Aceria brachytarsa
Tag: reptiles
Gopherus agassizi
There’s been a desert tortoise on the loose in our neighbourhood for a little while, and today it graced our yard with a visit. It’s clearly a (former?) pet, as it approached me and let me scratch its head. I fed it a baby cucumber and it trundled off.
on a log
A dying tree supports so much life—insects, lichen, fungi, bacteria, reptiles, plants, small mammals. I sat by this log and recorded a few of the organisms I could easily see.
Elgaria multicarinata
An alligator lizard’s tail can be twice as long as its body. This one’s, sadly, was not.
look up
First I noticed all the bird poop on the ground. So I looked up … and this is what I saw.
Alligator mississippiensis
It’s always fun to spend an hour drawing with Danny, JJ, and the DWM gang. This week we drew alligators; I chose graphite and watercolour as my media.
Crotalus oreganus
We failed to find newts, but we did come across a tiny rattlesnake coiled in the grass.
Crotalus helleri
It was a snakey day in the Park today! Greg Nemes kicked off the Junior Ranger program with a session on snakes. We didn’t see any live specimens that hour, but he found a toad to show the kids.
A short time later, Ranger Allison was removing a rattler from the bridge over Stokes Creek, and throughout the afternoon at the VC, lots of visitors came in to report rattlesnake sightings. (Also seen that day: a bobcat and a mountain lion!)
Tantilla planiceps
We last saw a black-headed snake in our yard 14 months ago. Wouldn’t it be cool if it was the same snake? My herpetologist friend Greg says, judging by the size of this one, it’s likely four or five years old … so it’s possible.
crawling
Horned lizards’ first line of defence is to stay very still; this, along with their excellent camouflage, makes them difficult to spot on the trail. But I know where they hang out along the Musch Trail, so if we look very carefully, and if they crawl just a little bit, we may be rewarded with a sighting.
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