I started spending the holidays in the Caribbean. First was my first visit to Cuba. I was with my family and I did not have a extraordinary amount of time to get out and herp, but I still found some great stuff.
I’ll start with Havana. My family and I had a wonderful 3 days in the city. We found the people and food to be incredible.



Like I said, I did not have a lot of time to go herping, but I did manage to find some fun stuff. This was all around Havana.

Anolis homolechis homolechis
Cuban White-Fanned Anole



Anolis porcatus
Cuban Green Anole

Leiocephalus carinatus carinatus
Saw-scaled Curlytail

Leiocephalus cubensis cubensis
Cuban Brown Curlytail
From the area of Santiago de Cuba:

Anolis porcatus
Cuban Green Anole

Leiocephalus carinatus aquarius
Saw-scaled Curlytail
From the far west end of the island:

Leiocephalus stictigaster stictigaster
Cuban Striped Curlytail

Ameiva auberi auberi
Cuban Ameiva
We had to go through Jamaica to get to Cuba. So, we spent some time there too.

Osteopilus ocellatus
Jamaican Laughing Treefrog

Rhinella marina
Cane Toad

Eleutherodactylus gossei
Jamaican Forest Frog


Anolis grahami
Jamaican Turquoise Anole

Anolis lineatopus
Jamaican Gray Anole

Aristelliger praesignis
Jamaican Croaking Gecko
Next up was a January tour to Panama and Peru. I’ve been leading tours to the Amazon for many years now for MT Amazon Expeditions (Margarita Tours). I was very excited for this years tours as some of my best friends were making the trip with me. It was a GREAT group and we found some incredible stuff. We got 100 species of herps, including 2 Lachesis. As I’m writing this, I recently returned from our 2017 tour, which was just as successful. If you have any interest in tour, we have openings for January 2018. Mike Pingleton and I will be the trip leaders on this tour. Check out our website or Facebook page for information, or feel free to Email me:
[email protected]
http://www.mtamazon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MTAmazonExpeditions

Bolitoglossa peruviana

Atelopus spumarius
Amazon Harlequin Toad
Toad in a tree!

Rhinella margaritifera
Crested Forest Toad

Dendropsophus marmoratus
Neotropical Marbled Treefrog

Dendropsophus miyatai
Jeweled Treefrog

Dendropsophus parviceps
Orange Shanked Treefrog

Dendropsophus timbeba



Dendropsophus triangulum
Variable Clown Treefrog

Hypsiboas boans
Gladiator Treefrog

Hypsiboas calcaratus
Convict Treefrog

Hypsiboas cinerascens
Rough Skinned Green Treefrog

Hypsiboas geographicus
Map Treefrog

Hypsiboas lanciformis
Rocket Treefrog
This is the new “florescent frog” that made headlines recently. They are quite common.

Hypsiboas punctatus
Polkadot Treefrog

Osteocephalus buckleyi
Buckley's Slender Legged Treefrog

Osteocephalus taurinus
Giant Broad Headed Treefrog

Osteocephalus yasuni
Yasuni Bromeliad Treefrog

Osteocephalus mutabor

Osteocephalus planiceps
Flat Headed Bromeliad Treefrog

Scarthyla goinorum
Slender Treefrog

Scinax garbei
Fringe Lipped Treefrog

Trachycephalus typhonius
Common Milk Frog
Probably my favorite frog of the trip.

Cruziohyla craspedopus
Amazon Leaf Frog

Phyllomedusa bicolor
Giant Monkey Frog

Phyllomedusa vaillanti
White Lined Monkey Frog
These were found just prior to our arrival, they are not commonly found.


Ceratophrys cornuta
Surinam Horned Frog

Allobates femoralis
Spotted Thighed Poison Frog

Ameerega hahneli
Pale Striped Poison Frog

Ameerega trivittata
Three Striped Poison Frog

Ranitomeya amazonica

Ranitomeya uakarii
Peruvian Amazon Poison Frog

Chiasmocleis bassleri
Bassler's Sheep Frog

Adenomera andrae
Cocha Chirping Frog

Adenomera hylaedactyla
Forest Chirping Frog

Engystomops petersi
Peters' Dwarf Frog

Leptodactylus pentadactylus
Smoky Jungle Frog

Leptodactylus wagneri
Dwarf Jungle Frog
A poison dart mimic, who lives in the sandy areas around ant mounds.

Lithodytes lineatus
Painted Antnest Frog

Noblella myrmecoides

Oreobates quixensis
Common Big Headed Rain Frog

Pristimantis ockendeni
Carabaya Rain Frog

Pristimantis variabilis
Variable Rain Frog

Pristimantis ventrimarmoratus

Caiman crocodilus
Spectacled caiman

Melanosuchus niger
Black Caiman


Anolis bombiceps
Blue Lipped Forest Anole

Anolis fuscoauratus
Slender Anole

Anolis ortonii
Amazon Bark Anole

Anolis punctatus
Amazon Green Anole

Anolis tandai
Tandai's Anole

Anolis trachyderma
Common Forest Anole


Anolis transversalis
Banded Tree Anole


Enyalioides laticeps
Amazon Forest Dragon

Iguana iguana
Green Iguana


Polychrus marmoratus
Amazon Monkey Lizard

Plica plica
Collared Tree Runner

Plica umbra
Olive Tree Runner

Stenocercus fimbriatus
Amazon Leaf Lizard
You have to get used to showering with large geckos!

Thecadactylus rapicauda
Turniptail Gecko


Gonatodes humeralis
Bridled Forest Gecko

Alopoglossus atriventris
Black Bellied Forest Lizard

Cercosaura argulus
White Striped Eyed Lizard

Potamites ecpleopus
Common Streamside Lizard

Copeoglossum nigropunctatum
Black Spotted Skink
It’s always fun to find Boas. This one didn’t like me much.

Boa constrictor constrictor
Red Tailed Boa
This was the find of the trip. In 9 previous trips to the Amazon, this species has not shown up. One night right after dinner, this was found 50 yards from camp in Santa Cruz. It was about 20 feet up. Spectacular!



Corallus batesii
Emerald Tree Boa


Corallus hortulanus
Amazon Tree Boa



Epicrates cenchria
Peruvian Rainbow Boa

Eunectes murinus
Green Anaconda

Chironius fuscus
Olive Whipsnake

Dendrophidion dendrophis
Olive Forest Racer
8 ½ feet of Cribo!



Drymarchon corais corais
Yellow Tailed Cribo

Drymoluber dichrous
Amazon Glossy Racer

Dipsas catesbyi
Ornate Snail Eating Snake

Erythrolamprus reginae
Common Swamp Snake

Helicops angulatus
South American Banded Water Snake

Oxyrhopus petolarius digitalis
Banded Calico Snake


Philodryas argentea
Green Striped Vine Snake

Imantodes cenchoa
Common Blunt Headed Tree Snake

Drepanoides anomalus
Amazon Egg Eating Snake

Pseudoboa coronata
Amazon Scarlet Snake



Siphlophis compressus
Red Vine Snake

Xenopholis scalaris
Flat Headed Snake

Anilius scytale
Coral Pipe Snake
These are usually very commonly seen.

Micrurus surinamensis
Aquatic Coral Snake


Bothrops atrox
South American Fer-de-Lance
And now what everybody goes to the Amazon to see. Lachesis is always a tough find. We had extraordinary luck this trip as we got 2. Here’s #1!
In Situ

and posed.


and here’s the second one.

Lachesis muta
South American Bushmaster
Here’s some photos of the Amazon and the preserves.





2016 tour!

The crew at mealtime.

It was a great trip with great people. Joseph, Kevin, Hayley, Ryan, Cliff, Ben, Lorrie, John (Business Class), Michael, Tom, Emerson, Edvin, and Cesar are all great travel companions!
On the way to Peru, Joseph, Kevin, Hayley, Ryan and John stopped in Panama for a few days. It has been many years since I have herped Panama, so I was very glad to go.

Rhinella marina
Cane Toad

Sachatamia albomaculata
Yellow-flecked Glassfrog

Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni
Fleischmann's Glassfrog

Hypsiboas rosenbergi
Rosenberg's Gladiator Treefrog

Smilisca sila
Pugnosed Treefrog

Rana warszewitschii
Brilliant Forest Frog

Silverstoneia nubicola
Boquete Rocket Frog

Engystomops pustulosus
Tungara Frog

Leptodactylus savagei
Savage's Thin-toed Frog

Basiliscus basiliscus
Common Basilisk

Anolis apletophallus
Pipeline Road

Anolis lionotus
Lion Anole

Holcosus leptophrys
Delicate Ameiva

Pliocercus euryzonus
Cope's False Coral Snake

Hydromorphus concolor
Costa Rica Water Snake

Imantodes cenchoa
Common Blunt Headed Tree Snake

Trachemys venusta panamensis
Panamanian Slider

The grounds here at Hotel Campestre, in El Valle are really nice. Unfortunately, it was extremely dry and everything we found was in or near water.


The Panama Canal.

Panama City from 50 floors up in our hotel.
We saw 6 Capybara cross the road in front of us and they crossed into the a canal that was loaded with American Crocodiles. This was exciting.


The Urbanek’s having a great time.

John Sullivan doing what we do!
Made it down to the the southeast for sometime in April – May. What a great time! Went from South Carolina, to Georgia, then all over Florida ending down south. I met so many great friends on the way, to included Tim, Shaun, Todd, Chris, Daniel, Yvonne, Michael, Dirk, Cary, and Ian.

Anaxyrus terrestris
Southern Toad

Pseudacris crucifer crucifer
Northern Spring Peeper

Alligator mississippiensis
American Alligator

Anolis carolinensis
Green Anole

Plestiodon laticeps
Broad Headed Skink

Ophisaurus ventralis
Eastern Glass Lizard

Lampropeltis getula getula
Eastern Kingsnake

Pantherophis alleghaniensis
Eastern Rat Snake
From coastal SC

Pantherophis guttatus
Corn Snake

Diadophis punctatus punctatus
Southern Ring-necked Snake


Storeria occipitomaculata obscura
Florida Red Bellied Snake

Thamnophis sauritus sauritus
Common Ribbonsnake

Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
Eastern Garter Snake

Agkistrodon contortrix
Eastern Copperhead

Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus
Northern Cottonmouth
South Carolina horridus!


Crotalus horridus
Timber Rattlesnake

Here is Tim with one of our Kingsnakes. Tim smelled after this.

Hyla cinerea
Green Treefrog

Rana clamitans
Green Frog

Rana heckscheri
River Frog
From Georgia

Pantherophis guttatus
Corn Snake
We were pretty happy to have this show up on a riverbank.

Farancia erytrogramma erytrogramma
Rainbow Snake

Nerodia fasciata fasciata
Banded Water Snake

Nerodia taxispilota
Brown Water Snake

Terrapene carolina
Eastern Box Turtle

Hyla gratiosa
Barking Treefrog

Aspidoscelis sexlineata sexlineata
Eastern Six-lined Racerunner

Plestiodon laticeps
Broad Headed Skink
I was thrilled to see this one

Ophisaurus mimicus
Mimic Glass Lizard

Cemophora coccinea copei
Northern Scarlet Snake
I loved seeing all these Scarlet Kingsnakes……..never gets old. These are from the north half of Florida.




Lampropeltis elapsoides
Scarlet Kingsnake

Opheodrys aestivus
Rough Green Snake
From Central Florda

Pantherophis alleghaniensis
Yellow Rat Snake
From the northern gulf coast:


Pantherophis alleghaniensis
Gray Rat Snake

Rhadinaea flavilata
Pine Woods Snake


Liodytes pygaea pygaea
Northern Florida Swamp Snake

Nerodia clarkii clarkii
Gulf Coast Salt Marsh Snake

Thamnophis sirtalis similis
Blue Striped Garter Snake

Thamnophis sauritus nitae
Blue Striped Ribbon Snake

Virginia valeriae valeriae
Eastern Smooth Earth Snake

Micrurus fulvius
Eastern Coral Snake

Agkistrodon conanti
Florida Cottonmouth
A north Florida Copperhead.

Agkistrodon contortrix
Eastern Copperhead
Here’s Todd with a Pygmy




Sistrurus miliarius barbouri
Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake

Florida sunset.
Then, went down to S Flordia as a friend rented a beach house in the Keys. They fished and I herped!
Key Deer are everywhere.


This was pretty funny. They are not kidding.



Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
Eastern Garter Snake

Nerodia taxispilota
Brown Water Snake
This guy just finished eating a DOR frog off of the road.

Nerodia floridana
Florida Green Water Snake
These were found about as far south as you can get in mainland Florida

Pantherophis alleghaniensis
Everglades Rat Snake
A South Florida elapsoides!

Lampropeltis elapsoides
Scarlet Kingsnake
And the obligatory photo:

Crocodylus acutus
American Crocodile
I made a few trips around Eastern Colorado and here are a few of the highlights:

Holbrookia maculata maculata
Common Lesser Earless Lizard


Coluber constrictor flaviventris
Yellow Bellied Racer


Lampropeltis gentilis
Central Plains Milk Snake

Pituophis catenifer sayi
Bullsnake

Heterdon nasicus
Plains Hognose Snake
I have a good excuse to spend time in Western Colorado now as my daughter is going to college there.


Hyla arenicolor
Canyon Treefrog
An unfortunate find…..the ever-present invasive bullfrog.

Lithobates catesbeiana
American Bullfrog

Spea intermontana
Great Basin Spadefoot
I can’t stop taking photos of these!






Crotaphytus collaris
Eastern Collared Lizard
Leopard Lizards are very uncommon in Colorado. My daughter and I were hiking and we found this gorgeous adult. Upon looking at it, we noticed a large thorn coming from it’s left eye. We decided to intervene if we could catch it. We pulled the thorn out and it went in 1 cm into the eye.


Gambelia wislizenii
Long Nosed Leopard Lizard

Aspidoscelis tigris septentrionalis
Plateau Tiger Whiptail

Pantherophis emoryi emoryi
Great Plains Rat Snake
This population was formerly considered the “intermontana” subspecies.
It was an exceptional year for concolor!







Crotalus concolor
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
The Summer brought a trip to Yucatan, Mexico. It was an awesome trip with some great company. We covered many kilometers and saw some incredible sites and herps. We crossed into Belize as well. Andy, Armin, Tim, Mike, Pat, Chris, and Kevin, you guys rock! We laughed, we bled, we herped, and we ate well.

Incilius valliceps
Gulf Coast Toad


Triprion petasatus
Yucatan Casquehead Treefrog

Trachycephalus typhonius
Common Milk Frog

Smilisca baudinii
Mexican Treefrog

Rana brownorum
Central American Leopard Frog

Leptodactylus fragilis
Mexican White-lipped Frog

Basiliscus vittatus
Brown Basilisk

Ctenosaura similis
Black Spiny Tailed Iguana



Coleonyx elegans
Yucatan Banded Gecko
This was the only boa seen, it was crossing the road after a heavy rainstorm.

Boa imperator
Mexican Boa Constrictor
This milk snake was extrordinaily difficult to photograph.

Lampropeltis abnorma
Tropical Milk Snake
My main target species for the trip. I used to keep and breed these back in the day. We got one that was 7 feet long!



Pseudelaphe flavirufa
Mexican Night Snake / Tropical Rat Snake



Senticolis triaspis triaspis
Green Rat Snake


Coniophanes schmidti
Schmidt's Black-Striped Snake

Coniophanes imperialis
Black-Striped Snake

Imantodes tenuissimus
Yucatan Blunt Headed Tree Snake


Leptodeira frenata
Rainforest Cat Eyed Snake

Leptodeira septentrionalis
Northern Cat Eyed Snake


Ninia sebae morleyi
Redback Coffee Snake

Sibon sanniolus
Pygmy Snail Sucker

Sibon nebulatus
Cloudy Snail Sucker

Tropidodipsas sartorii
Terrestrial Snail Sucker

Tropidodipsas fasciata fasciata
Banded Snail Sucker

Dipsas brevifacies
Snail-eating Thirst Snake
When I first spotted this, I thought my Spilotes jinx had been broken. Oh well, a good find anyway, one that left it’s mark on me!


Phrynonax poecilonotus
Puffing Snake
A heartbreaking DOR……

Scaphiodontophis annulatus
Guatemalan Neckband Snake

Ficimia publia
Blotched Hook Nosed Snake


Micrurus diastema alienus
Variable Coral Snake



Crotalus tzabcan
Yucatan Neotropical Rattlesnake

Bothrops asper
Fer-de-Lance



Porthidium yucatanicum
Yucatán Hognose Viper





Chichen Itza

Great travel companions!



Chelonia mydas mydas
Atlantic Green Sea Turtle


Crocodylus moreletii
Morelet's Crocodile
An incredible trip with some of my best friends.
From Wyoming:

Ambystoma mavortium
Tiger Salamander

The critically endangered Wyoming Toad
Anaxyrus baxteri

Sceloporus graciosus gracilis
Northern Sagebrush Lizard

Aspidoscelis sexlineata viridis
Prairie Racerunner

Pituophis catenifer deserticola
Great Basin Gopher Snake


Crotalus viridis viridis
Prairie Rattlesnake
Took a business related trip to San Diego in mid-Summer. Not prime conditions for herping, but I had a great time at the beach, at the ballpark, at In-N-Out, and meeting up with Lorrie and Jeff. Oh, and there was just a little time for herping too.

Crotalus oreganus helleri
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake

Crotalus ruber ruber
Red Diamond Rattlesnake

Phyllorhynchus decurtatus
Spotted Leaf Nosed Snake

Coleonyx variegates variegates
Desert Banded Gecko
Took a quick trip in the Fall to Western Kansas. Joseph, Kevin, Hayley, Ryan, Brent and I had a blast.

Ophisaurus attenuatus attenuatus
Western Slender Glass Lizard
Only Milk Snake seen:

Lampropeltis gentilis
Central Plains Milk Snake

Heterodon platirhinos
Eastern Hognose Snake

Thamnophis proximus proximus
Western Ribbon Snake


Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
Red Sided Garter Snake

Tropidoclodion lineatum
Lined Snake

Terrapene ornata
Ornate Box Turtle
And I finally made my first trip to Snake Road in 2016. Had a great time! I really enjoyed the company of Mike, Hayley, Marisa, Justin O, Justin M, Rob, Nicholas, Armin, Pat, Tim, Andy, Erik, Kerry, and Alex (Hope I didn’t miss anybody).

Eurycea longicauda longicauda
Eastern Long Tailed Salamander


Eurycea lucifuga
Cave Salamander

Notophthalmus viridescens louisianensis
Central Newt


Hyla avivoca
Bird Voiced Treefrog

Hyla cinerea
Green Treefrog

Hyla versicolor
Gray Treefrog

Rana clamitans melanotus
Green Frog

Rana sphenocephala sphenocephala
Southern Leopard Frog

Coluber constrictor priapus
Southern Black Racer

Opheodrys aestivus
Rough Green Snake

Pantherophis spiloides
Black Ratsnake

Thamnophis proximus proximus
Orange Striped Ribbon Snake

Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
Eastern Garter Snake

Virginia valeriae elegans
Western Smooth Earth Snake

Nerodia erythrogaster flavigaster
Yellowbelly Water Snake

Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen
Northern Copperhead


Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma
Western Cottonmouth

Crotalus horridus
Timber Rattlesnake




It was a great trip.
Took a quick excursion to Missouri to look for these:

Heterodon gloydi
Dusty Hognose Snake
In the Fall, Shaun, Jeni, my wife and I went on a cruise to the Western Caribbean. We picked the trip in hopes of seeing some great herps.
First was Florida. We spent a night in the area of the Everglades. Had a great night and saw mostly common stuff. This was the best find.

Lampropeltis getula floridana
Florida Kingsnake
First was Grand Cayman.

Osteopilus septentrionalis
Cuban Treefrog

Anolis conspersus
Caymans Blue-fanned Anole

Anolis sagrei
Brown Anole
This was the target species for GC



Unfortunantely, these things are everywhere.

Iguana iguana
Green Iguana

Leiocephalus carinatus granti
Grand Cayman Curly Tail

Aristelliger praesignis
Jamaican Croaking Gecko

Trachemys decussata
Cuban Slider
Next up was Roatan, Honduras. It rained hard all day, but we still found some cool stuff.

Anolis allisoni
Allison's Green Anole

Iguana iguana
Green Iguana

Sphaerodactylus rosaurae
Bay Island Least Gecko
Back to Belize (not enough time the first time)

Eretmochelys imbricata imbricata
Atlantic Hawksbill Sea Turtle
Then, to Cozumel. We had a wonderful time!


Crocodylus acutus
American Crocodile

Anolis sagrei mayensis
Mayan Coastal Anole

Aspidoscelis cozumela
Cozumel Racerunner


Great year! Thanks to all the herper friends and acquantances, new and old who I was able to spend some time with this year.