Death Valley Road Cruise

[tyflier]

There is a 12 year old kid that likes to hang out and help me at the pet shop where I work. He's a good kid and extremely interested in snakes and lizards. So, with his father's permission to stay out as late as we wanted, I invited him to go road cruising last night with Kaylee and I through Eureka Valley at the northern edge of Death Valley. We had a good night...

Our first find was right on the turnoff to Death Valley, and was a spectacular Mojave Sidewinder. This was the biggest sidewinder I've ever seen. The belly was so fat that I am fairly convinced it's a gravid female, but I could be wrong. Here's a couple pictures...

This picture is a little blurry, but gives you an idea of just how fat the whole belly was on this one.

A better picture...

We found this girl, too:

Clarus Phase Western Longnose

And we found three of these little Desert Banded Geckos, but could only get pictures of this one:

Jason, the kid we brought with us, called his dad and got permission to keep one of the little geckos for a while...

Thanks for Looking!!

 

[ArpeggioAngel]

Another great trip!
And kudos to you for taking the kid with you. I am sure he loved every minute of it.

 

[Nanci]

Those longnose snakes are so cool...

 

[dndvictory]

Always interesting to see your posts. It's great you take the kids with you.

 

[Widget]

[QUOTEWe found this girl, too:

Clarus Phase Western Longnose
[/QUOTE]

Wow! I didn't know that snakes came in plaid. Very cool. Sounds like you had a great time. I can't believe that you didn't check the sidewinder for eggs though. :sidestep:

 

[tyflier]

...Wow! I didn't know that snakes came in plaid. Very cool. Sounds like you had a great time. I can't believe that you didn't check the sidewinder for eggs though. :sidestep:

You should see the normal phase Western Longnose...

Oh, and...rattlesnakes have live birth...

 

[tricksterpup]

And we found three of these little Desert Banded Geckos, but could only get pictures of this one:

Jason, the kid we brought with us, called his dad and got permission to keep one of the little geckos for a while...

Thanks for Looking!!

Dangit.. I have been trying to find these as well. lol Why do you keep on showing me animals that I have been trying to find for my collection?? lol
Well it is hard to find breeders for these fine native lizards.

 

[dpreston66]

Great finds! :crazy02:

 

[El Jefe]

Nice finds! Love the sidewinder...and she does look gravid.

 

[norm]

That gecko is amazing

 

[snakewispera snr]

Sounds like you had an excellent time Ty...... I think I'd be keeping away from somewhere called DEATH valley, though....LOL

 

[tyflier]

Sounds like you had an excellent time Ty...... I think I'd be keeping away from somewhere called DEATH valley, though....LOL

LOL...I usually do! Actually, we didn't go into Death Valley proper. We drove up to the northernmost border, and turned around. Eureka Valley is the extreme north of Death Valley, but isn't part of the "National Park". It's illegal to collect inside a National Park, so I don't go looking inside there. I stay outside the borders, this way, if I want to collect what I find, I can still be legal.

Some of the most strikingly colored and patterned snakes in the area come from the area surrounding Death Valley...you can see all the pink and bluish hues in that sidewinder...she was GORGEOUS!

 

[desertanimal]

Great pics! Zayne will remember her summers very fondly when she grows up.

 

[tricksterpup]

Great pics! Zayne will remember her summers very fondly when she grows up.

you know, I am surprised we never hear of you doing road trips late at night.

AZ should have a nice assortment of critters as well.

 

[tyflier]

Great pics! Zayne will remember her summers very fondly when she grows up.

Unfortunately, Zayne wasn't with us this time around. She was at her mother's house. She still hasn't seen a wild rattler, though she is desperate to find one. Everytime we go out she says, "Daddy, I wanna see a rattlesnake!" She LOVES rattlers, and is just DYING to see one in the wild...

 

[desertanimal]

you know, I am surprised we never hear of you doing road trips late at night.

AZ should have a nice assortment of critters as well.

You have to drive for at least 45 minutes to get far enough out of the city that you could find a road you could drive slowly on. And really, it'd probably be better to go farther than that. So, I usually save the herping for camping trips and hikes. I'd like to try a road trip sometime, though.