I thought I would post some of the other cool things we saw during our trip to Texas…..no, did not get any of Wayne scaling the cliffs in Langtry in his rugged shorts-hopefully next time when he’s capturing that Scolopendra…..
The Davis Mountains
The greenery of Highway 277:
Ominous skies over Sanderson
Davis Mountains viewed from MacDonald Observatory:
A Langtry Sunset
Black Gap:
Dusk on Highway 277
Night sky south of Marathon
Some of the more fascinating invertebrates are below:
Giant Red-eyed Predatory Katydid (Neoberretia spinosa)
A Desert Katydid:
And one molting – always a precarious time for insects:
A Mesquite Katydid:
An adult Antlion (thanks for the correct ID:KW):
A Robber Fly (Family Asilidae):
A pair of walking sticks (Anisomorpha buprestoides) breeding:
A Rio Grande Gold Tarantula (Aphonopelma moderatum):
An Orbweaver Spider? (Argiope sp.:
Some of the more common amphibians observed included:
Cliff Chirping Frogs Eleutherodactylus marnockii
Great Plains Narrowmouth Toads Gastrophyrne olivacea
Gulf Coast Toad Bufo valliceps
A few lizards seen during our daytime forays into the desert:
Earless Sand Lizard Cophosaurus texana
and one in almost the identical pose a few minutes later:
A Texas Gecko Coleonyx brevis
Some of the serpents we observed:
Western Coachwhip Masticophis flagellum testaceus
With head detail….life has not been perfect for this animal:
A Baird’s Rat Snake (Elaphe bairdi) photographed in situ:
A Texas Longnose Snake (Rhinochelius lecontei tessalatus):
A Trans Pecos Rat Snake (Bogertophis subocularis)
A Western Hooknose Snake (Ficimia canum):
A Bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer sayi)
A GIANT Blackheaded Snake (Tantilla cucullata):
A Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus) photographed in the rain:
A Texas Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius tenere):
We also met up with a couple of serpent actors:
A Mexican Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus kennerlyi):
And an unexpected actor – A Western Coachwhip Snake (Masticophis flagellum testaceus):
It was great seeing all my old friends from years past: Bob, Smitty, Coach, Mo, Alterna63 and Eagle Eyes, Tremp and Marilyn, Forky and family, Eric, John, Dave, RAK, Mike, Roy, Ruth, Chad, Troy, Marla, Shannon, Aaron, and others. It was also nice meeting some of the new people coming out to enjoy the region...
I am hoping a plan gets into place .. one that allows all of us to become involved to get the negative aspects of HB12 overturned so we can ALL go out to West Texas and do what we have been doing for the past 20 years legally. If this takes some money, so be it....let us know how much....I appreciate all the hard work Joe and others have been doing to get the situation changed....
So long for now…..
