Spring Break in Southern California
Posted: March 14th, 2014, 6:30 pm
Hey all,
So, after having been in New Hampshire for the past few months at college, I've been pretty starved for herps. Luckily my spring break was early this year, so I met with a few forum members, RobertH and gopher, for a few herping trips. First, on Sunday, I met Robert and Nicholas out in Riverside County.
Lizards were almost always visible, and a few different species were represented
At this location, Red Diamond Rattlesnakes were quite common, but always a welcome sight!
This Gopher Snake was pointed out to us by a hiker who, despite disliking snakes, was very open about them. It's always nice to come across that kind of attitude while out in the field.
In the process of flipping rocks we managed to turn up a Garden Slender Salamander, probably one of the last things I expected to find.
Monday, I met up with Greg (gopher) and one of his friends at the same area in Riverside. Between the three of us we managed a total of 20 snakes, mostly Red Diamond Rattlesnakes. Other than the ones pictured here, there were also a few Gophers, a Kingsnake, and a Coachwhip which either I didn't take a picture of or escaped a picture.
The Rattlesnake in the next 3 pictures surprised us while we were taking a break. We had been sitting down for five minutes or so, when we heard it hiss behind us. We all spun around and noticed it sitting under a pepper tree. We took it out for some pics, and I swear it's flipping us off in the 3rd picture!
I came across these 2 Rattlesnakes mating, and it was really cool to see! Both of the following pictures are in situ, the snakes never got disturbed and we left before they finished. Greg got some good video of it I think, I hope he'll post it.
These two snakes treated us to a fascinating display of behavior. The male was very protective of the female, and actually circled himself around with his head on top of her so that anyone would have to go through him to get to her. After a while the female got a bit annoyed with him though, and whacked him with her tail a few times.
On Wednesday, Greg and I went through some of Eastern OC, and while it was a bit of a slow day we did manage a skink and a Garden Slender.
Last but not least, on Thursday Greg, his friend, and I went out to Anza-Borrego State Park for the late afternoon/evening. It was a bit cool, and the moon was bright, but we didn't go home empty handed. We fist took a short hike up a canyon with a permanent steam. The first find was this dead California Treefrog. Does anyone have any idea as to what may have happened to it? Aside from a large wound in its side, it seemed in a perfectly natural position, and a weird position to die in (in my opinion).
There were also a god amount of small Red-spotted Toads
One Baja California Treefrog was also found. Has anyone else found them in this area? All other frogs found were California Treefrogs, so it seemed a little out of place.
We tried a bit of roadcruising, but it was slow going so we stopped and hiked around for a bit. This Shovel-nosed Snake turned up on the crawl, but was the last herp to be seen that night (by me at least, I think Greg and his friend saw a dead Lyre).
All in all it's been a good week, but it's just about time to be going back east. Hopefully it will thaw soon, so I can do some herping out there! Otherwise, I can't wait to be back in California come May.
Ted
So, after having been in New Hampshire for the past few months at college, I've been pretty starved for herps. Luckily my spring break was early this year, so I met with a few forum members, RobertH and gopher, for a few herping trips. First, on Sunday, I met Robert and Nicholas out in Riverside County.
Lizards were almost always visible, and a few different species were represented
At this location, Red Diamond Rattlesnakes were quite common, but always a welcome sight!
This Gopher Snake was pointed out to us by a hiker who, despite disliking snakes, was very open about them. It's always nice to come across that kind of attitude while out in the field.
In the process of flipping rocks we managed to turn up a Garden Slender Salamander, probably one of the last things I expected to find.
Monday, I met up with Greg (gopher) and one of his friends at the same area in Riverside. Between the three of us we managed a total of 20 snakes, mostly Red Diamond Rattlesnakes. Other than the ones pictured here, there were also a few Gophers, a Kingsnake, and a Coachwhip which either I didn't take a picture of or escaped a picture.
The Rattlesnake in the next 3 pictures surprised us while we were taking a break. We had been sitting down for five minutes or so, when we heard it hiss behind us. We all spun around and noticed it sitting under a pepper tree. We took it out for some pics, and I swear it's flipping us off in the 3rd picture!
I came across these 2 Rattlesnakes mating, and it was really cool to see! Both of the following pictures are in situ, the snakes never got disturbed and we left before they finished. Greg got some good video of it I think, I hope he'll post it.
These two snakes treated us to a fascinating display of behavior. The male was very protective of the female, and actually circled himself around with his head on top of her so that anyone would have to go through him to get to her. After a while the female got a bit annoyed with him though, and whacked him with her tail a few times.
On Wednesday, Greg and I went through some of Eastern OC, and while it was a bit of a slow day we did manage a skink and a Garden Slender.
Last but not least, on Thursday Greg, his friend, and I went out to Anza-Borrego State Park for the late afternoon/evening. It was a bit cool, and the moon was bright, but we didn't go home empty handed. We fist took a short hike up a canyon with a permanent steam. The first find was this dead California Treefrog. Does anyone have any idea as to what may have happened to it? Aside from a large wound in its side, it seemed in a perfectly natural position, and a weird position to die in (in my opinion).
There were also a god amount of small Red-spotted Toads
One Baja California Treefrog was also found. Has anyone else found them in this area? All other frogs found were California Treefrogs, so it seemed a little out of place.
We tried a bit of roadcruising, but it was slow going so we stopped and hiked around for a bit. This Shovel-nosed Snake turned up on the crawl, but was the last herp to be seen that night (by me at least, I think Greg and his friend saw a dead Lyre).
All in all it's been a good week, but it's just about time to be going back east. Hopefully it will thaw soon, so I can do some herping out there! Otherwise, I can't wait to be back in California come May.
Ted