Cerralvo Island Rattlesnake found near the beach on its namesake island a few years ago off the coast of Baja California Sur.

Arizona Black Rattlesnake watching us as we watch her from a basking spot near her winter den. She is one of a group of females that will stay here all year, eventually giving birth late in the summer.

Sonoran Sidewinders are very fast as they, essentially, tip-toe across hot desert sand. At night, they can be confused by flashlights and move with speed in surprising directions. This may be an explanation for reports of their “aggression”. In reality, they are timid, quick to flee, and often less likely to strike out defensively than […]

A Glass Frog stays with its eggs, as seen from below the leaf on a night hike in Guatemala. Within each egg, a tiny tadpole can be seen.

Sonoran Sidewinder in the soft sand it prefers, moving along the edge of drainage when spotted.

Arizona Black Rattlesnake as seen from above. This snake was found in ambush on a narrow channel leading to a rare water hole – animals must walk this path to drink, making for a great hunting spot.

A Western Diamondback Rattlesnake out basking in early Spring at its den. An hour later, this animal was out on the crawl looking for females to court, and make sure rival males stick to their own rocks.

Western Pygmy Rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius streckeri – the first I have seen. This was actually a pretty big one! At around 18″-20″, it was much larger than the majority of Sistrurus sp. I’ve seen elsewhere, and about twice the size of the others found in subsequent days. This leaves one last subspecies of rattlesnake for […]

If you’re anywhere in the western US, these lizards are familiar. The Common Side-blotched Lizard lives throughout even the most urbanized areas of Phoenix and Tucson, running up and down the block and stucco approximation of natural habitat. This one is particularly colorful, giving me side-eye while I took a few photos.

Only a half mile from camp into a night hike in the Peruvian Amazon, I saw this Fer-de-lance moving to an elevated position on a meter-high buttress … right in the middle of the trail. These snakes can be anywhere at any time.