We got a chance to head out for one night in August searching for reptiles. We headed into the deserts to the North and East of Phoenix and had some decent luck. It was a great outing! We tried some of the prickly pear that was ripe on all of the cactus in the area as well. I can’t wait to do it again next year!
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The first snake of the night was was this pretty little California Kingsnake:

California Kingsnake

As we climbed slightly in elevation, it began to get a little cooler and we then found this very cooperative Blacktailed Rattlesnake:

Blacktail Rattlesnake

Here is a closer shot of this photogenic animal:

Blacktail Rattlesnake Close Up

Shortly after finding the Blacktailed Rattlesnake, we started heading for lower ground where it was a bit warmer again and then we found this young Longnose Snake. When Longnose snakes are juveniles, they do not yet have any of their orange or red coloration. This is developed later in life. They look very similar to California Kingsnakes. Here is the one that we found. If you look very carefully, you can see the red beginning to creep in at the edge of some of the scales:

Longnose Snake

We eventually decided to take a side road that turned out to be a very long dirt road. We drove for many miles, not seeing any further animal life. After what seemed like an hour, we finally saw this large Gila monster waddling across the dirt road. Here is a picture of the beast:

Gila Monster