Here’s one of my favorite native snakes, a Sonoran Lyresnake. We found it out in a relatively flat area at a higher elevation and were totally surprised to run into him. They’re thin, always aggressive, and slightly venomous (not hospital-worthy but reportedly can be pretty painful for awhile), and otherwise a great example of a specialized predator. The pose looks pretty similar to the last Sonoran Lyresnake picture I posted from 2007.

Trimorphodon lambda

Sonoran Lyresnake

Sonoran Lyresnake

Lyresnake from Pima County, Arizona

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Lithobates catesbeianus

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This little Arizona Tree Frog (Hyla wrightorum) was spotted by Floyd on a recent trip down South. 

Hyla wrightorum

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Kris gets revenge on a neonate Whipsnake.

uhhh

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Here’s from a trip way back in May, where Kris and I struck out on snakes, but not for lack of effort. We hiked so hard I seriously had trouble walking the next day, and it takes quite a bit to do that to me.

We got up before the sun and headed South to take the long way in hopes of seeing some snakes warming themselves in the early sunlight. No such luck. That set the tone for what was a pretty herp-free trip. Here’s some pictures from the first day.

Bullfrog

Whiptail

Fur Bug

We camped at the base of the mountain and got up before sunup once again to see what we could find. We ended up hiking to the top of the mountain before noon, climbing a full mile up over 5.2 miles of trail. What to do when you get up there? Hurry your ass back down before dark!

First, however, you have to wake up and find the will to put on your boots.

The filthy underbelly of herping

Lots of nice scenery, which you can’t look at much without ending up part of it.

Supertrail

Supertrail

Supertrail

Supertrail

Supertrail

This is why you don’t want to get struck by lightning. Someone should have told this tree.

Lightning-gutted tree

No snakes, but we saw lots of lizards who didn’t seem to mind people very much.

Yarrow\'s Spiny Lizard

Yarrow\'s Spiny Lizard

Yarrow\'s Spiny Lizard

Yarrow\'s Spiny Lizard

Yarrow\'s Spiny Lizard

When snakes are hiding, expect to see plenty of tree pictures.

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… a couple pictures from a recent trip that failed to produce my target species, but provided some nice practice with my HDR technique.

hdr-prescott-forest

hdr-skull-valley-1

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