Category: All Things Reptile

Today I have decided to write about the Cape Garter Snake (Thamnophis validus celaeno). Although they don’t live in La Ventana, they inspire the most common question that I receive: “There was a black snake swimming; is it dangerous?” 

Around the beautiful town of Santiago (about a two-hour drive south from LV/ES), there are numerous waterways meandering through the arid countryside, including hot springs, waterfalls and swimming holes. These attractions bring people from all over the Cape Region, and this just happens to be the exact habitat of the Cape Garter Snake. Sometimes called the Cape Water Snake, these serpents spend most of their time in the water hunting fish.

Cape Garter Snakes are completely harmless little snakes that are quite common throughout many of the permanent streams in the Sierra de la Laguna Mountain Range. The last time I went to a river near Santiago, I found eight garters in a few hours! Though these snakes typically leave you alone, I have heard some stories of these little guys coming up to people to say hello. However, they aren’t too smart so maybe this is accidental. If you want to pick one up, you should be ready to get bitten about 100 times, but it really doesn’t hurt. When smaller ones bite, sometimes I don’t even notice.

If you are scared of snakes, don’t let your fear of these harmless creatures ruin your waterfall trip. If you’re not looking for them, you very well may not see any. Even if you do see some, they want nothing to do with humans; all they want is to eat fish and stay away from danger.

It was almost 11pm and Isla Cerralvo was truly starting to come alive. It seemed that, all of a sudden, praying mantises were everywhere and, around almost every bush, so were swervy sand snake tracks. My dad and I were getting tired, but we decided to push on. This time we would head up into the dense brush above our campsite. We followed a small arroyo until it ended, then headed into the labyrinth of bushes covering much of the dune complex. 

Isla Cerralvo’s interior dune system bears a remarkable resemblance to a maze. You start in open natural pathways, squeeze through a tight spot into another pathway, which then ends and you try to go back, but all the bushes look the same and now you have no idea how you got there. Eventually, you get desperate and bushwhack into a new clearing, which gets you even more hopelessly lost. That was exactly what was happening to me. 

After an hour-long trip deep into the island (though still only about a half mile from camp), I was stuck in a particularly confusing section. At this point, I was just trying to escape the maze when I came across a large snake, about 3-feet long, moving slowly in the middle of a clearing. I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was the 7th Isla Cerralvo Long-Nosed Snake in recorded history!!! I picked it up and it immediately pooped all over me. I wouldn’t have traded that moment for the world. 

I fumbled for my walkie-talkie and excitedly exploded into a shout-laugh-happy cry explanation of what happened, although I don’t think I needed the walkie-talkie. My dad hurled himself through several large spike bushes in an attempt to find me — and the snake — but he just got more stuck, and we spent the next 45 minutes trudging separately in confused circles back to camp.

I still couldn’t believe it. I spent a good hour with the long nose, shooting photos and videos, hanging out with the rarest snake of my life. 

If you want to watch my reptile-filled adventure as it happened, here’s a link to my Herping Isla Cerralvo extravaganza! 

After a few hours of sitting on the beach, sweating in the extreme heat and swimming periodically, night was starting to fall. I had already caught a coachwhip and missed a second. Morale was high, and I was excited to stay up all night if necessary to find my two main targets: the Savages Sand Snake and Isla Cerralvo Long-Nosed Snake.

Savages Sand Snakes are actually quite common on Cerralvo. They inhabit the dunes but can be tricky to find because they only come out at night and remain under the surface most of the time. The Isla Cerralvo Long-Nosed Snake, however, is one of the rarest snakes in BCS. It has only been found about six times in recorded history. This nocturnal snake would be worth a full night of searching, including frequent bushwhacking through large, angry spike bushes. 

As the sun went down, I made my first tremendous discovery. I had already stumbled into the barbed wire fence approximately five times, and was accumulating head bumps. It was about 10 o’clock and I sensed that the night creatures were starting to become active.

My dad and I headed to the northern side of the dune complex. We trudged through the sand for a good hour before deciding to go back to camp to take a break. As I was waiting for him to get to the edge of the dune, I saw sand snake tracks everywhere. I noticed a particularly fresh-looking track and followed it to the end where it stopped randomly. Confused, I ran my fingers through the sand at the end of the track. To my surprise, a bolt of orange scales slithered back into the sand, and I managed to catch my first Savages Sand Snake!

These fascinating creatures slither just under the surface of sandy dunes, leaving a squiggle pattern on the sand. They eat ants, termites and even scorpions. Savages Sand Snakes are very closely related to Variable Sand Snakes, which are found around La Ventana and are quite small, secretive and totally harmless.

It was now past 11pm and the evening was already a success. Could I possibly cross paths with an elusive Isla Cerralvo Long-Nosed Snake, one of the rarest snakes in all of Mexico? Stay tuned for next week’s finale of the Cerralvo expedition story!

About one week ago, my dad and I headed out to Isla Cerralvo for our first campout on the island. Little did we know, we would have a crazy, reptile-filled, extremely hot and all-around amazing trip. This is the story of our history-making yet somewhat torturous trip.

It was early morning on October 19, and I had slept poorly due to my intense excitement. I woke up around 6 o’clock, we finished packing, and then I had to suffer through my math Zoom before we could depart. After a half-hour boat ride, we arrived at the dune complex on the southwestern tip of Isla Cerralvo. We unloaded our stuff (about a half boatload) and started scouting for a good campsite. As I was “scouting” the dunes, I noticed a few snake tracks, and then I was trying to catch lizards and, before I knew it, a long time had passed. 

When I returned to our landing spot, my dad showed me his desired campsite. It was on the beach at the base of an arroyo with steepish edges, and an old barbed wire fence was hanging about five-and-a-half feet off the ground, exactly one inch above my eye level. My dad said the fence was perfect for hanging up shade tarps, and I absentmindedly agreed with him, being anxious to get back into the field. Ultimately, that decision would be my downfall.

Isla Cerralvo is home to five endemic reptile species. The Isla Cerralvo Sator (Sceloporus grandaevus) and the Isla Cerralvo Whiptail (Sceloporus grandaevus) are the lizards, but the snakes are what brought us to the island. The Isla Cerralvo Rattlesnake (Crotalus enyo cerralvensis) and the Savages Sand Snake (Chilomeniscus savagei) were both secondary targets but, what we really wanted to find, was the extremely rare Isla Cerralvo Long-Nosed Snake (Rhinocheilus etheridgei).

Stay tuned for the next installment of this story!

The Coast Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum) is an incredible, dinosaur-like lizard with a seemingly superior aura. These little(ish) lizards are sometimes called horny toads, as they do somewhat resemble toads when they flatten themselves out, which is one of their defense mechanisms. They are not too common in La Ventana, in my experience, as they need open, sandy land to thrive. However, they do live here and, recently, I met my first representative of the species.

It was a normal, HOT!!! October day, and there was talk of a horned lizard in the neighbors’ garden. Naturally, I was intrigued, as I had never seen a horned lizard. After a few minutes of walking and searching for this amazing creature, I turned up nothing and decided to give in to the serene bliss of an air-conditioned camper. A few hours later, my dad came roaring down our small driveway on the 4-wheeler with a couple of builders from next door smiling on the back. To my surprise and joy, they presented me with Felipé, my very first horned lizard.

He was beautiful! His horns resembled a crown, and he seemed to know it. His half-closed eyes conveyed a calm and content yet somehow commanding expression. As I picked him up, I was worried that he would shoot blood out of his eyes at me, as this is another of their defense mechanisms. However, he seemed much more interested in the paparazzi now taking pictures of him. Felipé would sit unmoving for a moment, strike a new pose and show off his crown. He was, by far, one of the most photogenic reptiles that I have ever photographed. His only care seemed to be showing of his good side. 

After marveling at him for a while, we let him go. I hope to see His Majesty in the future, posing in our yard.

Adult Couch’s Spade Foot Toads (Scaphiopus couchii) are funny, tubby and shockingly circular frogs with big appetites. These nocturnal toads can be observed on wet nights primarily in the summer, but I have witnessed individuals in the spring and fall as well. Hopping to and fro, eating all kinds of insects and spiders, in our yard I have even witnessed a toad gorging himself on the many insects attracted to one of our lights.

After the summer rains, when the tadpoles have already metamorphosed into their adult form close to the pool in which the eggs were laid, there are small, adorable toads EVERYWHERE!  As they age, they start adding mass and growing their bellies to the point where their bellies stick out past their legs. Once they are of larger carriage, the toads head underground for most of the winter, as the dry season will usually be well underway.

Interestingly, these toads have a unique shovel on their back feet that helps them dig, hence the name: spade foot toad. If picked up, they will proceed to jump out of your hands constantly and pee all over you, making them not one of the most pleasant creatures to hold, but they are harmless. 

As the wet season progressed this summer, I was very worried that my cat, Zorro, would capture and eat the toads during the wet nights in which toads were abundant, so I watched him one night. After a while, he approached a small toad that I had not seen. Confidently, he swaggered up and proceeded to study it intently. After a few seconds, he sat down and placed his paw directly on top of the toad, which just sat there for a minute before hopping away, and Zorro soon walked away as well. I have, therefore, happily concluded that toads are considered boring to cats.

Today we have a guest of honor! Although it is not a reptile (it’s an amphibian), I believe the Couch’s Spade Foot Toad deserves a column. As many of you know, here in LV/ES we have had a rainy September so far, with one tropical storm and a hurricane already. Although this can cause problems for humans, the local toads need the summer rains to reproduce.

A little over a week ago, we had our first big rain of the year on my family’s property in El Sargento. It rained all night. When I looked out my window, I saw that our road was a river! As I left my camper, I immediately heard a chorus from our lovely neighbors: the toads. I ran down our street to find that one of our friend’s yards had become a lake, which I christened “Lake Driveway.” It was brimming with Couch’s Spade Foot Toads. Over the next few hours, the toads called and called and called, with toads seemingly materializing out of nowhere. These rainfalls are the toads’ only chance to reproduce for the entire year, in most cases.

Then, as quickly as it started, it was over; by the afternoon, most of the toads had disappeared. However, what came next was even more exciting. Since water never lasts long in the desert, Couch Spade Foot Toads have adapted so that their eggs hatch in an astonishing 15-24 hours, and the tadpoles grow into toads in as little as 9 days.

The next morning, I headed to a smaller pool on the next lot up from Lake Driveway that was shrinking fast. The sun was coming out and I could tell the pool would probably not even last a few hours. It was full of hatchling tadpoles and I knew that, if I did nothing, the tadpoles would die. Quickly, I got a bin and set up a little tadpole enclosure, scooped up a few (which ended up being like 50), and brought them up to my camper. These young toads will eat just about anything made out of a plant so I experimented and, it turns out, they love lettuce and cucumbers, just like my old guinea pigs. So far, the “puddle pigs” are doing very well.

Over the last few days, I have stopped along roadsides to find puddles full of tadpoles. As these toads can live in temporary, polluted pools in parking lots with cars and trucks driving through them, I believe that Couch’s Spade Foot Toads are some of the toughest amphibians on Earth. Adult spade foot toads are very interesting, too, and I will go over them in a different week’s column.

The Baja California Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus zosteromus) is a fast, cautious and semi-large reptile widespread across Baja California Sur. These interesting spiny lizards are closely related to the very common Western Fence Lizards that I have been catching for many years in my hometown of Bend, Oregon. 

Baja California Spiny Lizards are some of the larger members of the Spiny Lizard family and, in my experience, some of the hardest to catch, as they never stray too far from cover. As diurnal reptiles, they spend the day out and about and the night sleeping (like me) compared to geckos, which are just waking up at sunset (like my brother). 

Baja California Spiny Lizards are most prominent in the summer, spring and fall. However, they are sometimes out in the winter on warm days, especially young lizards like the one in the photo. 

Although the diet of these specific lizards is relatively unknown, I have witnessed a large adult hanging around a cow patty and gorging on the attracted flies, and another individual with a beetle in its mouth. The most common place to see these lizards is typically sunning on rocks or brush in the morning before the heat of the day or just foraging in their habitat, which is shrubby flats to rocky hills.

Cape Thread Snakes (Rena boettgeri) are the strangest snakes that I have ever seen, by far! 

These small, burrowing, worm-like creatures primarily eat ants and termites, as well as their larvae. They are most commonly found in well-vegetated areas with loose soil. The one in this photo was found in our neighbor’s water cistern. 

Since Cape Thread Snakes are long and thin, hardly tapering on either end, they seem more like worms than snakes. Their eyes are very small and can be hard to see, resembling scales; their mouths are so tiny they look as though they were an afterthought; and, last but not least, their scales are translucent PINK!

Western Leaf-Nosed Snakes (Phyllorhynchus decurtatus) are interesting, small and harmless snakes that inhabit sand dunes and desert landscapes with creosote bushes. They are strictly nocturnal. These little snakes — and I mean little! 12 to 20 inches (or 30 to 50cm) as adults — are very specialized and have a fascinating diet of mostly lizard eggs; however, they will also eat geckos, other lizards and sometimes bugs.

When I found my first and only leaf-nosed snake so far, a few of my friends and I had been watching the sunset at the Bufador south of town. It was getting dark and my friends headed home, so it was just me and my dad. As we were getting ready to go, I proposed the idea of driving slowly down the road with a spotlight to try to find a nocturnal snake. Begrudgingly, we set off kind of slowly down the road. 

After a few minutes —I had seen a few beetles but nothing too interesting — we headed onto a large, wide sandy road and my dad took the opportunity to speed up, saying “There will not be any snakes here.” Well, as luck would have it, there was a juvenile Western Leaf-Nosed Snake right in the middle of the road. I yelled “SNAKE! STOP!!! SNAKE!!!!!” To my horror, we went directly over it. 

My dad stopped a little way up the road and I leaped out of the car. Luckily for the snake — and my dad — the snake was fine and had not been hit. Since then, I have gone out to the Bufador at night probably 10 times and have not seen a single other snake, so I guess I just got lucky.