Reptile & Amphibian Forums

just wanted some opinions on where anyone that knows havasu or surrounding areas thinks is the 'best" road for night cruising?...i only ask becuase i am getting desperate on a good road cruise that actualy roduces something other than scorpions...haha i go at least five nights a week and have yet to find a snake in the last month and ahalf.

I have to give you credit for your persistance! This is the worst time of year to night drive in the desert! I'm guessing its hitting about 106F or so now down there? Its 107F plus up here in Vegas. I had to run 2 hrs. north to hit decent temps..by "decent" I'm talking about DTHs in the high 90s. Even at that all that was moving was a Great Basin Gopher at dusk and a Banded Gecko. This is in a canyon w/permanent water too!

Maybe if you cruised around 3AM things might be moving. Do like me, quit hitting your head against the wall and wait for the monsoons to come..its worth the wait and you'll be amazed at the transformation. Pic of a little Western Green Rat I found this Spring.

Bill

HAHA ya I dont give up...Ok Im not totaly clued into the whole monsoon thing..Ok lets say, its 119 deg until around 5pm and boom starts raining, do i pack my bags and hit my favorite road? do i wait unitl way late or until it stops raining?...a light sprinkle or heavy rain?..i know with my luck we will get a good rain and i wont be in town to go!...Im just not real dialed on the whole when is good thing...so i just go every night, haha...killing myself in the process..you can onl;y go to work after 4 hours of sleep for so long until it catches up to you...lets say this..define your idea of "the perfect road night"...

I cruised some roads near Kingman, Az. last night. It was around 96F when we got there under cloudy skies. Snakes started moving around 9:30 when the truck said 88F and the temp gun read 85F. Found a Sonoran Gopher, Glossy, Mojave Green and a Western DB. Not much moving after about 10:45 or so except a couple of SideWinders on the shoulder of the highway on the way back to Vegas that we couldn't stop to move off the road.

Some seem to react immediately to the rains while others seem to wait for it to pass and warm back up and get nice and humid. Bottom line it can't hurt to be smack dab in the middle of the storm..Lyre Snakes really seem to be out at that time. Some pics of a Mexican Vine Snake I drove down near Nogales in June.

Bill