A few Rocky Mountain chapter members ventured out and those who did had a blast, thanks to Bryan Hamilton for hosting a great week.
All targets were found except Bryan's Nevada Ringneck Snake, maybe next time.
I was supposed to get there Monday morning, great things were found on monday by a couple of Florida herpers,
but instead I drove a few extra hundred miles the night before to see the eclipse in all its glory in Kannaraville, Utah.
Well you get the idea, awful tough to photograph that thing without specialized filters so I took some crappy shots through the telescope.
Then for the long drive out to Baker, Nevada and Great Basin National Park, I arrived around 6PM Monday Night
This sign lived up to its name saw more than 100 snakes during the week
The canyon where we camped and this sign is no lie either, there are snakes aplenty here
Pituophis catenifer deserticola
road cruising Great Basin Gopher Snakes seemed to be the theme in the desert, usually dozens found each night
Thamnophis elegans vagrans
Western Terrestrial Garter Snakes also were a very common sight road cruising
Set up camp next to a pleasant little stream and took the black light out to try for a little scorpion action
Anuroctonus phaiodactylus
Dusky Clawed Scorpion
under Ultraviolet light
Paruroctonus boreus
Northern Scorpion
then back to the tent to enjoy the warm evening and the gurgling stream as I fell asleep
Met up with Bryan Hamilton first thing in the morning
we headed out to meet up with the Nat'l Park staff already there in the canyon planned for the day's survey
Lizards were abundant and sunning on most outcrops or cruising the sagebrush
Sceloporus occidentalis longipes
Great Basin Fence Lizard
Plestiodon skiltonianus utahensis
Great Basin skink (juvenile)
Several Desert Striped Whipsnakes were seen but were too slick to pose for a photo
tail shot escaping right into the big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata center frame, on the left of the Mormon Tea Ephedra viridis
I wish I had better timing he was an interesting tannish colored variation
Wasn't too long before I flipped this guy though
Hypsiglena chlorophaea deserticola although I still use H. torquata
Desert Night Snake
Pituophis catenifer deserticola
Great Basin Gopher Snake
Temps were very hot 139 Fahrenheit ground temps so we headed to the spring to cool off
Sceloporus graciosus graciosus
Northern Sagebrush Lizard
On the way out we road cruised this beauty
Crotalus oreganus lutosus
Great Basin Rattlesnake
Found quite a few of these guys where the road passed through great habitat
Phrynosoma platyrhinos platyrhinos
Northern Desert Horned Lizard
Mammals were abundant in the park as well saw hundreds of Black-tailed jackrabbits, a few Desert Cottontails, Pronghorn,
Mule Deer, Coyotes, Kit foxes, Kangaroo Rats, Pocket Gophers, Bushy tailed Woodrats, bats and mice of all kinds
Even saw a pronghorn doe chasing a coyote all over, it probably had a fawn down nearby
Another fantastic sunrise in the desert
Time to go herping! A few new forum members joined us and we headed off with the usual park staff
Sceloporus occidentalis longipes
Great Basin fence Lizard (juvenile)
Cool metachrosis as this adult changed from black to greenish
Great Basin fence Lizard
Pituophis catenifer deserticola
Great Basin Gopher Snake
Thamnophis elegans vagrans
Western terrestrial Garter Snake in ecdysis
Crotalus oreganus lutosus
Great basin rattlesnake
Aspidoscelis tigris tigris
Great Basin Whiptail Lizard
Uta stansburiana stansburiana
Northern Side-Blotched Lizard
Besides the usual ubiquitous gopher snakes every night we turned up this guy
Rhinocheilus lecontei
Long-nosed Snake
Very hidden snake
Crotalus oreganus lutosus
Great Basin rattlesnake
Lampropeltis pyromelana utahensis
Utah Mountain Kingsnake
Crotalus oreganus lutosus
Great Basin rattlesnake
Crotalus oreganus lutosus
Great Basin rattlesnake
Phrynosoma platyrhinos platyrhinos
Northern Desert Horned Lizard on Western Harvester Ant Pogonomyrmex occidentalis mound
Hypsiglena chlorophaea deserticola although I still use H. torquata
Desert Night Snake
Rhinocheilus lecontei
Long-Nosed Snake
Mantispidae family unknown species
Mantidfly
Masticophis taeniatus taeniatus
Desert Striped Whipsnake
Crotalus oreganus lutosus
Great Basin rattlesnake
Crotalus oreganus lutosus
Great Basin rattlesnake
Sceloporus occidentalis longipes
Great Basin Fence Lizard
On the Last couple of days another forum member came out and was able to get in on the action. Even though the species diversity is low only 9 snake species we saw 7 out of the 9 (Yellow Bellied racers live on the other side of the park and there is only a scant handlful of Regal Ringneck records for Eastern Nevada.) We managed to see several of each species even a couple of hard to find Mountain Kings. Over one hundred snakes in a week! We finished up with a tour of Lehman Cave and said Goodbye to Great Basin National Park. What a great week surveying for snakes!
RM Chapter fieldtrip/Mtn kingsnake surv at Great Basin Nat'l
Moderator: Scott Waters
- Jeremy Westerman
- Posts: 634
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- Location: Utah
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Re: RM Chapter fieldtrip/Mtn kingsnake surv at Great Basin N
Awesome Pics!!! I like the color variations of the Oreganus!! and love the king!
Re: RM Chapter fieldtrip/Mtn kingsnake surv at Great Basin N
Thanks for sharing! I especially liked all the lutosus & phrynosoma...and the pyro! Seeing just a couple of the lutosus would have made the trip for me
Re: RM Chapter fieldtrip/Mtn kingsnake surv at Great Basin N
Great post, Jeremy, and really nice photos! Thanks for contributing to a fantastic trip. It was a lot of fun and definitely got us hooked. A great way to spend a week and meet new friends. Thanks again!
Re: RM Chapter fieldtrip/Mtn kingsnake surv at Great Basin N
Looks like you guys had alot of fun. The kings are always a nice sight.
Re: RM Chapter fieldtrip/Mtn kingsnake surv at Great Basin N
Nice pics from what looks to be a rockin trip. Congrats guys, and thanks to Bryan for hosting.
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- Posts: 430
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Re: RM Chapter fieldtrip/Mtn kingsnake surv at Great Basin N
Nice narrative and pics. Thanks for sharing them with us.
It looks like it was a productive week.
It looks like it was a productive week.
Re: RM Chapter fieldtrip/Mtn kingsnake surv at Great Basin N
Awesome finds! I love those GB Rattlesnakes.. I am so excited to get up there this summer!
-Jeff
-Jeff
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- Posts: 74
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- Location: St. George, Utah
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Re: RM Chapter fieldtrip/Mtn kingsnake surv at Great Basin N
Looks like a productive trip, good variety of snakes and lizards.
- Calfirecap
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Re: RM Chapter fieldtrip/Mtn kingsnake surv at Great Basin N
Looks like an outstanding trip! Wish I was there and well done with all the finds.
Re: RM Chapter fieldtrip/Mtn kingsnake surv at Great Basin N
Utah, pyros, and lutosus. Does it get any better than that? Looks like a successful survey in some otherwise hot weather. Nice presentation.