A Sonoran Lyresnake seen late at night on a hike in a remote mountain range in extreme southwestern Arizona. These cryptic, nocturnal snakes live in rocky areas, where they take a variety of prey using venom. But, unless you’re a lizard, you have nothing to fear from this snake … if you ever even see one.
A Spotted Leafnosed Snake found late at night a couple of summers ago. While many snakes are tucked away in late May and June to wait for the monsoon, these snakes are very active. The reason: lizard eggs. These are reptile egg specialists, and June is a great time to be out looking for them to eat. The “leaf” on its nose is a kind of shovel, to help push through soil to get to them. They’re small snakes, less than a foot long typically, and entirely harmless. If captured, they may coil and strike repeatedly with a hiss, but if you look closely, their mouth is closed the entire time. It’s sometimes said that “anything with a mouth can bite”, but can and will aren’t the same thing.
A beast of a Lyresnake! These are typically slender snakes, but this has been very successful. At first it looked like a gophersnake, with a chunky build and round face. These are cryptic snakes that few people that live in Arizona, even born here, will ever see.
A California Kingsnake on the crawl late at night in central Arizona.
A large Regal Ringnecked Snake greeted me in my driveway as I headed out for the night to look for snakes. Ironically, this was the species I was hoping to see when I set out. This one was about 20″ long, which is large for a ringneck, though not so much so in Arizona. I got some photos and let it go on its way.
Mexican Parrot Snake in the subtropical forest of southern Mexico.
The weird little face of a strange little snake. The Spotted Leafnosed Snake can be found in natural desert areas. Often, they are the only snakes moving on hot, dry, full moon nights in May and June, on the hunt for lizard eggs. The specialized scale on its nose, shaped like a leaf, helps it push through sand and soil to find them.
When disturbed, these small snakes may whip around, hissing and repeatedly faking a strike … though if you see it in slow motion, their mouths are closed the whole time. This is not a snake that bites.
A California Kingsnake I saw crossing a road near my house. I was out looking for baby Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes to move off the roadway, which were out in force that night. I think this kingsnake and I were doing the same thing, though hoping for different outcomes. I moved it to the side of the road and wished it luck.
In the southeastern corner of Arizona, kingsnakes look different than the black and white banded pets many people are familiar with. This Desert Kingsnake, as an example, of a more speckled, chain-link pattern and somewhat more colorful base color. This is, with much variation, similar to how they’ll look throughout the Chihuahuan desert, and much of the subtropical Sonoran.
A Baja Ratsnake we found late at night in Baja California Sur, showing some iridescence in the camera flash.
