Fieldherper.com » Behavior

Speckled Rattlesnakes Mating

Bryan — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 02:02:33 +0000

I have a beautiful pair of speckled rattlesnakes that I keep in my office … they’re both white … not light, but WHITE like vanilla frosting. He’s been putting the moves on her for a few weeks now, and this is the first time it’s actually happened. These are going to be some really good looking babies.

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

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

Are You Threatening Me?

Bryan — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:26:28 +0000

I respect lizards. Unlike cowardly snakes that try and escape immediately upon discovery, many lizards will go just a few feet and turn around to engage me in the most terrifying aspect of their being: pushups. Oh the humanity.

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!!!!

Hazards of Love

Bryan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:09:50 +0000

One morning awhile back I spent the afternoon sitting behind a wall just North of Congress, Arizona, and watched the Greater Earless Lizards (Cophosaurus texanus) in great tumult over a female. Over the course of an hour or so, many males came, danced, and were either driven off or just ran away in apparent frustration. The males can be wonderfully colorful, and they brought their best that morning.

Greater Earless Lizards

Cophosaurus texanus, mating behavior

Greater Earless Lizards in Love

Finally someone made a move. Sorry for the blurry crap photo.

Lizard Porn

Oh, and the title of this post is from the album I’m listening to right now, The Hazards of Love
by the Decemberists. Fitting, so there it goes.

A Pair of C. atrox

Bryan — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 06:12:27 +0000

Kris and I went on a hike up the Agua Fria river to do some herping, but moreso to just get out a bit and enjoy the nice day. Pretty quickly, Kris spotted a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) under a fallen boulder. I was excited to see a second snake coiled just behind the first. This is the first time I’ve seen 2 snakes share a location like this, so it was pretty exciting.

A pair of C. atrox

We assume they’re a mating pair. They did not seem to take notice of us at all, and we were able to take a seat right next to them and watch their behavior for awhile. The male (in back) continually attempted to get the attention of his pal, or was otherwise approaching her head with twitchy head movements and a flickering tongue.

I\'m watching you.

Closeup

A couple other critters from the trip:

Desert Patch-Nosed Snake

Greater Earless Lizard