A South American Bushmaster hiding in dense vegetation alongside a trail in Peru several years ago.

A male Western Diamondback Rattlesnake raises up to challenge another to a fight. The only problem: rocks getting in the way. Both males discovered one another in a narrow gap, which caused a lot of awkward shuffling before they managed to get some room to wrestle. Eventually, the other came out as well, and after […]

A Chuckwalla surveys its vast domain, just north of the Grand Canyon. Here, these large herbivorous lizards take on a sandy, mottled color, making them harder to spot against the ground by predators flying overhead. For an observer at ground level, however, the shape of a vigilant lizards popping up from outcrops and boulders is […]

Yellow-Green Cat Snake with Nova Inventa on a trip to the Western Ghats in India, 2023.

Blacktailed Rattlesnakes can live in a wide variety of habitats, from high pine forests to low desert around sea level. This one was found in Greenlee County, Arizona several years ago.

Camping and fishing along any waterway along the rim in Arizona, it’s common to see gartersnakes cruising around the vegetation. There are several species of gartersnakes in Arizona, but this may be the most commonly encountered. Wandering Gartersnakes are a subspecies of Western Terrestrial Gartersnake that inhabit a variety of habitat, though are most often […]

An Arizona Black Rattlesnake comes out of its den for the day on a warm Spring day. This site is shared by three species of rattlesnakes, and at least a few species of other snakes. As spring egress progresses, each will use the area slightly differently, emerging, staging, and eventually distributing on their own schedules.

Cerralvo Island Rattlesnake, endemic to Isla Cerralvo in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. This is one of a couple of rattlesnakes found on this island. This one was found near the beach where we camped.

A Sonoran Whipsnake from near Phoenix, Arizona. These fast, diurnal animals can be seen on occasion darting across trails or roads, even in the peak heat of the day. Large, forward-facing eyes and a body style made for speed mean that any lizard that ends up in its sight isn’t going to have a good […]

A Western Diamondback Rattlesnake communicating with me in the same way it does with any of the many predators that it fears. He stands up as tall as he can, hissing, rattling, and making the idea of coming any closer a decidedly bad idea. What it isn’t doing: showing aggression. This behavior, even though it […]