Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,
my brother and i are planning a photography/ work trip to southern arizona next week from the 15th through the 25th.. does anyone have any suggestions or what we can expect to find still active? we have been working on a study of Crotalus viridis viridis (prarie rattler) all summer and they have become alot less active in the past week or so so i am worried we wont see much while we are there.

we will be spending the majority of our time in the town of Portal before heading over to the town of Sells. if anyone has any suggetsions or tips i would love to hear them.
thanks in advance for the help, its much appreciated!

I'm a Texan BUT I just got back from AZ monday before last. I spent four days in some of the Southeastern Mountain ranges and photographed/saw all three species of montane rattlers. The temps were still good (although the nights were starting to get cold).

Lots of lizards out...even saw a short-horned horned lizard.

Saw a few DOR's while driving...but didn't do any nighttime roadcruising.

I'm currently working offshore but should be home on the 23rd... After I feed/water my collection, I may shoot back out to AZ for another week of camping/herping. I've sent a couple of emails out to friends to see if things are still moving out there... I should take a few days to go look for cerbs!

Wish I could be a better help- I'm in the same boat as y'all... I might give it one last shot for the year!

hey thanks for the reply, its good to know that things are moving around still. we will see just how much herping we can get in while there. i am hoping at least 2-3 solid days.

i do have a big question. when is the best time to go in spring? we wanted to head over to the organ pipe cactus national monument but wont have enough time this trip so i am going to start planning now for a long 2 week or longer trip for backpacking/photography/herping no work involved.... well aside from all day hikes in the desert =D

if anyone has any advise for next spring of where and when to go in southern Arizona i would love to hear it!

(p.s. my brother and i aren't new to the desert environment just new to arizona so every and all precaution will be taken)

keeping a close eye on weather patterns. More important than any particular month, if the weather is favorable you should see stuff. This time of year (especially in the higher elevations) daytime temps are still high enough to see the montanes...Night time temps cool off very quickly, so once the sun goes down you're pretty much not going to see anything.

Also, pay attention to the parcipitation patterns. Often a coming storm will lower temps...

The time of year (i.e. spring, summer, etc.) is important, but what the weather is doing during the time you're here is more so. For example, I've seen animals out on a warm February day (typically considered the "off" season) and I've been skunked in August (typically considered prime "on" season)...It all depends on the climate while you're here....

As far as road cruising this late in the year, unless you cruise at sunset, your chances of seeing stuff are minimal.

-Kris