The mountain ranges of
southern Arizona, June 2022
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Started the trip off with this light colored
mojave rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus)
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This juvenile mojave rattlesnake was found not
far from the first one
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This plains spadefoot (Spea bombifrons)
was rescued off the road.
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This
appears to be a hybrid between a prairie (C.
viridis) and a w. diamondback (C. atrox)
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A beautiful sunrise over the Chiricahuas started
off an epic day!
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We hit a trail looking for green ratsnakes, but
only saw a few lizards including this striped plateau
lizard (Sceloporus virgatus)
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Several yarrow spiny lizards (S. jarrovii)
were seen cruising on the rock walls.
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This Arizona alligator lizard (Elgaria kingii)
was found cruising in the leaf litter on the side of the
road.
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We found this gorgeous northern black-tailed
rattlesnake (C. m. molossus) at a high elevation
spot. This one was huge!
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This black-tail was found in some amazing
habitat.
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Dustin and I came across this large twin-spotted
rattlesnake (C. pricei) on a new spot that Dustin
had scoped out.
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Such a small and cool species adapted for life at
high elevation.
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Brandon spotted this juvenile twin-spot in a
crack.
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This small snake was very vibrant. This one was
probably born last year.
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Ustin power! Another large black-tailed rattler.
We also got to enjoy a snack of wild raspberries while
we tried to pose this guy.
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| This guy was found up the hill from the juvenile
twin-spot. |
The photos just don't do the yellows justice. I
have wanted to see a nice yellow high elevation
black-tail for a while! |
I found this third medium-sized twin-spot as we
headed back towards the car, capping off an incredible
day at high elevation. |
We cruised this Chihuahuan night snake (Hypsiglena
jani) down in the lowlands. |
This Sonoran desert toad (Incilius alvarius)
was found out on the road. |
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| Another prairie X
western diamondback hybrid found along the
border of AZ and NM |
These hybrids have a cool pattern. |
We
spotted this Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum)
along the road as we went to look for hognose
snakes. |
Rob spotted this
desert black-tailed rattlesnake in a cool crack in a
large boulder.
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As we headed up a road in the Santa Ritas, we saw
another black-tail on the road.
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| Brandon spotted this
tiger rattlesnake (C. tigris) as it made its way
onto the road. |
As we were
photographing the tiger, some herpers stopped to chat.
They had collected a lyre snake (Trimorphodon lambda)
on the same road.
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Check out the tiny
head on the tiger. |
My lifer tiger was a
nice looking one for sure!
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On the way down, we
cruised this nice looking WDB rattler. |
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While making our way
to another canyon, we found this gorgeous yellow desert
king (Lampropeltis splendida).
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This red-spotted toad
was found down along the border.
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A Clark's spiny
lizard (Sceloporus clarkii) was the final herp of
the trip.
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The sunset over the
Great Salt Lake gave the flight home a spectacular
finale.
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