ReptilesAmphibians
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2008 Southern ArizonaAboutDates: July 19 - August 4, 2008 GalleryHerping Highlights                                               
Desert Museum                                               
Desert Museum - Cactus Garden                                               
All of the Rest                                               
Species ListSnakes (21 Species)
Lizards (20 Species)
Turtles (2 Species)
Frogs (8 Species)
Travel LogJuly 19-20: Pre-trip and day 1 driving. (2C3V0394 - 2C3V0406) A few days before the trip, everything was looking good. The day just before, the 19th, it all fell apart. I took my vehicle back to the dealership (once again!) for just an oil change and to check on the airbag light...ended up tacking on a spark plug replacement and tire alignment/rotation. I was there, sitting on my butt, for 6 1/2 hours! (I thought max it might be 2 hours...) Another $500+, too. This thing is killing me. Oh, and they thought the seatbelt might have been a bad replacement part causing the airbag light malfunction, so they ordered another complete seatbelt harness apparatus... Fun, fun. Midday, I found out that Penny is carrying some kind of parasitic flatworm. I had noticed a few little "dried up grains of rice" on my bed a few days before, but when I found a live one in the truck seat where the dog had been, it was pretty clear. Gross. Had to call Mom to make sure she could get her to the vet ASAP. Later that night, one of the last little tasks I needed to take care of before the trip was to pay my bills online. I noticed a few weird (unrecognizable) charges on my main credit card. Somehow, someone had gotten the number...and, I supposed it could have been a lot worse with the card maxed out or something, but the timing could not have been less convenient for me. An hour and 1/2 later I had the card account closed and another card sent "within 5 business days". Great! This was going to be my main source of purchasing power for AZ. Thankfully, I had not closed down my ANB checking account and associated credit card. Only, this credit card has a $2000 spending limit and with gas the way it is, I am really going to have to watch my pennies pretty closely. Before, I didn't exactly plan on spending wildly, but I wasn't going to have to watch it like I will now. With nearly 8 hours of unplanned time lost out of the day, I stayed up all night packing. I could have grabbed 30 minutes of sleep before having to get ready for church, but I was afraid I wouldn't get back up. So, I went on over to Huntsville, dropped off the dog at Mom and Dad's, went to church, and headed out immediately for AZ. I knew if I tried to catch a "power nap" at Mom and Dad's (even though Mom was pushing very hard for me to take one, or to just "go tomorrow"), I'd just end up losing a travel day...and leave open the opportunity for something else to go wrong before I could get away! So, on no sleep but sticking firmly to my commitment, I was on the road for AZ by 12:30PM. I got into an adrenaline/caffeine zone and drove until about 8PM. I covered the OK portion completely and part of TX. I found a nice rest stop (supposedly with free WIFI, but I couldn't quite seem to get it to work right) and wound down for the day. After no sleep for 24+ hours and the adrenaline wearing off, I crashed pretty hard. ______________________________________________________________ July 21: Day 2 driving. I woke up about 10AM. Obviously needed to catch up on sleep and I have the rest of the entire day (and into the night if necessary) to cover about 10 hours of driving. It's about 11AM now. After a bathroom break, I should be ready to hit the road. At a pit stop for gas, I saw my first herp of the trip: a Collard Lizard (could possibly have been a Long-nosed Lizard?) perched on a rock. It was way more leery than I ever anticipated and "disappeared" as I was busy crossing the road for even a telephoto shot. The drive on to Sierra Vista, AZ was mostly uneventful, which was just fine by me. At Truth or Consequences, NM, (yes, that is an actual city name!) I almost had a "consequence" in getting pretty close to empty on the 'ol gas tank before hitting the next gas station. Something anticipated, but definitely to continue to keep in mind, is how spread out everything is out west. Near Sierra Vista I glimpsed a DOR snake and shortly after an AOR toad. I did not stop so no IDs, not even guesses. Things then got a little exciting once in town. As I was hunting around for Wal-Mart, which I had mapped prior to the trip, I got a "blue-light special"...and no, not the K-Mart kind either! HA! First time in probably 10+ years I've been pulled over for any reason. I figured being out of state it would be a foregone conclusion for a ticket. Luckily I was wrong and only got a warning. 45MPH in a 35MPH zone...$150 ticket I was told by the officer. (Driving 75MPH for most of the trip makes that transition down to 35MPH a bit difficult if not watching closely, which I wasn't.) I figure if he's pulling over everyone for 10MPH over, he keeps pretty busy. But, to the credit of the drivers, almost all the way down pretty much everyone has stayed right on speed limit, if not a bit under. So, maybe they do shave things a bit closer here? I parked for the night at Wal-Mart and it is currently 10:42PM (having gained two hours from time zones; 12:42PM back home). Turns out, the Wal-Mart is not a Supercenter. No big deal, but I'll probably just find a grocery store nearby in the morning to stock up on food. After that, I'm not sure. I have some options, but not completely sure how to best maximize the time yet. I'll sleep on it and decide something in the morning. ______________________________________________________________ July 22: Day 3 preparations and herping. (2C3V0411 - 2C3V0584) By the time I grocery shopped to fill the ice chest, got new wiper blades, got a hunting license, etc., I was looking at 11:00AM before I ever even thought about herping. I decided to do a little warm-up hike on the nearby, but touristy, Ramsey Canyon trail. Supposedly a birder's favorite, I honestly can't say that I saw a lot of what I would consider exciting along those lines, but I'll easily chalk it up to the time of day (already hot!). An unidentified whiptail eluded pictures as it crossed the road on the drive in. After a short talk with the volunteers at the trailhead/bookstore, and having paid my $5 fee (yuck), I headed up the shorter-than-expected trail. I spotted a young Scelop first and it cooperated fairly well for pictures. Then, up a bit at their concrete restoration ponds, I saw Ramsey Canyon Frogs. As rare as they supposedly are, they weren't much to look at: maybe a cross between a Bullfrog and Leopard Frog? I also photographed a whiptail by the ponds. After concluding the bottom lands portion, I headed up the mountain portion. I saw another, larger species of Scelop on a log on the way up, but it didn't cooperate at all for pictures. At their "vista" area (essentially the end of the Ramsey Canyon Preserve, but that tied to some other National Forest trails), there was a very nice talus-like slide. I knew for certain I was going to find something good! The partly cloudy skies and relatively mild temperatures at the higher elevation set the stage. The two species of Scelop I had bumped into were now absolutely crawling all over the place! Every third or fourth larger rock had one perched on it. I got some really nice pictures of these. (EDIT: Actually, the "2" species upon review seem to be juveniles and adults of Yarrow's Spiny Lizards.) As I was slowly, quietly, and cautiously making my way along the rock slide, I caught a little "che...che" from somewhere ahead. I froze and scanned the area very, very closely...and then finally spotted a jewel of a Rock Rattlesnake! This was one of my top target species for the area and it took all of about an hour to find one! I took copious amounts of pictures, of course. Now, the interesting thing about this is... I travel all the way to Arizona and the first real snake find of the trip is actually a marked, research animal! I noticed shortly into the picture session that some of the rattles had been painted, just as we used to do with our Timber Rattlesnake study animals. I wasn't completely surprised given the proximity to the Ramsey Canyon Preserve where, I'm sure, a fair amount of research takes place. So then, as I'm packing away my camera this chilly wind whips through the canyon. I continued on along the slope a bit, but the gusts of wind were unbelievable! Within ten minutes, the temperature probably dropped 30 degrees (from 90+ to maybe 60ish)! Then, it absolutely hammered with rain. It had to have been one of the fastest, most dramatic changes in weather I have ever experienced! I found a little mini-overhang that was protected a bit from the direction of the wind and I tucked in tightly. As the lightning began to pop sharply (!!!), I didn't have the luxury to scout out better alternatives. I got absolutely drenched despite the little overhang, of course, but wet is way better than getting fried!!! At a short break in the heaviest rain, I grabbed a nearby wool blanket that had been discarded there by careless campers...er, eh, illegals more likely (as I think about it in retrospect)...and made a little eave over my head and coiled the rest of the blanket around me...kinda like a burrito? I was shivering badly by this point, even to the point that my fingers and toes were going numb. The nasty, musty smell of the old wool seemed a small price to pay. Thirty minutes later, the rain broke and, shivering and wet, I briskly hiked the mile or so back down to the trailhead. I talked again with one of the volunteers and got a name and cell number for, supposedly, the snake researcher. I figure I'll call him at some point and let him know when and where I spotted one of his animals. The snake looked like it hadn't been marked within the past 5 or so sheds, so it had been awhile since he'd spotted it apparently. Even with the heavier rains moving out, the temperatures hung in the upper 60's, so I decided to just warm myself up with the truck heater as I drove over to Parker Canyon Lake, where I intended to camp for the night. (I heard in the distance at one point along the drive what sounded like Spadefoots.) I spotted a couple of rock slides on the way in and will probably hit one or more of those tomorrow. Also, I've been in cell phone contact with Justin from Georgia and I may meet up with him somewhere along the way. He says he's already found a Ridge-nosed and two Mountain Kings! Dang! After a much needed "camper's shower" and such, I'm finally about set for the night. I've heard, as I've typed, what sounds like an occasional Bullfrog call. (Bullfrogs are introduced in AZ.) ______________________________________________________________ July 23: Day 4 herping. (2C3V0586 - 2C3V0781) I woke up relatively early, broke down camp, and headed back to some rocky slopes I had noticed on the drive in. The first slope was steep (where isn't it steep around here?) but what looked like good rock from a distance just didn't pan out as well upon closer inspection. I finally did get to one little section that caused me to say to myself, "If there aren't rattlesnakes here, something's wrong." The sun was catching just right, the rocks created some deeper crevices, and all looked good. About five steps later, I was too close for comfort with a Black-tailed Rattlesnake!!!...and it let me know it in no uncertain terms! (I had probably stepped within two feet...easily within striking distance! Yikes!) So, what could have been a very bad find, actually turned out to be a good one. Note to self: Watch every single step and don't just look in rock crevices because sometimes snakes coil in the grass in *front* of rock crevices. I think, in retrospect, I should have checked that little area more thoroughly, but it just happened that I turned across the hillside and things dried up. Hardly even a Scelop was to be seen, so, with some frustration I headed back to the truck. The second slope was just an awful climb and a lot of time wasted...and that's about all there is to say about it. It "looked" great--a large, SW-facing talus slide--but when I got up there, some areas had too small rocks (no decent crevices) or buried rocks (again, no decent crevices). By late afternoon, I rolled around to Carr Canyon, but there was a sheriff's department vehicle blocking the road. The sheriff?—I dunno, he looked like he could have been the sheriff—informed me that there had been an "accident" at the falls, that someone was hurt badly, and that he was keeping the area clear for a rescue chopper to land. So, that pretty much ended those plans. Hope things turned out okay there, but something tells me it didn't. By now, it was time to pull out a map and plan for some road-cruising. With the time difference and AZ not on daylight savings, it gets dark pretty early here! I decided on a road that I had noted earlier (but also that Justin by phone confirmed to supposedly be good) that cut through a large valley and grasslands. It turned out to be quite the interesting, exciting night! It was just after dusk when I hit what I thought to be the "good stretch" through the low grasslands and geared down to “herper speed”. Shortly, I found my first DOR: a Patch-nosed Snake. Bummer it was dead. Then, another DOR: Western Diamondback or Mojave, I wasn't sure. (Later confirmed to be a Mojave.) Then, an ambulance drove by...and I could see blue lights flashing in the distance. Then, a border patrol vehicle or two came screaming through. Then, some guy in a big pickup truck pulling a horse trailer stopped while I was taking pictures of a juvenile Mojave I had move to the side of the road. The guy leaned his arm heavy over his truck door in a real...I dunno...”I'm a cowboy and I'm a jerk” kind of way? He didn't say anything for an uncomfortably long period of time as I essentially tried to ignore him and fiddled with my camera. He might have presumed what I was doing or something, I dunno...but then he finally slurred real slow like, in a way that sounded like he was wasted drunk, "Heyyy, I got...three kids in the baaack...and I waaas almost in an accident earlier...youuu need to pull y'r vehicle off the road...." Sometimes, it's just better to accept things as they are then even *try* to connect the dots. I said “OK...I will”. He stared me down for another 5 seconds and then rolled on. Awkward! Then, the ambulance came back through...screaming through actually! Then, after I had gone back and forth down the same stretch of highway a few times, border patrol vehicles with their lights on were on either side of an abandoned(?) car I had noted earlier. Then...FINALLY!...the highway pretty much cleared and was peaceful and quiet for a long time. But, oh yes, there's more... THEN, after I thought everything had settled down late into the night, I'm stopped to take pictures of a DOR Red Phase Coachwhip (or what was left of it) and I look down the road a bit behind me and I see a vehicle driving up with only its parking lights on! Now, the drunk cowboy father and the border patrol stuff was “uncomfortable” enough, but this one really spooked me out!!! I didn't stick around to see if it was the “good guys” or “bad guys”! I jumped back into my truck straightaway (forget pictures of some dead snake!) and sped away at a good pace until I saw nothing behind me... After driving through an area of rolling hills, I turned it back around ('cause I was headed the opposite direction from Sierra Vista). A few minutes later a truck comes up behind me very close and I get over for it to pass on a straightway...but then come the blue lights! I figured it was one of the border patrol, but no, it was AZ Game & Fish this time paying me a visit. (Have I been stopped by pretty much everyone yet??? HA!) The female officer was very nice but stern. She asked a lot of questions. I produced my driver's license and hunting license. (Thank God I took the road of caution and bought one...though she informed me I *could* have just gotten a 4 month license, which Wal-Mart did not tell me about. Boo.) She asked if my camera was digital and then asked if I would sift through the pictures for her...2 cards and some 5 gigs worth by that point! I scrolled quickly but she pretty much waded through the entire "show"...even going so far as to remind me that I had mentioned “2 cards” after I had scrolled through 1! So, finally she seemed satisfied enough and that was about all of that. (I thought her checking my pictures pushed the line toward invasion of privacy given the circumstances, but I figure her intention was to “investigate” any self-incriminating evidence of collecting/harassing protected species. Still, if she suspected something, why would she check my camera, but NOT my cooler??? Strange.) With midnight approaching and all of that excitement out of the way, I headed back toward Sierra Vista. Oh, did I actually find any herps of note road-cruising? Between all of the stuff explained above, for starters, I pretty much cleaned up on the frogs/toads. I found something like 4-5 species, I think, on those. I also found an AOR Majave Rattlesnake and 2-3 more DORs, a young AOR Desert Kingsnake, and an AOR Long-nosed Snake. It was very late by the time I finally pitched a tent at Reef Townsite Campground. ______________________________________________________________ July 24: Day 5 herping. (2C3V0785 - 2C3V0860) Even on little sleep, I woke up and was ready to hit the trail by 8AM. I didn't have a drive this time...just a walk from the campsite. As I was walking up the trail/hill, cell phone reception came back in and I had a message from Justin. He was in the very area. So, we pretty much play hit-and-miss all day long as to what trail he's on, when there's phone reception and when there isn't, etc., etc. Long story short, I did a lot of hiking around "aimlessly". I checked a few marginal slopes, but didn't really accomplish anything or see anything of special note. No snakes at all. Justin, on the other hand, turns up *another* Ridge-nosed and *another* Mountain King! I guess it just goes with the territory when you are scouting and learning a new area. Mainly what I'm running into here, I think, is not catching that right rocky slope that is facing the right direction and that (more evidently) has sufficient rock hideaways, and also hitting it at the right time (8-10AM I think is ideal). I knew some of these montane target species could likely be the most challenging and also the most rewarding, which is why I set them first on the agenda. Now, with some tips from Justin and some luck and learning what has NOT worked, I think I'm starting to get it all straighted out. I have high hopes for tomorrow! Justin pulled by my campsite around 5PM with the Mountain King and let me get pictures. We are planning to return it tomorrow while we hit some of these better slopes together. He also mentioned wanting to road-cruise that highway I hit the other night. I've given myself the second half of the day to slow down a bit, to cook a hot meal (Ravioli...yum!), take another "camper's shower", dump pictures off my cards to the laptop hard drive, catch up on this log...and get some sleep! ______________________________________________________________ July 25: Day 6 herping. (2C3V0862 - 2C3V1106) Justin arrived about 8AM and we hit the trail almost immediately. With most of the accessible rocky slopes still in shade, we walked down to the canyon floor to release the Mountain King. By the time we headed back up, the sun was sneaking in here and there in little patches. Scelops were just starting to dart about a bit. Our first find was a good one: Ridge-nosed! It was very likely to be the same one Justin found a day earlier as it was in the same little rock pile just off the trail. It rattled as Justin stepped down to a lower level of rocks and we "teamed up" to spot it. (OK, *technically* he saw it first...but close enough for me to count, too! HA!) We split up the hillside a bit after that and hit the rocks hard...though we turned up nothing for a long stretch. My legs were getting really wobbly from so much trekking and I could feel my steps getting less-steady by the minute. Then I heard a little rattle and saw a gray streak dart under a small rock. This time it was a Twin-spotted! I think I was *most* excited about this find (up to this point in the trip) because, in my mind, I thought it would be the toughest of the montanes to find. Unfortunately, Justin was just too far away, and without cell phone reception, to share in it, but I got plenty of pictures. Later on, I caught back up with Justin and we hit a slope together that turned out to look better than anything we'd hit up to that point. It felt well past the prime part of the day to look, but we did turn up *another* Twin-spotted! Justin was elated, though his heart was set on finding a Rock Rattlesnake. (Supposedly Rock Rattlesnakes are the most common here, but--except for that one I turned up a couple of days prior--they weren't to be seen.) With rain clouds looming, muscles aching, stomaches growling, we headed back to camp to break down the tent. The drive back down the mountain was a little spooky: narrow one-lane, loose gravel, sharp switchbacks, no guardrails, etc. (The drive up didn't seem *quite* as bad at night because you could focus on just the road...) I thought it was funny that there was only one road sign indicating a switchback. I wondered if they just had one sign to put somewhere and just randomly picked one of the many switchbacks to stick it on? HA! After a hot meal at a place called "The Diner" (kind of a 50's theme restaurant), we headed back to that valley road I had had success on a few nights prior. We took Justin's rental because of better gas mileage and left my Xterra in a McDonald's parking lot in Sierra Vista. We likewise had herping success on the road, with thankfully a little less “other” excitement I had experienced the two days prior. We turned up 6+ Mojaves, 2 Western Diamondbacks, 3 Desert Kings, 2 Checkered Garters, 2 Sonoran Gopher Snakes, 1 Ringneck Snake. Most were AOR, but also some DORs. We did not stop for the various toads and such. Late into the night we bumped into a couple of others herping the road: Steve and Curt(?). They were photographing a Long-nose Snake. They claimed to have found a Nightsnake and a Sonoran Coralsnake on their efforts from cruising earlier (the Coral from the night before I think). With that, it was time to head back and we arrived late (after 1AM I think) at my truck. Justin was dead tired and I worried about him driving back to Tucson. I wasn't too awake myself, so I just crashed in the truck. (I couldn't justify that late into the night scouting out a hotel room.) ______________________________________________________________ July 26: Day 7 herping. (2C3V1108 - 2C3V1248) I woke up earlier than I would have liked, but McDonalds is busy in the morning and it warms up quickly once the sun comes up. I drove down to the Nogales area and was road cruising for Vinesnakes by 1PM or so. I crossed a couple of other vehicles that looked to be herping, too. One stopped and we chatted briefly. The two guys said they had already bagged two Vinesnakes that day! They must have had the eyes and the luck because I didn't see one. Later on in the afternoon, I crossed their truck again and they asked if I wanted to get some pictures of their snakes. Sure!!! ...so we got out, set them up, and had a nice little session with some good shots. The Vinesnakes remind me a lot of our Rough Green Snakes, but with more attitude! HA! The rest of the afternoon and evening were pretty much a bust. I only saw a couple of toads and that was about it. I drove on up to Tucson and got a hotel room. The bed and shower felt unbelievable! ______________________________________________________________ July 27: Day 8 church, museum, and herping. (2C3V1251 - 2C3V8580) Still a little short on sleep (the theme of the entire trip, I think), I got myself around in plenty of time to get to church at the Country Club Road Church of Christ congregation. I felt very welcomed. It was a small congregation, but there were a few young guys that participated in services that gave hope to their future. After church, I headed over to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum where I spent the entire rest of the day. It was a nice little museum/zoo. The herp exhibits showed about what I expected, though (this is probably a personal thing) I didn't really care for the few albino and aberrant specimens. I took a lot of pictures of everything! I finished up at the hummingbird exhibit and spent a long time trying to get a good picture of one in flight...which I failed at. On the way out, I stopped at several places driving through the Saguaro National Park. I just can't get enough photographs of the Saguaros! I love 'em! As night fell, I crossed Tucson and road cruised the nearby mountains to the northeast. Near the base of the mountains, I was unable to save a Long-nosed Snake as it was crossing the road. It got plastered by another car before I could get turned around. Too bad. A lot of traffic was coming off the mountaintop, where there is a popular camping/picnicking spot, but slowed significantly after 10PM. While the diversity wasn't great, I did pick up a Lyre Snake (3-4 AORs/DORs) and Nightsnake (2 DORs). Driving back along the base of the mountain to get to another road, I wasn't paying too much attention because it was a semi-residential area...but it's hard not to notice when a big orange and black “sausage” comes ambling across the highway! Gila!!!! I jerked the truck over and ran back with flight light and camera in hand. It really did not seem to like the flight light and almost immediately puffed up and hissed. (I feared it would just walk quickly off on its own and ethically/legally I knew that I could not stop it.) Luckily, it cooperated quite well and even stuck around while I made a quick dash back to the truck for another memory card. After glancing back through the pictures, however, I think most of them turned out to be of fairly poor quality (bad shadows, etc.)...but I almost don't even care about that. I found a Gila! Yee-haw! After the Gila, I was absolutely pumped and drove late, late into the night...but saw little else. Knowing I was to meet up with Steve from Alaska around 3:30PM in Phoenix, I drove part way there...and now (as I'm catching up on the writing) can't remember where I slept. HA! I think it was in my truck again in a parking lot somewhere? ______________________________________________________________ July 28: Day 9 herping. (2C3V8587 - 2C3V8819) I drove on up to Phoenix and had a couple of hours before meeting Steve, so I swung by South Mountain Park to see if I could find some Chuckwallas. I talked briefly with the guy at the entrance station and he said he had been there since November, but had not seen any Chuckwallas. I thought perhaps my chances were a little slim at that point. The road along the top of the mountain was closed, but I did find a trail that led through a boulder-lined canyon, which I considered a decent place to search. In less than five minutes hiking down the trail, I spotted my first Chuck: a male. (The males of this population have bright orange tails, which is kind of cool.) Later on, I saw probably 3-4 females on the mile-long hike. With the Chucks out of the way, I looked really hard in all the cracks with my hand held mirror for a Speckled Rattlesnake, but came up empty. I drove on up to meet Steve from Alaska and we headed west about 4PM. I didn't keep real close track of roads because Steve navigated, but it took about an hour to get to the area. We still had some daylight to kill, so we stopped at an old silo and later on at a corral to flip some stuff and see what we could see...which wasn't anything too spectacular (a few lizards, etc.). Just after dark, we spotted our first Sidewinder crawling across the road. In all, we saw maybe 3 more, but that was darn near it (except for a less-than-spectacular-looking Lyre Snake, which would have been cooler had I not just found some the night before). The road was pretty much abandoned by all herps (not even toads!) by midnight, but we had driven so far out checking certain roads that it was a long, long drive back. I'll be honest and say that I started to hallucinate a bit from sleep deprivation, but I fought through it and got Steve back to his house about 3:30AM. After the drop off, I just managed to get myself back to the interstate and crashed at a rest stop for what was left of the night. ______________________________________________________________ July 29: Day 10 herping. (2C3V8821 - 2C3V8984) I slept in as much as I could, but the heat and sun got to me by about 9AM. I called Justin and made arrangements to meet with him around noon for lunch and then to get in a last little bit of herping before he had to head back to Georgia. About 2PM, we were driving through Saguaro National Park and saw our target species, the Desert Iguana, cross the road. Being a car behind Justin, I pretty much just saw a white streak, but he IDed it. We stopped and had a look around, but didn't see it or any of its companions. We swung by the visitor's center and got some tips for areas to find more Desert Iguanas. This actually led us just off park property into a semi-residential area. Within a few minutes we saw one resting in the shade under a creosote bush. It cooperated reasonably well for pictures. The next one we saw in similar fashion (under the shade of a creosote), was even more photogenic. We saw at least one or two others that just booked it when they saw us. As Justin was dropping me back off, we saw two park ranger vehicles wedged in around my truck. It was just after 5PM and I thought with the visitor center closing, they might have simply wondered about an "abandoned" vehicle. Turns out, they were really checking up! I had left my AZ herp book in the front seat, cooler in the back, and had not completely covered up my tongs and hook in the very back. This had aroused serious suspicion, I suppose. The rangers talked to us for a long time, asked to look in the cooler, laid the tongs and hook on the ground (which I feared would be confiscated), checked hunting licenses, called in on their radios a couple of times, the whole nine yards. (But didn't ask to check memory cards! HA!) In the end, they let us off with only a “verbal warning” for possession of illegal "traps" (tongs and hook) in the national park. The list of law enforcement agencies I've been investigated by just keeps growing and growing! HA! With that, I said goodbye to Justin, caught a quick nap, and hit the roads again as darkness fell. I road cruised some new roads and some familiar roads near the area I had found the Gila. I stayed up really late again, but of interest only saw a Black-tailed Rattlesnake. The primary targets of Arizona Black Rattlesnake and Tiger Rattlesnake eluded me. ______________________________________________________________ July 30: Day 11 herping. (2C3V8985 - 2C3V9262) In the morning, I hiked a little-used trail on the south end of Saguaro Park East where Justin had claimed success for a few things. Whiptails were crawling all over the place! After about a mile hike, I saw my first herp of high interest: a Desert Tortoise! It was a young/smallish one and was tucked under a dirt shelf along a small wash. After taking plenty of pictures, I walked back up to my camera pack and noticed that it had come out into the open and was in absolutely perfect position for pictures with my telephoto. Then, it worked its way back under the shelf, where I'm pretty sure it had a deeper hole to escape into. On the walk out, I wasn't expecting much more. In fact, I had turned around immediately after the tortoise, thinking I was done for the morning. It was starting to get downright hot! Along the way, I did spook a snake from a grassy clump, which I think was a Sonoran Whipsnake, but it darted off in a flash before I could even blink! Then, a little farther, I just catch a glimpse of a pinkish, barred snake stretched out under a bush...a Tiger Rattlesnake! It was at first in an awful position given the thick brambles around it, but I worked in a bit, pulled aside branches, and hopefully ended up with some good pictures. After that, I was feeling really good about my finds so far...and decided to take a significant drive west for something even better: the elusive Sonoran Shovel-nosed Snake. The rest of the day was mostly driving, though I did see a black phase DOR Coachwhip along the way. I stopped for gas just outside of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Why, AZ. (Yes, that's the name of the town.) A fella at the gas pumps pointed out that I had a bad front flat tire. D'oh! In the middle of nowhere, too! But, lucky me, that very gas station had a little car garage out back. A young kid, maybe 17, got right to it and charged $5 for the repair plug; I gave him $10. In the park, I stopped by the visitors center to clean up a bit in the bathroom and asked for some tips on where to search for these Shovel-nosed Snakes. I got help based on habitat, but that was about it. I drove around a bit and took some scenic shots as the warm afternoon lighting was just getting good. After dark, I cruised for only a couple of hours and saw two Western Diamondbacks, a Banded Gecko, and a few toads. I was soooo unbelievably tired...I pulled over for an intended 15 minute power nap, but sleep hit me like a ton of bricks and I just called it quits for the night. ______________________________________________________________ July 31: Day 12 herping. (2C3V9264 - 2C3V9422) I woke up fairly regenerated and decided to stay another day at OPCNM; it was pointless to drive all that way just to sleep. HA! I drove around a bit more at a leisurely rate. Before long, I noticed that my tire was flat again! This time, I changed it out with the spare...and drove on. I had the entire day to make sure I swung back out to Why for the repair. With the ample time, I stopped to hike one of their canyon trails that (I assumed) worked its way eventually up to the arch formation. It was a lot tougher/steeper hike than expected and my legs were just not too sprite. I do not know exactly how close I came to the summit, but every "just around the corner" seemed to go on forever...all steeply uphill. I finally called it quits when I only had 1/4 of my on-person water supply remaining. By the time I worked my way back down the hill to my truck, I was completely out of water, absolutely parched, and feeling sick to my stomach. I don't know if the queasiness was from dehydration, exhaustion, or a bad ham sandwich (from a cooler that had dipped to lukewarm a couple of times throughout the week). Probably it was some combination and I pretty much felt a bit uneasy with my stomach for about 24 hours afterward. By this time, it was afternoon and I headed back into town for a tire re-fix and to do a little laundry. I was a bit perturbed about the flat for the second time, but was surprised (along with the young mechanic) that there was actually a second puncture. The first repair was holding. Hmmm, go figure. Another $5 + $5 tip and I was off to the dinky/dirty laundromat, where I got a chance to catch up on this log and such. After laundry, it was already getting dark and I was anxious to hit the roads. For some reason, this night "felt" better to me anyway...maybe a tad more humidity in the air? The first thing of significance and interest was a dead Kangaroo Rat laying in the middle of the road. In my mind, I gave it a little "hmmm, that's odd"...I hadn't seen anyone else on this road for the past two days except for me and this little rat was freshly dead. A scan with the flashlight along the roadside bank quickly confirmed my suspicions of the event! I saw a rattlesnake probing and testing all about. At first I thought it was a Speckled Rattlesnake, but once I saw the head knew it was another Tiger Rattlesnake. Still very cool. The rest played out pretty predictably. It took about 20 minutes for the snake to finally lock in on the scent trail. It crawled on in toward the rat, grabbed it, ate it, crawled off. It was absolutely awesome!!!! Of course, I moved stealthily and photographed as much of the event as I could. It was a definite highlight of the trip! I saw enough other stuff to keep me busy through the night, though most were repeats of things I'd seen before. ______________________________________________________________ August 1: Day 13 herping. (2C3V9430 - 2C3V9556) On no sleep, I drove on out and swung through to Kitt Peak as the morning light was just setting up for pictures. Kitt Peak is littered with numerous huge telescopes and other astronomical equipment. I knew my dad would appreciate it if I could get some pictures; plus, the view from the mountain was nothing short of spectacular! (The sign at the bottom of the hill said it was not open to the public from 10PM to 9AM, but I risked it and went on through at 7:30ish.) On the drive back down, I spotted an unexpected herp along the narrow shoulder of the mountainous road: another Desert Tortoise! It seemed awfully high in elevation (1280m) and in steep, rugged terrain, but there it was...an adult this time. I got a few quick pictures and moved on. I drove through toward the Ruby/Nogales area in a second attempt at Vinesnakes, but saw none. At the lake, I parked for a much needed and deserved sleep. I awoke around dusk and cruised the roads till about 11PM. The little paved stretch of road here is crawling with herpers; unfortunately, not so many herps (at least for me). A couple of other guys I talked to said they had seen a couple of atrox and a Black-tailed. I intended to road cruise on over to the San Bernadino Valley, but by the time I got to the area, the temperature had dropped like a rock (into the mid 50's!). I called it a night in the Douglas McDonalds parking lot. ______________________________________________________________ August 2: Day 14 herping. (2C3V9559 - 2C3V9638) I drove out in the morning to the mountains along the AZ/NM border in search of New Mexico Ridge-nosed Rattlesnakes. (I figured this subspecies looks different enough to almost count as another montane for the trip.) Mostly I scouted from the road, but I did stop at a couple of places. The first had nice-looking rocks, but few cracks. The second was an awesome little rock slide that I was certain to have something. Under one of the larger boulders at the base of the slide was a Black-tailed Rattlesnake, but that was all I found. I felt a little silly, but I had neglected to note my water supplies before heading out and found myself on the short side. Of necessity, I drove the several miles back to Douglas over washboard roads to stock back up. I ended up at a Dollar General and crashed in the truck for a couple of hours. Before sleeping, I double-checked some of the literature on the NM Ridge-nosed and realized that the spot I had checked was about 100m too low in elevation from where they had been confirmed in the mountains. I resolved to get back out before sunset to a place just down the road into NM where the elevation was more suitable. A police officer tapping on my window with his flashlight woke me up. He said he had received a call from the store that my vehicle had been there for some time and he was just checking it out. He didn't ask me to move or anything, but I was up now anyway (rude awakening! HA!). Anyhow, it was time to drive back out to the mountains. On the way, I saw a nice-sized Gopher Snake basking on the road. I tailed it as it tried to crawl away, but as I was fiddling around it ended up escaping back down a hole. (In retrospect, I wish I had been more assertive with it to get a series of pictures of this species in daylight.) I also saw two Ornate Box Turtles and another Black-tailed. For some reason (possibly related to me dropping it earlier in the day?), my flash and camera were just not communicating right and I had trouble getting good pictures of these. I also missed out on getting pictures of a large "false-scorpion" because of these technical difficulties. (EDIT: The "false-scorpion" was a Windscorpion and I was able just barely to salvage a picture.) By the time I got to the appropriate area for Ridge-nosed, it was too late to inspect, but I did make a mental note of a couple of likely places to check in future trips. Turns out there are only a couple of higher peaks with suitable elevation in these mountains. Just after dark, I noticed that my instrument display in my truck was not lighting up. At the time, I considered it just an annoyance and figured the electrical inverter I was using the whole trip probably overloaded a fuse. I used a small flashlight to keep up with my speed and such...and drove on. It didn't take long into town before blue lights lit up behind me. I was definitely getting used to this routine by this point! HA! Turns out, my taillights were out. (Oh, so when the taillight fuse burns out, the dash goes dark as a SIGN that something is wrong! Now, I get it! I guess it makes more sense after the fact...or after more sleep...or something?) You would think it wouldn't take more than an officer or two to deal with this, but dang if I didn't get LOTS of help! HA! ...at least two city patrol cars, a couple of border patrol vehicles, and who knows what else completely lit up the neighborhood! The police officers (all 20 of them???) and I fiddled around with the fuses for a while, but couldn't seem to resolve it. They suggested I go to the Auto Zone nearby and see what I could do. In the Auto Zone parking lot, one at a time I switched out every fuse with the spares (even though none looked broken). Nothing worked. It was just after closing, but the doors were not locked. One of the workers came out to the truck and we found another bank of fuses under the hood by the battery. It would have sure been nice had the owner's manual mentioned this! After switching out the broken fuse with the spare, I was back in business...or sort of. I had lost a lot of time with this anyway, but now the temperatures were dropping again, a very light rain was falling, and I feared I had missed that very best window for night road herping. Toads were out, but that was about it. Then, the instrument panel went dark again! Ugh. I stopped and plugged in the 20AMP spare fuse into the 15AMP slot; probably not the best idea. About five minutes later, it was out again! Double-ugh! Sadly, I guess getting stopped by LE (again!) and having yet something else go out on my truck headed back to the shop (again!) was kind of a sick, fitting way to wrap up the trip: the bookend. Seriously needing a bed and shower, I drove on for another two hours to get to Lordsburg, NM. Somehow, I avoided LE (for the first time this trip???). On the way, I stopped at a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake that was flat out on the blacktop soaking up heat. It gave a classic S-pose when I tapped its tail and I took a parting shot of what I imagined to be the last herp of the trip. I think the ubiquitous WDR, while not a great find per se, partially salvaged things with a more appropriate ending. ______________________________________________________________ August 3: Day 15 church, herping, and travel. (2C3V9640 - 2C3V9681) I kind of found myself in "no man's land" as far as church went; the closest congregation being 2 and 1/2 hours away. I didn't even hear/remember my cell phone alarm going off when I woke up two hours late. So that idea was unintentionally off the agenda. The whole ordeal with the taillights fuse the night before pretty much threw off everything as to where I thought I would be and when. But now, with the Franklin Mountains being so tantalizingly close (and the truly exceptional Rock Rattlesnakes found there) and with me having a couple of hours of potential herping to squeeze in, I headed over for a look. I huffed it quickly up one of the trails that one of the rangers had suggested, but the habitat looked pretty marginal from where I would expect to find them. You could look at the rocks and know that they were too red for what the snakes would blend against; plus, the elevation was borderline. Later on, I hit another spot that looked much more promising and was even more accessible, only it was midday and very hot by this point. I knew going in that the variables would be working against me, but the scouting effort may very well pay off in a future visit. Along the way, I picked up four new species of lizards for the trip. While Collard Lizards had been eerily absent my entire time in AZ, here they were crawling all over the place...and even fairly photogenic. I missed snapping a shot of a Great Plains Skink both coming up the trail and then going back. The stinker just kept darting around in the undergrowth and rock crevices and wouldn't even allow a quick/bad picture. I ended up staying in the Franklin Mountains for about two hours longer than expected, meaning my drive tomorrow will be exceptionally long (but manageable at about 12 hours remaining). I pushed on till just after dusk (back into the Central Time Zone) and called it quits at a rest stop. I didn't dare drive too much longer at night with the taillight malfunction. ______________________________________________________________ August 4: Day 16 travel. (2C3V9683) The last day of travel was long (12+ hours) and mostly uneventful. On the last turnoff to my house, a Speckled Kingsnake was crossing the road just after dark. It was hard to get too excited after all the new stuff I had seen the last two weeks, but on the other hand it was also a nice herper's welcome back. Concluding ThoughtsBad Ideas...
Questionable Ideas...
Good Ideas...
Top Herp Misses...
Most Surprising Misses...
Special Thanks
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