The next day we
headed for the mountains. Previously, my
only herping frame of reference for AZ had been the One of those ranges is the
Chiricahuas, rising almost 6,000 feet higher than the surrounding desert and
semi-arid grasslands. For every
increase of 1,000 feet, the average temperature drops about four degrees and
annual rainfall increases about four inches.
Thanks to the reduction in heat and addition in moisture the mountains
are covered in pine forests laced with permanent streams, supporting a
variety of high-elevation herps that are active on the surface throughout the
summer. Even in the desert below,
reptiles and amphibians get restless from the increase in humidity with the
advent of monsoon season. The process
starts in May-June, when the winds are coming from a dry westerly direction,
so humidity is low and temps are high.
By July the atmosphere has warmed up and the jet stream retreats
northward, allowing winds to shift from the south, bringing moisture up from
the We arrived in the mountains a day before the group get-together, so Danny and I did a little hiking and road cruising on our own. Didn’t see much while driving during the day except an elusive Coachwhip who streaked across the road and into the cover of a mesquite shrub before pulling an amazing vanishing act --- somewhere at the base of the bush it just disappeared in front of our eyes. Hiking in the woods we came across very little, just an occasional lizard, so we headed into town for dinner before returning to the roads at night.
That evening
we started to cruise just before sunset and quickly spotted our first snake,
the first of four Mojave Rattlesnakes that night. This one was stretched out and its body
flattened as much as possible, maximizing its surface area to soak up as much
warmth from the pavement as it could.
Also found a tiny neonate with the cutest little button and a small
juvenile curled up by the side of the road.
We captured the first one for photos the next morning (releasing it
where it was found). Although it
appeared dull brown at night, we were pleased to discover by day just how
green it actually was.
What really surprised us, though, were
the number of toads on the road.
Though not as arid as the low desert, it was still plenty hot and dry;
the last thing we expected to see in quantity were amphibians. I suppose they sensed the increase in
humidity as thunderstorms formed in the distance. In any event, we saw TMTC (too many to
count) Great Plains Toads, but the real excitement came from finding a pair
of Spadefoot Toads, something we rarely see back east.
Met
up with Emily, Marty and the rest of the herping party later in the day. Pitched camp and paused to ad
It got dark, and that meant starting
the search for my top target species of this trip. For years I had been ad Danny and I came round a curve and
found a car parked in the middle of the road, its high-beams blinding us for
a moment so we couldn’t see why the driver was stopped. Then out of the glare we could make the
image of a heavy-bodied snake slowly moving across the pavement . . . our
first Black-tail! We thought the other
driver was a fellow herper, but turned out he was just a curious tourist who
stopped to take a picture. We bagged
the snake --- along with two other Black-tails we found that night --- to bring back to camp for photos and show
the others (all were released unharmed where they were found).
We also found several Mojaves, a
Desert Kingsnake, a
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