More from the Sonoran
Posted: April 11th, 2012, 2:22 am
Since my last post, viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10706, I’ve managed to come across a few more critters, but I’ve had to work for them. I’m starting to realize why herpers in the southwest do so much road hunting; herps can be tough to find when you take flipping out of the equation. Don’t misunderstand, I’m not complaining, I’m having a blast hiking around and exploring the desert, but I’m certainly putting in a lot of miles per each encounter.
To start with, diamondbacks have been by far the most encountered snake. I’ve seen six over the last couple of weeks.
Since I didn’t get to photograph the last desert patch-nose I saw, I was happy to find another while I had my camera.
This DOR glossy was a heart breaker. I took a look and confirmed that the bolus was a Botta's pocket gopher.
While poking around some talus, I was lucky to run across these petroglyphs...
…as well as a few of these chucks.
Cholla are certainly the nastiest part of herping here. This sort of evil is something you must experience to appreciate.
Quinn has hiked the entire state of New Mexico, south to north, so he's no nube to the desert. That being said, I don't think he appreciates it as much as I do.
My camp
My bird feeding station at my camp that I built from saguaro cactus ribs.
My office
The view from my office...My nest is down in the Mesquite bosque below where I'm lucky enough to be keeping tabs on two healthy and quickly growing bald eagle nestlings.
This regal ring-neck was an exciting find for me.
This gopher snake was nice to see out on the crawl.
Mary, Quinn, and a giant Gila monster. For those of you that know Quinn, check out that white nose. He'll be eight this June.
While I do enjoy every atrox I see, if I wanted to only see atrox would have moved to Texas. To break this run of atrox luck, Mary and I did some road hunting on one of my days off and scored a couple lifer Mohave rattlesnakes. Thanks Joshua Jones!
In ending, if I die tomorrow, I’ll die a happy man because I finally saw a gila monster!
Hope you enjoyed,
Michael Cravens
To start with, diamondbacks have been by far the most encountered snake. I’ve seen six over the last couple of weeks.
Since I didn’t get to photograph the last desert patch-nose I saw, I was happy to find another while I had my camera.
This DOR glossy was a heart breaker. I took a look and confirmed that the bolus was a Botta's pocket gopher.
While poking around some talus, I was lucky to run across these petroglyphs...
…as well as a few of these chucks.
Cholla are certainly the nastiest part of herping here. This sort of evil is something you must experience to appreciate.
Quinn has hiked the entire state of New Mexico, south to north, so he's no nube to the desert. That being said, I don't think he appreciates it as much as I do.
My camp
My bird feeding station at my camp that I built from saguaro cactus ribs.
My office
The view from my office...My nest is down in the Mesquite bosque below where I'm lucky enough to be keeping tabs on two healthy and quickly growing bald eagle nestlings.
This regal ring-neck was an exciting find for me.
This gopher snake was nice to see out on the crawl.
Mary, Quinn, and a giant Gila monster. For those of you that know Quinn, check out that white nose. He'll be eight this June.
While I do enjoy every atrox I see, if I wanted to only see atrox would have moved to Texas. To break this run of atrox luck, Mary and I did some road hunting on one of my days off and scored a couple lifer Mohave rattlesnakes. Thanks Joshua Jones!
In ending, if I die tomorrow, I’ll die a happy man because I finally saw a gila monster!
Hope you enjoyed,
Michael Cravens