… continued from Part 1

On the way to our evening target area, we found a few lizards.

A couple of Elegant Earless Lizard, Holbrookia elegans.

Elegant Earless Lizard

Holbrookia elegans

… and a Regal Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma solare.

Phrynosoma solare

After dark, the first snake we found was a MONSTER Black-Tailed Rattlesnake, Crotalus molossus. This is my favorite species of rattlesnake, and to see one this size was incredible. We did not measure it, but it was at least 4.5′ long. My snake tongs, for instance, are 46″ long, and the snake was longer even not entirely stretched out.

Crotalus molossus

Crotalus molossus

… and then another huge snake. This one was not quite as large as the first, but still much larger than the average rattlesnake encountered in Arizona. The hardest part of working with these snakes was getting them to sit still long enough to photograph them. They did not seem to be bothered by us, even when picked up, and were content just going on their way.

Black-Tailed Rattlesnake

Crotalus molossus

Tags: bullfrog, Chiricahua leopard frog, elegant earless lizard, Holbrooksia elegans, kin, Kinosternon sonoriense, Sonora Mud Turtle