Banded Geckos look a lot more delicate than they actually are. This is a San Diego Banded Gecko.

Counting species and subspecies there are 7 forms of banded geckos, genus Coleonyx, in the American West. Two of these, the Barefoot, C. switaki, and the Reticulated C. reticulatus, are larger than the remaining 5 and have very limited ranges. One, the Texas, C. brevis, is the easternmost and is smaller than any of the others. It is the remaining 4, all subspecies of the wide ranging Western Banded Gecko, C. variegatus, that we shall mention here. All have elliptical pupils and are nocturnal. The body is slender and between 2 and 3 inches long. The original tail (the tail is easily autotomized and often in some stage of regeneration) is about the same length as the snout-to-vent. Original tails are prominently banded.

The 4 subspecies of the Western Banded Gecko that occur in the USA are the San Diego, C. v. abbotti, the Tucson, C. v. bogerti, the Utah, C.v. utahensis, and the Desert, C. v. variegatus. Appearance differences are slight and it is best if you are interested in a particular form that you check a field guide for ranges.

Generally speaking though, the San Diego subspecies occurs on the Pacific slopes of southern CA. The Tucson form may be encountered in seAZ and swNM, the Utah race is restricted to swUT and immediately adjacent NV and AZ, and the Desert, by far the most wide-ranging of the 4, is found over much of AZ, NV and eastern CA.

Although these little geckos may be found beneath surface debris such as wood, cardboard, and rock by day, I’ve always found it a lot more fun to road hunt them at night. They are active, their light color contrasts well with dark pavement, and they cross roads in a series of darting rushes, often with their tail curled up over their back, this initially giving them the appearance of a large scorpion. Keep this similarity in mind as you jam your car into park, slam open the door, and rush out to slap a cupped hand of the little creature on the road. It’s not pleasant to be painfully surprised!

Juvenile Speckled Forest Pit Vipers are much grayer than the adults.

This pretty, rather large but slender lancehead of the primary Amazonian Rainforests is seldom seen and therefore poorly understood. The gray to olive green ground color (gray when juvenile, olive when adult) renders this snake all but invisible as it lies quietly coiled amidst the fallen leaves or, seemingly as often, on the mossy or lichenate trunks of fallen trees or forest lianas. Normal adult size is between 3 and 4 feet in length but may occasionally exceed 5 feet. Litter size varies from 2 to more than a dozen in number. Neonates reportedly vary from about 7 inches to 10 inches in length. The grayish color of the neonates provides no less camouflage than the green shades of the adults. At all stages of growth there are prominent darker bands are flecked heavily with the ground color and often terminate ventrolaterally with a light blotch. The iris of the eye is liberally flecked with black.

In bygone years this snake was referred to as Castelnaud’s Viper, Bothrops castelnaudi, and that name is still occasionally used today.

In more than 20 years of periodic Amazonian exploration I have seen only a single example of this species in the wild. But after seeing the remarkable camouflage of that one, I have never ceased to wonder how many unseen examples I’ve brushed by?

The finding of this blue phase speckled rattlesnake by friends had us doing a quick reversal in direction.
Our drive eastward started with a totally unintended delay. Jake and I had walked a wash known for its population of blue phase Speckled Rattlesnakes, Crotalus pyrrhus. Even Jake, who had walked much farther than I had found none. But as I had walked, a snakehook wielding pair of herpers, Mike and Nick, had passed me. We chatted a while and they went on their way. Meanwhile I returned to the car and Jake soon followed. I mentioned the other herpers and he said that they must have gone elsewhere for he hadn’t seen them. My comment was that I was pretty sure they were still in the wash.

Anyway, it was time to head eastward and Phoenix was soon far behind us. Too far behind us as it turned out, because Jake’s phone beeped and Nick (who was still in the disputed wash) said c’mon up. “We’ve got a beautiful blue speck here.” What to do now? We explained where we were and how long it would take us to get back to the spot. They kindly agreed to hold the snake so we returned over the 50 miles we had driven. From there, Jake laden with both his camera and mine, ran up the wash, photographed the snake with both cameras (I can no longer run) and after profusely thanking the duo and watching the snake crawl slowly back into its crevice, Jake ran back to the car.

We started eastward again. This time we actually made it out of AZ, through LA, and well into MS before deciding to find a herping road for that night. A likely road was found, a nearby motel had room for us so we were all set.

At dusk we realized that although there were herps on the chosen road there was also a goodly number of fast moving vehicles. But we persevered and by midnight we had added 2 species of water snakes, one of which was a beautiful big female Diamond-backed water, Nerodia rhombifer, a Texas rat snake, a Gulf Coast toad, and a Marsh brown snake to the trip total.

Time for the motel, then homeward. Florida beckoned.