As usual, I mostly herped in west Texas and my top targets were west TX Lampropeltis, lepidus, Sistrurus, Agkistrodon, and a few other species.
I got a late start to the 2019 season for personal reasons, and I didn't herp as much as I normally do during the spring. The spring was decent, most outings produced several common but welcomed species. It wasn't until late-April that I began finding target species, including a milk snake and early-season gray-banded kingsnake.
Short-lined Skink by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Ground Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Collared Lizard by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Many-lined Skink by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Ring-necked Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Western Narrow-mouthed Toad by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Long-nosed Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Regal Ring-necked Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Spot-tailed Earless Lizard by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
New Mexico Milk Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Mottled Rock Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Trans-Pecos Black-headed Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Trans-Pecos Ratsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Mexican Hognose by Frank Portillo, on FlickrOnce the summer rolled around, I was in full alterna-hunting mode. In the early part of the summer, I tend to focus more heavily on the eastern part of the Trans-Pecos as that region seems to receive more early summer thunderstorms compared to the western edge of Texas. I was fortunate to find and photograph a lot of cool snakes during the early summer, several of which were found while herping with friends or with my wife. There were several off-nights, like usual, but the rain was plentiful and so were the snakes. West Texas certainly delivered big time!
Baird's Rat Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Mottled Rock Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Desert Massasauga by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Desert Massasauga by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Mottled Rock Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Trans-Pecos Copperhead by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on FlickrJune was an incredible month of herping for several people and groups in west Texas so, needless to say, my expectations heading into July were quite high. July turned out to be an interesting month; the early part was fairly productive, unsurprisingly because the rain was abundant, but the latter part of the month would turn out to be completely the opposite. The second half of July saw almost no significant rain, leaving a dry and snakeless landscape in its absence. Only a few common species such as diamondbacks and blacktails made occasional appearances, but zero-snake nights were not uncommon. At the very end of the month, a few, very small isolated showers finally delivered a little bit of rain, which encouraged limited reptile movement.
Trans-Pecos Black-Headed Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Desert Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Mottled Rock Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Mottled Rock Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Big Bend Milksnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Big Bend Milksnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Mottled Rock Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Mottled Rock Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on FlickrThe dry weather-trends of latter July continued throughout much of August in west Texas, and I wanted a break from the brutal stretches of herping and skunk-fests. My friend Ruben and I were both sick of the unusually bone-dry conditions of Texas, thus we planned a short trip to western New Mexico and southern Arizona, which would hopefully provide a nice break and change of scenery from recent weeks in Texas. It was a short trip and snakes weren't overly abundant, but we found multiple targets, making the trip a success. The most common species of the trip were the golden black-tailed rattlesnakes. Also, we finally saw large thunderstorms! It felt like years since I had last seen a decent-sized storm.
Banded Rock Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Banded Rock Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Banded Rock Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Black-tailed Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Arizona Black Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Arizona Black Rattlesnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Green Rat Snake by Frank Portillo, on FlickrThe snakeless and rainless nights persisted in west Texas during middle-August, making for frustrating and lackluster nights. It was extremely bizarre as the monsoon season normally arrives during late-July/early-August, making me wonder if the monsoons would ever arrive at all. Finally, the heavy rains showed up at the very end of the month, and with their arrival, the snakes came out of hiding. I welcomed the rains with open arms and set out to hunt like a madman. The strange summer already made it well known that more rain was not a guarantee. The last two nights of August brought a lot of rain and produced two fantastic nights of herping, delivering multiple gray-banded kingsnakes, a milksnake, and several other common species.
Trans-Pecos Copperhead by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Big Bend Milksnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Big Bend Milk Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on FlickrThe weather remained ideal throughout much of September, and snake activity remained decent until the end of October. During September and October, I heavily cruise grasslands in search of western and Mexican hognose, and other interesting grassland species. The highlights of the early fall included another gray-banded kingsnake (a beautiful speckled specimen), several hognose, plenty of horned lizards, and my first live, west Texas rough green snake.
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Gray-Banded Kingsnake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Rough Green Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Rough Green Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Western Hognose by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Western Hognose Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Western Hognose Snake by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Western Hognose by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Western Hognose by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Greater Short Horned Lizard by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Greater Short Horned Lizard by Frank Portillo, on FlickrIn several ways, the 2019 herping season was very rewarding, I got to see many cool snakes and I made a few friends along the way. Though I don't herp with people very often (mostly alone), I'm grateful to those individuals that I was fortunate to share some adventures with. To end the post, I included several photos of landscapes from multiple areas, and some photos of my dogs, who are my constant herping companions. The last few photos are of my two dogs Anubis and Brady, who sadly passed away this year, but who always accompanied me and made my trips so special and rich. My herping trips will never be the same without them.
Stockton Plateau Landscape by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Pecos River Bridge by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Guadalupe Mountains by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Piasano Pass by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Peloncillo Mountains by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Monsoon Season by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
The Right Time by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
New Mexico Sunset by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Tranquility by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Sacramento Mountains by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Daisy by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Brady and Anubis in AZ by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Brady and Anubis by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
Summit by Frank Portillo, on Flickr
I really like seeing those trippy looking gray banded kingsnakes. 
