I see them all the time, but realized this year that I really have almost no photographs of our big desert Chuckwallas, Sauromalus ater. They’re big, relatively colorful (in some places) lizards that you can pretty much see anywhere one would hike in the Sonoran desert. Just look up to the rocky outcroppings and they’ll be standing watch or diving into crevices as you come by. I know that any hike in South Mountain Preserve in Phoenix should yield quite a few sightings without any work at all.
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.
Tags: chuckwalla, lizards, maricopa, sauromalus ater
Posted in Field Herping, Personal | 4 Comments »
I found this New Mexico Milksnake, Lampropeltis triangulum celaenops, crossing a 5 lane highway in the middle of a dust storm, with temps in the low 50’s. Wow! That was the last thing I expected to find … and boy was I happy. My first milksnake, and it’s a good one. This fella came home with me.
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.
Tags: carlsbad, celaenops, lampropeltis, new mexico milksnake, triangulum
Posted in Captive & Husbandry, Field Herping, Field Trips, Landscapes, Photography | 2 Comments »
In the 3 weeks I spent herping the areas around Carlsbad, New Mexico, I found a good amount of Western Diamondbacks, Crotalus atrox. It’s usually the same in Arizona … I expected a greater number of Prairie Rattlesnakes to show up, but I only saw one the whole time I was there (though I did see 6 of them dead on the road as I was leaving the state). The diamondbacks were interesting though, in being generally different than the Arizonan snakes I am used to. They tended to be longer, skinnier, and dark.
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.
Tags: carlsbad, Crotalus atrox, eddy county, new mexico, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
Posted in Field Herping, Field Trips, Personal | 7 Comments »
If you’ve ever been to Phoenix, these are the mountains that extend the entire city, North to South, visible to the West.
hdr-whitetanks0313102
Tags: hdr, landscape, phoenix, white tank mountains
Posted in Landscapes, Photography | No Comments »
A faded-looking Mojave Rattlesnake, Crotalus scutulatus, from West of Phoenix.
For comparison, here is a young, higher-contrast individual from the same area
Tags: Crotalus, mojave, rattlesnake, scutulatus
Posted in Field Trips, Photography | 1 Comment »
When driving to the Northern parts of Arizona, there’s seemingly a distinct line where the lage saguaros give way to chaparral grasslands. One of these place, just above where the cactus disappear, is one of my favorite close-to-home places to go. This picture is pretty typical of any evening throughout July and August.
Tags: landscape, Yavapai County
Posted in Landscapes, Photography | 2 Comments »
Here’s one of a few blacktails I’ve been keeping track of in a mountain range North of Phoenix. These are, at this point I am safe to say, my favorite species of rattlesnake.
Tags: black tail, Blacktail, Blacktailed, rattle snake, rattler, rattlesnake, Yavapai County
Posted in Field Herping, Photography | 1 Comment »
Well, big is relative. The first snake is about as large as most Sonoran sidewinders, Crotalus cerastes cercobombus, will ever get … about 2 feet long. The latter is brand new to this world, about as long as a dollar bill and can easily coil up on a quarter.
Tags: baby rattlesnake, cerastes, cercobombus, Crotalus, rattlesnake, sidewinder
Posted in Field Herping, Photography | 4 Comments »
I found an old Greater Shorthorned Lizard, Phrynosoma hernandesi, with only three feet out running around in the Bradshaw mountains leaflitter. No snakes that day, but I was happy to come home with some pictures of one of my favorite lizards.
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.
Tags: greater shorthorned lizard, horned lizards, horny toad, phrynosoma hernandesi
Posted in Field Herping, Photography | No Comments »
Here’s a pretty, colorful Southwestern speckled rattlesnake, Crotalus mitchelli pyrrhus, from the mountains North of Wickenberg. Beautiful, but typical for this area.
Tags: Crotalus mitchelli pyrrhus, rattlesnake, speckled, Yavapai County
Posted in Field Herping | 3 Comments »
Here are a few snake-less photos from a winter hike in the Chiricahua mountains.
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.
Tags: chiricahua mountains, cochise county, jarrovii, sceloporous
Posted in Field Trips, Landscapes, Personal, Photography | No Comments »
