Okay, it's actually only 8 months in review, and I almost completely missed April to August, so the desert and mountains are poorly represented. But I got to herp from the US side of the Mexican border to the opposite side of the Canadian border, so the diversity was cool. Here goes:


Canada (October/November):


Northwestern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria coerulea principis)






Northwestern Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides)






Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)






Oregon Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii oregonensis)






Western Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon vehiculum)






Western Long-toed Salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum macrodactylum)






Northwestern Salamander (Ambystoma gracile) - far more common than I'd seen anywhere






Northern Pacific Chorus Frog (Pseudacris regilla) - heard, never seen




Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora)






American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeiana)






Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans)






Veiled Chameleon







Washington (just 2 days in December):


Oregon Ensatina






Western Redback Salamander






Cascade Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton cascadae)






Olympic Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton olympicus) - lifer!






Larval Cope's Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon copei)






Northwestern Salamander (Ambystoma gracile)






dead Northern Red-legged Frog






Boreal Toad metamorph (Anaxyrus boreas boreas)







Oregon (couple weeks in September, 6 weeks in November/December):


Western Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta belli)






Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)






Mating Northwestern Garter Snakes






Red-spotted Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis concinnus)






Valley Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi)






Oregon Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps wrightorum) - lifer!






Oregon Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii oregonensis)






Western Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon vehiculum)






Dunn's Salamander (Plethodon dunnii)






Larch Mountain Salamander (Plethodon larselli) - lifer!






Cascades Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton cascadae)






Columbia Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton kezeri) - lifer!






Southern Torrent Salamander (Rhyacotriton variegatus) - lifer!






Cope's Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon copei)






Coastal Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus)






Western Long-toed Salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum macrodactylum)






Rough-skinned Newts (Taricha granulosa)






Northern Pacific Chorus Frog (Pseudacris regilla)






Northern Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora)






Cascades Frog (Rana cascadae)






American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeiana)






Western Tailed Frog (Ascaphus truei)






Boreal Toad (Anaxyrus boreas boreas)






California (week in August, January through half of April):


Desert Night Lizard (Xantusia vigilis)






Granite Night Lizard (Xantusia henshawi)





San Diego Banded Gecko (Coleonyx variegatus abbotti) - integrade






Ringed Wall Gecko (Tarentola annularis)






California Legless Lizard (Anniella pulchra)






Western Skink (Plestiodon skiltonianus skiltonianus)






San Francisco Alligator Lizard (Elgaria coerulea coerulea)





San Diego Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata webbii)






California Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata)






Western Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana elegans)






Colorado River Tree Lizard (Urosaurus ornatus symmetricus)






Coast Range Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis bocourtii)






Great Basin Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis longipes)






Southern Sagebrush Lizard Sceloporus graciosus vandenburgianus)






Purple-backed Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus magister magister)






Granite Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus orcutti)





Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus uniformis)






Banded Rock Lizard (Petrosaurus mearnsi)






Great Basin Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus bicinctores)






Northern Desert Iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis dorsalis)






Blainville's Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma blainvillii)






Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard (Uma inornata)






Colorado Desert Fringe-toed Lizard (Uma notata) - no voucher




Western Zebratail Lizard (Callisaurus draconoides rhodostictus)






Great Basin Whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris tigris)






Belding's Orange-throated Whiptail (Aspidoscelis hyperythra beldingi)






Rosy Boa






Desert Threadsnake (Leptotyphlops humilis cahuilae)






Sharp-tailed Snake (Contia tenius) - lifer!






Western Blackheaded Snake (Tantilla planiceps)






Monterey Ring-necked Snakes (Diadophis punctatus vandenburgii) - lifer subspecies






Pacific Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus amabilis) - lifer subspecies






San Diego Night Snake (Hypsiglena ochrorhyncha klauberi)






Mojave Shovelnose Snake (Chionactis occipitalis occipitalis)






Variable Ground Snake (Sonora semiannulata) - lifer!






Leafnose Snake - no voucher




San Diego Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer annectens)






Desert Glossy Snake (Arizona elegans eburnata)






Longnose Snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei)






California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula californiae)






Western Yellow-bellied Racer (Coluber constrictor) - no voucher




Striped Racer (Coluber lateralis)






Red Racers (Coluber flagellum piceus)






Coast Patchnose Snake - spotted by wife only, no voucher!!!!




Diablo Range Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus zaxanthus) - lifer subspecies






Coast Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans terrestris)






California Red-sided Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis)






Two-striped Garter Snake (Thamnophis hammondii)






Southern Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata)






Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus helleri)






Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus oreganus)






Red Diamond Rattlesnake (Crotalus ruber ruber)






Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus)






Colorado Desert Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes laterorepens)






Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata)





Red-eared Sliders






Spiny Softshell (Apalone spinifera)






Garden Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps major major)






Blackbelly Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps nigriventris)






San Simeon Salamander (Batrachoseps incognitus) - lifer!






Santa Lucia Mountains Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps luciae)






Gabilan Mountains Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps gavilanensis)






California Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus)






Monterey Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii eschscholtzii)






Yellow-eyed Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica)






Arboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris)






Juvenile Santa Cruz Black Salamanders (Aneides flavipunctatus niger) - lifer subspecies





adult (Owen flipped)






California Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon ensatus)






Coast Range Newt (Taricha torosa torosa)






California Chorus Frog (Pseudacris cadaverina)





Baja California Chorus Frog (Pseudacris hypochondriaca)






Sierra Chorus Frog (Pseudacris sierra)






California Red-legged Frogs (Rana draytonii)






Rio Grande Leopard Frog (Lithobates berlandieri)






American Bullfrogs






Arroyo Toad (Anaxyrus californicus)






California Toad (Anaxyrus boreas halophilus)

awsome year

Scored some good stuff, Jonathan!

Awesome species number for less than a year. I think your northwestern garter might be T. elegans subspecies, and your western skink might be a gilbert's, P. gilberti subspecies. I'd like to know where the Northwestern salamander from Washington was found (you can PM if you like, or decline altogether haha) but it has some crazy mottling I haven't seen before, like it crossed paths with a tiger, or a giant (although it's a different genus and I don't actually think it's a cross of anything), but it is a cool looking one, they are almost always uniform brown when transformed.

Thanks for the props Andy! The northwestern sali was from the Olympic National Forest, on the western side of the peninsula. It was in a marsh. The color was unique for me too, but I think it's just a funny-looking northwestern.

That western skink is not a gilberti - the stripe extends well onto the tail, even though it does have quite a bit of red to it. The locale is probably out of the range of gilberti anyway, and all the other skinks in that locale have the similar Western striping and are too small to be gilberti adults, despite the prevalence of reddish ones.

I'm fairly sure the garter is a Northwestern, but I'm open to feedback. You can take a look at a better array of pictures and get scale counts here: http://www.naherp.com/viewrecord.php?r_id=88683 . I think I counted 17 midbody scale rows too, but it was too long ago and I didn't add that info to the naherp record, so I'm not positive.

You're right about the garter, sorry. Your head shot in your entry made it easier to ID and I had just gotten done stairing at a bunch of elegans photos...

The skink is interesting, I've never seen a skiltonianus with a red tail, but I also am not very familiar with many of the skinks south of Oregon. I've only seen one gilbert's in person, and most of the skilton's I've seen are from up here.

This was a wonderful post! You are a very successful herper

That is quite an impressive list of species. Love those gator lizards. That arboreal salamander is kinda scary lookin'.

Mind boggling ...you must've been a busy herper! Very impressive!

So, how do those Chameleons survive the winter in BC?

Thanks for the good words everyone. I did work hard, and had a pretty good run of it at times (which made up for the dry periods in-between).






With his owner's heat lamp. That was a captive "outside chameleon" that I just threw in for fun.

Jonathan,do those Red Eared Sliders live at a special school in Pasadena?

You have nailed the locale.

Great post Jonathan, nice bullfrog action shot.