The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Moderator: Scott Waters
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The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
This is a post the likes of which has never been seen on this forum, because this was the kind of trip that has never been seen on this forum. Seven herpers, four days, thirteen species, one mountain range, and a million wonderful memories. The hiking and herping were difficult but paid off in the end.
Instead of having all of us put up a post on here about our trip and flood the forum, we decided to all combine and make one amazing post.
From here on out,
Marisa will write in green
Dell is Mr. Pink.
Erik is Senor Orange.
Kris is yellow.
C.J is blue
The first part of this post is very picture heavy from images of Dell, Erik, CJ and I. The second part is Kris's account of the trip compete with full story and, of course, gorgeous pictures.
It begins: All aboard the Mexico Mystery Van.
This is as far as the van made it. The road was to steep and gnarly for it to go any further.
A few habitat shots of where we stayed:
Shooters shooting the landscapes.
As well as some flower pics.
We arrived at our mountains with no hitches (besides injuring the mystery van and overheating the truck a few times) and started herping...
As Marisa mentioned, we did have an injured van...which meant we had to make a couple trips to our camp to get everyone there. I was one of the ones who stayed behind and while kicking around some rocks, I saw this neonate twin-spot flinch and give away his cover:
"While kicking around some rocks." Erik makes light of how he found the first twin-spot, we were trying to fill in a trench in the dirt road with big rocks so we could continue our climb up to our camp in a two wheeled drive van when Erik found the one button neonate. I took it as a good omen.
Pricei would quickly become the most common snake we saw, so common that one even wandered into our camp!
Marisa photographing the above pricei.
Every morning we awoke the squawking of the threatened Thick Billed Parrot.
S. jarrovi were the most common lizard species.
And other lizard species besides S. jarrovi were seen.
Barisia levicollis
Sceloporus lemosespinali
Belly shot:
Sceloporus slevini
A few species of amphibians were also seen:
Hyla arenicolor
Hyla wrightorum
Ambystoma rosaceum.
Here is my crap shot of an awesome little snot lizard. Sorry this is the best I got.
Got another species of rattler too...
Crotalus molossus molossus (or nigriscens or something....)
Our target, apprehended in the first two hours of searching:
After it was found, we could relax.
Dell still sleeping.
View from the flats/foothills:
And on our way out on the last day, we got this gorgeous coach.
He crapped everywhere, and it looked like he had been eating grasshoppers.
We made John and Adam into herpers!
And for all those who have other interests besides just herps, here are two really cool little inverts I found.
And this unidentified stick mimmic. Anyone have any ideas?
And for all you plant/mycologically oriented people, here's a cool oak fungus(?) that was very prevalent.
A shot of the group who made the trek:
With CJ being a pimp.
-----------
As an “appetizer” to the “main course”, I started out from Phoenix 3-4 days prior to our descent into Mexico. Deciding that we wanted to try our luck with a very obscure US rattlesnake, Sky Stevens, CJ Vialpando and I decided camping out in southern AZ/SW NM would be a good idea. Unfortunately, conditions were not good for this elusive critter, but because we were in the area we made the most of it and saw some cool stuff anyway. This seemed to be a trip where we would find Crotalus molossus at almost every turn, and the first leg of our journey was no exception. This was just fine by me, as I’ve always loved molossus and thought they were one of the most beautiful rattlesnakes in the US. Here’s a New Mexico molossus that was photographed in situ while he cruised around looking for a meal or a girlfriend…
The rains came that evening, and Sky has a tent that’s about as big as the entire state of Delaware, so the three of us were huddled around in there, flappin’ gums and passing around a “special drink” that CJ and Sky had brought with them whose origins trace back to a position just south of where we were. While communing, Sky mentioned that she had never seen a Mexican Spadefoot toad (Spea multiplicata). I noticed some movement shortly thereafter at the foot of her cot….Wouldn’t ya know it? A Mexican Spadefoot must have been eavesdropping, because he had hopped into the tent and decided to make his cameo! It’s always a good thing when the critters make herpin’ easy on ya and find you!
After striking out on the little gray buzzworm the following morning, we were at a crossroads. We could head further into Arizona and look for cool species like C. willardi willardi, Senticolis triaspis, etc. or we could knock out Crotalus pricei relatively easily. CJ was down for anything, as he hasn’t experienced much of this area so he was just happy to see anything. Sky had some”personal business” with pricei to attend to, and really wanted to knock that critter off of her lifelist. So, we decided we’d knock out pricei the following day, but first we thought it would be a good idea to do some crepuscular/nocturnal cruising and see if we couldn’t scare up yet another not commonly seen buzzworm native to these parts….Spending hours cruising didn’t produce the critter we all wanted to see, but it did produce the “usual suspects”…those being Crotlaus atrox and Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus. One scutulatus in particular looked quite interesting, and we snapped a few pics as we scooted it off the road away from it’s impending fate as road burger….Rather lutosus looking, I thought….
On the way back to camp after cruising, we came across this beautiful, young molossus stretched out on the road…Silly snake thought that temps in the low to mid 60s and heavy moonlight was the perfect time to chill out on the road….He was young, dumb and full of…well, whatever….so we bagged him up for morning shots, took GPS coords and headed to camp. The following morning, my shots didn’t turn out great. The sunlight was harsh, and the snake decided that he was going to be a ^&%$ and not cooperate. Eventually he calmed down a bit, and I was able to immortalize the moment with this mediocre shot. I only wish his color would have come through more, as he really was a very pretty looking little critter.
After fighting with the molossus a bit and getting a bunch of mediocre shots, we went about looking for another little gray buzzworm. After being “buzzed” a couple of times by snakes that decided they enjoyed teasing us, CJ found this critter who graced us long enough for Sky to get proof that she had indeed concluded her business with this species.
On the way back to camp, CJ and I saw some deer that weren’t shy. I ended up getting a few serviceable pics, this being the best of the bunch.
Back at the campsite, we decided that we were going to head into western Texas and look for the Mottled Rock rattlesnake (C. Lepidus Lepidus) and Trans Pecos Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix pictigaster). Everyone was meeting in El Paso the day after next, so it made logical sense to do so. Unfortunately, Sky had some personal business to attend to before joining us, so she couldn’t join us for our night hike that first night in Texas.
And off to Texas we went….
Sky helped CJ and I out and we soon found ourselves hiking some mountainous terrain in western Texas hoping to see a Mottled Rock rattlesnake…The sky was clear and the moon was blazing in full force, so you can imagine how much luck (or lack thereof) we had while abusing ourselves on the mountainside. While we came up snake eyes on the Lepidus, I was able to see a Texas banded gecko (Coleonyx brevis)…unfortunately I wasn’t able to get pictures.
On the way back to the car, CJ and I were hiking a little wash when I saw this guy curled up on the side of the wash…a Texas Blacktail rattlesnake. This was “officially” my lifer Texas herped snake, and a fine one at that.
After camping out in our cars, CJ and I went looking for Banded rock rattlesnakes at the eastern extent of their US range the following morning. Lots of good looking habitat, lots of places where they could be hiding…apparently, they were hip to the hiding game too, because we didn’t see any. CJ did spot this nice Eastern Collared lizard (Crotaphytus collaris) who seemed to take pity on us for bustin’ out on klauberi and sat nice and pretty for us while we snapped some photos.
Having had our fun on the US side, it was now time to descend into the wilds of Mexico for the REAL adventure….
Shortly after arriving at what would be our campsite, half our team (myself included) unloaded the truck and set off looking for our target species. (The other half of the team was stuck further down on the mountain, next to our van that decided it didn’t like the mountain.) After spending hours hiking hillsides, the best I could come up with to that point was this Sceloporus.
Knowing that Erik and Marisa had already located themselves a couple of pricei, I was determined to get in on a little of that action and contribute to the team totals. Alas, it was not to be, as the herping gods did not look favorably upon me this day…Lucky for me, their fickle ways would soon shine in my favor.
I arrived back at the campsite and found everyone else sitting around and setting up tents and whatnot. I was not in a pleasant mood, having hiked around for hours in prime habitat and having little to show for it. My feet hurt and all I needed was a beer. Marisa wanted to show me her UBER pretty pricei she had rounded up so the rest of the group could get pics…She said this was the PRETTIEST pricei she had ever seen, and I just HAD to take a look.
She opened the bag and held it over and I took a look. That was the WEIRDEST pricei I had ever seen…In fact, it didn’t look anything like a pricei…it looked like a…a…
HOLY CRAP THAT’S AN AMABILIS!!!!!
Foul mood? WHAT foul mood? This trip just got a thousand times better, and we weren’t even into our first full day of it!!!!
Erik’s pricei was a cute little neonate that decided that it did really want to be a pricei.
That night we all sat around the campfire, 9000 feet up in the mountains and ate great food, drank great tequila, drank REAL Mexican Coke (the kind with cane sugar, not that processed crap they put in US Coke), smoked great cigars and eagerly anticipated what else the trip may have in store for us.
The following morning, Marisa and I decided to check out a creek bed a little lower in elevation than the campsite…She had seen a hillside she wanted to check out, and I thought I’d try my luck hiking the creek bed and seeing what I could scare up. While hiking the creek bed, I saw A LOT of bear scat….and I mean A LOT…Many overturned rocks, and a lot of bear scat meant that we weren’t the only big smelly mammals hangin’ around in these parts. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything in the creek bed of a reptilian nature, save this cool Sceloporus.
Marisa was a good ways up the hillside and I heard her bellow “MOLOSSUS!”. Now, I knew that in this area, we weren’t talking about molossus molossus….we were talkin’ molossus nigrescens, and another big target for the trip. I began scampering (as much as a big fat guy can scamper) to her location up the side of the hill. As I was negotiating my way between a big boulder and some grass, a little snake decided to squiggle his way out in front of me…
Well, I’ll be damned…
IT WAS ANOTHER AMABILIS! AWESOME!
This one was a YOY, and was plump and healthy. After taking GPS cords and baggin’ the little fella so everyone could get pics, Marisa and I headed back to camp having seen the big goals that we came to see. Her bag looked HEAVY….I wanted to see just how heavy, so she handed it over, molossus in tow. This animal was a big, adult molossus and wouldn’t shut the hell up. I quickly found that her bag was indeed as heavy as it appeared.
Back at camp, I photographed the molossus and amabilis (both hers and mine). Everyone returned to camp shortly thereafter for more fire, more food and more alcohol…thus far, this was turning into one helluva trip!
One of the coolest things I found while camping here is that one could turn in one direction and see the sunset (and yes, Mexican sunsets are as flat out awesome as people say they are)
and then turn around and see the moon rise while standing in virtually the same spot.
The following morning, I set out by myself to a hillside that looked especially tempting. I didn’t have a snake bag with me, so Erik was gracious enough to let me borrow one of his brand new “zipper style” bags…I set off, with snake stick in hand…About an hour into it, I came across a smaller nigrescens that I wanted to bag up and take back to camp for pics…I only had one slight problem…The zipper on Erik’s brand new bag was broken and wouldn’t open…So here I am, I’ve got a nigrescens that is trying like hell to crawl away on my hook in one hand and my teeth on this zipper with my other hand pulling the bag to try to get the damn thing unzipped…Picture that for a moment….Got a mental image?
Ok, good.
Eventually, I knew this bag was bum so I went about putting the snake in my camera bag and heading back to camp. After getting back to camp, I took the snake out of the camera bag, and he was PISSED…He continually gaped at me (similar to a water moccasin), but would never keep his mouth open long enough for me to get a photo. I got him into a good snake bag and….
I headed out to the hillside again (this time with a GOOD bag) and it wasn’t long until I found this pricei stretched out in situ among the rocks….
I sat down and decided to watch him…After crawling around a bit, he eventually he crawled under the rock I was sitting on and that was that. Pretty cool experience.
Upon arriving back at camp, my molossus had calmed down enough for photos. While I was at it, I also photographed some of the other critters the group had found, as by that point we had amassed quite the collection of local herpetofauna, and I didn’t want to rush at the last minute and get subpar shots. Here are some of those shots.
The amabilis must have gotten tired of us, and he wasn't hesitant to show it....
Others in the group had gone down in elevation, and came back with some cool finds…A blackneck garter snake (which I didn’t get photos of because it looked just like any other blackneck garter I’ve ever seen), an Az treefrog (Hyla wrightorum) and this really cool Tarahumara salamander…
We packed up camp the next morning and headed down off the mountain…Little did we know, but at that point the herping wasn’t done…In the lowlands, we had to slam on the brakes in order to avoid hitting this Lined Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum lineatulus) that was basking on the dirt road…This thing was AWESOME! In typical Coachwhip style, he was all piss and vinegar when first handled, but soon calmed down for photos…I personally found out that these critters will not hesitate to make a meal out of the millions of lubber grasshoppers that feed on the grasses here…I had the distinct pleasure of holding this animal while he decided to projectile defecate grasshopper heads and parts all over my shirt. What fun.
Here's Tim Warfel proudly displaying one of his big targets for the trip...
I wanted to get a few pics of the area and various other things that we encountered that weren’t necessarily critter related, and wasn’t disappointed…here is a collection of images that I took that don’t necessarily fit in anywhere specific, but needed to be included:
Parrots in pine trees? Yup...you betcha.
With that, we went stateside.
But my adventure wasn’t over….I spent a couple of the following days hanging with Sky in west Texas, determined to find my lifer Trans Pecos Copperhead. I struck out, but did have a few atrox (not pictured) and this lifer Great Plains ratsnake (Pantherophis emoryi) to show for my efforts.
After leaving Texas, I made a quick stop back in Az to see if I could extend this awesome trip just a little longer and round up a few more Az critters…In doing so, I found a family of ground squirrels who had made their home at the base of a fallen tree…
And I found this Az Black rattlesnake (Crotalus cerberus) crossing the road on my way out. Unlike most Az blacks, he was quite irascible, and struck at me numerous times as I tried to get him off the road to safety…No good deed goes unpunished I suppose.
And with that, this adventure comes to an end. Hope you enjoyed.
***NOTE: No animals were harmed in the making of this adventure. All animals temporarily collected were released at their exact capture sites (with the aid of GPS coords) upon completion of photos. Thank you and have a nice day.***
-Kris
Instead of having all of us put up a post on here about our trip and flood the forum, we decided to all combine and make one amazing post.
From here on out,
Marisa will write in green
Dell is Mr. Pink.
Erik is Senor Orange.
Kris is yellow.
C.J is blue
The first part of this post is very picture heavy from images of Dell, Erik, CJ and I. The second part is Kris's account of the trip compete with full story and, of course, gorgeous pictures.
It begins: All aboard the Mexico Mystery Van.
This is as far as the van made it. The road was to steep and gnarly for it to go any further.
A few habitat shots of where we stayed:
Shooters shooting the landscapes.
As well as some flower pics.
We arrived at our mountains with no hitches (besides injuring the mystery van and overheating the truck a few times) and started herping...
As Marisa mentioned, we did have an injured van...which meant we had to make a couple trips to our camp to get everyone there. I was one of the ones who stayed behind and while kicking around some rocks, I saw this neonate twin-spot flinch and give away his cover:
"While kicking around some rocks." Erik makes light of how he found the first twin-spot, we were trying to fill in a trench in the dirt road with big rocks so we could continue our climb up to our camp in a two wheeled drive van when Erik found the one button neonate. I took it as a good omen.
Pricei would quickly become the most common snake we saw, so common that one even wandered into our camp!
Marisa photographing the above pricei.
Every morning we awoke the squawking of the threatened Thick Billed Parrot.
S. jarrovi were the most common lizard species.
And other lizard species besides S. jarrovi were seen.
Barisia levicollis
Sceloporus lemosespinali
Belly shot:
Sceloporus slevini
A few species of amphibians were also seen:
Hyla arenicolor
Hyla wrightorum
Ambystoma rosaceum.
Here is my crap shot of an awesome little snot lizard. Sorry this is the best I got.
Got another species of rattler too...
Crotalus molossus molossus (or nigriscens or something....)
Our target, apprehended in the first two hours of searching:
After it was found, we could relax.
Dell still sleeping.
View from the flats/foothills:
And on our way out on the last day, we got this gorgeous coach.
He crapped everywhere, and it looked like he had been eating grasshoppers.
We made John and Adam into herpers!
And for all those who have other interests besides just herps, here are two really cool little inverts I found.
And this unidentified stick mimmic. Anyone have any ideas?
And for all you plant/mycologically oriented people, here's a cool oak fungus(?) that was very prevalent.
A shot of the group who made the trek:
With CJ being a pimp.
-----------
As an “appetizer” to the “main course”, I started out from Phoenix 3-4 days prior to our descent into Mexico. Deciding that we wanted to try our luck with a very obscure US rattlesnake, Sky Stevens, CJ Vialpando and I decided camping out in southern AZ/SW NM would be a good idea. Unfortunately, conditions were not good for this elusive critter, but because we were in the area we made the most of it and saw some cool stuff anyway. This seemed to be a trip where we would find Crotalus molossus at almost every turn, and the first leg of our journey was no exception. This was just fine by me, as I’ve always loved molossus and thought they were one of the most beautiful rattlesnakes in the US. Here’s a New Mexico molossus that was photographed in situ while he cruised around looking for a meal or a girlfriend…
The rains came that evening, and Sky has a tent that’s about as big as the entire state of Delaware, so the three of us were huddled around in there, flappin’ gums and passing around a “special drink” that CJ and Sky had brought with them whose origins trace back to a position just south of where we were. While communing, Sky mentioned that she had never seen a Mexican Spadefoot toad (Spea multiplicata). I noticed some movement shortly thereafter at the foot of her cot….Wouldn’t ya know it? A Mexican Spadefoot must have been eavesdropping, because he had hopped into the tent and decided to make his cameo! It’s always a good thing when the critters make herpin’ easy on ya and find you!
After striking out on the little gray buzzworm the following morning, we were at a crossroads. We could head further into Arizona and look for cool species like C. willardi willardi, Senticolis triaspis, etc. or we could knock out Crotalus pricei relatively easily. CJ was down for anything, as he hasn’t experienced much of this area so he was just happy to see anything. Sky had some”personal business” with pricei to attend to, and really wanted to knock that critter off of her lifelist. So, we decided we’d knock out pricei the following day, but first we thought it would be a good idea to do some crepuscular/nocturnal cruising and see if we couldn’t scare up yet another not commonly seen buzzworm native to these parts….Spending hours cruising didn’t produce the critter we all wanted to see, but it did produce the “usual suspects”…those being Crotlaus atrox and Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus. One scutulatus in particular looked quite interesting, and we snapped a few pics as we scooted it off the road away from it’s impending fate as road burger….Rather lutosus looking, I thought….
On the way back to camp after cruising, we came across this beautiful, young molossus stretched out on the road…Silly snake thought that temps in the low to mid 60s and heavy moonlight was the perfect time to chill out on the road….He was young, dumb and full of…well, whatever….so we bagged him up for morning shots, took GPS coords and headed to camp. The following morning, my shots didn’t turn out great. The sunlight was harsh, and the snake decided that he was going to be a ^&%$ and not cooperate. Eventually he calmed down a bit, and I was able to immortalize the moment with this mediocre shot. I only wish his color would have come through more, as he really was a very pretty looking little critter.
After fighting with the molossus a bit and getting a bunch of mediocre shots, we went about looking for another little gray buzzworm. After being “buzzed” a couple of times by snakes that decided they enjoyed teasing us, CJ found this critter who graced us long enough for Sky to get proof that she had indeed concluded her business with this species.
On the way back to camp, CJ and I saw some deer that weren’t shy. I ended up getting a few serviceable pics, this being the best of the bunch.
Back at the campsite, we decided that we were going to head into western Texas and look for the Mottled Rock rattlesnake (C. Lepidus Lepidus) and Trans Pecos Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix pictigaster). Everyone was meeting in El Paso the day after next, so it made logical sense to do so. Unfortunately, Sky had some personal business to attend to before joining us, so she couldn’t join us for our night hike that first night in Texas.
And off to Texas we went….
Sky helped CJ and I out and we soon found ourselves hiking some mountainous terrain in western Texas hoping to see a Mottled Rock rattlesnake…The sky was clear and the moon was blazing in full force, so you can imagine how much luck (or lack thereof) we had while abusing ourselves on the mountainside. While we came up snake eyes on the Lepidus, I was able to see a Texas banded gecko (Coleonyx brevis)…unfortunately I wasn’t able to get pictures.
On the way back to the car, CJ and I were hiking a little wash when I saw this guy curled up on the side of the wash…a Texas Blacktail rattlesnake. This was “officially” my lifer Texas herped snake, and a fine one at that.
After camping out in our cars, CJ and I went looking for Banded rock rattlesnakes at the eastern extent of their US range the following morning. Lots of good looking habitat, lots of places where they could be hiding…apparently, they were hip to the hiding game too, because we didn’t see any. CJ did spot this nice Eastern Collared lizard (Crotaphytus collaris) who seemed to take pity on us for bustin’ out on klauberi and sat nice and pretty for us while we snapped some photos.
Having had our fun on the US side, it was now time to descend into the wilds of Mexico for the REAL adventure….
Shortly after arriving at what would be our campsite, half our team (myself included) unloaded the truck and set off looking for our target species. (The other half of the team was stuck further down on the mountain, next to our van that decided it didn’t like the mountain.) After spending hours hiking hillsides, the best I could come up with to that point was this Sceloporus.
Knowing that Erik and Marisa had already located themselves a couple of pricei, I was determined to get in on a little of that action and contribute to the team totals. Alas, it was not to be, as the herping gods did not look favorably upon me this day…Lucky for me, their fickle ways would soon shine in my favor.
I arrived back at the campsite and found everyone else sitting around and setting up tents and whatnot. I was not in a pleasant mood, having hiked around for hours in prime habitat and having little to show for it. My feet hurt and all I needed was a beer. Marisa wanted to show me her UBER pretty pricei she had rounded up so the rest of the group could get pics…She said this was the PRETTIEST pricei she had ever seen, and I just HAD to take a look.
She opened the bag and held it over and I took a look. That was the WEIRDEST pricei I had ever seen…In fact, it didn’t look anything like a pricei…it looked like a…a…
HOLY CRAP THAT’S AN AMABILIS!!!!!
Foul mood? WHAT foul mood? This trip just got a thousand times better, and we weren’t even into our first full day of it!!!!
Erik’s pricei was a cute little neonate that decided that it did really want to be a pricei.
That night we all sat around the campfire, 9000 feet up in the mountains and ate great food, drank great tequila, drank REAL Mexican Coke (the kind with cane sugar, not that processed crap they put in US Coke), smoked great cigars and eagerly anticipated what else the trip may have in store for us.
The following morning, Marisa and I decided to check out a creek bed a little lower in elevation than the campsite…She had seen a hillside she wanted to check out, and I thought I’d try my luck hiking the creek bed and seeing what I could scare up. While hiking the creek bed, I saw A LOT of bear scat….and I mean A LOT…Many overturned rocks, and a lot of bear scat meant that we weren’t the only big smelly mammals hangin’ around in these parts. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything in the creek bed of a reptilian nature, save this cool Sceloporus.
Marisa was a good ways up the hillside and I heard her bellow “MOLOSSUS!”. Now, I knew that in this area, we weren’t talking about molossus molossus….we were talkin’ molossus nigrescens, and another big target for the trip. I began scampering (as much as a big fat guy can scamper) to her location up the side of the hill. As I was negotiating my way between a big boulder and some grass, a little snake decided to squiggle his way out in front of me…
Well, I’ll be damned…
IT WAS ANOTHER AMABILIS! AWESOME!
This one was a YOY, and was plump and healthy. After taking GPS cords and baggin’ the little fella so everyone could get pics, Marisa and I headed back to camp having seen the big goals that we came to see. Her bag looked HEAVY….I wanted to see just how heavy, so she handed it over, molossus in tow. This animal was a big, adult molossus and wouldn’t shut the hell up. I quickly found that her bag was indeed as heavy as it appeared.
Back at camp, I photographed the molossus and amabilis (both hers and mine). Everyone returned to camp shortly thereafter for more fire, more food and more alcohol…thus far, this was turning into one helluva trip!
One of the coolest things I found while camping here is that one could turn in one direction and see the sunset (and yes, Mexican sunsets are as flat out awesome as people say they are)
and then turn around and see the moon rise while standing in virtually the same spot.
The following morning, I set out by myself to a hillside that looked especially tempting. I didn’t have a snake bag with me, so Erik was gracious enough to let me borrow one of his brand new “zipper style” bags…I set off, with snake stick in hand…About an hour into it, I came across a smaller nigrescens that I wanted to bag up and take back to camp for pics…I only had one slight problem…The zipper on Erik’s brand new bag was broken and wouldn’t open…So here I am, I’ve got a nigrescens that is trying like hell to crawl away on my hook in one hand and my teeth on this zipper with my other hand pulling the bag to try to get the damn thing unzipped…Picture that for a moment….Got a mental image?
Ok, good.
Eventually, I knew this bag was bum so I went about putting the snake in my camera bag and heading back to camp. After getting back to camp, I took the snake out of the camera bag, and he was PISSED…He continually gaped at me (similar to a water moccasin), but would never keep his mouth open long enough for me to get a photo. I got him into a good snake bag and….
I headed out to the hillside again (this time with a GOOD bag) and it wasn’t long until I found this pricei stretched out in situ among the rocks….
I sat down and decided to watch him…After crawling around a bit, he eventually he crawled under the rock I was sitting on and that was that. Pretty cool experience.
Upon arriving back at camp, my molossus had calmed down enough for photos. While I was at it, I also photographed some of the other critters the group had found, as by that point we had amassed quite the collection of local herpetofauna, and I didn’t want to rush at the last minute and get subpar shots. Here are some of those shots.
The amabilis must have gotten tired of us, and he wasn't hesitant to show it....
Others in the group had gone down in elevation, and came back with some cool finds…A blackneck garter snake (which I didn’t get photos of because it looked just like any other blackneck garter I’ve ever seen), an Az treefrog (Hyla wrightorum) and this really cool Tarahumara salamander…
We packed up camp the next morning and headed down off the mountain…Little did we know, but at that point the herping wasn’t done…In the lowlands, we had to slam on the brakes in order to avoid hitting this Lined Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum lineatulus) that was basking on the dirt road…This thing was AWESOME! In typical Coachwhip style, he was all piss and vinegar when first handled, but soon calmed down for photos…I personally found out that these critters will not hesitate to make a meal out of the millions of lubber grasshoppers that feed on the grasses here…I had the distinct pleasure of holding this animal while he decided to projectile defecate grasshopper heads and parts all over my shirt. What fun.
Here's Tim Warfel proudly displaying one of his big targets for the trip...
I wanted to get a few pics of the area and various other things that we encountered that weren’t necessarily critter related, and wasn’t disappointed…here is a collection of images that I took that don’t necessarily fit in anywhere specific, but needed to be included:
Parrots in pine trees? Yup...you betcha.
With that, we went stateside.
But my adventure wasn’t over….I spent a couple of the following days hanging with Sky in west Texas, determined to find my lifer Trans Pecos Copperhead. I struck out, but did have a few atrox (not pictured) and this lifer Great Plains ratsnake (Pantherophis emoryi) to show for my efforts.
After leaving Texas, I made a quick stop back in Az to see if I could extend this awesome trip just a little longer and round up a few more Az critters…In doing so, I found a family of ground squirrels who had made their home at the base of a fallen tree…
And I found this Az Black rattlesnake (Crotalus cerberus) crossing the road on my way out. Unlike most Az blacks, he was quite irascible, and struck at me numerous times as I tried to get him off the road to safety…No good deed goes unpunished I suppose.
And with that, this adventure comes to an end. Hope you enjoyed.
***NOTE: No animals were harmed in the making of this adventure. All animals temporarily collected were released at their exact capture sites (with the aid of GPS coords) upon completion of photos. Thank you and have a nice day.***
-Kris
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Cool idea for a thread! Nice narratives and photography! Great looking animals! Love the crotes! Great job
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Wow! Nice scenery and herps!
The neonate pricei is very nice!
The neonate pricei is very nice!
- Nigel Smith
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
This thread=What herper dreams are made of.
Seriously though thanks for taking us along for the ride. Brilliant photograhy and narration. Two thumbs up!
Now if you could just tell us why you all decided to name yourselves the ankle biters....
Seriously though thanks for taking us along for the ride. Brilliant photograhy and narration. Two thumbs up!
Now if you could just tell us why you all decided to name yourselves the ankle biters....
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Now if you could just tell us why you all decided to name yourselves the ankle biters....
Our fetishes notwithstanding, a look at a map of Mexico should probably explain it.
-Kris
Our fetishes notwithstanding, a look at a map of Mexico should probably explain it.
-Kris
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Excellent work, and great photographs! This was a very enjoyable post and I hope to see more like it.
- Nick Scobel
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Excellent thread guys! This is one I've been looking forward to since I heard about it at the NAFHA meeting. Stellar photography and narratives around.
- Cole Grover
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- Location: Montana
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Bad. Ass. I've been waiting for this post (= kick in the ribs) since you turds got back. I'm green with envy. There's so much to comment on that I'll have to just pick a few things.
Habitat shots: Super cool stuff. I REALLY dig xerophyte plants, with cacti and Agave near the top of my List of Awesome Things That Aren't Herps. Any more plant photos anyone would be willing to share?
Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha: Temperate-climate Psittacids are cool. I've heard that attempts to reintroduce them into the US have failed pretty badly. It's too bad - those are friggin' neat.
C. w. amabilis: Those are some nice looking willardi, overall. Kris's photo of the yawning one is pretty sweet, but there isn't a shabby photo or specimen in the bunch.
Ambystoma rosaceum: I know most of you are Hot/Crote-Heads, but that gummy is rockin'. Seeing a Caudate in Mexico has to be a pretty neat experience. I think I can see gill remnants. Was it still aquatic?
Barisia: Same story as the A. rosaceum. Hell of a cool find. So chunky, too!
Masticophis [Coluber]: Stellar animal. Not much else to say!
Again, well done, folks!
-Cole
Edit - What's with "The Ankle Biters" moniker?
Habitat shots: Super cool stuff. I REALLY dig xerophyte plants, with cacti and Agave near the top of my List of Awesome Things That Aren't Herps. Any more plant photos anyone would be willing to share?
Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha: Temperate-climate Psittacids are cool. I've heard that attempts to reintroduce them into the US have failed pretty badly. It's too bad - those are friggin' neat.
C. w. amabilis: Those are some nice looking willardi, overall. Kris's photo of the yawning one is pretty sweet, but there isn't a shabby photo or specimen in the bunch.
Ambystoma rosaceum: I know most of you are Hot/Crote-Heads, but that gummy is rockin'. Seeing a Caudate in Mexico has to be a pretty neat experience. I think I can see gill remnants. Was it still aquatic?
Barisia: Same story as the A. rosaceum. Hell of a cool find. So chunky, too!
Masticophis [Coluber]: Stellar animal. Not much else to say!
Again, well done, folks!
-Cole
Edit - What's with "The Ankle Biters" moniker?
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Cole...
The Ankle Biters moniker has dual....nay....thrice connotations....
1) Yes, we enjoy biting ankles
2) It's a common nickname for a canine that has a habit of doing so
3) By extention, there's a Mexican state with that same name
-Kris
The Ankle Biters moniker has dual....nay....thrice connotations....
1) Yes, we enjoy biting ankles
2) It's a common nickname for a canine that has a habit of doing so
3) By extention, there's a Mexican state with that same name
-Kris
- Mulebrother
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
You know, I've never thought about herping in Mexico...until now.
Awesome, simply awesome.
Awesome, simply awesome.
- Cole Grover
- Posts: 746
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 10:06 am
- Location: Montana
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Kris,
Ah ha. I knew where you guys were, but didn't make a connection between the state and then, subsequently, the dog named after it.
-Cole
Ah ha. I knew where you guys were, but didn't make a connection between the state and then, subsequently, the dog named after it.
-Cole
- Josh Holbrook
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Ay caramba! What a cool post - thanks for taking us along for the ride guys.
- AndyO'Connor
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- Location: Pacific Northwest
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
I've been waiting for this post since hearing about it at the fires at Snake Road. You guys rocked it, I'm just jealous I didn't meet you all until this year, i would have done whatever necessary to make it. To be honest, The coachwhip and the Barisia would have been the coolest finds to me although all the rattlers are awesome. The joint narrative/username post was a very cool idea.
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Great Story, and great pictures...
Thanks for sharing
Fundad
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
That trip looks like it was a blast! Great pictures all around. Erik wins my vote for best watermark that doesn’t detract from the photo though
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Awesome post! Besides the crotes, I really liked the coachwhip, the A. rosaceum, and the thick-billed parrots.
Our database is really underdeveloped for Mexico. Can someone from your group database all those finds? http://www.naherp.com
Our database is really underdeveloped for Mexico. Can someone from your group database all those finds? http://www.naherp.com
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Jonathan,
Better check the database. I had some mobile battery issues down in the boondocks, but did manage to record a number of species.
Better check the database. I had some mobile battery issues down in the boondocks, but did manage to record a number of species.
- Daniel D Dye
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Cool, groovy, awesome, stupendous, far out, oh WOW!!!
Who drove?
Who drove?
- regalringneck
- Posts: 563
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:20 am
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
... kudoes to the bunch of you, and along w/ stellar photography; you also earn the "brass balls&ovaries" award for being willing to drive the backroads of chihuahua (very dangerous these last 10 years or so). I'd be curious how many bandido/policia roadblocks you encountered?
Good thing you had a big group, as it appears you had to really hustle for most of what you found (story of my friggn life!), its amazing how often i can find very little in an otherwise perfect place. The parrots, gator lizard & coachwhip woulda been superb by me.
I encourage you to submit your parrot observations ( jpgs & GPS coords) to both AZGFD & NMGFD as they are important observations. Pity Az gave up so easily on the reintroduction effort here.
Thnx to you & others for taking the time to share these adventures.
Viva la revolucion / juan
Good thing you had a big group, as it appears you had to really hustle for most of what you found (story of my friggn life!), its amazing how often i can find very little in an otherwise perfect place. The parrots, gator lizard & coachwhip woulda been superb by me.
I encourage you to submit your parrot observations ( jpgs & GPS coords) to both AZGFD & NMGFD as they are important observations. Pity Az gave up so easily on the reintroduction effort here.
Thnx to you & others for taking the time to share these adventures.
Viva la revolucion / juan
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
I really like the group concept, and absolutely love the post! One of the very best FHF has ever hosted, in my opinion. Thanks so much for sharing it!
I too would be interested in hearing something about your encounters with the various kinds of people (good and bad) who might have impacted your trip in one way or another.
Gerry
I too would be interested in hearing something about your encounters with the various kinds of people (good and bad) who might have impacted your trip in one way or another.
Gerry
- Joshua Jones
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
&%#@%*$%#!!!!
Who do I have to kill in order to make the next trip?
Who do I have to kill in order to make the next trip?
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
What a GREAT Thanksgiving treat!!! Fabulous post. Thank you so much. Art
- Joshua Wallace
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Great post! That salamander is something special.
- Martti Niskanen
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Ooh! That is a fantastic post.
- Mike VanValen
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Epic Herping. The Ambystoma is a nice treat, as well as the parrots. I'm into everything, though. I love the shot of the black rattler on the side of the road. We don't see many of those posted 'round these parts.
- Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Parrots, stick mimics and rattlesnakes - heaven on Earth! What a wonderful report, and what a fantastic format! All group trips should be written this way henceforth! Did you guys sit in front of the same computer when you created this?
Marisa, I always enjoy your photos a lot. You're really very creative. This is my fave shot of the entire thread:
PS: While I try to understand why watermarks might be necessary, and also realize that not everybody shares my anarchistic approach ("use my pix as you see fit; if you sell them, Fate will smite you for it anyway") please, guys, don't go overboard with them. It really diminishes the viewing pleasure....
Marisa, I always enjoy your photos a lot. You're really very creative. This is my fave shot of the entire thread:
PS: While I try to understand why watermarks might be necessary, and also realize that not everybody shares my anarchistic approach ("use my pix as you see fit; if you sell them, Fate will smite you for it anyway") please, guys, don't go overboard with them. It really diminishes the viewing pleasure....
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
OKAY OKAY I GIVE IN
I have now reposted all of my pictures sans annoying watermark. HOWEVER for all of you thinking about stealing my photos, THEY ARE STILL EVERY SO FAINTLY WATERMARKED IN THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER so don't steal them. Seriously.
In other news, thanks for all the feedback, everyone. And Hans, that's my favorite shot too
Love,
Marisa
and check out more of my watermarked goodness at my website, mishimat.smugmug.com
I have now reposted all of my pictures sans annoying watermark. HOWEVER for all of you thinking about stealing my photos, THEY ARE STILL EVERY SO FAINTLY WATERMARKED IN THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER so don't steal them. Seriously.
In other news, thanks for all the feedback, everyone. And Hans, that's my favorite shot too
Love,
Marisa
and check out more of my watermarked goodness at my website, mishimat.smugmug.com
-
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
It wasn't easy to get everybody on page to do this post, myself included. I should have added more. But Crazin's idea to do the post this way came out very well, I think.Hans Breuer (twoton) wrote: Did you guys sit in front of the same computer when you created this?
We've done three (Baja I wasn't on) trips into the interior of Mexico now, and we've taken precautions for sure. One encounter made us move out of town quickly, only to go deeper south into Sonora where we felt much safer, but still cautious.Joshua Jones wrote:I too would be interested in hearing something about your encounters with the various kinds of people (good and bad) who might have impacted your trip in one way or another.
For me Mexico comes w/ a risk, but so does Los Angles, Sao Paulo, Copenhagen... Mexican patriots have been very hospitable from my experience. But that doesn't mean don't be cautious.
A few years ago I'd said Kenny Wary, but now how about Ugh. That's a joke, only teasing the antagonists.Joshua Jones wrote:Who do I have to kill in order to make the next trip?
-Dell
- Joshua Jones
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Done and done. (just teasing, Ugh.)
That first quote (attributed to me) was from Gerry, though.
That first quote (attributed to me) was from Gerry, though.
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
You don't necessarily have to kill anyone...But you do have to sleep with Dell.
Hey, what can I say? It worked for me.
-Kris
Hey, what can I say? It worked for me.
-Kris
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
This post is getting me even more anxious to visit a foriegn country.
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Great post Dell.
I nominated the very last pic, by Kris Hass, for POTW (in spite of the obnoxious water mark), because THAT'S what herping with friends is all about.
I nominated the very last pic, by Kris Hass, for POTW (in spite of the obnoxious water mark), because THAT'S what herping with friends is all about.
- axeman2729
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
awesome post thanks for sharing
- Terry Basey
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Impressive collection of photos...you found amabilis and thick billed parrots in the same mountain range?
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Really nice stuff. The Coachwhip and the salamander win for me.
I think your stick mimic is some sort of Geometrid moth caterpillar. Those forward projections are pretty neat. Also, I wonder if the oak fungus is actually a gall?
I think your stick mimic is some sort of Geometrid moth caterpillar. Those forward projections are pretty neat. Also, I wonder if the oak fungus is actually a gall?
- peterknuteberg
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- Location: Chicago, Illinois
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
I really enjoyed the post. The photos were wonderful. The vistas were breathtaking. The animal shots, including birds were spectacular. I can only imagine what a great trip that must have been.
- Natalie McNear
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- Location: Northern coast of California
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Don't know how I'm just seeing this post now... I've seen some of the pics on FB, but it's nice to have the whole story here. Fantastic work, guys.
- Natalie McNear
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
The Thick-billed Parrots are probably my favorites of the whole bunch - I hope one day they'll return to Arizona.
-
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
That... was... AWESOME! jim
- Dell Despain
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Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
I never looked at this post after my last comment, but I'm glad to see it again and respond now.
cbernz, Natalie, hellihooks and peterknuteberg, from all of us, thanks and glad you enjoyed the post.
Here's a few I meant to put in the post but forgot. Pinecones so thick w/ sap they looked like icicles. And Sceloporus-christ pose.
-Mr. Pink
Kris, that makes me sound cheap and easy, and I don't appreciate that.azatrox wrote:You don't necessarily have to kill anyone...But you do have to sleep with Dell.
Hey, what can I say? It worked for me.
Yeah that last photo is a pretty classic good time herping.chad ks wrote:I nominated the very last pic, by Kris Hass, for POTW (in spite of the obnoxious water mark), because THAT'S what herping with friends is all about.
The amabilis was won by hard work before and during the trip, the parrots were a lucky byproduct. BTW, There was bear scat everywhere we hunted too, but we never actually saw the furry beasts.Terry Basey wrote:you found amabilis and thick billed parrots in the same mountain range?
cbernz, Natalie, hellihooks and peterknuteberg, from all of us, thanks and glad you enjoyed the post.
Here's a few I meant to put in the post but forgot. Pinecones so thick w/ sap they looked like icicles. And Sceloporus-christ pose.
-Mr. Pink
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
Great trip, guys! I have to say, that coach was amazing! Is that a common pattern and coloration in that part of Mexico? I've seen the speckled racers from Mexico. They should name that specimen a speckled coach! Love it!
Marisa-beautiful photos as always!
Cary
Marisa-beautiful photos as always!
Cary
- Cole Grover
- Posts: 746
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 10:06 am
- Location: Montana
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
I just went through this again (for like the 10th time), and would like you turds to know that my jealousy grows each and every time.
From my original reply:
thanks!
-Cole
From my original reply:
Any insight? Also, any photos of the pond they were found in/near?Cole Grover wrote:Ambystoma rosaceum: I know most of you are Hot/Crote-Heads, but that gummy is rockin'. Seeing a Caudate in Mexico has to be a pretty neat experience. I think I can see gill remnants. Was it still aquatic?
thanks!
-Cole
Re: The Ankle Biters Present: A Weekend Trip to Mexico (DUW)
---off the hook-!-was that a yawn or a threat display from the crot. willardi ? I had a c.b. speck 20years ago, one of a litter of 8 i had who would gape like the best cottonmouth.