Few Desert Finds

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Jeremy Wright
Posts: 144
Joined: December 14th, 2015, 4:56 pm

Few Desert Finds

Post by Jeremy Wright »

School time has started for me which means that my days consist of school, homework, and sleep, and sadly very little herping time. With the new moon and decent conditions last night Dad and I figured that we would do a quick trip down to the desert. I hadn't been out since early August so I was eager to get out and search around. The area we were going to had also received almost 1/2 an inch of rain about 9 days before, so we figured that some life might be brought out!

First off was this little desert glossy snake. We ended up seeing a few of these but these are the best photos I got.

ImageDesert Glossy Snake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

ImageDesert Glossy Snake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

Next up was a spotted leaf-nosed snake. Always a cool sight. They're common, but there is something about them that intrigues me.

ImageSpotted Leaf-Nosed Snake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

ImageSpotted Leaf-Nosed Snake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

ImageSpotted Leaf-Nosed Snake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

Following a stretch of roadkills including a couple really large sidewinders, we found 3 red diamond rattlesnakes within a couple miles. The first one was barely 10 inches, the second about 2 feet, and the last one at least 4 feet.

ImageRed Diamond Rattlesnake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

ImageRed Diamond Rattlesnake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

ImageRed Diamond Rattlesnake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

While I stupidly didn't get any full body shots of the largest one, I did get this shot which I like.

ImageRed Diamond Rattlesnake rattle by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

All of these guys were on a busy road, and we kept on getting passed by big rigs illegally whizzing through the roads under the cover of night. Toy haulers and off-road traffic was heavy too. I don't know how those 3 ruber didn't get hit.

Lastly was the highlight of the night and a lifer. I stopped traffic in both directions to find this guy and get him safely off the road. Surprisingly the drivers I think could see what I was doing and I didn't get any honks or rude gestures.

ImageDesert Threadsnake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

ImageDesert Threadsnake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

ImageDesert Threadsnake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

ImageDesert Threadsnake by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

Definitely the hardest (and most smelly :roll: ) snake I've had to photograph. It was literally impossible, and all the surrounding landscape was cactus and spine flowers so my legs and arms took a beating!

ImageNight Sky by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

We left early the next morning. This was the only real cool find. We watched this little guy hunt for flies and also nibble on these yellow flowers. I always think they seem so curious and intelligent, and they'll play hide and seek with you rotating around a branch which is hilarious.

ImageLong Tailed Brush Lizard by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

ImageLong Tailed Brush Lizard by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

Here are a couple of other photos from the trip.

ImageOcotillo by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

ImageWhat am I looking at? by Jeremy Wright Photography, on Flickr

Thanks for reading!
-Jeremy
RobertH
Posts: 1834
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:38 pm
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Few Desert Finds

Post by RobertH »

Sounds like a great late season trip to the desert. I really like your photographs and know from experience with Nicholas how hard it is to pose and properly light snakes at night, especially next to a (busy) road. My favorite (who would have guessed it?) is the closeup shot of the ruber.

Congrats also on the Western Thread Snake, a rare find, particularly while road cruising. I can well understand why you chose to stop traffic in both directions, but need not tell you that this can be a risky undertaking.

The other father-son team, btw, had much the same idea, except we went a bit farther north than you did (I am guessing) and we night-walked a desert canyon rather than road cruising. No snakes for us, unfortunately (though not unexpectedly), but a nice array of lizards, including our first nocturnally active Granite Night Lizards and, surprisingly, also several Banded Rock Lizards (one of which was sitting almost next to a Granite Night Lizard). We also saw our first adult Red-Spotted Toads on dry ground, a big treat for Nicholas, who adores toads. Earlier in the day we tried for Flat-Tailed Horned Lizards, unsuccessfully, but saw two Coachella Fringe-Toed Lizards.

Still got to get together ... ;)

Robert
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rpecora
Posts: 579
Joined: June 10th, 2010, 4:41 pm

Re: Few Desert Finds

Post by rpecora »

If you are referring to the plant it's an Ocotillo. Green is a good sign. If that's not what you are referring to I can't see it to venture a good guess, but given the daylight if it is a serpent I would say coachwhip or patchnose.
NACairns
Posts: 372
Joined: December 30th, 2013, 7:27 am

Re: Few Desert Finds

Post by NACairns »

Man I love that portrait of the Phyllorhynchus. That is a species I've always wanted to see. Great shots all round.
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Porter
Posts: 2418
Joined: March 19th, 2011, 7:43 pm

Re: Few Desert Finds

Post by Porter »

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Porter
Posts: 2418
Joined: March 19th, 2011, 7:43 pm

Re: Few Desert Finds

Post by Porter »

Jeremy Wright wrote:All of these guys were on a busy road, and we kept on getting passed by big rigs illegally whizzing through the roads under the cover of night. Toy haulers and off-road traffic was heavy too. I don't know how those 3 ruber didn't get hit.
End of August or early September, I was driving the short cut through Natomas Basin and had to swerve to avoid smashing a newborn Cal King with my passenger side tire. Right after building up spead from a stop sign, with two cars behind me. It had just begun to crawl out into the road and I could see it's pattern moving at a moderate pace. I thought for sure one of the next two cars would hit him, but I flipped a U-e at the next intersection regardless. By the time I got back to the snake, it was already in my lane. Perfectly positioned for me to pass right over him with no effort to swerve. Still crawling along with the same pace. It was amazing how he Frogger-ed his way through all 3 cars... he must have been passed over by the first car and then just barely made it out of the way of the second car's driver side tire. Pretty amazing... If they get hit, it's never a good thing to see, but if they do there's a reason.

...and if they come across one of the few people in the universe that care to move them out of the road, that's another unforced scenario of perfect timing ;)
Jimi
Posts: 1955
Joined: December 3rd, 2010, 12:06 pm

Re: Few Desert Finds

Post by Jimi »

All of these guys were on a busy road, and we kept on getting passed by big rigs illegally whizzing through the roads under the cover of night. Toy haulers and off-road traffic was heavy too. I don't know how those 3 ruber didn't get hit.

Lastly was the highlight of the night and a lifer. I stopped traffic in both directions to find this guy and get him safely off the road. Surprisingly the drivers I think could see what I was doing and I didn't get any honks or rude gestures.
The ruber and you both. One of these days, I swear, we're gonna read about one of us getting DOR'd.

Something I'm not 100% perfect about using out-of-state, but which sure makes me feel good when I do, is my "Texas vest". Texas because you need to wear one there, to legally walk cuts and such.

just one of many places to get them (ANSI 3 is the spec you need for TX)
http://www.hivissupply.com/ansi-class-3 ... vests.html

Drivers can see you VERY well, and you also get fewer people stopping to ask what you're doing, are you OK etc (i.e., wasting your valuable herping time...). If you can walk into a place and try on a few kinds, you'll probably get a better one than just guessing online. Some of the vests have good pockets, better zippers etc. Some are too baggy, some are too hot, some are made of snaggy material, have crap or no pockets, etc. But some are great.

Just sayin', man...cheap insurance. We all need it.
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Jeremy Wright
Posts: 144
Joined: December 14th, 2015, 4:56 pm

Re: Few Desert Finds

Post by Jeremy Wright »

Thank you all for the responses!
RobertH wrote:Sounds like a great late season trip to the desert. I really like your photographs and know from experience with Nicholas how hard it is to pose and properly light snakes at night, especially next to a (busy) road. My favorite (who would have guessed it?) is the closeup shot of the ruber.

Congrats also on the Western Thread Snake, a rare find, particularly while road cruising. I can well understand why you chose to stop traffic in both directions, but need not tell you that this can be a risky undertaking.

The other father-son team, btw, had much the same idea, except we went a bit farther north than you did (I am guessing) and we night-walked a desert canyon rather than road cruising. No snakes for us, unfortunately (though not unexpectedly), but a nice array of lizards, including our first nocturnally active Granite Night Lizards and, surprisingly, also several Banded Rock Lizards (one of which was sitting almost next to a Granite Night Lizard). We also saw our first adult Red-Spotted Toads on dry ground, a big treat for Nicholas, who adores toads. Earlier in the day we tried for Flat-Tailed Horned Lizards, unsuccessfully, but saw two Coachella Fringe-Toed Lizards.

Still got to get together ... ;)

Robert
Thank you Robert! We definitely do need to get together sometime. I get my full driving license early next year so that will be great once herping season comes around!
Granite night lizards and petrosaurs are some of my favorites, and red spotted toads are always an exquisite sight. Flat taileds have eluded me this year, but with a wet winter or spring hopefully I will see some next season. I got a couple last year, and 2 live, 5 dor in 2014. That was crazy, and a bit unfortunate.
rpecora wrote:If you are referring to the plant it's an Ocotillo. Green is a good sign. If that's not what you are referring to I can't see it to venture a good guess, but given the daylight if it is a serpent I would say coachwhip or patchnose.
Thanks Mike. Sorry, that was a bit of a stupid caption. I had put the camera on timer to take a "selfie" when a mydas fly landed on the Ocotillo and completely distracted me, :lol:
NACairns wrote:Man I love that portrait of the Phyllorhynchus. That is a species I've always wanted to see. Great shots all round.
Thank you! Phyllorhynchus are always fascinating, and usually hard to photograph, but this guy luckily curled up and was easier to photograph. Please let me know if you would like to see one, I have a couple areas that always seem to produce for those guys!
Porter wrote:
Jeremy Wright wrote:All of these guys were on a busy road, and we kept on getting passed by big rigs illegally whizzing through the roads under the cover of night. Toy haulers and off-road traffic was heavy too. I don't know how those 3 ruber didn't get hit.
End of August or early September, I was driving the short cut through Natomas Basin and had to swerve to avoid smashing a newborn Cal King with my passenger side tire. Right after building up spead from a stop sign, with two cars behind me. It had just begun to crawl out into the road and I could see it's pattern moving at a moderate pace. I thought for sure one of the next two cars would hit him, but I flipped a U-e at the next intersection regardless. By the time I got back to the snake, it was already in my lane. Perfectly positioned for me to pass right over him with no effort to swerve. Still crawling along with the same pace. It was amazing how he Frogger-ed his way through all 3 cars... he must have been passed over by the first car and then just barely made it out of the way of the second car's driver side tire. Pretty amazing... If they get hit, it's never a good thing to see, but if they do there's a reason.

...and if they come across one of the few people in the universe that care to move them out of the road, that's another unforced scenario of perfect timing ;)
Thank you! And wow, what a story! It does seem incredible how they manage to avoid traffic. The largest of the ruber we found that night, which I think was a bit over 4 feet, was seen literally seconds after a row of toy haulers and trailers (and an illegal big rig on that road :evil: ) had passed. My only guess is that he curled up in response to the vibrations of all the traffic in the middle of the road, and then stretched out again as we approached. I was 99% he was a dor but stopped anyway, and sure enough, he was unscathed!
Jimi wrote:
All of these guys were on a busy road, and we kept on getting passed by big rigs illegally whizzing through the roads under the cover of night. Toy haulers and off-road traffic was heavy too. I don't know how those 3 ruber didn't get hit.

Lastly was the highlight of the night and a lifer. I stopped traffic in both directions to find this guy and get him safely off the road. Surprisingly the drivers I think could see what I was doing and I didn't get any honks or rude gestures.
The ruber and you both. One of these days, I swear, we're gonna read about one of us getting DOR'd.

Something I'm not 100% perfect about using out-of-state, but which sure makes me feel good when I do, is my "Texas vest". Texas because you need to wear one there, to legally walk cuts and such.

just one of many places to get them (ANSI 3 is the spec you need for TX)
http://www.hivissupply.com/ansi-class-3 ... vests.html

Drivers can see you VERY well, and you also get fewer people stopping to ask what you're doing, are you OK etc (i.e., wasting your valuable herping time...). If you can walk into a place and try on a few kinds, you'll probably get a better one than just guessing online. Some of the vests have good pockets, better zippers etc. Some are too baggy, some are too hot, some are made of snaggy material, have crap or no pockets, etc. But some are great.

Just sayin', man...cheap insurance. We all need it.
Thanks Jimi.
Luckily the stretch of road we were on was straight and given the hazard lights on our car, the drivers could see me. They both slowed up to a stop before the snake, and I ran out to grab it before they went on. It wasn't as dangerous or stupid as I described it initially! Both cars saw us pull off and hop out, looking into the road so they knew there was something there that we were interested in. I was wearing a bright white and red shirt by the way at this time. Actually, one of the drivers rolled down his window, and asked what we had found. He had a hilariously nonchalant reaction to the threadsnake, and he told me he seems them all the time when there is spring or summer rain. That area definitely has areas where I would never risk getting in the way of cars, with steep and blind curves and bends.

Does anyone know of big rig restrictions in San Diego and Imperial counties?
I was under the impression that most of the roads in the ABDSP were off limits to big rigs? It seems like they fly around at night way to fast to avoid detection and take shortcuts.

Jeremy
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LouB747
Posts: 1184
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:50 am
Location: Huntington Beach, CA

Re: Few Desert Finds

Post by LouB747 »

Congrats. I never have any luck this time of year. Posts like this make me want to give it a go. Hmmm.
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Jeremy Wright
Posts: 144
Joined: December 14th, 2015, 4:56 pm

Re: Few Desert Finds

Post by Jeremy Wright »

LouB747 wrote:Congrats. I never have any luck this time of year. Posts like this make me want to give it a go. Hmmm.
Thank you Lou! I always enjoy your awesome youtube videos. September and October seem to be good in the past for me when weather has been warm enough. It seems like with hatchling season and increased moisture there are some good nights.
-Jeremy
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