Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
pythonregius3
Posts: 74
Joined: June 14th, 2010, 9:05 am
Location: Central Indiana

Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by pythonregius3 »

I will be going mid July with my brother and mom. None of us have been to this area before. We are mainly interested in finding snakes. Does anyone have any ideas on good places to look? Feel free to send private message if u don't want to post on forum. Also I anyone else will be in the area let me know if u want to meet up. Thanks for the help
User avatar
ChrisNM
Posts: 182
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 8:28 pm
Location: Formerly NM, now DFW Metro
Contact:

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by ChrisNM »

Hope for the monsoons. A decent part of the Chiricahuas are burnt to a crisp due to the Horseshoe 2 fire and there's suppose to be a fire out near Animas, NM (though I can't seem to find additional info after first reading about it a couple days ago).
Jimi
Posts: 1955
Joined: December 3rd, 2010, 12:06 pm

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by Jimi »

I think most people here would tell you SE AZ is just easier than SW NM from several perspectives:

- a lot of species just seem more abundant in AZ, therefore a) you're more likely to actually encounter them and b) it won't require as much of your precious trip time to do so - you can rack up a bigger trip list

- it's just a smaller area, or another way to put it, good areas are closer together - less time wasted driving = more time herping

- it's not so far out in the boonies, and there are way more people around - which makes it a little less scary if something bad happens (two flat tires, busted radiator hose, or whatever)

These are just super-generalities, and many of us adore SW NM too, but you say you've never been so I'm trying to help you out and make it easy. My suggestion - just stay in Tucson and hit stuff (including the Desert Museum!) within an hour in every direction. In the summer you can get a cheap, fabulous rental house. Try VRBO (vacation rental by owner) dot com. You might even be able to walk to good herping!

Cheers,
Jimi
Crotalus
Posts: 180
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:05 am

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by Crotalus »

I heard the herping is better in old mexico. Maybe head there.
User avatar
Brandon La Forest
Posts: 244
Joined: July 6th, 2010, 2:23 pm
Location: Arizona

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by Brandon La Forest »

Jimi wrote:I think most people here would tell you SE AZ is just easier than SW NM from several perspectives:

- a lot of species just seem more abundant in AZ, therefore a) you're more likely to actually encounter them and b) it won't require as much of your precious trip time to do so - you can rack up a bigger trip list

- it's just a smaller area, or another way to put it, good areas are closer together - less time wasted driving = more time herping

- it's not so far out in the boonies, and there are way more people around - which makes it a little less scary if something bad happens (two flat tires, busted radiator hose, or whatever)

These are just super-generalities, and many of us adore SW NM too, but you say you've never been so I'm trying to help you out and make it easy. My suggestion - just stay in Tucson and hit stuff (including the Desert Museum!) within an hour in every direction. In the summer you can get a cheap, fabulous rental house. Try VRBO (vacation rental by owner) dot com. You might even be able to walk to good herping!

Cheers,
Jimi

This is exactly the attitude that that destroys the adventure in it. Do what you want and planned. There is no shame in trying something that is a little "harder" (who says NM is harder anyway?) I say stick with your original plan you will be fine and you will see snakes, its not about racking up numbers. If you do NM you will herp in places most people are to chicken too try. Az is a reck that time of year with herpers, if you stick with your original plan you wont end up sitting in road riding lines like you will in AZ. Just my two cents from a local!

Cheers

Brandon
User avatar
reptilist
Posts: 653
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:30 am
Location: Clifton, Arizona

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by reptilist »

Yeah but,
A mom and two sons probably require a little more security than what the borderlands offer.
User avatar
Brandon La Forest
Posts: 244
Joined: July 6th, 2010, 2:23 pm
Location: Arizona

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by Brandon La Forest »

whats wrong with the boarder-lands? and if you have a reason whats the difference in south AZ as apposed to south NM? I ment to chicken to try in the context of everyone who comes out here does the same thing, not because its any more dangerous...
User avatar
rosy-man
Posts: 317
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:43 am
Location: East of san diego

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by rosy-man »

stick with az theirs plenty of room and in mid july herping should be slower as say end of august it all depends on the rain though. gl and drop us some photos
User avatar
reptilist
Posts: 653
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 9:30 am
Location: Clifton, Arizona

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by reptilist »

Remoteness is not everyone's comfort zone.

A good first trip would be to stay in Portal Peak Lodge, meet other herpers/birders/nature buffs and find a wazzo of rattlesnakes. My only caveat is that the Horseshoe 2 fire has decimated what appears to be most of the Chiracahua range.
User avatar
Brandon La Forest
Posts: 244
Joined: July 6th, 2010, 2:23 pm
Location: Arizona

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by Brandon La Forest »

I really dont think SW NM is any more remote than SE AZ, you will be fine either way snakes are just as easy to find on either side of the state line....and although az has allot of room, I can say with almost 100% certainty that you will be sharing the roads with other people, and that is 0 fun.
Jimi
Posts: 1955
Joined: December 3rd, 2010, 12:06 pm

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by Jimi »

Chill out D'Artagnan. "BP cubed" said he's never been to the region, he's coming w/ brother and mom (so I'm just guessing he's a minor??? so the mom has some serious moral and legal responsibility here...and probably a little stress with all the BS in the "news"), and by the way he never mentioned any pre-existing plan that any of us here buzz-killed. We're just offering a suggestion to have a nice warm-up walk, rather than tell him he ought to try running first. I'm thinking his first monsoon-season trip to the Sonoran desert is going to feel like quite an adventure. I still remember mine. My mom drove me and my sister out from San Diego, I was about 14. So I have some empathy. And finally - seriously - the bootheel is no less remote feeling than SE AZ? WTF? Oh yeah, the Alamo Huecos are just like the Patagonias that way. Uh huh.

P-regius: where are you all headed out from, and are you flying, driving, or what? Also, any snakes in particular you want to see? Or do you just want to see something, anything, every 20-30 minutes? That might help folks offer suggestions.

If you're driving down from Denver or something, and you and your family are cool with empty country, then by all means just stop at the San Mateos or the Black Range. Each are big and wild enough for a whole week. If you were driving in from Texas and wanted to stop in NM, I'd suggest you stick north of I-10, say around Silver City. Brandon is right, closer to the border has some perfectly good stuff too, but seriously, there's no absolute need except for like 1 snake, and hey don't forget, Ciudad Juarez is real close to there. Give your mom a break, ha ha.

But if you're flying from anywhere, or driving from SoCal, then Tucson is just great. There's years worth of fun within an hour of town. And if you're more used to having some people around (people on bikes & horses, hikers, birders, herpers - just people outside having fun), you will be more comfortable. Pick up a hiking guidebook and a DeLorme and start dreaming.

Cheers,
Jimi
User avatar
ChrisNM
Posts: 182
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 8:28 pm
Location: Formerly NM, now DFW Metro
Contact:

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by ChrisNM »

Jimi wrote:If you were driving in from Texas and wanted to stop in NM, I'd suggest you stick north of I-10, say around Silver City. Brandon is right, closer to the border has some perfectly good stuff too, but seriously, there's no absolute need except for like 1 snake, and hey don't forget, Ciudad Juarez is real close to there. Give your mom a break, ha ha.
If you're worried about Mexico in regards to SW NM/SE AZ, then I'd worry more about Agua Prieta (a stone's throw from Douglas, AZ) than Ciudad Juárez if one were tooling about the border near the Peloncillos/Chiricahuas.

I'm with Reptilist though, the Chiricahuas got hit hard with the Horseshoe 2 Fire. Silver City also got hit hard with the Miller Fire, so herping in and around Silver may be tough. Right now the entire area is a kindling box, where just the simple smell of a match head would ignite the state ablaze. Something to keep in mind too, is that it's so dry here forests are closing to the public. Closures to the SAndia Mountains here in Albuquerque will take affect on Monday, as an example. I know Lincoln National Forest around Alamogordo, Cloudcroft, Ruidoso, etc is also closed. I'd assume similarly to other areas of national forest in the state.

However, we do need more insight to what ball python 3 is wanting to do/see. I'm in favor of a little more remoteness as Brandon is suggesting, and from the NM side of things the area was crawling with BP last Labor Day Weekend to the point of mild harassment (which I'm not complaining about either, I welcome it!). I do see your side of it Jimi, but again, we need more details.

LOL at JJ. I need to get down there for some Chris "Jason Bourne" Gruenwald driving lessons.
pythonregius3
Posts: 74
Joined: June 14th, 2010, 9:05 am
Location: Central Indiana

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by pythonregius3 »

Thanks for all the info. Sorry I didn't respond for a while. My computer has been acting up. I could see how my post made people think I was a minor, but I am 31 and my brother is 28. We will be flying into denver and then driving about 3 hours south into north western NM to get my brother. My brother is in NM doing field research on prairie dogs and plague for his doctorate degree. My mom, brother and I love herping (mostly snakes). So we decided to go out to see David and get some good herping in.

We mainly are interested in snakes and since we have never herped this area there aren't many species that wldn't be lifers. The top of the list for my mom is a sanoran coral, and for me I am interested in finding anything. By Coralids are at the top of my list. Probably atrox, klauberi, scutalatus, cerastes, and molossus wld be the top five on my wish list.

Feel free to send me a private message if you wld rather. We have never collected a singe living animal and have no plans to start. Thanks for the help.
pythonregius3
Posts: 74
Joined: June 14th, 2010, 9:05 am
Location: Central Indiana

Re: Sw new Mex/se Arizona trip

Post by pythonregius3 »

Thanks for the tips. We had a lot of fun and found many of our target species. I plan to get pics uploaded to post but haven't done yet. Here is a list of snakes we found (also found other cool wildlife but we are mostly into snakes.

2-western diamondback
4-mojave rattler
13-sidwinder
1-prairie rattler
1-blacktail rattler
2-coral
5-7-longnose
2-spotted leafnose
2-sonoran gopher
1-calif king
1-striped whipsnake
6-night snake
1-blackneck garter

DOR
1-wdb
2-night snake
1-spotted leafnose
2-longnose
1-tucson shovel nose
1-gopher
3-red coachwhip
2-sidewinder
1-mojave
1-regal ringneck
Post Reply