Fieldherper.com » sonoran gophersnake

Colorful Sonoran Gophersnake

Bryan — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:45:36 +0000

This one isn’t technically wild; he was captured by my snake removal service at a home in Phoenix and this is the the wash where he’s released. I don’t usually photograph the releases, but he looked cool on the white rocks, so here he is. Gophersnakes like this are the second most common animal I am called to capture around Phoenix. Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes are the first.

Gophersnake

Sonoran Gophersnakes

Bryan — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:47:25 +0000

Here are a few of the Sonoran Gophersnakes, Pituophis catenifer affinis, I found during a few days of August in 2009. This is one of the most common snakes we have in Arizona, and I see them quite often. I have two in my collection as well, which were both called in to the AHA hotline as rattlesnakes. They’re pretty entertaining when you find them, as they put on a really good show most of the time. In fact, I’m still digging teeth out of my left index finger from one of them.

Gophersnake

Sneaky

I'm grass too!

Pituophis catenifer affinis

I bite you!

Pituophis

A big one

P-c-affinis-6-081609

Sonoran Gophersnakes

Bryan — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:14:43 +0000

I found 2 large, adult Sonoran Gophersnakes (Pituophis catenifer affinis) within 50 feet of eachother in the early evening in April. Neither wanted to fight, which was a little uncommon for these guys. It left me a little disappointed, because it’s fun to see these large constrictors put on their impressive show of puffing, hissing, and strikes.

Oh well, still good to see them.

Sonoran Gophersnake

Pituophis catenifer affinis

Quality, Not Quantity (Part 3)

Bryan — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 03:59:58 +0000

… continued from part 1 and part 2.

In the morning, the first thing I found was a biggie for me. It was a Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum), only my second find of this animal.

Gila Monster

Heloderma suspectum

I took a lot of pictures. I’ve only seen 2 in so many trips to the desert, who knows when the next one would be.

Gila Monster in Arizona

Gila Monster

Although they’re venomous, the bite is most likely not going to be fatal to a human unless there’s some other problem going on. Unlike rattlesnakes, their bite is purely defensive. They’re slow moving animals who just want to get away, and will face you and slowly back up to cover if bothered. I tried my best to keep my distance and let this one do what he was doing and get my photos without hassling him. It was on its way somewhere and I was pleased to follow it for awhile as it did what Gila Monsters do.

Also found with the earlier-mentioned coral snake was this big gross desert bug, the Arizona Desert Centipede (Scolopedra heros arizonensis). They’re the largest centipede in the U.S., capable of reaching up to 12 inches in captivity. Always cool to see, they are one of the few things out here that just creep the hell out of me.

Arizona Desert Centipede

Scolopendra heros arizonensis

Here’s one crawling on a boot, just so you can see how big these things are and why they make me feel like a scared little girl when I’m around them.

Gross dude.

I went back to town at this point to meet up with a couple of guys from Pennsylvania who were out in Arizona to see some desert animals. Right away, we were able to photograph this young adult Sonoran Gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer affinis) enjoying the warm dirt roads of Apache Junction.

Sonoran Gophersnake

Pituophis catenifer affinis

More to come.

Lots of Hiking, Not Much Herping

Bryan — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:10:10 +0000

I spent the weekend putting miles on my legs/car without seeing many animals. It didn’t surprise me being the third week of march in less than ideal conditions. It was still nice to get out and do some exploring, no matter what the results were.

The temperatures were in the high 70s, but the air and ground was bone dry.

Cochise County in Spring

Springtime in Cochise County

The one animal found in 2 days searching Northern Cochise County and Southern Graham County turned up one neonate Mojave Rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus) out wandering the flats in relatively cold conditions. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but this little guy was only about as long as a dollar bill.

Crotalus scutulatus

Mojave Rattlesnake

A tiny baby Mojave Rattlesnake

After hiking an area in Southern Graham county with a new friend from Sierra Vista, I went to the Santa Rita mountains to try and find a green rat snake with no luck. I started the 4 hour drive home and decided to make one last-ditch attempt to put something my CF card at a location between Tucson and Phoenix: I saw 4 snakes within 15 minutes. Go figure. These were a large Sonoran Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes) and his deceased friend just down the road, a young Sonoran Gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer affinis) and an injured Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) that I did not photograph.

Crotalus cerastes cercobombus

Crotalus cerastes cercobombus in Arizona

Sonoran Sidewinder

One of 2 Sidewinder subspecies found within Arizona

Sonoran Gophersnake

A Sonoran Gophersnake found West of Tucson, Arizona