Fieldherper.com » Sonora Mud Turtle

Teenie Turtle

Bryan — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:24:58 +0000

Here’s a really tiny Sonora Mud Turtle, Kinosternon sonoriense, from a muddy cattle pond near the AZ/Mexico border.

Sonora Mud Turtle

Tiny Turtle

Turtle

Hot & Dry in the South East, Part 2

Bryan — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:37:27 +0000

… continued from Part 1

On the way to our evening target area, we found a few lizards.

A couple of Elegant Earless Lizard, Holbrookia elegans.

Elegant Earless Lizard

Holbrookia elegans

… and a Regal Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma solare.

Phrynosoma solare

After dark, the first snake we found was a MONSTER Black-Tailed Rattlesnake, Crotalus molossus. This is my favorite species of rattlesnake, and to see one this size was incredible. We did not measure it, but it was at least 4.5′ long. My snake tongs, for instance, are 46″ long, and the snake was longer even not entirely stretched out.

Crotalus molossus

… and then another huge snake. This one was not quite as large as the first, but still much larger than the average rattlesnake encountered in Arizona. The hardest part of working with these snakes was getting them to sit still long enough to photograph them. They did not seem to be bothered by us, even when picked up, and were content just going on their way.

Black-Tailed Rattlesnake

Crotalus molossus

Sonoran Mud Turtles

Bryan — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:33:33 +0000

An unsuccessful trip to the S. E. portion of Arizona on the hunt for Green Ratsnakes and Brown Vinesnakes ended up yielding some worthwhile byproducts. A cattle pond full with one log and a good number of Sonoran Mud Turtles , Kinosternon sonoriense, basking in the sun. These are the first that I’ve seen of this species. One more for the life list. There is one time that I found several empty shells of these turtles in the Superstition Mountains, in the rocks near the bank. Some bird had a good meal.

Sonoran Mud Turtle

Kinosternon sonoriense

Sonoran Mud Turtles