West Texas, June 2009

Jason Folt and I made a trip out to west Texas in late June, 2009. Here's a few things we saw:

Black-necked Garter Snake (Thamnophis cyrtopsis)

Couch's Spadefoot (Scaphiopus couchii)

Red-spotted Toad (Anaxyrus punctatus)

Big Bend Spotted Whiptail (Aspidoscelis scalaris septemvittata)

Presidio Canyon Lizard (Sceloporus merriami longipunctatus), spotted out after dark.

Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)

Trans-Pecos Ratsnake (Bogertophis subocularis)

Trans-Pecos Ratsnake (Bogertophis subocularis), same snake as the above photo.

Long-nosed Snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei)

Chihuahuan Nightsnake (Hypsiglena jani)

Trans-Pecos Ratsnake (Bogertophis subocularis)

Carmen Mountains White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus carminis)

Big Bend Canyon Lizard (Sceloporus merriami annulatus)

Checkered Gartersnake (Thamnophis marcianus)

Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)

Couch's Spadefoot (Scaphiopus couchii)

Trans-Pecos Ratsnake (Bogertophis subocularis)

Trans-Pecos Ratsnake (Bogertophis subocularis)

Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus)

Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus), same snake as above.

Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus), same snake as above.

Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus)

Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus)

Marbled Whiptail (Aspidoscelis marmorata), in situ after dark.

Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus)

Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus), same snake as above.

Couch's Spadefoot (Scaphiopus couchii)

Greater Earless Lizard (Cophosaurus texanus)

Greater Earless Lizard (Cophosaurus texanus), same lizard as above.

Big Bend Tree Lizard (Urosaurus ornatus schmidti)

Big Bend Canyon Lizard (Sceloporus merriami annulatus)

Trans-Pecos Ratsnake (Bogertophis subocularis), in situ ~30' up!

Black-tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus)

Check out the cuckoo bird on the sign!

Scolopendra heros, around 7" long. They grow 'em big in Texas!

Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)

Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). Same snake as above, checking each other out a little more closely.

A marvel of modern highway and herpetological engineering.

Merriam’s Canyon Lizard (Sceloporus merriami merriami). We apparently saw all three U.S. subspecies of Sceloporus merriami on this trip. I wonder how well defined they are -- it seems like they just match the color of the local rocks...

Merriam’s Canyon Lizard (Sceloporus merriami merriami), same animal as above.

Merriam’s Canyon Lizard (Sceloporus merriami merriami), same animal as above (male).

Big Bend Spotted Whiptail (Aspidoscelis scalaris septemvittata)

Trans-Pecos Ratsnake (Bogertophis subocularis)

Great Plains Ratsnake (Pantherophis emoryi)

Great Plains Ratsnake (Pantherophis emoryi), same snake as above.

There were also a couple of dead-on-the-road Lampropeltis observed on the trip which would have been nice to see alive:

Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum), Jeff Davis County (Limpia Canyon).

Gray-banded Kingsnake (Lampropeltis alterna), Brewster County (Christmas Mountains).

That's it.