This coachwhip caused a scream, a screeching stop, and a marathon run. But it was worth it.At scream volume “---S T O P!!!!!!!!!! ---.“ Yep, Jake had managed to scare me again. I was in the passing lane doing about 65, about halfway past a slower car, when Jake yelled. Fortunately there was no one following tightly so I slammed on the brakes and before I stopped Jake was out of the car running east while we were heading west. I parked on the verge, clambered out and back about 50 yards Jake was stationed in the grass trying to decide what the snake he had seen and I had missed on the side of the road was going to do.

Hurry screamed Jake. Hmppphhh. Not likely. My days of hurrying are long gone. But I WAS closer now. Go out on the road and try to prevent it from crossing. It’s a coachwhip—a PINK coachwhip!

Now I understood. We had seen but failed to catch or even photo pink coachwhips on our last 3 trips to or through Texas. Suddenly I felt Jake’s excitement. I do love racers and racer relatives.

So I limped out in the road and rather than watching me the big snake was now watching me. Then it turned it’s head towards Jake and started to move. In an instant Jake was airborne.In anotjhert instant he was flat on his belly in the grass and sandspurs. And in a 3rd instant he was screaming OWWWWWCH! GET IT! Certainly no problem now because he alresdyu had the snake at midbody and the snake had him by the eyebrow. Interesting dilemma. I wondered which would win?

But heck I wanted to photo the snake as badly as Jake did, so I grabbed it before it decided to swallow Jake and the snake immediately transferred its attention to my arm. Oh well. It was worth it.

Right Jake?

And I guess it might have been because another 5 miles down the road we had a similar but a bit less bitey encounter with a second pink coachwhip.

I was so impressed with these snakes that I did something that I haven’t done in a long while. I decided that if Jake didn’t wish to retain the snake I would like to keep them. Jake didn’t, I did.

But here’s what I didn’t expect. Once home and caged these 2 adult coachwhips proved dog tame. The first time I fed them both slowly left the hidebox, came to cage top, and gently took each thawed mouse from my fingers. No biting, no striking. And both have continued to do so on each feeding attempt. Now I’m excitedly awaiting their next shed. They should be knockouts.

This quietly resting canyon treefrog probably hunkered down for the day.
Although the canyon treefrog, Hyla arenicolor, is common to abundant in many areas, its habit of hunkering down and resting quietly on streamside boulders and rock faces, in rock fissures, concealed in talus, or in crevices in concrete bridges where its pallid coloration renders it almost totally camouflaged, assures that this anuran is usually overlooked.

Having a disjunct range this 2” long treefrog occurs in the Davis and Chisos Mountains of TX as well as much of NM, AZ, and UT, then locally in southwest NV and CO. Its occurence is restricted to areas where at least a small amount of water is permanently available.

As are most treefrogs, this species is capable of remarkable and rapid color and pattern changes. By night it assumes a ground color of rather dark buff, gray, or olive, and is often patterned with extensive darker lichenate markings or well separated, dark-edged, rounded or oval dark markings. The darker markings may be little more than smudges or be well defined, and may be brown, green, or of an intermediate color. Markings may be best defined and ground color the darkest when the frog is chorusing on rainy nights. The lightest colors are assumed when the frog is resting quietly in the morning sun. At such a time the ground color is most apt to be an off-white, palest olive, or very light pinkish-tan, and the dark markings barely discernible. The dorsal skin is rough. A dark-bordered light spot is nearly always discernible beneath the eye. The concealed surfaces of the hind legs are orangeish. The vocal sac is rounded. Males have a dark throat skin; that of the females is light.

When small, tadpoles are quite dark in overall coloration, but with growth lighten considerably and may even appear nearly gold just prior to metamorphosis. The tailfin is usually conspicuously spotted, at least dorsally.

The call, a repetitious stacatto of hollow-sounding notes, is heard most often immediately prior to, during, or closely following rains.