Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Went on an annual field trip to AZ and found some really nice animals. Thought I'd share some of the photos. The first new species for me this year was the Variable Ground Snake, dorsal stripe phase (Sonora semiannulata), really nice colors on this guy.

Found this Sonoran Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes cercobombus)road crusing
Another new one for me was this Black Tailed Rattlesnake, just incredible. I've loved these especially since since I saw Steve Irwin's Arizona episode where he found two huge Black Tails in a mine. This was the one snake I was hoping to find on this trip. The only way I could get him to sit still was to put him on this log, kind of posed looking, but at least I got the shot, and right before my plane took off back home
Found this one at 6700 ft. in the Chiricahua Mountains (Crotalus molossus molossus)

I was also hoping to find another Sonoran Lyre (Trimorphodon biscutatus lambda). Caught one last year that was quite a bit prettier than this one, but I'm not complaining, at least we found one. This was about the most frustrated I've ever been trying to photograph a snake. Lyre's just don't stop moving (of course trying to photo a nocturnal snake in the middle of the day is a lot of it).

Another new one for me was this Sonoran Gopher Snake
Pituophis catenifer affinis). He was just stunning, I've never seen such bright colors on a gopher snake before, and this guy
was a little over five ft., and mean as hell! Caught him in the middle of a wash during the middle of the day.

None of my lizard pics turned out very good this year. This is a juvenile Chuckwalla (Sauromalus obesus)that posed pretty good, albeit briefly on a rock for me.

Here is a very cool place I visit each year. It's an old abandoned tiny city with a few broken down houses, restaurants, and a gas station. It looks like it's been deserted since at least the 40's. There are three large holes in the ground with openings about 3'X4', that open up into maybe 10'X15' rooms,
and about 10-12 ft deep. The entire thing is thick concrete.
Theres no trace of what ever was above it. I'm thinking maybe old septic tanks? But I really have no idea. We repel into them and always find live reptiles in them. This year there were two Desert Iguanas, two Sonoran Sidewinders, and a Whiptail Lizard.
We're always buzzing by the time we get to the holes, it's pretty exciting to go in, catch and release whatever's in there. The small mammals end up in the snakes stomachs and the big mammals don't do so well in there. Usually theres a rabbit skeleton or two. The reptiles are always (so far) in very good health, though I don't think they'd make it through winter.
Enough food must drop in there for them, because the snakes always seem quite fat!

Heres one of the Sidewinders that was under some cement inside the first hole we went into.

Heres a nice Arizona Glossy Snake (Arizona elegans noctivaga),
finally got a couple of shots of this species that aren't horrible.

Heres a Western Longnose (Rhinocheilus lecontei lecontei)that we found while looking for an Organ Pipe Shovelnose (found one dead Organ Pipe Shovelnose on the road, but none live)

Last up is a couple of shots of a Kangaroo Rat. I've always just seen these guys darting accross the road at night. I've never seen how pretty they are. I've no idea which subspecies this was.


Had a great field trip, but had to cut it short by a few days. Hoping to get out for one more good trip for the year. Total Count was:

1 Variable Ground Snake
1 Blacktail Rattlesnake
2 Arizona Glossy’s
1 Sonoran Lyre
17 Sonoran Sidewinders
1 Western Longnose
1 Sonoran Gopher
1 DOR Organ Pipe Shovelnose
1 Chuckwalla
2 Desert Iguanas
Still trying to figure out the code stuff, so bare with me if the post looks disjointed. Hope you all enjoy the pics, Curt

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.

I'd be very careful about who I'd tell about the whereabouts of those abandoned structures; looks like it might be an unknown ghost town. There are ghost town hunters that would love to find that place, and although a vast majority of them have enough respect for the sites they visit to take only pictures and leave only footprints, there are doubtless a few that would give anything to find that place and ransack/take whatever they can find. There's a lot of local history in those abandoned structures. It would be interesting to find out more about it -who lived there, what used to be above the "holes," why it was abandoned, etc.
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MichaelB

Yes unfortunately how true. I also would love to know the history, I've done some internet seaches and found the name of the town but thats about it. I would love to know more about the place, but I'm not about to share the info with anyone.

Some nice finds. Was it hot at night? Im taking an Az trip in September (I hope) when the weather is cooler so that I can find more snakes. I dont think I would go into those holes, too worried about not being able to get out. How did you make your way down and out?

Love that ground snake!

It was pretty hot most nights. When it's really hot we just go up in elevation for Daytime stuff, then back down some for the night cruising. That said, night cruising at the higher elevations is great too, I just never seem to find anywhere near as many animals in the higher elevations.

Forgot to mention getting into the holes. We bring a rope that has foot holds knotted into them, then place a plank over the top of the hole and climb into them.