- Joined
- Jul 12, 2007
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- 1,125
Just another fun trip I thought I'd share.
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A couple of years ago I visited this part of the country for the first time and I was hooked, I try to go back every single year to experience the unbelievable wildlife Arizona has to offer.
Our trip started out in the deserts of Tucson where I met up with some friends who are currently doing some western diamondback research in the Sonoran.
Here they are with the first specimen of the evening, a nice male C. atrox. Here you can see my friend Emily injecting a harmless dye into the snake's rattles. this is how researchers mark them to ID individuals. Each snake has it's own unique color combination according to sex.
Here you can see one example...
But there were plenty of other desert residents to play with while all the "work" was going on...some folks I uncovered.
Aphenopelma sp.
H. arizonensis
Even some of the hard to find buggers were out playing that night...
This colorful beauty brought out the beast in all of us. That's me with the sexy boots on...
We were lucky enough to have some friends with us from the Australia zoo with us that night and they freaked over one of our few elapids. I had to elbow my way in for a shot!
My first tiger rattler!
Then, in the dark I could feel a set of eyes watching me from a protected spot...I turned to find my admirer...is that blood!
Whew...luckily the killer desert tortoises are busy with all that prickly pear fruit!
The study site in Tucson was really fun but now it's time to head out for the mountains. On the drive over I found myself jumping out of a moving vehicle once again in order to meet up close and personal...
First snake I found on the highway on our way to the mountains...a beautiful Mojave rattler! Another first!
The next day I took this guy out to take some pictures and really appreciate the colors in the daylight...
Other road warriors found that night...
Great Plains Toads
Sonoran Toads
SpadeFoot Toads
Colorado River Toad (Released un-licked)
This concludes the Sonoran region of our trip...I have some more invert pics but I'll have to dig them up. The next part of our trip took us to the Chiricahua mountains in SE AZ. These is one of the group of habitats known as the "Sky Islands" because of the amount of rich endemic fauna that exists no where else. One of my favorite places in the whole world!
More pics to come...
.
A couple of years ago I visited this part of the country for the first time and I was hooked, I try to go back every single year to experience the unbelievable wildlife Arizona has to offer.
Our trip started out in the deserts of Tucson where I met up with some friends who are currently doing some western diamondback research in the Sonoran.
Here they are with the first specimen of the evening, a nice male C. atrox. Here you can see my friend Emily injecting a harmless dye into the snake's rattles. this is how researchers mark them to ID individuals. Each snake has it's own unique color combination according to sex.
Here you can see one example...
But there were plenty of other desert residents to play with while all the "work" was going on...some folks I uncovered.
Aphenopelma sp.
H. arizonensis
Even some of the hard to find buggers were out playing that night...
This colorful beauty brought out the beast in all of us. That's me with the sexy boots on...
We were lucky enough to have some friends with us from the Australia zoo with us that night and they freaked over one of our few elapids. I had to elbow my way in for a shot!
My first tiger rattler!
Then, in the dark I could feel a set of eyes watching me from a protected spot...I turned to find my admirer...is that blood!
Whew...luckily the killer desert tortoises are busy with all that prickly pear fruit!
The study site in Tucson was really fun but now it's time to head out for the mountains. On the drive over I found myself jumping out of a moving vehicle once again in order to meet up close and personal...
First snake I found on the highway on our way to the mountains...a beautiful Mojave rattler! Another first!
The next day I took this guy out to take some pictures and really appreciate the colors in the daylight...
Other road warriors found that night...
Great Plains Toads
Sonoran Toads
SpadeFoot Toads
Colorado River Toad (Released un-licked)
This concludes the Sonoran region of our trip...I have some more invert pics but I'll have to dig them up. The next part of our trip took us to the Chiricahua mountains in SE AZ. These is one of the group of habitats known as the "Sky Islands" because of the amount of rich endemic fauna that exists no where else. One of my favorite places in the whole world!
More pics to come...
