Searching for rare snakes of Arizona

Dave travels to Arizona to search for the secretive mountain king snake and several of Arizona's protected rattlesnake species. This episode highlights the western diamondback rattlesnake, banded rock rattlesnake, ridge nose rattlesnake and the beautiful mountain king snake.

[@jaimeortega4940]

Great finds particularly the Ridge Nose and Mountain King!

[@NatureInYourFace]

Thanks, it was even better considering there were not a lot of snakes moving that week. It was really hot and dry all month so I was very surprised to find anything, particularly the mountain king!

[@TheWildlifeBrothers]

Man you nailed it with this one! Mountain king, ridge-nose, and banded rock in the same day is absolutely insane, great looking individuals too. Great work hiking all those up, I enjoyed this video a lot, as always.

[@NatureInYourFace]

What's up WL Bro's? Haven't heard from you guys in a while. Hope you're doing great. Thanks for watching. It was a decent trip considering it was last minute. It was a struggle to find herps due to the mini drought so I got lucky. Recently watched your Galapagos vid! Nice work guys!

[@RobertGlazier]

Last July, I was up at Empire Ranch, I almost stepped onto a Mohave. It was at the homestead. There are a lot of snakes there. Three years ago, I came in contact with a Gila Monster, male. Great video, and wear them snake boots.

[@NatureInYourFace]

Those are some nice encounters! You are proof that the best way to find cool reptiles in Arizona is to NOT look for them. Seems that the only time anyone ever finds a gila monster is when they randomly come across one by accident. I guess it doesn't help when you're from out of state and only have a few days to find what you're looking for. I have a nice pair of snake boots but I typically reserve them for either rainforest terrain or thick grassland, I watch every step when I'm not in that particular habitat. Thanks for commenting!

[@smetlogik]

Some dang cool herps in my book. You knocked it out of the park, even with the gila jerky.

[@NatureInYourFace]

The first few days were a struggle. Nothing moving. The back half of the trip was much better. Seems like you guys find all of these species in your sleep. Us Chicagoans got work to for it Smet. You're a lot more humble than me!

[@smetlogik]

@@NatureInYourFace You, my friend, are ready for Oxybellis, quadrangular, and palarostris.

[@NatureInYourFace]

@@smetlogik I like free upgrades! I'll cash in on those three in the fall!

[@smetlogik]

@@NatureInYourFace "I like free upgrades!" - well, upgrade maybe, FREE? Not so much.

[@NatureInYourFace]

@@smetlogik I was gifted a Smet Logic, "secret spots" Arizona guided tour gift certificate on my b-day last year. Now that you mentioned it, it expired on 4-05-24. Let me know what you charge. 😆 💰

[@francus7227]

Congratulations, Dave, on your banner day.... No Jeremy? Just my luck. I have a question specific to him. Maybe it applies to you. So here it is. As kids in Jacksonville, we would catch anole lizards, which we incorrectly call chameleons. We'd get them to open their mouths and bite our ear lobes. They would hang on and dangle like living earings... Did you or Jeremy ever do this, too? Thanks for the quality clip. I tapped the thumbs up 👍 button to feed the algorithm monsters.

[@NatureInYourFace]

Haha Dave took his son here as a graduation gift so I wasn’t there this time. Yes I definitely have worn the “Florida earrings” many times and still pass on the tradition to my kids and as a Florida initiation to adults as well. -JEREMY

[@francus7227]

@@NatureInYourFace Thanks...

[@NatureInYourFace]

@@francus7227 I guess you don't need to be a Floridian to do the anole earrings. I have pictures of my kids when they were little, wearing the lizards on their ears. I thought I was being original but apparently everyone does it. Thanks for feeding the algo! -Dave

[@herpingwithjc]

Awesome finds buddy!!! Congrats!!

[@NatureInYourFace]

Thanks JC, I see that you've been doing pretty good yourself out there in the Lonestar state!

[@JimHerbertOutdoors]

Beautiful az mtn king 😍 Been wanting a captive bred for years - maybe someday ill pick one up at Tinley.

[@NatureInYourFace]

Hope you're doing good Jim! There were several at the Tinley show a few months back but there's nothing quite like finding one in the wild. Jeremy and I just missed one a few years back. We just left the area and we received a text from the group we had been herping with after they found one. We were pretty bummed so finding this one took away the pain lol! Thanks for commenting!

[@timbow1356]

I only find ridge nose rattlesnakes and pyros. I've never seen any other species of reptiles. Btw, I live in Western Oregon and failed biology 🏅

[@NatureInYourFace]

Wait, you live in Oregon and you've never seen any other reptile species other than a ridge-nose and a Pyro? I get why you failed biology! 😭 I'm just messing with you. Do you mean you only found those two species when you visited Arizona? If that's the case, I'd say you did pretty good because those are two of the coolest reptiles in all of Arizona! Thanks for commenting!