Arizona Trip Set in Stone

[compnerd7]

My friend Jordan and I did something cool over the last weekend, we often go on "spur of the moment trips" so we drove up to the Amboy Crater ( http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/needles/amboy.html ) which was awesome, then up to Mojave National Preserve and camped / hiked / rock climbed / herped there for the day, it was BEAUTIFUL. At about 9pm after I took a good nap on the desert floor we decided to keep the adventure going because clouds rolled in and it became unsatisfactory herp weather. From there we drove to Las Vegas, and had dinner and hung out, did Vegas stuff lol then headed south through Henderson and drove straight through the night into Arizona. We stopped out on the edge of the Sonoran Desert and found some random campground out in the middle of nowhere that had a river / waterfalls run through it and stayed there until the sun rose. We took pics, herped, fished ( got a nice rainbow trout with my snake stick! I just speared him in the early morning when he swam near me to grab a bug. The most ghetto fishing I have ever done, but we had our breakfast! ) then drove home. I don't think I have seen a more beautiful desert then the Sonoran, it's just a little bit more beautiful then the Mojave and Joshua Tree. While my friend slept in the car and waited for the sun to rise, I was out herping lol. I caught many a scorpion, including Centruroides sculpturatus (Desert Bark Scorpion) but I released those. The only scorpion I kept was one of my favorite species, Vaejovis spinigerus (Arizona Stripedtail Scorpion or Arizona Devil Scorpion). For some reason, the small, compact build, with a thick tail and stout chela attracts me to them. As a kid I use to keep them communally instead of ant farms, I would have my scorpion farm because they dig and tunnel and are just really cool to watch. I will note that they are not communal scorpions, there is no such thing, but they do "tolerate" each other. They also breed easy, and you more then likely will end up with a mother carrying a bunch of slings which is always an awesome sight to see, but housing / selling off the slings is kind of a pain :/. I usually let nature take it's place, and let them cannibalize so only the strongest survived and became part of the colony.

We have a week long trip to Arizona planned, our base camp is going to be in Nogales AZ June 1th - 7th (more then likely after the 7th we will not want to go home and end up traveling north or east to herp different areas) if anyone wants to join in, come for a few days, or if you live in Arizona and want to do some herping. Also, if you want to, bring your passports because we are going to go down into Mexico for some good food, cheap liquor, and firecrackers. ( even though I live 2.5 hours from the Mexican boarder now, I am getting sick of always going to Tijuana or any of the Baja California cities. If Nogales Mexico and surround areas look and feel safe enough we will go and herp. Obviously we will ask the locals, talk with the boarder patrol, and avoid the Federales. We are not stupid when it comes to going to Mexico, especially these days, so no fooling around down there will be tolerated. Our main goal of this entire trip is to find Gila Monsters, and if we can get into the right areas, Mexican Beaded Lizards. Those are 2 species we have never seen in the wild and we have a mission to photograph them.

 

[Sunset]

Gila Monsters

its rare to find Gila Monsters in the wild. They only come out couple times a year to eat and breed.

 

[Rich65]

its rare to find Gila Monsters in the wild. They only come out couple times a year to eat and breed.

I've seen two in the wild, one crossing the road....Seen more DEAD on the road than alive. But that pretty much goes for most herps...Time of year of coarse is the key.....

 

[josh_r]

its definitely NOT rare to see gila monsters in the wild. They can be found throughout the spring and summer months. The key is being in the right areas. If you are in the right areas, you can see several in a day actually. If you plan on seeing heloderma horridum, expect to drive HOURS into Mexico to find them. Also, the Nogales area currently is super dangerous so be very much on the lookout. Much of that area you are wanting to hunt around Nogales was burned completely down in a horrible fire last summer as well. It is quite sad actually. Used to be one of my favorite spots to herp. Good luck on your trip.

 

[compnerd7]

Josh is right, you have to be in the right place at the right time. I have studied these animals for a year now, and they are not as uncommon as you might think. They do spend 95% of their lives underground , so being at the right place at the right time is key. I am willing to risk staying in Nogales because your best chances of finding Heloderma s. suspectum is in that area, and the surrounding 200km radius.

I haven't heard of this fire, and the Wildlife Fish and game didn't mention it to me, neither did the University of Phoenix. Would you mind shooting me a PM of the areas that burned? I will call Wildlife Fish & game again and ask about that as well.