Fieldherper.com » regal horned lizard

Future Roadburger Candidate

Bryan — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:11:09 +0000

I scooted him away this time, but I doubt he’ll change his ways.

P-solare-1-042810

Prickley Royalty

Bryan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:42:36 +0000

Here’s a pair of Regal Horned Lizards, Phrynosoma solare, found in June basking on a dirt road. Neither tried to run away at all, and let me just walk up and grab them for some photos. Cute little guys.

Phrynosoma solare

Regal Horned Lizard

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Bryan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:21:50 +0000

Here’s a young regal horned lizard (Phrynosoma solare) just after squirting me, my phone, and my camera with blood from its eyes. They do this to scare off mamilian predators, which I guess means me. I must admit it worked, as unlike the a bite from the little guy, it got me to put him down to wipe the stuff off my glasses. If coyotes wore glasses, this defense would be air-tight.

Phrynosoma solare

Regal Horned Lizard

Bryan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:51:01 +0000

A Phrynosoma solare found after a sprint-time hike a year or two ago.

Phrynosoma solare

Recent Outings

Bryan — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:16:09 +0000

The last few times out have been a little slower. On the 13th, Kris and I went up to Yavapai County to look for some Speckled Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Mitchellii) or maybe a Rosy Boa (Lichanura trivirgata), but struck out. Even that night cruising back to town in the lower elevations that all indications showed would be nice and warm dropped down into the 60′s within minutes of the sun setting.

We did find a young, sleepy Regal Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma solare) laying in the road. He sat perfectly still while we played with our cameras. The only other notable critter of the trip was the bark scorpion that I posted a picture of awhile back.

Regal Horned Lizard - Phrynosoma solare

A few nights later Kris and I again had a dead night West of Phoenix. We found one decently-behaved Long-nosed Snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei).

Long-nosed Snake

Then, my girlfriend Kelly and I went camping near Payson for the weekend. It was pretty cold all weekend, but I did find a couple of Wandering Gartersnakes (Thamnophis elegans vagrans) near the stream. 2 would have been 4 if my hands were a bit faster and I werent’ so worried about dropping my new camera into the water.

Here’s the first one:

Wandering Gartersnake

The next 2 pictures are of another one resting in the shade maybe 20 feet away.

\"Can I eat this big biped coming this way?\"

\"No! Hisssss spit fft!\"

… and that’s pretty much it for the last week. Hopefully the rest of April will treat me a little better.

moon