I love how well-camouflaged these little guys can be. Even right out in the open...





Anyone got any shots of crypsis at work
If so, post them here. I'd love to see them.

that is awesome stuff, especially since I missed it in the first pic as I was looking in the center frame of the camera shot at some rocks thinking you had found a spadefoot or horned lizard.

Nice! Good job on the insitu!

-Brandon-

Nice job Josh! Love those photo opportunities!

Norman, I think you mean "Nice job Josh!" because those pics are all his.

haha Sorry...I am so used to Ben posting the pics, but I forgot Josh has been stepping up his game! Good work Josh - I love in-situ shots of one of my most favorite rattlesnakes.

Great shot Josh! I couldn't see it until it was pointed out for me.

[url][url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/75404423@N02/7464729660/][/url]
P1010374 by Lampropeltis2012, on Flickr[/url]

Awesome shot! And thanks for the eye test. Time to visit the eye doctor for me.

This makes me really think about how little wildlife we actually see out in the field, and how much wildlife sees US . I bet that ratio is astounding.

Thanks for the comments, guys.

Norm, no worries, man. For three years now, every photo posted on these forums has been Ben's. I'm just flattered you mistook it for one of his, however momentarily.

Southwest Wanderer, thanks for posting a photo of your own. I think I like the other one in that series even better. Are those flat-tails?



True story.

Well done Josh!

Michael Cravens

Correct on the ID. Terribly difficult to find. I've even had trouble finding horned lizards using radio telemetry, getting a signal right there in front of me. It's embarrassing once I do find them.

Oh, and another funny time was when I leaned up against this red dirt cliff to get a good look at a small lizard basking. When I pushed away from the cliff, right there 4" from my wrist was a Gila Monster. I never even saw him when I put my had there. EEeeek.

Janine

Kinda reminds me of the time I watched Josh step right over this little atrox.

I think I might have posted this pic a while back.. But that was probably the most camouflaged crote I have seen. My buddy practically stepped on it. And we were even tracking it.

Thanks, Michael.

Janine, one of the best (and most exciting) ways I've found to find cool stuff is to slow down and pay closer attention to the stuff you normally take for granted. I can't tell you how many snakes we've found while trying to catch a lizard.

Benny, thanks for bringing up old stuff. I'm squashing your head.

Jeff, your photo made me remember one I took earlier this year and seem to have misplaced. Maybe Ben or Cody has a good photo of that 'winder we all saw down in Yuma County this Spring....

Here you go Josh.

Cool sidewinder pics everyone!

I have passed up a few atrox!

WOW... how did you even see that thing?

5 ft. Great Basin Gophersnake I was practically standing on before I noticed it in dappled sunlight/shade lighting in foliage. the minute it moved i heard it but didn't see it for a few seconds. Actually easier to see in the photo than it was on scene I think.

That's pretty cool. It's kinda neat how the same pattern of lights and darks helps to hide them, no matter what kind of vegetation they are hiding in at the moment. It probably helps that they're yellow and dark brown or black, as the combination resembles dappled sunlight on the ground.

Would never have seen this guy had he not rattled. Lousy pictures but you get the idea



The grand master of crypsis title must go to horned lizards. they just vanish in plain sight. Runners up would be speckled rattlesnakes, sidewinders, etc.

I have to disagree on your choice for the crypsis champ. True, the horned lizards usually have some very cryptic coloration, but being lizards they tend to give away their position by making a rapid escape before you can get close. For pure crypsis, both behavioral and morphological, it's gotta be one of the crotes, hands down.



Cryptic coloration, mixed with a tendency to lay dog and hope you walk past. If I had to choose one, the winders and specks are a good choice but I think I'd still have to go with the good old atrox:



Lights and darks that blend in with just about any kind of low vegetation, a salt and pepper effect to the individual scales that closely approximates the sand and gravel found in the washes where they hunt, reverse shading to break up their cross section, and a proven record of letting people walk by. My vote for the king of crypsis goes to Mr. NoShoulders, Crotalus atrox.