Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here are some memories of a night of herping outside of Phoenix a couple of weeks ago. All these guys were found in a 2 hour period. I’d have to say it was a good night.
This was taken the day after road cruising the area...

All the critters were basically the same as what I’d find around the Deserts of SD (but different)
This Glossy was the first find.

This longnose was the second snake.

This Sidewinder was a thrill because it is a different subspecies than found near SD.

I don’t know why but I can’t pass a Banded gecko without clicking off a few shots.


The last find of the night was this Banded Kingsnake. It was about 3 feet + in length... one of the bigger Kingsnakes I’ve ever seen.

btw, this night was all courtacy of Jerry Feldner... Thanks Jer. It was a great evening.
Ed

...especially for nighttime.

Yea, it is pretty hard to pass up herpin' with good ol', Jer. He's fun to cruise around with

TC

I've still got 2 more weeks. I'm going to try and either hit the Superstitions or really work over the areas I'm familiar with. I'll be posting another set of shots from the Sonoran Desert National monument maybe tonight. Not many herps though but some neat other stuff. I've been spending a good deal of time there. It's been god awful hot but I'm starting to pinpoint when the herps are moving.
Ed

Be careful of gila stings, however.

I know it's been really hot. You picked a tough time to hunt AZ. You could try for green rats in the Ritas

TC

The company said 'you WILL go to Pheonix in the middle of July for training' and I said... 'Ok' (I do like that paycheck, you know?) and will just have to make the best of it which, btw, has not been that bad.
Ed

THE PICS CAME OUT GREAT. WHAT PART OF PHOENIX DID YOU FIND ALL OF THE HERPS IN? WHERE WAS THE cAL KING? I USUALLY GO TO aZ EVERYYEAR AND PHOTOGRAPH, THANKS DAVE

I believe the area is called the White Tank mountains, just west of Phoenix.
Ed

I have said it before and i'll say it again. It would be awsome to go herping with you. Some day you will have to come to IL and we'll go herping in Shawnee!

What subspecies is that glossy? That was a western snake I also wanted to find but even though I found some other great ones I never found a live glossy.

The Glossy snake is what is called an Arizona Glossy Snake. Don't know the specific name. I have 3 references... all different.
Ed

I'll be heading west in a couple of weeks.
Got a couple of TX critters, a couple of AZ critters, and a couple of s-CA ones I hope to see. Cheers/Dick