The following photo essay covers some of the reptiles and amphibians I encountered while herping Las Vegas from May 28 to June 8, 2009. The weather was cooler than usual and often overcast with occasional wind and rain. Nine different types of snakes were found, consisting of: Great Basin Gopher, Longnose Snakes, Glossy, Night Snake, Western Blind, Ground Snake, Coachwhip, Sidewinder and Speckled Rattlesnake. Twelve types of lizards were found: Chuckwallas, a Desert Iguana, Side-blotched Lizards, Western Whiptails, Banded Geckos, Night Lizards, Collared Lizards, Horned Lizards, an Ornate Tree Lizard, Sagebrush Lizard, Spiny Lizards and Zebratails. There were also two species of toad and one Desert Tortoise encountered on this trip.
My trip started off well - I checked into my hotel at 8:00PM and then went out to do some roadhunting. I was quickly rewarded by finding my first "lifer" of the trip - a Longnose Snake.
Not long afterwards I found a decent-sized Glossy Snake. I then moved to another road, where a second Longnose turned up, this one being more faded and speckled than the first.
The following day, Sideblotched Lizards (both the standard and the striped versions) were commonly found.
A road trip to Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge yielded "lifer" #2 - a Woodhouse's Toad. I found several. Previously the only toads I've found in the Las Vegas area were Red-spots.
On the way to Pahranagat, I saw this Great Basin Gopher snake on the shoulder of the road. The speed light was 70mph and as I pulled off the road to turn around, I saw the car behind me swerve to miss it. Unfortunately there were two additional cars behind that one and the snake was fatally wounded by the time I got to it.
A trip to Red Rock Canyon was made on an overcast day. I did see one Collared Lizard, several Red-spotted Toads and the first Blind Snake I've ever encountered in Nevada.
A visit to Chloride, Arizona netted the third "lifer" of the trip - an Ornate Tree Lizard. From what I understand, Tree Lizards are more often found on rocks than on trees.
The cooler weather caused me to not think I'd see a lot of Chuckwallas, but there were a few out. Desert Iguanas were far less common - I only saw one.
Upon returning from Chloride and chilling in my friend from Boulder City's backyard, I noticed something crawling along a brick wall. Lifer #4 - Ground Snake. And a very pretty one too.
This Desert Tortoise was found at a construction area (the hotline was called and the tortoise was picked up for relocation).
Two nocturnal lizards (Banded Geckos and Night Lizards) were regularly found under artificial cover. I also saw a few geckos while roadhunting.
Some other commonly seen lizards were Whiptails and Zebratails. Zebras seem to prefer warmer temperatures, but the weather sure was good for Whiptails - I may have seen more of those than Sideblotches.
A roap trip to China Ranch in California turned up two Horned Lizards - here's one.
These big beetles are frequently encountered - like Giant Mealworm Beetles, they can give off a stinky smell.
The temperature was quite cool on Mt. Charleston, but I did manage to turn up a Sagebrush Lizard.
An Arizona Sidewinder found while roadhunting.
I also found this Night Snake on a relatively cool evening.
The final find was on the last full day of the trip. I was exploring the backroads of Valley of Fire Park and I came across "lifer" #5 - Speckled Rattlesnake.
It was one action packed trip!
Tim
Third Eye
