My buddy Matt and I have been trying to photograph some Mojave Rattlesnakes for the last two years. However, it seems like every time we get out to the right habitat conditions turn south on us or we just have absolutely no luck. Yes it seems like the forces of darkness are against us. Being the optimists that we are, we decided to make a go at it last night and headed up the Lucerne Valley to see if we could take advantage of the recent micro-monsoon this part of California has been having.
We arrived about eight P.M. and signs of heavy rain were everywhere. Even Jack Rabbit dry lake wasn’t a “Dry Lake”. On top of that the humidity was so high that one of our passengers, a first timer and Alabama native, commented on how much it felt like home. At just a sliver the moon was perfect; the temps varied from 76 to 85 degrees, things should have been perfect. Just one problem, the snakes forgot to read the instructions and nothing was out moving. We made a few passes of roads we'd previously found animals including a DOR Mojave, and came up with not so much as a gecko or token glossy. I have to say though that the local rodent population was out enforce.
Matt and I thought about it and by ten P.M. we decided it would be best if we moved on to a different area. So we jumped on the 247 headed south east and beat feet as fast as we could down to Yucca Valley.
I should mention that on the trip down to Yucca we saw tons of mammal movement. Everything from field mice to pack rats and K rats galore! We even saw a few pretty decent looking Coyotes out chasing the rodents. A moments excitement was provided by an owl that tried to bounce off the windshield and missed us by only a hairs breath.
Down in Yucca our luck took a turn for the better. Shortly after arriving we headed up a dirt road and happened across this little guy
We scooped him up off the dirt and set up an impromptu photo session. The flashes must have raised some suspicion from one of the locals because shortly after we let this guy go in some rocks someone emerged from a house with a flashlight to check up on us. It was about eleven thirty and the temp was about 85 degrees and we were back on the road.
Roughly forty five minutes later we were in a residential area and at the end of a cull de sac this big boy was cruising right across a driveway. It almost looked like he was getting ready to check the mail!
Again we had a short photo session and released him into a large boulder formation a short distance from the road. I commented on how fortunate the people who own the houses here are that they live inches from such incredible habitat. I’m sure it never even occurred to them.
This photo shows off the coolest things about field herping, check out the smile on that kids face! That was his second live rosy boa found in the field. I guarantee he’ll grow up with a great respect and love of these incredible animals. And even though he’s only six he enjoys the release as much as he does the capture.
We made a few more tours of this area and decided to call it quits because of the long trip home. Not to mention we knew we were going to hit Whitewater and Verbenia on the homeward leg.
We hit Whitewater at about one AM and the temps had dropped to around 85 to 88 with just a hint of wind. We only made one pass up the canyon and didn’t see anything except a small toad. On the way down the canyon we happened across another field herper as he photographed a Leaf Nosed Snake. I asked if I could shoot some pics of it and he agreed.
The guy who’d found the snake released it shortly after we’d taken some photos.
We ran though the flat section of WW and found the token glossy snake of the trip. Because you know you can’t have a trip without a glossy snake, that’s just the rules! An abbreviated trip through Verbenia proved fruitless except for a DOR Glossy.
One of the cool non-herp related sightings was a big fat Coyote in Yucca that was making off with what appeared to be a white domesticated cat. I realize all the cat people on the board are going to send me hate mail but any cat person should know, a white cat, outside, at night, in the desert? Come on, you might as well have poured A1 sauce on it and given him a tranquilizer!
All in all we covered a LOT of miles and I didn’t get home until four thirty. We didn’t get to photograph our target species but we did see some cool stuff and had a great time. We introduced a new guy to herping and Matt’s son Mark had a blast and added two HOT looking boas to his life list not to mention the Leaf Nose.
On an added note, anybody who wants to point me in the direction of some GREAT places to photograph Mojaves would be GREATLY appreciated.
