Author: Chance Stevens

It is now mid-April and the snakes have truly emerged. Here in La Ventana and El Sargento, the most common snakes are definitely Baja California Coachwhips (Masticophis fuliginosus). I have already written a column about coachwhips but I think it is time to revisit them. 

Coachwhips are long, thin snakes that come in a variety of colors; around here, they are usually all black, though they can be yellow, silver, white, brown or even dark green. These little lightning bolts are truly expeditive, achieving nearly the most electric speeds of any snake. 

Coachwhips are beautiful snakes and completely harmless, although they are quite large, sometimes reaching over two meters (or seven feet) in length. Interestingly, coachwhips are strictly diurnal, meaning they are only active during the day. They have large eyes and actively hunt their prey, even during the heat of the day. They seem to prefer lizards, although they will eat rodents, amphibians, birds, large insects and other snakes.

If you see a coachwhip, you will likely only have a minute to observe it, as they seem to always have a convenient exit solution, utilizing either adjacent brush piles or spontaneous teleportation.

A good example of this took place a few days ago when I was looking for snakes above El Sargento with my friend. We were driving down a small calle near Pitaya when we saw a fresh snake track spanning the road. We followed the track to an isolated bush in the middle of a cleared field and saw a young coachwhip laid out underneath it. I approached the snake, and it let me get within about two feet, before launching itself into an alternate dimension. We searched unsuccessfully everywhere around the bush and ultimately concluded that the snake no longer existed. We then continued on down the road. 

We came back about 20 minutes later to do one final search. We checked the bush thoroughly and found nothing. I then noticed a small brush pile, far across the clearing, and went to investigate. Sure enough, there was our coachwhip sitting smugly in the outer branches.

We spent the next half hour relocating the brush pile and finally caught Houdini. – If you want to talk or walk reptiles, email ChanceStevens123@icloud.com

Red Diamond Rattlesnakes (Crotalus ruber) are beautiful, large and amazing snakes. They are quite common right now, crossing roads and paths all over Baja. It is April and the snake season has truly begun! 

If you are a mountain biker or runner, or find yourself driving on dirt roads through the desert, you probably have already seen some kind of snake this year. Spring is generally the best time to see snakes, and we are in the middle of it! It is still relatively chilly at night, forcing many of the larger snakes to move around during the day, including rattlesnakes, gopher snakes, rat snakes, king snakes and even rosy boas! Strictly day-active snakes are also common right now, including patch-nosed snakes, whipsnakes and ever-present coachwhips (the big black snakes found all over La Ventana).

Of all of the snakes here, the only dangerous ones are the rattlesnakes. REPEAT: The only dangerous snakes in La Ventana are the rattlesnakes.  

We have three species of rattlesnakes in the Cape Region of Baja, but this column is about the Red Diamond Rattler. These gorgeous snakes are quite happy to be left alone and, in many cases, will just slither away. If they feel theatrical, however, they may rear up and rattle their tails. In that case, they will bite if you get too close. Keep in mind that rattlesnakes don’t want to bite you, because venom takes a lot of energy to produce, and they don’t get any benefit from biting you. Their venom is best used for catching mice. Rattlesnakes may move forward a bit when in their coil, but they will practically never chase you. If you just give them their space, then they will eventually stop rattling, and go back to whatever they were doing.

In the extremely rare case that a rattlesnake bites, this is what you should do: STAY CALM and try to call for help, and go to the nearest hospital with anti-venom, as quickly as possible. For La Ventana residents, the closest hospital with anti-venom is in La Paz.

There is confusion and a lot of misleading information about what to do, including sucking out the venom or cutting out the bitten area. Those are very bad ideas, and I would suggest not trying them.

Hopefully this was helpful. Happy Easter! – If you want to talk or walk reptiles, email ChanceStevens123@icloud.com

Wait! Which way to go? There were many paths traversing the valley, but which one led back to camp? Uncertain, I chose one, headed down the trail, crossed a stream, then another stream, until the valley started to curve. Everything looked different. I turned around and started to backtrack. After a very stressful 10 minutes, I finally recognized a rock formation and soon arrived back at camp. Phew!

A cool lizard we found in the valley was the elusive Baja California Night Lizard, a small and interesting lizard that inhabits only the high forests of the Sierra de La Laguna. 

The next morning — day three —  we headed out of the valley towards the summit. After a few hours of uphill hiking, we finally reached the top, which was rocky with a large white tower. We spent about an hour marveling at the incredible view, highlighted by the Sea of Cortez on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other.

On our way back down, at first we followed a confusing bushwhack in an attempted shortcut that was supposedly a “trail,” but ultimately decided to retrace our steps instead. At the valley, as I was going to the stream to filter water, I heard a rustling sound and looked down to see an alligator lizard rolling around in the grass. (Yes! There is GRASS in the valley!) I realized that something was biting the lizard and, after a minute, a snake emerged, holding the lizard in its mouth. To my surprise, it was a rare Baja Striped Racer, a fast-moving, day-active snake with two yellow stripes down its back. True to its name, the snake raced out of the grass with the lizard still in its mouth, launched itself into the nearby rock outcrop, then slithered into a hole to eat its prize.

The rest of the trip consisted of knee-killing downhills and a beautiful night back at the swimming hole, before a long descent back into civilization. Overall, it was an exciting, strenuous and eventful trek, after which it took several days to recover. I would definitely do it all again. The Sierra de La Laguna is a magical place. – If you want to talk or walk reptiles, email ChanceStevens123@icloud.com

Sierra de la Laguna, Part 2: When I got to camp, it was nearly empty, and I realized that my dad and the guide were not there yet. After an hour or so, they arrived. At this point, I was starving, and was super excited to cook my freeze-dried pasta primavera, but sadly realized that the fire would be occupied by the camp guides for the next three hours. This was disheartening, to say the least. That evening, I did finally get to indulge in my pasta, though I realized I had been majorly over-excited about it, since it really wasn’t that great.

Early the next morning, my friends and I left early. Our guide said we could go, but cautioned us not to explore the valley, as it was huge and we could get lost. We made good time. The first part of the hike was extremely steep, but it soon leveled out and we hiked among beautiful high-elevation pine forests full of small Black-Tailed Brush Lizards. Around midday, we arrived at the valley, a sizable meadow with meandering streams criss-crossing it. I could tell immediately that I would love it there. 

The valley was surrounded by tall trees and rock piles, and these rocks continued onto the edge of the valley, which seemed not quite as large as I had expected. I walked around the edge for a while, flipping rocks, and then, under a large rock, I found my first-ever San Lucan Alligator Lizard, which would prove to be the first of many up in the valley. They are fascinating lizards that sometimes move in a snake-like way, wiggling through the grass, with very long tails. They live primarily up in the mountains of Baja. After that first one, my friends and I found probably 10 more.

I then reached the opposite side of the valley, where a narrow strip of meadow connected us to a HUGE meadow. We had merely experienced the pinky toe of the valley, and this Blew My Mind! I headed out into this new meadow, saw a very good flat, large rock, flipped it, then saw another one, flipped it, and so on. After about half an hour of this, I turned around and started heading back. After a minute of walking, it dawned on me that I didn’t recognize anything. Wait, which way was camp? – If you want to talk or walk reptiles, email ChanceStevens123@icloud.com

Sierra de la Laguna: Part 1. In early March, some friends, my dad and I had an adventure hiking the highest mountain in BCS in search of rare reptiles.

This mountain in the Sierra de la Laguna Mountain Range is known as the Cima de la Sierra, although you can’t even see the Cima until you are already high in the mountains. This four-day backpacking trip ended up being an incredible experience, despite the many ups and downs (ha ha, literally). Anyway, this will be a three-part series describing that adventure and what we found on it.

The day before it all started was a scramble to get on the road, as usual. However, unlike usual, we were able to depart only about an hour behind schedule. By evening we had made it to Rancho San Dionisio, which is essentially on the trailhead. We spent the night there and made it onto the trail by mid-morning. The first hour was quite pleasant, and we were in good spirits.

I was very excited, as our first camp was going to be at a beautiful swimming hole. I was also excited because I was going to have a freeze-dried pasta primavera for lunch, among our freeze-dried food assortment. Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, our cookstove was left in the truck. Our guide insisted we would have fires to cook on and we already had way too much stuff, so it was left behind. That would prove to be a grave mistake. 

The trail then changed, and we were now trekking up a steep hill. After about five hours of hiking up a mountain in 85-degree weather, we finally arrived at the beautiful swimming hole surrounded by stunning rock lizards. After freezing half to death in the tropical desert ice water, I headed up to camp to have lunch but, when I got there… 

To be continued next week in All Things Reptile! If you want to talk or walk reptiles, email ChanceStevens123@icloud.com

This week, for All Things Reptile, I will be leaving you on a cliffhanger. I just returned from a major trip and need time to recover. (Next week! I promise.) For now, here is a link to the video that I submitted to the Baja Film Festival, in case you missed it. Congratulations, Prof. Bird! If you want to talk or walk reptiles, email ChanceStevens123@icloud.com

It is now late winter, and the weather patterns are starting to shift. As it warms up, the reptiles wake. It is a magical (for me) time of year, because the spring snake emergence will soon be upon us. 

Snakes are mysterious and elusive creatures. Throughout the winter, they are typically very hard to find, mostly because they are cold blooded and need heat to operate properly. In many parts of the USA and all of Canada, snakes have to find deep holes in the earth to get below the frost line. In contrast, here in Baja it never gets that cold, and snakes can spend the winter in rodent burrows, root systems and under rocks. They will even occasionally come out to bask in the sun rays throughout the winter.

Now that it is warming up, many snakes will come out to find food and soak up the sun. If you are scared of snakes, you need not worry, since the vast majority here are completely harmless. 

The main place you will notice this snake emergence is on hiking and biking trails. You may worry about the snakes hurting you yet, realistically, you are a Far Bigger Danger to the snakes. All I ask — particularly in this season — is to please be careful when driving through the desert, or even mountain biking. Snakes are very vulnerable to cars and, unfortunately, they like sitting on roads.

Next week I will bring to you… drumroll please… the tale of my reptile-inspired trip to the summit of the Sierra de La Laguna! If you want to talk or walk reptiles, email ChanceStevens123@icloud.com

Today’s reptile spotlight features the San Lucan Rock Lizard (Petrosaurus thalassinus), a beautiful and skittish lizard that always seems to keep a distance from humans, posing with a superior aura, somewhat like many celebrities. 

San Lucan Rock Lizards are some of the most striking lizards in Baja, without a doubt, with their beautiful blue collars and vibrant splotches. They love hanging out on large rocks and boulders in arroyos and along hillsides. Although they mostly inhabit higher elevations, they can be found in the hills above La Ventana on occasion. They are very fast and, though some are a bit more laid back, most usually never let you get within 10 feet of them; again, like some celebrities.

These fascinating lizards primarily eat bugs, although sometimes leaves, fruits, seeds and even smaller lizards are eaten. In my experience, if you want to see a a rock lizard, they are very abundant along the riverbanks of the active arroyos near Santiago BCS, and that is where I took this photo. If you want to talk or walk reptiles, email ChanceStevens123@icloud.com

Today’s column features one of the most venomous reptiles inhabiting Baja. Besides the rattlesnakes, the Yellow-bellied Sea Snake (Hydrophis platurus) is the only dangerous snake in our region. Although they are not considered to live here, these curious, interesting and uncommon snakes do swim into the gulf from time to time. In the La Ventana area, though extremely rare, they can sometimes be seen around the reefs and even washed up onto the beach. I guess even sea snakes want to vacation here.

Most likely, if you have seen a long, snake-like creature in the water, it was an eel, which is a kind of fish. Many eels look so much like snakes that they get mis-identified frequently. To further complicate matters, some eels are called “snake eels” or even just “snakes.” For example, “tiger reef snakes” are actually eels. 

Actual sea snakes are black and yellow, and eat eels. They are usually very non-aggressive, and quite reluctant to bite, although they are highly venomous and so should be treated with caution. In most cases, you will see them sitting on the beach, which indicates that they may be sick or weak, and not in their best state. Recently my friend Julie sent a photo of just one such unfortunate fellow on South Beach. Here is that photo. When sea snakes are in the water, however, they tend to be far more active and healthy. If you want to talk or walk reptiles, email ChanceStevens123@icloud.com

It is now mid February, and we have just passed All Things Reptile’s one-year anniversary. On this special occasion, I have decided to write a poem reflecting on my first ten reptile columns. 

The First Ten

Our adventures started with a speedy friend,
The Baja California Coachwhip
With his tail a vibrant orange on the end.

Then came the race-car lizard of Baja,
The Orange-Throated Whiptail
With a throat the color of a Naranja.

After this came number three,
The Sand Snake
Living wild and free.

Then the night snake followed suit, 
I got some good pictures
Before he hid under my boot.

After that came another creature of the night
As the Asian House Gecko 
Got its spot in the light.

Next came the Cape Spiny-Tailed Iguana
Becoming common in the spring
As Baja became a sauna.

This column has been fun to write from the get-go,
Especially now as we move on 
To the Western Banded Gecko.

Then came a personal favorite of yours truly,
The Cape Gopher Snake,
Though they are a bit unruly.

Almost there with number nine
The Zebra Tailed Lizard 
Burrowing under the sand line.

Finally we have reached number 10 and the end, 
Featuring Black-Tailed Brush Lizards,
I am ready to push send.

Most importantly, on the column’s one-year anniversary, I would like to thank everyone who has helped me reach this milestone. Thank you, Chris and Edie, the editors at The Ventana View, for making this column possible. Thank you as well, everyone who has emailed me questions and comments. This has been an extremely supportive group and you all have given me so much inspiration.

If you want to talk or walk reptiles, email ChanceStevens123@icloud.com