Monsoon season is here!

We had another night of rain so I decided to hit up South Mountain before work. I was not disappointed!

My friend from work was out there too so I met up with him shortly after they found their first blacktail. Then right as I was walking up on them they found another one. This thing was so relaxed, it just kept cruising and cruising.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3.../Blacktail.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...Blacktail1.jpg

Gopher with a massive meal
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...ing/Gopher.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...ng/Gopher2.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...ng/Gopher3.jpg

Speckled Rattlesnake
In Situ
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...kledInSitu.jpg

He was quite the little firecracker...
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3.../Speckled1.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...g/Speckled.jpg

Stripetail Scorpion (I think?)
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...ilScorpion.jpg

Velvet Mite
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...VelvetMite.jpg

The snake I wanted to see the most... a Big ol' Tiger Rattlesnake
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...ing/Tiger2.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...ing/Tiger4.jpg

My favorite photo to date:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...ing/Tiger5.jpg


The two weekends before that, I went out and had some decent success road cruising and hiking. (Some of the night pics came out pretty bad :()

First thing we found was this blazing yellow Blacknecked Garter in a small pool. He was gorging himself on tadpoles and even ate one while we were watching. I think my buddy got better pics of it that I should be getting from him shortly...
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...eckGarter1.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...neckGarter.jpg

Leopard Frogs were abundant.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...eopardFrog.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...opardFrog1.jpg

A small tarantula
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...lTarantula.jpg

Woodhouse's Toad
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...housesToad.jpg

Cool Millipede
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3.../Millipede.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...gMillipede.jpg

Colorado River Toad
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...RiverToad1.jpg

A squirrelly Diamondback... I didn't want to get very close to it lol
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...ping/Atrox.jpg

On the first trip we found a freshly DOR Lyre snake. We think the second car in our group hit it, needless to say we were bummed.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...ng/DORLyre.jpg

Last weekend made up for it with a live one, also found on the road. It was too squirmy to get really good pictures, and we didn't have all night.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...LyreSnake1.jpg

Thanks for reading- Happy Herping!

wow great pics...you found so much!! That tiger rattlesnake ...holy toledo...the rattle was HUGE!!

the tail on that diamondback is what struck me the most. brown and tan snake with a black and white striped tail...the rattle on that big one is pretty big too.

Very nice discoveries and great pics!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

the tail on that diamondback is what struck me the most. brown and tan snake with a black and white striped tail

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They are often called "Coontails" for that very reason. :gj:

Great pics!

Did that Millipede stain your hands at all?

Great pics, and congrats on such a successful trip.

Nicely done!

great finds and pics!!! thanks for sharing:gj::gj::gj:

Man that seems like it was a fun trip!! I'd love to go field herping really soon, hopefully before school starts. Where's a good location I should go cruising around?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

Man that seems like it was a fun trip!! I'd love to go field herping really soon, hopefully before school starts. Where's a good location I should go cruising around?

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Most rural highways under the right conditions will produce (there's a lot of them here). You want to go out at dusk on overcast or rainy days. Hiking down washes on a morning after a night of rain is a good way to find stuff as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

Great pics!

Did that Millipede stain your hands at all?

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Haha those weren't my hands, my friend picked it up. You won't catch me picking those up any time soon lol. I don't know if it stained his hands at all, but it did poop on him a lot :rofl:

Man these are some awesome finds. That speck has some nice coloration to it.

Matt