» Snake

First evening snake hunt of 2010

JDM — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:26:02 +0000

We went out fishing to Alamo Lake this past saturday. On the way there, we drove past a very speedy red coachwhip zipping across the highway! We also saw a nice desert iguana as it skirted past us at top speed while driving on the desert roads. After our unsuccessful fishing attempts, we started looking for critters at dusk. We did not see any reptile life until all of the light was gone from the skies. Temperatures began to drop quickly, going from the upper 80’s to about 70 degrees in about an hours worth of time and I began to doubt if we would see anything at all. Then, we came across our first snake of the evening, a very healthy small adult Mojave Rattlesnake:

I let my son pick it up with our large snake stick with much supervision. It was his first attempt and I think he really enjoyed it. He was very careful and aware and I helped him with both of my hands on the snake stick as well.

We continued on and it was a long time before coming across anything else. We eventually did come across a Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion, which my oldest daughter enjoyed finding. They really are quite large with the one we found probably measuring a total of 5 inches including tail.

I was really hoping that we would find a sidewinder and that I could show my kids this unique rattlesnake and its “sidewinding” motion of movement, as well as the horns that are above each of their eyes. Luckily for us, just before calling it quits, we did find a small adult:

Central Arizona Herping Trip from August 2009

JDM — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:51:56 +0000

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

Trip to White Mountains, Arizona

JDM — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:39:06 +0000

It was a slow year for me for herping this past season. I didn’t get a chance to get out much. I did make a few trips to the White Mountains and here are a couple of photos. Not much but gartersnakes, although it was not really a herping trip, but a family fishing trip. Here are a few photos:

First Wandering Garter Snake

Second Wandering Garter Snake

Beautiful Cactus with Red Flowers

Herping Banned in Texas?

JDM — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 00:16:10 +0000

There has been some severe abuses of power by some in Texas recently and there has been some behind the scenes trickery that has resulted in the passing of a bill that effectively bans the observation and collection of reptiles from public roadways. Since public roadways are the only way for someone to view or collect reptiles and amphibians in the state of Texas (since the remaining land in Texas is all privately owned) this effectively has banned reptile hunting in Texas. I can’t believe that this nonsense has happened. There are now efforts underway to encourage the Governor of Texas to veto this bill and or to pass legislation during future sessions to make it legal again. Please visit this link in order to participate in stopping this bill from becoming effective! Every voice counts, you do NOT need to be a resident of Texas to voice your opinion. Please click the link below:

Click Here!

Here is another photo from our outing last week

JDM — Fri, 04 May 2007 16:43:49 +0000

I have several pictures to post on the blog. I have had the chance to see several Chuckwallas up at South Mountain Park in the past few weeks. I found a patch nose snake yesterday morning, but it escaped before I could photograph it. Here is a photo of one of the Mohave Rattlesnakes that we found last Saturday.

Ground Snake from Western Arizona

JDM — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 20:16:54 +0000

The season is well on its way. We had a nice dust storm with some light sprinkles this past weekend and decided to see what would turn up out in the desert. Headed out west of Phoenix and found several critters including Mojave Rattlesnakes, Sidewinders, a Gopher Snake, and this pretty little Ground Snake:

Reptile Display at Cub Scout meeting

JDM — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 19:48:54 +0000

I went and did a little reptile display and education for a group of Cub Scouts on thursday. I brought several varieties of corn snakes, a few baby rosy boas, and a gray banded kingsnake. I showed them some rattlesnake photos, some snake skins and also gave them an opportunity to watch the rosy boas and corn snakes have a meal. I think they all really enjoyed the presentation….including the adults. Another person brought their sulcatta tortoise to the display as well. It turned out really well. One of the parents also bought a corn snake!

Herps from WA State

ADPace — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 15:33:08 +0000

This Great Basin Gopher Snake was found road cruising along the Spokane River.

This Wandering Garter Snake was very aggressive.Â Found the exact same snake in the same spot 2 days later.

This Western Skink was found under a pile of rocks in a forested area.