# Oh No!!! Not Another Arizona Post!!!



## josh_r (Sep 4, 2009)

yeah... so i went back to arizona for a week. didn't find as much as i wanted, but i did find some really cool things. not too much in the invert department... some amblypygids, a few tarantulas, scorpions, and a giant centipede. the rest were verts. my lense on my camera broke so it was REALLY difficult to take descent pictures so i apologise for the poor quality of some of them. so... here we go

first night there we found this big ol' dude











the next night we found a bunch of baby diamondback rattlers, a tiger rattler, some amblypygids and a few tarantulas. 

the next day, we headed down to the southeast portion of the state where we spent the rest of our time. we stopped at a gas station and saw lots of longhorn borers. 











there was one group of beetles that were piled into some big beetle orgy or something. was kinda funny looking.











didnt see many inverts at all. very few actually... but then, i didnt spend much time looking for inverts. i was in snake mode this trip. here is a wandering male cochisei however.






and here is a sonoran mud turtle. not an invert, i know






didnt see much anything in the first mountain range we stopped in which is really odd as this mountain usually produces a lot of animals. so we headed east to near new mexico. we spent a lot of time road cruising and saw a few wandering male tarantulas, but more snakes than anything. here are some road pics.

this mojave was on the road and i chased him off the road and he immediately turned and couled on some grass. perfect for pictures.






here is a glossy snake found in the road.











this guy was sprawled comfortably in the road. this snake was surprisingly red. unfortunately, the flash washed the color out. it was unbelievably red. 
















he did not care of my presence at all and wouldnt move, so i gave him a little tug on the rattle. he still didnt move. a few more tugs on the rattle and he slowly coiled up to strike this fancy pose.


























this snake was very calm. in fact, most of the rattlers encountered on this trip were very calm. even this mojave was very calm and posed very well and let me get fairly close for a good pic.











we then headed to a near by mountain range to set up camp. here is the area we set up camp.











the next day, we did some rock flipping along a dirt road. didnt find a whole lot.... though we did flip these 2 BEAUTIFUL animals

first snake flipped











and how i found it






second snake flipped











and how my friend found it.






we also found a black necked garter snake











the next night spent road cruising turned up many more rattlesnakes and other snakes as well as a few green toads (bufo debilis) and too many couch's spadefoots to count











the highlight of that night was this however.... im sure you can figure it out











i stopped for a snake and got a centipede eating a snake. go figure.

so the next day, we spent a little time hiking and found some vinegaroons, met a really nice girl from germany that was studying hypoponera opacior (a ponerine hunting ant). i have been fascinated with ants since i was a young child, so i had to help her find and collect colonies. then we headed off down the mountain and headed home. on the way out, we saw some guys stopped on the side of the road and they had a really nice sonoran whip snake. we stopped and took some pictures.






we then headed back to phoenix. we spent anotehr night road cruising and it turned up a few rattlers and this little guy. a baby night snake











over all, it was a good trip. not the best, but good. cant wait to get back down to the southwest next year.

-josh


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## loxoscelesfear (Sep 4, 2009)

That is a _died and gone to heaven trip_ if you ask me.  Looks like a blast, hoping to get to AZ for the _Dynastes granti_ season next year.


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## josh_r (Sep 4, 2009)

i found some granti this trip. didnt take any pics though. i dont think i can ever beat the granti pics i already have.

anyhoo, here are some monsoon pics for you to enjoy!

from the safety of the car. was raining pretty hard.






another from a distance






and a sunset through a monsoon. quite intense in person.











-josh


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## AzJohn (Sep 4, 2009)

Cool Josh. I've only been down once and that was to visit family. I hope to get down there this fall. I love the first two shots. I've never seen a gila monster in the wild.


John


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## JC50 (Sep 4, 2009)

Those are some nice pictures and looks like you had a good time.It seems like the snakes were every wheres and some great rattle snake pics.


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## tarantulakeeper (Sep 4, 2009)

Josh, you make a good ambassador for our great state. Thanks for sharing your road trip. John


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## tarcan (Sep 5, 2009)

Very nice! Amanda and I are considering a visit to Arizona soon, looks promissing as far as finding some nice animals!

Thanks for sharing

Martin


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## syndicate (Sep 5, 2009)

great pics!I really wanna visit Arizona one of these days!


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## BrettG (Sep 5, 2009)

Sierra Vista Area?????Trying to figure out what National park that iss...... And thank god for the rain we are now receiving....I have a pic of a dwarf T from the SE part of the state that I need id'd,lol.Care to help if I get a pic up in the next day?


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## josh_r (Sep 5, 2009)

nope, not sierra vista area. good guess though. post a pic of your dwarf. ill try my best to tell ya what it may be.

-josh


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## myrmecophile (Sep 5, 2009)

Looks rather like the area around Portal in the Chiricahuas. I do hope you had your current Az fishing license when handling the snakes.


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## josh_r (Sep 6, 2009)

myrmecophile said:


> Looks rather like the area around Portal in the Chiricahuas. I do hope you had your current Az fishing license when handling the snakes.


of course.


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## reptist (Sep 6, 2009)

Hi, this is darrelldlc via brandon's laptop... awesome pics of animals and the scenery we enjoy here in arizona... I am going out today/night to search for specks...  two questions though.... I have a current small game license but not a fishing license can I still handle/hook/keep snakes and be legal?  also can I catch on state trust land and be legal...?

thanks
Darrell


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## myrmecophile (Sep 6, 2009)

To the best of my knowledge that license will not qualify. Az fish and game has no sense of humor about that sort of thing and will gladly cite you if you have the wrong paperwork.


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## josh_r (Sep 7, 2009)

for herps, you need the hunting license, not the fishing license. by small game license, i assume you mean hunting license. you should be ok. 

good luck finding specks this time of year. you will have better luck in the spring.

-josh


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## tarcan (Sep 7, 2009)

Josh,

Amanda and I are planning to visit Arizona in December. Being "winter" I presume that we will not be seeing much, but is everything completly dormant, or you still can see th occasionnal bugs?

We are not going for bugging, so even if there is anything, it is no big deal, but I am still curious to see if we might get a chance to see a bit of fauna.

Martin


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## josh_r (Sep 9, 2009)

tarcan said:


> Josh,
> 
> Amanda and I are planning to visit Arizona in December. Being "winter" I presume that we will not be seeing much, but is everything completly dormant, or you still can see th occasionnal bugs?
> 
> ...


you may actually have a good chance at aphonopelma paloma. PM me when your trip is closer and ill give you some good tips and locations.

-josh


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## tarcan (Sep 9, 2009)

Josh,

Thank you fro the offer, this will not be a T oriented trip, just leasure. So I was asking more for bugs in general to do some macro photography. But if it is close to where we are going, I am certainly never against seeing some Ts in the wild!

I will contact you when our plane tickets are purchased.

Thanks again

Martin


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## AzJohn (Sep 9, 2009)

tarcan said:


> Josh,
> 
> Thank you fro the offer, this will not be a T oriented trip, just leasure. So I was asking more for bugs in general to do some macro photography. But if it is close to where we are going, I am certainly never against seeing some Ts in the wild!
> 
> ...




What part of the state are you planning on visiting?


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## tarcan (Sep 9, 2009)

John,

Well, Amanda is planning the trip since I always do the plannings when going to South America.

Looks like we would leave from Carlsbad, NM after doing the caves, then go towards the Gila National Forest, then go towards Flagstaff and of course go see the Grand Canyon and then leave back from Las Vegas (just because might as well go and see it for a few hours since we will be in the vacinity). 

So looks like we will be more northern in the State when we are there.

Martin


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## josh_r (Sep 10, 2009)

you will be driving through some prime paloma habitat. i will give you some good hints and tips. that will be a very fun trip as there is so much to see! you will have fun. if you have time, there are many great sites along the way that wont be too far out of the way. we will talk later when the time is closer.

-josh



tarcan said:


> John,
> 
> Well, Amanda is planning the trip since I always do the plannings when going to South America.
> 
> ...


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## SNAFU (Sep 10, 2009)

Awesome pics! I've wanted to visit Arizona for years, but somehow the desert gets voted down by my beach loving family when we go on vacation. :wall:


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## josh_r (Sep 11, 2009)

SNAFU said:


> Awesome pics! I've wanted to visit Arizona for years, but somehow the desert gets voted down by my beach loving family when we go on vacation. :wall:


you are in texas?? if so, you have some really nice stuff not far from you. texas is loaded with stuff!

-josh


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## John Apple (Sep 11, 2009)

Nice pics Josh...as allways ...Love the green toads ...those are a fave of mine buddy


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