Wild Reptiles

[EasternSierra]

I LOVE reptiles and amphibians. I am an amature field herper, which means one of my favorite pasttimes is running around in the woods or desert, looking for lizards, snakes, frogs, toads...anything herptilian in nature...documenting the species, location, sex(if possible), time, and temperature, and recording my data for future personal use. It's a fantastic way to learn about these fascinating animals, and an even better way to spend the day. So here's a few shots of some of my favorie finds from this past summer...


Great Basin Spadefoot Toad(Spea intermontana)


Great Basin Gophersnake(Pituophis catenifer deserticola)


Freshly born Mountain Gartersnake(Thamnophis elegans elegans)


Juvenile Red Coachwhip(Masticophis flagellum piceus)


Great Basin Fence Lizard(Sceloporus occidentalis longipes)

Continued in next post...

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[EasternSierra]

Continuing on with a couple more...


Freshly hatched Great Basin Gophersnake(P.c. deserticola)


Baby Panamint Rattlesnake(Crotalus stephensi)


Mojave Desert Sidewinder(Crotalus cerastes cerastes)


Great Basin Rattlesnake(Crotalus lutosus)


Gravid(pregnant) Panamint Rattlesnake(Crotalus stephensi)

All of these animals were found in the wild, and safely photographed, documented, and released to go about their daily lives.

Thanks for taking the time to look!

[The Italian One]

Wow, these are wonderful shots! How close did you get? I mean, did you use a superzoom or did you just get veery close?

[martin3d]

amazing ... and dangerous

[Mulewings~]

Do you do anything with your photography as far as putting together a little guide book or something? That would be pretty darned cool!

[Grandpa]

Good idea, Val!

[Gail]

These are amazing, to have such a variety of creatures , I envy you. Thank you for sharing looking forward to seeing more.

[EasternSierra]

Do you do anything with your photography as far as putting together a little guide book or something? That would be pretty darned cool!

Actually, I am. I am the founder of the Eastern Sierra Herpetology Club, and we are currently putting together a field guide on Reptiles and Amphibians of the Owens Valley and Surrounding Watersheds. Currently we are compiling images, writing habitat descriptions, and putting together a list of tips, tricks, things to do and things to avoid for visitors to the area. It really is a ton of fun, but also a tremendous amount of work, but I have some first class biologists and fantastic friends working on it with me...

Thanks, everyone, for commenting!

By the way...someone asked about lenses. These were all shot with either a Sigma 105mm macro or a Zuiko 150mm tele. Some I am within a few inches, some a foot or two. Don't worry, I was safely outside the strike range of all rattlesnakes.

[marionet]

Nice series, it's good to see these guys! My favorites are 4 & 5, the lizard is adorable.