# 2nd annual Bioblitz, Aug. 18-19 2017. In memory of Charlie W. Painter



## DubiaW (Aug 20, 2017)

I was fortunate to be invited to the second annual Bioblitz Aug. 18-19, 2017, held at the Chiricahua Desert Museum, Rodeo NM. in memory of herpetologist Charlie W. Painter. A biological species survey was conducted in Charlie's honor with the direction of the New Mexico and Arizona Department of Game and Fish. The field survey focused on the Chiricahua Mountains and the surrounding grasslands and hills in both New Mexico and Arizona. People were encouraged to photograph specimens and record the latitude and longitude as opposed to collecting but licensed collections were not frowned upon either. Although most of the people were there to survey reptiles and amphibians there were also invertebrate enthusiasts including Barney the founder of Bugs of America located in Portal. His mission this weekend was to find and document _Centruroides vitiates _in Arizona. Sorry Barney we beat you to it.  The Arizona Department of Game and Fish collected everyone's data at noon on Saturday the 18th where lunch could be purchased. Saturday night at 6:00 pm there was a charity BBQ with local music talent and all you could drink beer and wine.

 There were a lot of big names from the pet trade and the field of herpetology in attendance including Bob Ashley, founder of the Chiricahua Desert Museum and the organizer of this awesome event! One of my regular hiking partners, Chad the owner of tereptileemporium.com, was kind enough to invite me to this event and introduce me to some of the big names in the herp and invert world. I really never have seen so many snake sticks in one place.

We showed up thursday night the day before sign in and stayed until Sunday. It was a four day marathon of hiking and flipping rocks. We both walked away with a tiger phase _Scolopendra heros arizonensis_ even though we had to get far off the beaten path and out of the park to find them. We observed three total and left the third one behind. A few rare species were documented including my favorite find of the weekend, the rarely seen New Mexico Threadsnake (Leptotyphlops dissectus). We had to count scales to properly ID it.

Special thanks to Chad Gaines, Bob Ashley, and especially Charlie W. Painter for being so awesome that his life inspired an annual science based event that will continue for years to come. Arizona and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish also deserve special thanks for their efforts and the documentation of everyone's findings in the state wildlife database, and for being so fun to work with. Looking forward to seeing you all again next year!

Charlie W. Painter, http://www.swparc.org/2015/05/18/in-memoriam-charles-charlie-w-painter-1949-2015/


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