A Crotalus story – one afternoon we drove a small road (Speed 45 Miles) to the Wupatki national monument, Temperatures 40° Celsicus and I saw a rattlesnake on the other side of the road.
In the same moment I saw a car coming around the curve on the other side of the road.
Parked the car, opened the Belt, picked up my Gloves (all in less than a Second) and run to the Snake. I reached the Snake before the car arrived, but I was some hours to late.
All in all I saw 3 Rattlesnakes on the road, the other two were flat like paper, and one fresh killed Masticophis flagellum. That`s it, not more Snakes!!!
I know I`m a big disappointment for you all and especially for myself!!
But here are my excuses,
The complete area has the longest time without rain ever!
It was so dry that you felt, one Spark and all burns down. They had a big wildfire around Sedona before we arrived.
The night Temperatures in the Sedona and Flagstaff area were good, around 18° Celsius, but the Temperatures during the Day raised up very fast and at noon we had between 38 and 40° Degrees.
I made a road cruising one night, one hour but there was not a Single animal on the road.
The Las Vegas area was hotter, we had 35° Degrees at 8:00 in the morning and 45° around noon.
The peak was Death Valley, 51°Degrees.
On the last night at Phoenix area I tried road cruising again, after one hour I saw a rat on the road, a half hour later I broke it up, senseless, But temperatures were around 33° Degrees.
Also I don`t found two Lizards that were on Top of my wishlist, the horned Lizard (Phyrosoma) and the Chuckwalla (Sauromalus).
It was too hot and to dry.
So here are the few animals I saw,
I found only one Amphibian-Species, the not Arizona native Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)
Gila Spotted Whiptail (Aspidoscelis flagellicauda)
Pai Striped Whiptail (Aspidoscelis pai)
Tiger Whiptail (Aspidoscelis Tigris) Ugly!
Tiger Whiptail (Aspidoscelis Tigris) nicer!
Tiger Whiptail (Aspidoscelis Tigris) the nicest!
Plateau Striped Whiptail (Aspidoscelis velox)
Greater Earless Lizard (Cophosaurus texanus) female
Greater Earless Lizard (Cophosaurus texanus) male
Greater Earless Lizard (Cophosaurus texanus) male
Greater Earless Lizard (Cophosaurus texanus) male
Eastern Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris)
Eastern Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris)
Eastern Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris)
Common Lesser Earless Lizard (Holbrookia maculata) female
Common Lesser Earless Lizard (Holbrookia maculata) female
Common Lesser Earless Lizard (Holbrookia maculata) male
Common Lesser Earless Lizard (Holbrookia maculata) male
Clark's Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus clarkii)
Common Sagebrush Lizard (Sceloporus graciousus)
Desert Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus magister)
Desert Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus magister)
Desert Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus magister)
Plateau Fence Lizard (Sceloporus tristichus)
Long-tailed Brush Lizard (Urosaurus graciosus)
Ornate Tree Lizard (Urosaurus ornatus)
Common Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana)
The only Lizard I saw (3 times) and don`t got in a pic was the Desert Iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis), too fast for an old man.
That`s it!!!