South and West Texas

[UrbanJungles]

I was lucky enough to spend some time in the Trans Pecos region at a friend enormous patch of land. Truly an amazing place...

Our camp was situated on top of a small canyon which offered some amazing views. Notice that somene's staring back in the pic above? Bottom right of the picture shows a redtail hawk nest with some chicks peering back.

This pictures was taken by my host with his amazing lens...I wish I was this good.


Some of the locals I was lucky enough to find...

Horned Lizard

My favorite find...ah...the trip was made! But wait, it gets better!

Night Snake

Yes those are real color!

Collard Lizard

Black necked garter

Then comes the REAL highlight of the trip...we actually caught this snake driving into camp...it took 3 of us to finally catch it out in the open. The elusive pink phase Western Coachwhip!

Then there's these two..I stopped to rest on my lone hike when I spotted 2 jackrabbits chillin' in the shade. I decided to do the same a few yards away and witnessed this interaction.

Pics from South Texas and rattlesnake radio tracking to come in a bit...

 

[Zelli]

Awesome pics!

 

[R.HENNING]

A great photo shoot of one of Texas's sweet spots !!! :clap: :clap: :clap:
A big thanks for sharing them.

 

[M.F.Bagaturov]

WOW!!

Great pictures, really like em!!!
Congrats man!
Send some lizards and snakes next time to Russia

 

[pitbulllady]

Now y'all can see what the big deal is among us Masticophis afficianados about pink Western Coachwhips! It's pretty darn tough to beat one of those when it comes to good looks!

pitbulllady

 

[cacoseraph]

those lizards!

 

[Galapoheros]

Nice! That Trans P. rat snake sure it light colored. Do you remember what creek/river that is in the picture? I just saw the Collard lizard. Isn't that a Reticulate Collard? That's a good pic. I used to want one of those but lost interest. I took a pic of a Western Collard in my hand like that a few months ago when I was out there. You mind if a post a pic of it in your thread? It's interesting to see the differences.

 

[nspeissegger]

love the snakes especially the pink one

 

[blacktara]

awesome pics - how about id'ing all the snakes for us

 

[Ted]

awesome pics - how about id'ing all the snakes for us

his snakes were
trans pecos ratsnake,night snake,garter snake,coachwhip

hopefully he didnt try to bring home the horned lizard[protected/endangered]], night snake or coachwhip.
the night snakes are lizard eaters and possibly protected, and the coachwhips are just horrible pets, nervous, and love to bite 99%of the time.[imho]

course he knows what hes doing it sounds like, and probably knows all that.

good pics though!!

 

[ahas]

Nice pics! Some of those animals has very amazing colours!

 

[UrbanJungles]

Yes, many of the species we came accross were indeed protected so no one came home...not that I would take them home anyhow I get more pleasure out of photographing and leaving them behind. Besides, I've got more than enough stuff to play with at home.


So, the second leg of the trip moved us down to the southern portion of Texas where we met up with a Biologist friend who was doing some radio tracking for western diamondbacks which are next to impossible to find in this thick scrub...So we hopped in the truck and started our census, along the way we found some other study subjects which took a ride back to the field lab with us for some ID's and then they were to be returned to the same exact spot later that day.

The horned lizards in this region were richly colored compared to the other area we visited.

My favorite encounters by far were with the desert tortoises...

We got to bring them back to the lab for IDs as well...it was a party.

Some others we were lucky enough to run into..

Texas Indigo Snake

And finally on to the rattlers...not easy finding them in this stuff. It's particularly disturbing when the telemetry device is frantically beeping that you are near a snake and you can't see it for the life of you...then, you notice the twitch at your feet...

All in all this was one of my favorite trips ever, the immense diversity we were able to observe was truly amazing and there is something to discover around every corner. I envy you Texans for sure.

 

[Ted]

wow..i'm floored by your success and pics.

i never saw a wild indigo or pink coachwhip, nor any tortoises.
and i have been out that way collecting countless times.

amazing.:clap:

 

[tikichick]

Amazing photos! Truly inspiring! :clap:

 

[UrbanJungles]

Thanks for the good words.
The indigo was one of those things where I couldn't ask for a better moment. As we were leaving the study site and heading back to our hotel room we saw the indigo cross the road in front of us, needless to say I jumped out of the moving vehicle for this one...

The tortoises were really on the move...I think they were at the peak of the breeding season as this male's musk glands were loaded!

We spent a good part of the day on patrol with my friend who travels with several gallons of water in his car which he trades with crossing illegals for the tortoises they carry in their pockets for water sources. The tortoises have such large water storage organs that illegals use live tortoises as living canteens, cutting them open to drink the sterile water in their organs.

A few others I forgot...

Diamondback Water Snake

Glossy Snake

2 species of horned lizards for comparison.

The ride back to the lab

Gotta love the geckos!

Red Spotted Toad


See you again soon Texas!

 

[M.F.Bagaturov]

Again, Danny, great pics, thanks for sharing!!!
That Coleonyx is really nice indeed as well as many others on Your fotos!

 

[tarcan]

Absolutly stunning pictures, thanks for sharing!

Martin

 

[Texas Blonde]

Wonderful pictures, thank you so much for sharing. I live only a few hours from where yall were, and I wish I could get down there more often. There is no place in the world like W Tx, and I cant imagine living somewhere else.

 

[UrbanJungles]

Thanks guys, it's my pleasure to share...

One this you really have to appreciate is the solitude out there. Few places in the US offer you the chance to be alone...completely alone like that. It's a place to find your soul no matter your religious belief.

It has it's drawbacks though...such as the night a porcupine doing a great Mt Lion impression made me soil myself in a dark cavern in the middle of the night and when we got a flat leaving the camground.

Some different shots from the trip...

Texas Toad

Get out!

I ran as I took this picture, I'm from NJ what the hell do I know about Javelina?

Only thing I found brighter than the starry nights...

*sigh*

Saying goodbye is never easy...

For the gecko fans.

She was gonna be a mom soon...

Me and the most beautiful girl I've seen other than the one who gave me that ring.


I hate to admit this, but being a herpetologist by profession, I didn't focus on the inverts as much as I should have.

sp ID?

Who?

The downside...?
Seeing alot of this....

I saw alot of human destruction and downright disrespect. The animal above is posed next to a pair of 42" tongs...a great animal close to 6' long purposely run down so that its rattle could be collected as it was well to the side of the road and freshly dead.

But, you can't let the ugliness leave a bad impression, especially in place with infinite amounts of beauty.

I think I'm out of pics now.

 

[SNAFU]

Breathtaking pics Danny! My Father-in-law goes hunting a couple of times a year in Terlingua Texas which is near Big Bend. He was down there a couple of months ago & said they were just about tripping over tarantulas & saw quite a few scorpions also as they were in a remote area. My son & I may take a trip down there in the spring for a couple of days on a photo safari.
Keep posting those great pics, never thought I'd see a hot pink snake!