Reptile & Amphibian Forums

we saw this guy at about 9:00pm...not sure if you can see it in the photos, but he ate a HUGE meal and didn't take kindly to our prodding him for photo opportunites...here's the first pic...

he curled up nicely and allowed us to take some good photos...here's the second one

find of the night...(more on that in a few)...but before we leave him, here's one more shot...

I was hiking along the wash, and heard something up ahead making a ruckus...proceeding slowly, I came upon this glorious sight...These two were completely oblivious to our presence, and were only interested in duking it out with each other...I'm thinking this may be an attempted copulation by the male, and in this case the female is anything but receptive...otherwise, it may be two males fighting...either way, a rare event to witness!

This went on for a good 15 minutes prior to any of us taking pictures...we were just in awe of the spectacle we were seeing...

As illustrated by this and later shots, there was much open-mouthed gaping, hissing and carrying on by these two...I also noticed blood on both of them, no doubt inflicted by each other...

Whatever beef they had with each other, they were definitely having it out!

I cannot describe how amazing it is to see a spectacle like this, in the middle of a wash in Arizona....we may not have the privilege of keeping these animals but I'll tell you that NOTHING beats being able to witness this first-hand in the wild!!!

I took this shot to give others a good idea as to size and pattern...I'm thinking both of these are H. s. cinctum as they are quite banded....

Lucky man, thats not something too many have seen or are even likely to
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Dan S.
Crotalus & Company
Venom-Center Your Complete Venomous Community
Wisconsin Reptile Community

I was AMAZED when I came upon it!!! I haven't heard of too many people happening upon such a spectacle...even people that have been herping for 20 years!!! It was just SO awesome!

AzAtrox

That's probably a once in a lifetime encounter; absolutely amazing. I'd like to use a couple of the pics for an upcoming college lecture for my field ecology class if that's okay.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center

>>I was AMAZED when I came upon it!!! I haven't heard of too many people happening upon such a spectacle...even people that have been herping for 20 years!!! It was just SO awesome!
>>
>>AzAtrox
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Count yourself as having been VERY fortunate to have witnessed that spectacle in the wild. Great photos.
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Gerald Keown
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research
www.southwesternherp.com

How great of a feeling that was to happen upon that. Amazing footage. Did I miss it in the post? Where was this? What was the weather like? What time of night? etc. You have the advantage of being in an area where they occur naturally. Congatulations on an amazing find!

Best of luck in the future.

Amazing shots... Out of curiosity, are gilas immune to their own venom?
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0.1.0 Ball Python - Shaman
1.0.0 Green Iguana - Ike
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko - Fang
2.2.0 Cats - Pumpkin, Furball, Pixie, Stitch
1.0.0 Cockatiel - Ozzy
0.1.0 Budgie - Tweetie
1.0.0 Dwarf Rabbit - Floyd, R.I.P. Rascal
0.0.1 Rat who was too friendly to be eaten - Scabbers

Seriously, you may really be on a very VERY short list of human beings who have actually witnessed such an event in the wild. Really, ever! You lucky bastard.
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"Nothing happens in contradiction to nature, only to what we know of it."