A Gila Monster out and about on a warm Spring day that I found a while back. At that time, more than a decade ago, I knew relatively little about the day-to-day habits of these animals. Finding one was more a matter of luck than anything else. But, I’ve since learned a lot, and these […]

A large male Western Diamondback Rattlesnake cruising through dense vegetation, on the lookout for others that may be near. At this higher elevation den in the late fall, the females are already tucked into rock crevices and caves. All that remain on the surface are the largest males, patrolling for rivals, and getting into the […]

Switak’s Banded Gecko that we found in Baja California Sur, Mexico. These are closely related to the Western Banded Geckos we’re all familiar with here in Arizona, with some notable differences. The most obvious being its larger size, this one about the size of a small mouse. When seen in this boulder field, they hop […]

A young Blacktailed Rattlesnake from the eastern end of Arizona. While not as sharply contrasted as the population from just south in the Sky Islands, I personally like the clean, subtle tones and velvety appearance of these snakes in this area.

A relatively large Aquatic Coralsnake (Micrurus surinamensis) found near camp in Peru. These snakes are relatively common, found in the swale alongside the river and smaller drainages, where they’re on the hunt for eels and other fish, and the occasional other snake. Compared to other coralsnakes, they are heavy-bodied, with a wide head and short […]

A bear and I look at each other across a ravine, likely doing similar things in the area … looking for small vertebrates.

A common sight around waterways south of the US are the cat-eyed snakes; mildly venomous, cat-eyed snakes (Leptodeira sp.). However, they do make it into the country in one small area of extreme south Texas. We found this Northern Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira septentrionalis) there several years ago. For friends in Arizona, these are most closely […]

A young Sonoran Whipsnake near Phoenix. These snakes are extremely fast, daytime hunters that go after everything from lizards to other snakes. Most encounters people will have with them are as a blue-grey blur disappearing into the bushes, where it will seem to just teleport to another dimension if you try and find it.

This Desert Spiny Lizard watched me from a rock, ready to dart to cover if I came any closer. These colorful, relatively large lizards are a common sight in desert parks and stucco jungle around Phoenix.

Despite being incredibly easy to observe in surrounding mountain ranges, the Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnakes in the Sierra Estrella just southwest of Phoenix are harder to spot. They’re likely just as common, but the steep terrain and majority of prime geology for the species being inaccessible reservation land make it a challenge to see one. Kris […]