Sunday, August 17th I decided to head back to some higher elevations to see what I could find. Granite Spiny Lizards (Sceloporus orcutti) along with the usual fence and side-blotched lizards were all over the place:
Which is a good sign if you are looking for whipsnakes or racers! I found this guy, a Striped Racer (Masticophis lateralis) in a small wash which held still just long enough for one quick picture:
This time of the year I usually don’t flip many rocks, etc. in particular during the day as it seems to be a waste of time however there was one that I found that looked particularly interesting, flipped it over to find this cool little herp:
It turned out to be a Western Yellow-bellied Racer (Coluber constrictor flaviventris), only the second one I have ever found, he was quiet and gentle at first… as soon as he warmed up however he took particular interest in my fingers! Luckily he wasn’t nearly big enough to do any damage…
)
Went through quite a variety of habitats that day, here are a couple of them:
Found another Southern Pacific Rattlesnake on the side of a trail:
And also a few amphibians including a nice Pacific Treefrog (Pseudacris regilla), a Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) and a Western Spadefoot Toad (Spea hammondii):
Note the black “spade” on the rear foot, used for digging, hence the name…
Last herp for the long weekend was this Gopher Snake:
CONTINUED…
