Summer 2012

[croteseeker]

Thanks, BV. Your idea is probably not a bad one.

Tomorrow, I'm taking my girlfriend and our son to the aquarium for her birthday. She wants to see the sharks and rays. (I'm going for the Green sea turtle.) I'll be sure to post some photos. This time, I'll probably even post them in the appropriate forum.

[Roadtrash]

Fantastic pictures! I live in Tonopah, west of Phoenix, and have done most of my herping out here in the desert. I don't get to see the variety of snakes that you did but I do get to see my share. As for the Gilas I see them mostly at night in some of the old mine shafts out here. It's strange but I rarely see a rattlesnake further in these shafts than about 30 feet or so. In fact I have never found one deep in a mine.
Keep sending in the pics, they are great.

[croteseeker]

Thanks, Roadtrash. Despite my intense hatred for old mine shafts, I've seen my share of gilas in mines, too. I've also noticed the rattlesnakes near the entrances. My first, and only, trip into the mines that you're thinking of got us a winder, an atrox, five specks, and ten blacktails in just a couple of hours. I'm not sure why they wouldn't go further back. Maybe it's temp related, or maybe even just air quality. Some of those mines have a pretty acrid odor with all that guano laying around. We've got some mines out this way, too, that are good for crotes, but just the boring stuff. I've heard tell of a mine that you can find blue specks in, but I want to find it on my own, rather than ask the person who told me about it (more of an accomplishment, that way), so it may be awhile before I find it. Truth be told, I'm actually more interested in trying to find some that are in cerb country. I've found a few that are in good habitat, but they're old Uranium mines, so those are obviously kind of a no-go.

I'll bet the cerbs in there are huge, though.

I need to get back out your way sometime soon. Haven't cruised 20+ crotes in the same night for at least a few months. What those roads lack in terms of quality, they more than make up for, in terms of sheer quantity. Besides, I know where they keep the good stuff, too.

You should hit me up sometime this coming spring. I've some good, almost-completely unknown spots for flipping out there, and I'm always up for some boas. Or you could drive out this way and we could try and find you some lifers. Either way, thanks for looking, man. Glad you enjoyed the photos.

[Roadtrash]

Most of the old mines are pretty boring but some will take your breath. We started in one a few years ago that went down at about a 45 degree angle and there were so many rattles that started up we decided to let that one go for another day. We only saw one western right at the entrance but we could hear snakes all down through the shaft. Don't know how many there were but it was the most I have ever come across at one place. I have been in that one on many occasions in the winter and found nothing, not even a place for them to hide but that was on a summer day. After that I decided that I would only go in horizontal shafts during the summer months.
Found a lot of places with the blue and green in them, most are old copper mines as are most of the shafts out this way. Seems gold was a by product in most of them and this was usually what daily expenses were paid with.
A lot more people have moved out this way since I first came and in some areas it's hard to find a snake. People are still afraid of the "evil" snakes and they still kill every one they find. I try to convert as many as I can but people have a hard time getting away from the old wives tales they learned from their parents as a child.