake in there; can you see it?

It’s also worth mentioning that the scutulatus from Cochise county have more toxic venom than they would elsewhere. I am not sure why this is, but I’m as careful as ever when handling these guys.

Neonate

Crotalus scutulatus

A pissy morning scutulatus

Mojave Rattlesnake

Another bad morning

Friendly

Snakes come to your property for one of 3 reasons:

1. They’re just passing through.
2. They’re looking for food.
3. They’re looking for shelter.

The first one may be a little tough to prevent, but the latter two are easy. I don’t know how many rattlesnakes I’ve pulled out of drip system flowerpots or from messy piles of yard debris. If you have things in your yard that attract rodents, you will attract snakes. If you have lots of good places to hide, you will attract snakes. Just keep your property free of these and you should not have nearly as much of a problem.

As for whether or not lime keeps snakes away; that’s just silly. It’s a myth, end of story. If you’re truly concerned, contact your local Fish and Game office.

Crotalus pricei

Twin Spot

Twin Spotted Rattle Snake

I did come back the next day with my sister to find one, but only put in half an ass worth of effort. I did see one, but it made it down into the rocks before I could get to it. Oh well.

When we first got there, we decided to hike a running creek to see what was out. All we found were Canyon Treefrogs, Hyla arenicolor, and a few thousand crawfish.

Canyon Treefrog

Hyla arenicolor

Then we waited for dark. Almost immediately after we started our new search, we found an absolutely amazing-looking male cerberus on the move. We both flipped out. It can’t get any darker than this. Although there is some pattern shown in the photograph, I’ve since seen this snake become pitch-black without a trace of pattern whatsoever. This one came home with me, and is sleeping in an enclosure 5 feet behind me as I type this.

Arizona Black Rattlesnake

Here’s a crappy picture of Diego playing “Try not to lose any fingers”.

Diego with cerb

About 5 minutes later, we found a second cerberus. This one was a little more typical-looking, with cream colored bands and various other chocolate hues crossing the body.

Crotalus cerberus

AZ Black Rattlesnake

Another cool looking black rattlesnake

We found 2 more within the next hour, only one of which we photographed due to, uh, technical difficulties. The only 4 snakes we found that night were the ones we were looking for, which is a pretty cool night as far as we were concerned. Crotalus cerberus is quickly becoming one of my favorite Arizona snake.

Crotalus cerberus

Black Rattler

Final pictures of the series, the first Hopi Rattlesnakes, Crotalus viridis viridis, formally Crotalus viridis nuntius, found by Kelly and myself in the summer of 2009.

Crotalus viridis

C. viridis viridis

Hopi Rattlesnake

Here’s a Plateau Fence Lizard, Sceloporous tristichus, upon being discovered.

Plateau Fence Lizard

… and then, halfway around the tree, an attempt to scare me away. It worked; I left.

Ahhhhhhh!!!!

Sorry for the poor photos … these were taken quite awhile ago before I had decided to get into this as a full-on nerd activity.

Yoda

Little dude

This first is a large Red-Spotted Toad, Bufo punctatus, found while looking for hopi rattlesnakes in Central Arizona.

The latter is a young Sonoran Desert Toad, Bufo alvarius, found with a 97 F air temperature and near zero humidity.

Bufo punctatus

Sonoran Desert Toad

Hopi Rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis.

Hopi Rattlesnake

Hopi Rattlesnake

Crotalus viridis viridis

Crotalus molossus

Crotalus molossus

Black-Tailed Rattlesnake

… and an HDR for the hell of it.

HDR Blacktail

That is, of course, unless they’re babies Then they can bite all they want, and it doesn’t matter. Here are a couple I found this year.

Coluber bilineatus

Coluber bilineatus

Soniran Whipsnake

Sonoran Whipsnake, Coluber bilineatus

Coluber bilineatus

… just to illustrate:

The joys of herping. (pic by Kris Haas)

Here is the photo they selected, for the month of Novembe, of a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) I photographed in April.

Crotalus atrox

Here is a photo of some Canyon Treefrogs (Hyla arenicolor) that was selected as an honorable mention; also photographed in April of this year.

Hyla arenicolor

Here is more infor

In the early morning I photographed several snakes out in a cold lightning storm. I have to say, taking pictures of a big pissed off diamondback while lightning strikes all around is a great way to get the blood pumping. (a few of these will reappear in another post in a special about C. atrox variation).

Crotalus atrox

Crotalus atrox

Crotalus scutulatus

Some vultures …

vulture

vultures

… and while I’m posting birds:

falcon

Here’s another Mojave Rattlesnake:

Crotalus scutulatus

… and another.

Crotalus scutulatus

Crotalus scutulatus

Back into New Mexico, I found several Ornate Box Turtles out in the rain.

Ornate Box Turtle

Ornate Box Turble in New Mexico

Ornate Box Turtle

In the evening, I found a tarantula hawk wasp the size of an adult mouse dragging a paralyzed, but still living, tarantula to a nest.

Tarantula hawk

Finally the rain cleared, but I decided to call it an early night, after a long, long day of not seeing a whole lot. The last snake I had seen was at about 10am, and the day was an adventure of car issues in the middle of nowhere, hiding from monster storms, and dodging flash floods. I got one last shot of the Animas mountains of New Mexico, opposite of the sunset, as the last of the hail clouds broke up to a chilly night sky.

New Mexico

Happy Halloween!

More Hopi Rattlesnakes, Crotalus viridis, from North Central Arizona.

C. viridis

Hopi Rattlesnake

Hopi Rattlesnake

Something very interesting I learned after showing off the find to some other field herpers with more experience with this species, is that they have a rather inefficient way of keeping alive as young lizards.

Eastern Collared Lizards are cannibals. Adult males will eat young lizards on sight, but spare gravid (pregnant) females. Obviously eating females loaded with eggs would not work out too well for the species, so females give warning of their status by displaying bright orange lizards. Young males, in turn, display orange coloration in order to mimic females of the same species, to avoid predation by … the same species. To me, this is right up there with the flounder in adaptations that show just how unintelligent natural design is.

Eastern Collared Lizard

Crotaphytus collaris

This first is a fairly typical-looking Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). The atrox I see in this area of Arizona tend to be a little more colorful than the dirt-grey variety I often encounter up near Phoenix.

Diamondback Rattlesnake from Arizona

Here’s another that was found less than 100 feet away, about 20 minutes later. It’s a neonate atrox that’s maybe a few weeks old.

Baby rattlesnake

Notice the button on the tail. A common myth is that baby rattlesnakes are born without rattles; this is absolutely false. This snake cannot yet rattle of course, since it takes at least 2 segments of rattle to make any sound at all.

Another myth is that baby rattlesnakes are somehow more deadly than the adults. I’ve heard lots of reasons … more potent venom, unable to control their release, etc; these must be taken with a bit of understanding and relation. I have observed that a greater proportion of young snakes are aggressive right out of the gate. I assume this is to do with the poor little things being only a few inches long and on the menu for just about everything in the desert. As for their venom being more dangerous … young diamondbacks can have more potent venom (The Venomous Reptiles of Arizona, Low / Schwalbe / Johnson). Although it is possibly more deadly drop-for-drop, a young atrox is not able to inject the same amount of venom as an adult. I see all over the place (including the CDC website, until earlier this year) that babies are more dangerous because they cannot control their venom yield. Everything a pencil-sized snake has just doesn’t compare to the danger posed by even a fraction of a large adult. It also has a smaller mouth, fang-size, and strike range. There are several factors to consider to gauge the overall danger a snake poses; not just venom. The point: leave rattlesnakes of ALL sizes alone and head the other way. Your uncle/neighbor/co-worker might be right about a lot of things, but he’s wrong on this one.

baby rattlesnake

These tiny babies are out in force of many species at this time, and are pretty easily found as they wander around without an established home range. Cute little things.

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It was acting really strangely … striking into the air in different directions, all of which opposite of where we stood, watching. Then it turned and bit itself on the side. Whoa, this snake was crazed.

If you look closely, you can see a spot of blood where it had bitten itself.

Crotalus viridis

While going to the car to get a different lens for my camera, the snake lunged at me, straight into the air, completely clearing the ground. This is the second rattlesnake I have encountered, ever, to “jump” like this. The snake was clearly disturbed, perhaps being crazed by a car earlier in the day and in pain.

Prairie Rattlesnake from New Mexico

… and one last shot with a clearer image of the facial markings of the animal. These are the larger version of the same species, Crotalus viridis, found earlier in the year in the series of posts outlining our trip to find Hopi rattlesnakes.

Crotalus viridis

Here are a few I’ve found within 2 days in 2009, within 70 miles of eachother.

This one was found in an interesting area along the New Mexican border with Arizona, where I have seen much more variety in this species than in other places. It has a beautiful red coloration.

Red-Phase Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

This second snake was MASSIVE. It was probably the largest diamondback I’ve ever seen; right around 5′. Although this isn’t too uncommon in other places like Texas, here in Arizona this is seldom achieved. The snake also has a reduced pattern, and a nice pink tail. It was also kitten-tame, which just makes it difficult to photograph. I was really impressed with this big girl.

Diamondback Rattlesnake

Western Diamondback

Here’s one with a very clean pattern with more typical coloration, and a bad attitude, resulting in the clasic “S” pose the diamondback is famous for. I had to snap these quickly, as the storm you see in the background was dropping lightning all around us. This is definitely one way to get some adrenaline into the bloodstream.

Back off man!

Crotalus atrox

Crotalus atrox

Crotalus atrox

Here’s another with a minimal pattern, which would have appeared a nice pink color in the daytime.

Crotalus atrox

Here is a very young neonate, only about the size of a pencil.

Baby Rattlesnake

… and another young snake, this one with a year or two under its belt.

Crotalus atrox

Here’s a very dark individual with a great deal of speckling in the pattern.

Crotalus atrox

… and another tiny baby with seemingly too many diamonds, and strong white bands separating them.

baby rattlesnake

You may want to note the button on this snake if you currently believe that baby rattlesnakes are born without a rattle. It is true that the thing is useless at this point, though the snake tries his little head off to scare you away by shaking it regardless. Rattlesnakes are born with a prebutton, which gains a rattle-able link by the second shed.

Baby atrox

… and one last baby just to make this post way too long.

Baby rattle snake

Even though these were found within a very short time of one another, this is only a small fraction of the incredible number of diamondbacks we found on this trip. We found a total of 82 snakes on this trip all in all, the majority being diamondbacks that were just escorted off the road. I made the mistake in the past of not photographing these snakes as often as other, less common species. In the meantime, I’ve grown a great deal more knowledgeable about rattlesnakes, and it only occurred to me after examining these pictures upon returning from this trip where I’d made a point to photograph more diamondbacks that I had been missing out on a great deal. I think that I’ve stumbled upon the shape that this hobby will take once I’ve reached the goal of seeing one of all of the reptiles in the state. That goal is finite, in fact, I am sure I’ll be able to do it within the next few years (except for maybe one or two that in all likelyhood probably don’t actually exist within Arizona), but learning about and observing the variation between each species in different localities will be endless. I’m looking forward to it.

How ironicly exciting that this realization has come with our most common, and most iconic, rattlesnake.