A trip out WEST

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
User avatar
kcmatt
Posts: 372
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:38 am
Contact:

A trip out WEST

Post by kcmatt »

Needed to pick up some furniture from the state of great scenic diversity, so by necessity I visited some of that diversity before leaving.





Approaching some lutosus in situ:

Image

Image

Image



Image

Image

Image

Image

Image



Moving south...

Image


Image
I didn’t realize when I found this shell first thing in the morning that there would be several live animals to follow.


Image

Image


Image

The desire to not disturb these animals gave me the opportunity to use my neglected 10x zoom that I thought I would use so much more when I purchased my camera.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image


Find the fox-- only shot I got of a family of gray foxes in gila/tortoise/chuck habitat

Image

Image

Image

Image


Gila tracks, shelters and food found, though no monsters—not clear from the photo but Heloderma tracks in here. Brian and I were able to combine for one day in the south and both saw evidence of their presence.
Image
Dove nest
Image


Image

Image


A botched shot, but kind of interesting capture of winder movement:
Image


Image

Another interesting image in the morning in a different area from where the first winder was seen. Find the most interesting tracks on this desert thoroughfare. I tracked these extremely fresh tracks over a substantial distance until they went down a hole. I wonder if the snake was crawling still when I began. A portion of the tracks were right over my footprints from the previous day.
Image

Image

Image

Image





Image

Image



Image


This large just hit (and still moving) mitchellii was quite a surprise:
Image

Image


Image


Image


A Brian E. find:
Image



Image

Image

Brian thermoregulating along with the Pit, I didn’t previously know that Brians thermoregulated on roads in the Rockies. We were headed to flip for milks, but with family in the area my schedule was too tight to give it the full “go” it deserved. Usually I am the one still hunting, a strange role reversal only occurring by necessity. I even got to call Brian from the car (who was still on the hill) thinking I was calling back my brother and telling him I was "stuck" until Brian was done hunting. Thanks, Brian. I wish we could have hunted together more but enjoyed the day+ we were able to combine and the great discussions.

Image



The OT portion of the show:

Image


Image


Image

Image

Image
And an elusive “triple,” complete with the envious drift boat in the background hoping we would pack it up soon:
Image
User avatar
Schell
Posts: 456
Joined: June 9th, 2010, 9:33 am
Location: SF Bay Area
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by Schell »

Wow. Looks like it was a great trip. Where were you?
User avatar
soulsurvivor
Posts: 530
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:09 am
Location: NE Florida
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by soulsurvivor »

Awesome photos! I love those torts. How many did you see??
User avatar
Andy Avram
Posts: 897
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:37 am
Location: NE Ohio

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by Andy Avram »

The Smooth Green pictured after the Rubber Boas and before the rattlers and desert tortoise does not computer. I may have to bust out my field guide to figure out what state you were in. Looks like a great trip though.

Andy
Rick Staub
Posts: 81
Joined: June 9th, 2010, 10:32 am

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by Rick Staub »

That is one sweet post. The in situ and habitat shots are great. Just awesome aside from the non-native brown trout. :) Hopefully we will get our fishing forum back too.
User avatar
Fundad
Posts: 5721
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:11 am
Location: Los Angeles County
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by Fundad »

Sick... :beer:

Dam Matt, you and your dam Brown Trout posts... :x :thumb:

Fundad
User avatar
Bryan_Hughes
Posts: 73
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:39 pm
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by Bryan_Hughes »

Awesome post. Those trout make me homesick!
bgorum
Posts: 619
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:46 am
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by bgorum »

There is some absolutely beautiful stuff in this post!
User avatar
Cole Grover
Posts: 746
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 10:06 am
Location: Montana

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by Cole Grover »

Your posts are awesome. UT is a sweet state!

I hear tell that you may be up here in our area later in the summer... Keep in touch!

-Cole
User avatar
occidentalis
Posts: 39
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:13 pm
Location: the west

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by occidentalis »

I love the Diadophis and Spea!
User avatar
MHollanders
Posts: 583
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 2:32 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by MHollanders »

Very cool, great post. That Pituophis on the road looks HUGE in the first pic.

Later, Matt
User avatar
Tim Borski
Posts: 1855
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:28 am
Location: FL Keys
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by Tim Borski »

That Ringer's nuts! Any guess on length? Excellent post. I don't think your fox is a Grey. Kit perhaps? Pup coyote?
Thanks
hellihooks
Posts: 8025
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 8:12 am
Location: Hesperia, California.
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by hellihooks »

Killer post! Almost from pic to pic...I'm like...NOW what state is he in... :roll: I know what state i was in... CONFUSION... :lol: till someone mentioned UT. Dosen't really matter, I guess...GREAT pics of AWESOME herps... :thumb: jim
Brian Eagar
Posts: 430
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 12:59 pm

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by Brian Eagar »

Very nice Matt! You got some great shots.
Your track shots turned out very nice.
The Speck was definitely a great find. Too bad it had just been hit.

Rocky mountain Brian's sometimes need to thermoregulate after a day of sitting at a desk in order to build up energey to look under heavy rocks on steep hillsides and put them back. I think it's a vitamin D thing.

Very nice pyro. Congrats on that long awaited Utah animal.
Was the whip from the same canyon? I've only ever found one kind of snake there.

It was good meeting up with you again.
Hopefully next time our schedules will align a little better and we can find some of those missed animals.
chad ks
Posts: 634
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 1:31 pm

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by chad ks »

Oh so you think you can just slip a Utah pyro in like that without any commentary on it?! :thumb:

GREAT post, excellent photography...
McCracker
Posts: 20
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:19 pm

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by McCracker »

Chad,

I always look forward to clicking on your post. I am soo jealous
Sean Lundy
Posts: 41
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 2:11 pm
Location: Arcata CA

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by Sean Lundy »

Very nice great herps and great trout very few things in life are better then that.
carlo bongio
Posts: 30
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 4:45 pm
Location: Santa Rosa Calif

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by carlo bongio »

Looks like that fish factory river the Green! :thumb:
User avatar
jdustin
Posts: 454
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:59 am
Location: UTAH
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by jdustin »

Wow, great post. That Brian insitu shot was great. That pit looked confused. :)
User avatar
kcmatt
Posts: 372
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:38 am
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by kcmatt »

Thanks for the comments.

Schell, others have answered your question, though I did dip into AZ once as well.

soulsurvivor-- many. Over 20.
The Smooth Green pictured after the Rubber Boas and before the rattlers and desert tortoise does not computer.


Andy, not sure if you are saying the smooth green wouldn't show up for you, hopefully did later.

Thanks, Rick. Invasive as can be, sure a lot more fun than the Utah chub though!

Thanks for the comments, Fundad. Glad you liked it. Wish I could have met up with you guys when you were out here. I was not far from where you were with a bunch of kids.

Appreciate the comments, Brian. They made me homesick also!

Thanks for the comments, bgorum, occidentalis and MHollanders.

Cole, I am definitely going to be up there next month. I might be staying a day or two longer than initially expected. Looking forward to some herping and fishing with you and Dell!

Tim, if I remember correctly I think it was about 18". Brian can correct if I remember wrong. It had a wandering garter in its belly. I don't think it was a yote, there were several of them and they were too small. Could have been kits, but the head-ear proportion didn't look right.

hellihooks, thanks for the comments. Most don't realize the great "spread" that UT has, a great state.

Brian, I found two whipsnakes, one was up that canyon, another down lower. I wish we could have flipped longer.

Chad, more effect that way! Thanks. I am going to be in west TX soon, need to get your cell # again to call you and see how things went for you guys.

McCracker, thanks. --Chad

Thanks, Sean. I agree, a great combination.

Carlo, the Green it is. Water was crazy high for those downstream dirty water fish, but it only made the trout more aggressive than their usual picky selves.

Thanks, jdustin. I'm sure the Pituophis was surprised at his sudden basking buddy.
chad ks
Posts: 634
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 1:31 pm

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by chad ks »

McCracker,%20thanks.%20--Chad
lmao. Mccracker, kcmatt's name is Matt fyi...

Matt- I will send you my number, the trip to the Bend was awesome and I'm going back soon, when will you be headed down that way?
User avatar
kcmatt
Posts: 372
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:38 am
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by kcmatt »

I'll be in SE NM (family) July 1-4 and going to drop into TX the 5th-7th. Would be great fun if we could combine.
Zach_Lim
Posts: 1607
Joined: June 10th, 2010, 8:37 pm

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by Zach_Lim »

Gorgeous pyro, nice find! Was it on the crawl or found under cover?
User avatar
kcmatt
Posts: 372
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:38 am
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by kcmatt »

Pyro was on the crawl, initially only a couple of inches of tail visibly. I didn't realize it was as nice as it was until looking at pics afterwards (excited to see any pyro at the time). Thanks.
User avatar
RenoBart
Posts: 354
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:22 am

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by RenoBart »

Awesome!!! That there is a great set of photos.

Bart
User avatar
kcmatt
Posts: 372
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:38 am
Contact:

Re: A trip out WEST

Post by kcmatt »

Thanks for the comments, Bart. That was a nice little chocolate oreganus you posted a bit ago.
Post Reply