Albuquerque Trip Report (Crosspost from Rocky Mtn Subforum)

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mtratcliffe
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Albuquerque Trip Report (Crosspost from Rocky Mtn Subforum)

Post by mtratcliffe »

I posted this on the Rocky Mountain Chapter subforum but also wanted to share it here. It was the most productive trip I've ever had for herping!

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I am happy to say that I had a very productive trip to Albuquerque this month! While I was out there for work, I found plenty of time to squeeze in some herping. I encountered 23 species (24 counting DORs), 22 of which were lifers. Many thanks to Josh (herpseeker1978) and Notah (nhherp) for providing tips on where to herp, along with taking me out one some productive herping sessions, to include hikes and some road cruising. While several of the roadcruising sessions turned up empty, I did have one particularly awesome session with Notah during a beautiful stormy night. I have pictures from so many different areas, so I'm not really sure how to organize it, but here I go. All my finds are from either Sandoval, Bernalillo, Valencia, or Socorro Counties. Enjoy!

There were several NM spadefoot toads hanging out near my hotel night. These were the first live herps I encountered on my trip.

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My first hike was out at the volcanoes west of ABQ, near the Petroglyph National Monument. I didn't see much there besides quite a few Eastern Side-Blotched Lizards.

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Went hiking with Notah at night looking for Blacktailed Rattlesnakes, but came up with these instead:

Red-spotted Toads

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YoY Black-necked Gartersnake

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Great Plains Toads seen after the hike:

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Here's one found by Josh while roadcruising:

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Now for some herps found in the Bosque:

YoY New Mexican Whiptail, I believe. These buggers are tough to catch!

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Another juvenile

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Adult NM Whiptail

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Chihuahuan Spotted Whiptail - I just now noticed that it is defecating in the second picture!

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Western Painted Turtles and Red-Eared Sliders

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Texas Spiny Softshell

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Southwestern Fence Lizards, which I found to be the least shy lizards in the region. Very photogenic!

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More lizards seen on other hikes in the Sandias:

SW Fence

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Chihuahuan Spotted Whiptail

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And here's a huge one:

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Great Plains Skink

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Little Striped Whiptail (I believe)

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The next set of photos are from checking bucket and funnel traps with the NM Herp Society in the Sandia Foothills.

Side-Blotched Lizard

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Juvenile NM Whiptail, I believe. Could be a Desert Grassland.

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Scorpions

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We found this Western Coachwhip in one of the funnel traps. It was squirmy, but did not attempt to bite when handled.

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Someone flipped a Plains Blackheaded Snake under some wood.

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Also found a NM Spadefoot.

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Now for the grande finale - Notah took me out roadcruising one Friday night and we hit the jackpot with snakes, finding five different species alive, plus an additional species DOR. Also ran across a few toads - I didn't bother stopping for them after it had rained or I would never have made it back to my room that night.

Longnose Snake

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Glossy Snake

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Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (juvenile)

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Desert Kingsnake

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#2

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Prairie Rattlesnake

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Couch's Spadefoot (stopped for two)

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Great Plains Toad

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NM Spadefoot

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I also encountered another Glossy and Prairie Rattler with Josh later the following week.

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Well, that concludes my report. It was an awesome trip, and I hope to make it out there again sometime, though I'm not sure when that will be. Could be years from now - but if I do return, I'd like to find myself a Hognose and a Blacktailed Rattlesnake!
bgorum
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Re: Albuquerque Trip Report (Crosspost from Rocky Mtn Subfor

Post by bgorum »

Looks like you had a productive trip. Your first juvenile New Mexico whiptail is actually a desert grassland whiptail. I think your little striped whiptail may is as well, but I can't be 100% sure from the picture.
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gbeck
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Re: Albuquerque Trip Report (Crosspost from Rocky Mtn Subfor

Post by gbeck »

Looks like an awesome trip! Thanks for sharing.
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Ribbit
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Re: Albuquerque Trip Report (Crosspost from Rocky Mtn Subfor

Post by Ribbit »

Lots of variety -- sounds like you had a great trip!

I think your last "Great Plains" toad is not a Great Plains toad. Maybe a Fowler's Toad?

This one:
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John
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Stohlgren
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Re: Albuquerque Trip Report (Crosspost from Rocky Mtn Subfor

Post by Stohlgren »

Ribbit wrote:I think your last "Great Plains" toad is not a Great Plains toad. Maybe a Fowler's Toad?

I'd call it a Woodhouse's toad. Same with the first two photos labeled as great plains.
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Cole Grover
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Re: Albuquerque Trip Report (Crosspost from Rocky Mtn Subfor

Post by Cole Grover »

Stohlgren wrote:I'd call it a Woodhouse's toad. Same with the first two photos labeled as great plains.
I agree about 110%.

Nice post!

-Cole
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mtratcliffe
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Re: Albuquerque Trip Report (Crosspost from Rocky Mtn Subfor

Post by mtratcliffe »

bgorum wrote:Looks like you had a productive trip. Your first juvenile New Mexico whiptail is actually a desert grassland whiptail. I think your little striped whiptail may is as well, but I can't be 100% sure from the picture.
Are you the legendary Bill Gorum I heard so much about? It's a shame I didn't get to meet you while I was out there. Thanks for clarifying the ID - I was starting to think that was a Desert Grassland Whiptail. As for the Little Striped, I went with that ID because I found that lizard in the Sandias/Monzanos a few miles south of I-40. I don't think the Desert Grasslands range out there.

Thanks everyone else for the comments and the toad IDs. The one on the road is definitely a Woodhouse, though the other two were ID'd by the herper whose house those toads live outside of. They could possibly be intergrades. I'll look into it more.
bgorum
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Re: Albuquerque Trip Report (Crosspost from Rocky Mtn Subfor

Post by bgorum »

mtratcliffe wrote:
bgorum wrote:Looks like you had a productive trip. Your first juvenile New Mexico whiptail is actually a desert grassland whiptail. I think your little striped whiptail may is as well, but I can't be 100% sure from the picture.
Are you the legendary Bill Gorum I heard so much about? It's a shame I didn't get to meet you while I was out there. Thanks for clarifying the ID - I was starting to think that was a Desert Grassland Whiptail. As for the Little Striped, I went with that ID because I found that lizard in the Sandias/Monzanos a few miles south of I-40. I don't think the Desert Grasslands range out there.

Thanks everyone else for the comments and the toad IDs. The one on the road is definitely a Woodhouse, though the other two were ID'd by the herper whose house those toads live outside of. They could possibly be intergrades. I'll look into it more.
Legendary? Now thats funny! Given where you found the one you are calling inornatus, it is almost certainly a juvenile exanguis, and you are correct that uniparens doesn't occur there. However, inornatus are usually found in healthy grassland habitats. As to the two toads seen outside of Notah's house, they look like woodhouse toads to me as well.
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mtratcliffe
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Re: Albuquerque Trip Report (Crosspost from Rocky Mtn Subfor

Post by mtratcliffe »

bgorum wrote: Legendary? Now thats funny! Given where you found the one you are calling inornatus, it is almost certainly a juvenile exanguis, and you are correct that uniparens doesn't occur there. However, inornatus are usually found in healthy grassland habitats. As to the two toads seen outside of Notah's house, they look like woodhouse toads to me as well.

Thanks again for the help, Bill. Do exsanguis not show any spotting until they are adults?
bgorum
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Re: Albuquerque Trip Report (Crosspost from Rocky Mtn Subfor

Post by bgorum »

mtratcliffe wrote:Thanks again for the help, Bill. Do exsanguis not show any spotting until they are adults?
Depends on the population. I worked on a study where we sampled lizard populations in the Rio Grande bosque from Albuquerque down to Bosque del Apache and the exanguis from our northern sites were recognizably different from the ones from our southern sites, both as adults and as juveniles. The amount of spotting in the dark fields and within the light stripes was one of the characters that varied between them. I suspect that animals referred to as A. exanguis actually represent more than one clonal lineage.
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