MEXICO
August 2012
2 of 5
MEXICO
August 2012
2 of 5
A few hours sleep, then out into the day before the heat takes over. We explore an arroyo, our favorite hiking
spot for the week. Though generally dry, it turns into a real river following a downpour, as we see on a return visit.
On this arid morning we walk downstream (downsand?) past a small rise covered in vegetation. Jason spots
movement and sees a streak of color disappear into the thick brush. It’s a brilliant Speckled Racer (Drymobius
margaritiferus), a dazzling snake, and a tease. We surround the bushes and search intensely, getting a glimpse every so
often, but in the end it’s gone for good.
At least lizards stand still long enough to have their pictures taken.
As it warms up we focus on shaded areas. I glance beneath a boulder, and for a moment, don’t recognize what I
see. I’m looking for snakes, so my search image is for something stretched out or coiled. Instead, I spot a rounded
rock that looks slightly wrong, just a little too dark and domed. Then I realize, it’s an unexpected turtle! Turns out to
be a rare species, a Mexican endemic that’s one of the least known turtles in North America.
The next find is as entertaining as it is exciting. Matt and Ron are walking the main channel when they glance up
a small side gully. At just that moment, in the far distance, something drops downhill. The motion catches Matt’s eye.
He realizes it’s a lizard, but there’s only one kind around here big enough to be seen from so far away: a Beaded!
It comes to the top of an eroded slope . . .
. . . and in perfect waterpark style, slides down the smooth rock and splashes into the pool below!
Meanwhile, Shaun and I have wandered nearly to the end of the dry river bed. We’re hunting the shade,
searching vegetation by the arroyo walls, looking for anything that might be hiding from the sun.
Shaun makes a great spot and a terrific catch. Just a few visible scales, then a swoosh of movement in the dense
brush. A shout, a glimpse, a grab, a miss, a curse, a grab again; a grip on something big and thrashing, lunging and
striking, determined to get away. It almost escapes, but now I’ve got the tail while Shaun reaches for the head, and at
last we pull the Whipsnake from its thicket.
I’m amazed by its color, all silver and copper, the most metallic-looking snake I’ve ever seen. I just can’t stop
taking pictures.
Whiptail
Aspidoscelis sp.?
Nelson’s Spiny Lizard
Sceloporus nelsoni
Clark’s Spiny Lizard
Sceloporus clarkii
Ornate Tree Lizard
Urosaurus ornatus
Northern Spotted Box Turtle
Terrapene nelsoni klauberi
Adult
Sonoran Spiny-tailed Iguana
Ctenosaura macrolopha
Beaded Lizard
Heloderma horridum
Neotropical Whipsnake
Masticophis mentovarius
