I recently returned from my trip out to New Mexico/Arizona where I went herping with my brother, York, and a good internet friend, Paul. Thanks to American Airlines and an unexpected stay in DFW on Friday night, our trip was delayed until midday on Saturday. We headed straight out and hit some talus slopes, but it was getting late and it was really chilly, so we saw nothing. We decided to head back to lower elevation and do some road cruising for the night and our luck picked up.
We saw the usual suspects. First up was a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox):
Then their usual sidekick, the Mojave Rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus):
Black-Tail Rattlesnakes (Crotalus molossus molossus) are fairly common here, as well, and we were not disappointed:
After a satisfying night of road cruising, we camped and prepared for a morning hike the next day. The next day we caught our first ever Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis pyromelana pyromelana):
Afterwards, we hit another talus slope in another mountain range and first struck big with Banded Rock Rattlesnakes (Crotalus lepidus klauberi). First, a good-looking juvenile:
An older animal with some nice banding:
The last was a favorite with nice pink highlights and some neon green striping on the top:
We then found an Arizona Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake (Crotalus willardi willardi):
Well, actually, it turned out to be a pair under the same rock:
Again, satisfied with our results for the day, we camped at another location and prepped for another morning hike. We started our hike the next morning and immediately found another Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (L. p. pyromelana) right in the middle of the trail:
We continued about 5 miles up the mountain and immediately started seeing food for our target species, Yarrow's spiny lizards (Sceloporus jarrovi):
And then our target species started with a nice neonate. Notice the button and the birth skin still on it. Twin Spot Rattlesnake (Crotalus pricei pricei):
Number two:
Number three:
Number four:
After our hike back, I for one was glad to rest my blistered feet while we did some road cruising! We had a little luck for the next several hours catching some odds and ends, like this Chuckwalla (Sauromalus ater):
And another Black-Tail Rattlesnake (C. m. molossus):
You can never find too many molossus as far as I am concerned:
And then we hit some more night cruising and found one that York had never seen. Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes cercobombus):
I only took one or two photos of the sidewinder because it was small and I figured we would see several of them that night, but we never saw another one. Oh well, we just had to settle for my #1 target species of the trip. Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum suspectum):
I think Paul was almost as excited about the next pair as I was to see the gila monster. We found these 40’ apart on the road like someone had laid them out for us. I still don’t know what the big deal is, Paul, we have rat snakes everywhere here in North Carolina if you want to come catch some. Green Rat Snake (Senticolis triaspis intermedia):
We started wishing aloud for our next species since we were pretty much already naming what we wanted to catch next. “Tiger!” we all said. Tiger Rattlesnake (Crotalus tigris):
Oh heck, why not be greedy and wish for a pair:
The trip was coming to an end since my plane left the following day from Albuquerque and we were many hours from my brother’s place. So, the question was should we call it quits and head home to get some decent rest and maybe work on some photos? Or was there maybe one more species we wanted to catch? You only live once! Arizona Black Rattlesnake (Crotalus cerberus):
So, the trip was over and I was on my way to miss another connection flight due to bad weather and spend another night in DFW! What can I say, Dallas and American Airlines love me!
Here’s the official catch list (21 lifers on it for me!!):
1 Banded Gecko (Coleonyx variegatus bogerti)
6 Mojave Rattlesnakes (Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus)
7 Western Diamonback Rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox)
3 Black-Tail Rattlesnakes (Crotalus molossus molossus)
1 New Mexico Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake (Crotalus willardi obscurus)
2 Arizona Mountain Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis pyromelana pyromelana)
2 Sonoran Whipsnakes (Masticophis bilineatus)
3 Banded Rock Rattlesnakes (Crotalus lepidus klauberi)
2 Arizona Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnakes (Crotalus willardi willardi)
4 Twin Spot Rattlesnakes (Crotalus pricei pricei)
1 Western Patchnose Snake (Salvadora hexalepis deserticola)
1 Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes cercobombus)
1 Regal Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma solare)
1 Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum suspectum)
1 Longnose Snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei lecontei)
2 Chuckwalla (Sauromalus ater)
2 Speckled Rattlesnakes (Crotalus mitchelli pyrrhus)
2 Green Rat Snakes (Senticolis triaspis intermedia)
2 Tiger Rattlesnakes (Crotalus tigris)
2 Sonoran Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer affinis)
1 Arizona Black Rattlesnake (Crotalus cerberus)
1 Blackneck Garter Snake (Thamnophis cyrtopsis cyrtopsis)
1 Lowland Leopard Frog (Rana yavapaiensis)
1 Sonoran mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense)
2 Madrean alligator lizards (Elgaria kingii nobilis)
1 Striped Whipsnake (Masticophis taeniatus taeniatus)
TMTC Yarrow's spiny lizards (Sceloporus jarrovi)
TMTC Colorado River toads (Bufo alvarius)
And some more odds and ends photos just in case your computers haven’t fried yet.
Landscapes:
Many thanks go to my brother for his hospitality and his hard work preparing for this trip, especially all of the scouting for good herping spots that paid off big time. The same goes to my new brother, Paul, who has herped out there for years and without his expertise we would have had to hunt much harder and dumber. Also, thanks to Matt and Chip for their hospitality and their willingness to offer suggestions for places to hunt specific species. It was certainly a group effort that paid off big time!
Sat 30 Aug - 4:02
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