Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had a chance to travel to Colorado in August, and was able to visit the canyon lands of Eagle Co. I did not see any intermontana, but I wondered how many of those beauties were in these valleys. Even without turning any up it was incredible scenery.

Of the wildlife I did see, one of the most interesting was this moose feeding in a pond near the headwaters of the Colorado River in the Rocky Mountain National Park.

A couple of weeks after I got home, my intermontana began to hatch, which is always a nice sight too.

Scott John Reptiles

Very nice hatchling. Will you have any for sale this year? My email mattwend@yahoo.com. I've been looking for a pair of those.

Matt Kauffman

Beautiful Habitat Shots! Nice hatchlings, too. I really like intermontanas. I have two lines currently. Here is one of my females.

thanks for sharing the habitat photos. they are great! helps me to think "outside the box" i've been in florida for a couple years now and i sometimes forget that there is more than swamps, gators, and manatees out there. take care...

jonathan

Very, very, very nice, John.

Good luck with those hatchlings this year..
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The dry canyon pics are really good at showing the habitat.
The moose particularly is awesome to see in the wild, also.
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I don’t think I’ve ever used the word “WOW” as much as when driving around Colorado.
Thanks for showing that.
My wife and I visited CO again this past June for three weeks…
This was not a herping trip, but camping, fishing, and birding in the alpine regions.
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We camped…..(We don’t rough it so much any more!!!! J )
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We “birded” …. (Brown-capped Rosy Finch)
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We fished….
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and I took one half day for herping in the canyon habitat in an area where I found “intermontana” common in the ‘80s, but found only one DOR from last year’s hatch.
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Dead snake picture warning…
If you are squeamish of seeing a snake that has been run over by a car, do not scroll down the page.
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Regards, Bill McGighan

I know what you mean about the wow factor of Colorado. We spent some time in a cabin near a lake just outside Rocky Mtn Nat. Park and drove to places like Aspen from there and the scenery is just unbelievable. This pic is of the Colorado River in the park about 10 mi. from its headwaters and about a mile downstream where the moose was spotted.

Hey guys!

Great Photos!!!

I live right in the heart of Intermontana habitat.
Every year I find several. Although the photos are indeed beautiful, they do not depict good habitat for Intermontana.

The elevation is too high.
They tend to prefer "high desert plateau" type habitat.
Pinyon scrub and Juniper forest. Riparian habitat is also good.
They really stick to certain micro-habitats.
I collected a gravid female (many years ago) and hatched out six beautiful babies. (No digital cameras back then)
3 of the babies came out speckled....with a granite pattern.
(Similar looking to the granite spotted python morph)
I gave a few of them to a friend, Adam Song of New York.
Colorado wildlife is protected from commercial activity.
No buying, selling, or bartering of Colorado Wildlife.
But, there was nothing wrong with collecting and gifting at that time.
Although I have not been in contact with Adam Song in many years, I hope that the animals I sent to him went on to reproduce.

Herping in Colorado is rather dull for the most part.
But some of the other more interesting species might include:

Crotalus concolor
Crotalus viridis
Lampropeltis t. taylori
L. p. gentilis
L. p. multistrata
Pituophis m. deserticola
P. m. sayi
Hypsiglena torquata
Tantilla hobartsmithi
Masticophis t. taeniatus
Tropidoclonion lineatum
Thamnophis elegans vagrans

The list goes on....but you get the idea.
Recently several reptile species have been added to the Colorado "Species of Special Concern" list.

I loved the photo of the Moose!
Although, you are at an elevation that is a little too high for finding the "Intermountain Emory's."

Hope the information is helpful.
And if you plan to visit Colorado again...send me an email or give me a call.
Who knows....I might want to go photo a few herps with you?
(Only looking for legal species....and only with licensed individuals.)

Thanks!
Your friend,
Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!
970-245-7611
970-255-9255

were taken at two different locales as noted in the original post. As a resident of CO you should know that Rocky Mtn Nat. Park and Eagle Co. (where the habitat shot was made)are quite far apart and as you correctly noted, the moose pic was taken at about 9,000 ft. too high for intermontana and this area is too far to the east for intermontana. The habitat pic was taken in a riparian canyon in Eagle Co. near the Garfield Co line in a known intermontana site. You correctly noted preferred habitat includes pinion pines and junipers which were in the photo but probably hard to make out.

Hello again,

Sounds good to me.
I live in Mesa County. And I have collected them in Mesa, Garfield, Delta etc.
Actually, a good friend of mine (Larry Valentine) is cited in Klaus Deiter Schultz's book. Klaus came to visit Larry in Delta County. They collected some "intermontana". You may also note that the locality data listed for several photos of the specimens in Klaus's book are Delta County animals.
These are photos of the same animals that were collected when my buddy Larry and Klaus went hunting together.
I have collected numerous "intermontana" with Larry Valentine at the exact same locations. We have also found them in many other locations. They are wonderfull (and under-appreciated) snakes. I am happy to see that these snake have a devouted fan club! They have a subdued beauty. In comparison with the eastern form of emoryi....anyone can see a profound difference.
Ahh....Variety! The spice of life.
Great Photos! Your post certainly has brought back a multitude of pleasant memories. Take care.
Your friend,
Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!
970-245-7611
970-255-9255

Give me a call the next time you head out to the Western Slope!
I'd love to bring you to a few locations that you will LOVE to photograph! Who knows...with a little luck...we may get to play with a few "intermontana".