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Boa action, crossed off targets, and nighttime magic

Posted: June 8th, 2017, 10:27 pm
by Jeremy Wright
Hi all,
School is still in session for me ridiculously and AP testing / finals has occupied much of my time but a herper with a camera and car can only remain at home for so long! I've been getting out quite a lot recently with the Hess's, my good friend Kyle, and when in doubt, myself! There's nothing like a friday evening nightdrive session to clear the mind and stir up some excitement.

I'll avoid longer stories and "blog" style posts until I get some more solid trips under my belt but here are some of the incredible animals I've been lucky enough to watch and photograph in the past month.

In what was probably the last of our High elevation trips for the year, Kyle and I turned up 2 rubber boas and a massive zonata - just what Kyle had been longing for. We were happy to say the least.

ImageSouthern Rubber Boa by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageSouthern Rubber Boa by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageSan Bernardino Mountain Kingsnake by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

I took a few various Riverside co. trips, mostly solo but also meeting Ryan C and Devin B. Most nights were ridiculously slow. I went snakeless a couple nights and found it hard to find motivation after 4-5 hours of night hiking or cruising without any snakes, but I did manage to see some gems.

ImageDesert Banded Gecko by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageNorthern Three-lined Boa by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageSouthern Desert Horned Lizard by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageCalifornia Kingsnake by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageCalifornia Kingsnake by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

I took at trip to SD county and met up with the Hess's and some other awesome people from the community including Jeff N, Dave Z, and Nate S. We had some awesome finds from that evening / night. I couldn't have lined up a better selection of photographic subjects!

ImageSouthwestern Speckled Rattlesnake by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageSouthwestern Speckled Rattlesnake by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImagePeninsula Leaf-toed Gecko by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImagePeninsula Banded Gecko by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImagePeninsula Banded Gecko by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageNorthern Three-lined Boa by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageNorthern Three-lined Boa by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageNorthern Desert Nightsnake by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageNorthern Desert Nightsnake by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageColorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageFlat-tail Horned Lizard by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageFlat-tail Horned Lizard by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

Last weekend, Nicholas, Robert and I took a trip up to Kern county. With a couple dor scutulatus and an injured glossy, the night was looking pretty dull. We made camp at 2 am, and right as the moon went down I had a feeling we might get some luck. Nicholas and I hopped into my car and not 5 minutes from camp... BOOM! I haven't been this happy to see a snake in a long time, let me tell you. A massive male and lifer.

ImageNorthern Three-lined Boa by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageNorthern Three-lined Boa by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

ImageNorthern Three-lined Boa by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

Oh yeah, the awesome geology made for some cool backgrounds too.

ImageDesert Banded Gecko by JeremyFWright, on Flickr

Well, that's about it for the past month. No complaints from me though! I'll check in soon hopefully with some cool pictures from the deserts and some SE Arizona herps once the monsoon season comes around.

Happy herping,
Jeremy

Re: Boa action, crossed off targets, and nighttime magic

Posted: June 8th, 2017, 11:34 pm
by Nicholas
Sweet Jeremy! Nice shots man. I love that shovel nose, I don't see enough tricolored ones! Let's get a Lyre next and then we'd about done it all!
Nicholas

Re: Boa action, crossed off targets, and nighttime magic

Posted: June 9th, 2017, 12:57 am
by Porter
Soooooo, that's what a Switaki looks like... :thumb: I've only herped SoCal once in my life and went down there with Chad Lane for a 3 or 4 day camping trip. We did pretty good down there and racked up more lifers a piece than either of us had ever gotten in one trip. Two heads are better than one :idea: 8-) The sasquatch of the trip and one we were really going for twards the end, was the switaki. In fact I've only known it as, "switaki" from Chad explaining to me how it was apparently pretty rare, not often found, and would peak our trip. All I remember is that they are supposed to have black n white tails. Soooo, I had to google Peninsula Banded Gecko just now to make sure that was the one :lol: Although the colors on this guy told me right away, that had to be what we were looking for out there :mrgreen: Cool looking gecko :thumb: Isn't that Axlanthic or somethin'...? Digging that Horned Toad shot too! ...and the orange nose.

Re: Boa action, crossed off targets, and nighttime magic

Posted: June 9th, 2017, 10:59 am
by RenoBart
Nice pics, that zonata is a looker!

Bart

Re: Boa action, crossed off targets, and nighttime magic

Posted: June 12th, 2017, 5:54 pm
by lateralis
Nice pics and Nice Switak's, put it in the CNDDB for sure!

Re: Boa action, crossed off targets, and nighttime magic

Posted: June 12th, 2017, 6:57 pm
by Jeremy Wright
Nicholas wrote:Sweet Jeremy! Nice shots man. I love that shovel nose, I don't see enough tricolored ones! Let's get a Lyre next and then we'd about done it all!
Nicholas
Porter wrote:Soooooo, that's what a Switaki looks like... :thumb: I've only herped SoCal once in my life and went down there with Chad Lane for a 3 or 4 day camping trip. We did pretty good down there and racked up more lifers a piece than either of us had ever gotten in one trip. Two heads are better than one :idea: 8-) The sasquatch of the trip and one we were really going for twards the end, was the switaki. In fact I've only known it as, "switaki" from Chad explaining to me how it was apparently pretty rare, not often found, and would peak our trip. All I remember is that they are supposed to have black n white tails. Soooo, I had to google Peninsula Banded Gecko just now to make sure that was the one :lol: Although the colors on this guy told me right away, that had to be what we were looking for out there :mrgreen: Cool looking gecko :thumb: Isn't that Axlanthic or somethin'...? Digging that Horned Toad shot too! ...and the orange nose.
RenoBart wrote:Nice pics, that zonata is a looker!

Bart
lateralis wrote:Nice pics and Nice Switak's, put it in the CNDDB for sure!
Thanks all! The switaki was beautiful. I actually saw most of the things in this post within a 48 hour period. I cruised the riverside co stuff 2 nights in a row, then the next day was up in the mountains finding the Zonata and Rubbers, and later that same day down in San Diego county. Hoping to get out again soon!

Re: Boa action, crossed off targets, and nighttime magic

Posted: June 13th, 2017, 3:54 pm
by Will Wells
Awesome pics!

Re: Boa action, crossed off targets, and nighttime magic

Posted: June 13th, 2017, 8:50 pm
by NACairns
Fantastic shots, really jealous. That switaki and the mcallii are amazing finds.
Thanks for sharing,
Nick

Re: Boa action, crossed off targets, and nighttime magic

Posted: June 14th, 2017, 9:31 pm
by Jeremy Wright
Will Wells wrote:Awesome pics!
NACairns wrote:Fantastic shots, really jealous. That switaki and the mcallii are amazing finds.
Thanks for sharing,
Nick
Many thanks Will and Nick! Much appreciated. I've finally been starting to feel comfortable with the camera and flash setups. Every shot here including the mcallii and the rubber boas were taken with fill flash diffused so it wasn't too harsh.
Jeremy

Re: Boa action, crossed off targets, and nighttime magic

Posted: June 15th, 2017, 12:29 am
by DallasJolly123
Great shots Jeremy. That was an unusually slow night in Kern County for snakes, still cool to finally run into you and I'm glad you guys managed a Boa! That speck is insane man, what a cryptic animal and a looker too. Keep it up you've been killing it this year!