Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got an inch of rain at my place (25 mi N or Study Butte) last night. Chances are good that we'll get more today and tonight. Hopefully the alterna will come out and play tonight.

I haven't been out herping in several days, but I have seen a few snakes while driving around to check on different properties.

3.5' Mojave: 4/27 2:30p. Coiled on Terlingua Ranch Rd. Never rattled during a 15min photoshoot. Just puffed up and hissed like a bullsnake. Kept his tail tightly curled the whole time (injury?).

3' Diamondback: 4/28 4:30p. Crossing dirt road. Coiled up in a ball and hid his head when confronted.

When that didn't work, he assumed a more typical pose.

2' Mountain Patch-nose: 4/28 5:15pm. Crossing dirt road. Probably the calmest wild snake I've ever handled. He never fled and just coiled up wherever I put him down.

4' Diamondback: 4:28 5:20pm. Crossing dirt road. Very dark atrox. Perfectly suited to the dark igneous sand and rocks where he lives. Determined to crawl away and refused to coil.

I finally was able to get a decent head shot.

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Hey Daryl, Thanks for the post! Even though they were common snakes they were great photographs. It was just so refreshing to see snakes again after all the hype, histeria and paranoia the last several weeks. Would like to meet you this summer when I come to the Bend area for my annual week of finding atrox and night snakes! Love the area though. Keep up the the great photos. Thanks again, BA

Brad,
Thanks for the compliment. I'm often able to get one or two decent shots for every 20-30 attempts (gotta love digital!). I'd be delighted to meet you when you're down. If you've got room for a passenger, I'd love to ride along. Maybe I'll have better luck finding an alterna if I go out with a real herper.

BTW, I found a splendida, two atrox, a road wounded black-neck garter, and ground snake this evening. Not herping, just driving back and forth to a rental that I manage. I'd have gone back out, but temps dropped too fast.

Hey Eby,
Just got in from the RR,saw 4 subocs, 3 blacktails, 2 atrox, 2 hypsiglena, 1 bull snake and 1 Glossy. Saw most of them on the first pass. It cooled off quick.
Later
Rick

I've found lots of subocs, molossus, hypsiglena and glossies in the past, but I never took the time to get decent photos. Oh well, they should be easy enough targets now that I've set my sites.

Tonight should be similar. Hopefully the clouds will cover the moon for the first hour or two. After that, it will likely be too cool to matter.

Daryl