South-West Texas, September 2019
- Paulo
- Sep 15, 2019
- 12 min read
Updated: May 19, 2020
This is at long last my first attempt at posting some kind of a mangled and rambled report for one of my many trips where I can’t rely on the photographic and narrative skills of my brother (primarily because, contrary to popular belief, he’s not there on all of them). As anyone who’s read Neil’s work ( https://northumberlandexplorer.weebly.com/ ) may have picked up (in between the actually interesting stuff) my camera has a habit of “malfunctioning” through absolutely no fault of my own at vital times, and he has almost disowned me as even the “video guy” too (I think a Costa Rican coral snake was the final straw there). So here is just me and my faulty camera (and trusty phone) trying to give a little something back to the herp community (or just my 3 loyal readers, I’m not fussy as long as someone enjoys something of it that’s fine). Please also see my **disclaimer** at end regarding the legalities of herping in the great state of Texas (and how I stuck to them)..
So, West Texas, finally a visit to the desert, and a dream destination for me for as long as I can remember. I arrived in Austin (from Newcastle via Amsterdam and Detroit) late and tired, and was told that my debit card would be no use in securing the hire car that I’d booked as it was “an Austin airport policy”. The quiet confidence of the Budget lad turned out to be slightly off the mark, this being more of a made up on the spot Budget policy than anything, so a new car (although not in terms of its age) sourced, I made my way off into the warm night air and to a local motel. It did turn out that oil levels were below minimum and there was no water in the screen-wash department, but it was a car, and at the time that’s what counted.
Austin to Ozona
I was up before sunrise in the hope of snaffling one of the local species in a greenbelt area just west of the city before heading out west, but my hopes of any plain-bellied Nerodia were slightly hampered by the lack of water in the local creek. Ah well, off to where I’ll definitely not be finding any water snakes. The habitat heading south and west of the capital goes into hill country, or wine country, before transitioning into the more arid semi-desert, all part of the Edward’s Plateau, before passing into the Trans-Pecos region’s various desert and desert-grassland habitats, eventually merging into the Chihuahuan desert in the borderlands.
My 1st night would be in the Ozona area, and after some afternoon thunderstorms had passed, twilight had a hot tropical feel as I headed towards my 1st rock-cut of the trip, and on route my 1st snake of the trip, a big Western diamond-backed rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). Known to seasoned US herpers as Atrox, and now known to me as that too, less due to the seasoning, more because it’s much quicker to write (and because with hindsight I know that it will feature again more than once in this tale). What a beast, it boated onto the road, then straight off it again, so I enthusiastically followed it into the scrub and under a tree, where it coiled up and I was able to take numerous dreadful videos and photos of it. My camera did actually malfunction, knocked in transit on the plane so I couldn’t use the screen or viewfinder.
No further snakes followed, but the cut-walking did provide sightings of my 1st ever ring-tailed cats, not a cat at all really (which explains why I quite liked them), more of a raccoon with the body of a pine marten, which were no doubt getting to all of the herps before I was. I was also visited by my 1st ever Texas Game Wardens in the early hours, lucky I had my hunting licence (with reptile and amphibian stamp) on-hand, as well as my hi-viz ECoW vest on-body. Distances between towns/sites in this part of the world are something else, and so I ended up sleeping in the back of the car for a couple of hours at around half-2 in the morning (just to stay fresh for the 4am drive onwards towards the motel and a few more cuts around there).
Alpine and the Davis Mountains
Day 2, I’ll still call this day 2 even though I feel like I’ve been without sleep for at least this amount of days. So off I head to the most north-westerly base of the trip, to lovely Alpine. A town that would knock Redcar out of the equation if you were asked the question, which town would you like to spend the long Bank Holiday weekend at, Redcar or Alpine TX? Gateway to the Davis Mountains as well as the Big Bend region (although gateway in the same sense that Newcastle airport is the gateway to SE Asia); so many spots within a mere 80-mile drive, just where to start!
I drove north into the beautiful Davis Mountains, a sky island area rising above the Chihuahuan desert flats, and within half an hour of the sun setting had walked-up my 2nd rattlesnake species of the trip, the impressive Eastern black-tailed (Crotalus ornatus). The 1st banded tail poking out of a crack from a Crevice spiny lizard (Sceloporus poinsettii) I noticed “roosting” on the sheer rock-cuts had me confused, but I’d soon get used to seeing these in place of the snakes I was hoping to find on these pale rock walls. My 3rd species of the trip came lower down in the early hours, a lovely juvenile Great plains ratsnake (Pantherophis emoryi).
Day 3, and an afternoon hike on a trail up in the mountains again, lovely scenery, but a flash of a tiny whipsnake (probably a juv. coachwhip) over the road was the only snake, although this sort of encounter was all I’d expect in the heat of the late-summer. The night was slow going, so much life on the road & road-cuts, scorpions, black-widows, skunks, peccaries, vinagaroons, but no snakes. Still, as I stood in the warm air eating cold pizza at midnight in the middle of the only road for miles around heading south through the Chihuahuan desert proper, I was just so happy to be there under the amazingly clear desert sky. I was even more happy to come across 2 delectable young Sonoran gophersnakes (Pituophis catenifer affinis) later on in the wee hours before the tiredness became too much and I had to call it a night.
I had a bit of a drive about the next day, looking for areas with road-cuts that I hadn’t located on google maps during my occasional stays at home during the summer in Northumberland and Scotland. A desert grassland area that looked good for some (legal) cruising later (before nightfall) provided some nice raptor sightings, including my 1st ever Swainson’s hawks along with a ringtail Northern harrier, distant Harris' hawk, and a less distant Loggerhead shrike.
I returned at dusk and was immediately met by a large Atrox heading out to flatten down on the edge of the pavement and take in the last of the day’s warmth. I was of course able to take some much better photos and videos of this one, it being daylight and it not my 1st ever snake in Texas and all. Of course I was. Rattler species no3 followed shortly after, a delicious Prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis). One of my target species then turned up, a beautiful young Long-nosed snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei) although I was confused by the lack of red at 1st look (apparently the ones from more arid regions are usually missing this colouration from their bands). Great so far! Then what I thought was my 4th rattler of the trip, a baby Mojave (Crotalus scutulatus) look-alike. Known to seasoned herpers as a “Scoot”, but not to me, partly because I could barely tell it from an Atrox (which it was), partly because Mojave is ok to write, and partly as I only get to write it once more anyway (spoiler, I do find one after all later that night, once photographic evidence was reviewed..).
The night-time activity was certainly a let-down in comparison, again the cuts didn’t provide, but a pack of coyotes did their best to scare the life out of me by all of a sudden going nuts behind me while I was concentrating on not finding snakes on one of the finest rock walls the Davis Mts had to offer. Seeing a half-eaten Javelina at my feet just prior didn’t help matters. Seasoned pig-hunters know this species as a collared peccary, but I doubt my 1st ever hunting licence qualifies me as a seasoned hunter. 1 actual Scoot (sorry, Mojave) and 1 more Atrox were seen that night, the latter steadily proving themselves to be the snake for every occasion.
Big Bend & Borderlands
The next day I headed 80 miles south, to the borderlands and close to the famous ghost town of Terlingua. I had just 1 night based in this area, partly due to the expense of staying in this remote area which is the gateway to Big Bend National Park, and partly as I only had 8 nights and everywhere seemed good to me! My home (for the 3hrs I would end up sleeping anyway) was a delightful place in the foothills of the Christmas Mountains located north of the Park. I knew this was my main chance at finding one of my most wanted (& realistic) species of the trip, the equally famous Trans-Pecos ratsnake (Bogertophis subocularis)- the “Suboc”! I’m not giving anything away when I say that “River Road” is one of the most sacred herping locations in the US. And it didn’t disappoint me.
A big storm blew in just as Magic Hour approached, but luckily cleared away from El Norte, staying menacingly on the Old Mexico side of the Rio Grande canyon walls for the entire night. The storm, still lighting up the sky to the south, had caused a number of rock-slides, adding to the slightly intimidating but mostly just awe-inspiring feel to the area and the evening as I set about on some of the most spectacular rock-cuts in West Texas. No surprises that these monstrous rock walls held onto their grey and orange banded secrets, but the surrounding habitat provided numerous Atrox, my 2nd Long-nosed snake, and my much-wanted Suboc! What a snake this is, the friendly bug-eyes, the swirly dreamy yellow patterning, those eyes… Anyway you get the idea, it’s an ok snake.
My next lifer of the trip came away from the Rio Grande, in the desert flats close to the Christmas Mountains, a lovely little Chihuahuan nightsnake (Hypsiglena jani), then another. Then more Atrox. In 5 visits to Florida I’ve seen Eastern diamond-backs on one occasion, after 5 days here I’d almost lost count of sightings of their western counterparts. Reluctantly I called it a night, although there wasn’t much night left to call.
Saturday morning and a look into the beast that is Big Bend National Park. Wow what a place. While the British model of drawing a wavy line onto a map around some sheep farms, shooting estates, and anywhere generally too hilly to put a Tescos, and then labelling the resulting shape “National Park” is one way to go, I prefer the American way. Miles of wilderness, mountains, canyons and desert, black bears, mountain lions, a handful of paved roads, backcountry camping (with permits), no hunting. Rangers to enforce the laws. This is how it’s done. Again, daytime and without a dawn start (as I pretty much went to bed at dawn) I wasn’t expecting snakes. Just views, with maybe a little sunburn. And I got both. Right after my 1st Greater earless lizards on the road in. And roadrunners, how great to finally be somewhere with roadrunners, actual roadrunners. My majestical photography probably doesn’t do justice (despite me having my mobile on automatic setting and everything) to the views at the top of the “lost mines trail”, where I watched 2 golden eagles soar out over the Chisos Mountains with the backdrop of mile upon mile of desert wilderness stretching all the way into Mexico, and possibly beyond. Well, probably not beyond, but definitely stretching well past the usual 2km viewshed.
Sanderson and last chances
I left the Park on the 2nd of the two roads that link it to the rest of the state, up towards Marathon, a town where it seemed like only yesterday I was pulled over by the local Sheriff, when in fact that was actually on Wednesday. This was on route to my final location of the trip, Sanderson, the grey and orange capital of the free world. On the way I did meet an orangey snake, this one was over 6ft long (or “longer than I am tall” as Nigel Marven would say, before describing clutch size and reciting his favorite “yellow on black” poem), actually more the colour of the back of my neck, and moving over the sunbaked road in front of me faster than the old Union Pacific. To my surprise, I managed to gently pull over the car, put on my yellow vest, and then take a calm leisurely stroll over the road and comfortably commandeer the friendly obliging Western coachwhip (Coluber flagellum testaceus). My memory gets a bit hazy at times, perhaps it went a little bit differently to that. Either way, what a snake, and I had it! The Malpolons of the New World, fast, big and err, pink. That made my day. Common to those seasoned (there I go again…) local herpers, but to me pure pink gold. Definitely a lucky break there.
Sanderson, that means pretty much one thing to US herpers, and the chances of me finding that one thing by myself on my 1st trip, with no local knowledge/help and probably also slightly later in the season than is ideal…we can see where this is going. I did manage my 1st ever Texas banded gecko (Coleonyx brevis), what a creature, a little rainbow jewel of a thing scampering about without a care in the world amongst the assorted giant dark arachnid nightmares. And my shots of it, ah yes super too. Three more Atrox also. A shed high up on a cut had me thinking I’d found something. And I had, a shed. It looked to be from a coachwhip, but happily I already had that one covered.
Two nights left…I hit the desert grasslands (well!) away from town in the late afternoon, hoping for my most wanted (realistic) species, a Mexican hognose. A young gopher had my heart racing for a second, but it wasn’t to be, 2 more young great plains ratsnakes, 1 mystery lightning bolt, and many more Atrox later, I was heading off for those white walls of excitement (and despair). Unfortunately, via the biggest disappointment of the trip, a big beautiful desert kingsnake (Lampropeltis splendida), found freshly hit on road, but still alive, on the way back east. This was up there with Subocs and Hogs in my 3 most wanted realistic species of the trip, but regardless of species to have to put an animal out of its misery is not a nice thing to have to do. Some snakes can take a bit of a hit, and you do find some alive and well with injuries that may have once looked like mortal ones, and I’m no Dr Nick, but this one wasn’t coming back. And it certainly isn’t now. No more snakes between that and hitting the motel well after 3am.
My final day, and final chance to see what else I could muster from this absolutely magical land. I was surprised to find it overcast and grey, so after 4 full hours of sleep I attempted to locate some black-necked garters at a rare bit of accessible stream-side habitat further north-east, with no luck. The usual private ranchland of this region looks like just miles and miles of the natural desert vegetation, although no doubt there are hidden oil operations and other blots on the landscape, but the landscape is just so vast. I’m not sure if any of these ranches are overstocked with cattle, it’s hard to believe so looking from the outside, but I did pass a rare sight close to Dryden of a tiny barren dusty garden-size enclosure filled with about 30 goats. This barnyard mess would be termed as conservation grazing in the UK, but happily was the closest I saw to a surplus of farm animals at any stage during the trip.
Evening storms rolled in, so I headed out east for the night, closer to the Pecos River and the borderlands in an attempt to outrun the rain. The atmosphere out here felt different, stiflingly hot with a strange gloaming hanging over the desert and the canyons. As darkness fell I at last managed a snake on one of the cut walls, another nightsnake. Storms to the west and over the adjacent border to the south continually lit up the night sky as I gradually made my way back west. It felt like I was on the Sicario set, and an abandoned car with window smashed out parked on one of the cuts I was walking added to the uneasy feeling, as did the slow searching of a Border Patrol truck close by. After a few hours I decided to change areas, so headed closer to the motel, for the final push, after being pulled over in the next county by Border Patrol of course. For loitering. Or looking at toads as I would call it. Rain had brought out the amphibians, and more Atrox cruising over the wet road like tubular hovercraft, but by the early hours the weather had moved off north and by 3am I finally had a 2nd snake on the rock-face. This one was too high to reach, but by its size looked to be a Trans-pecos black-headed snake (Tantilla cucullata). Definitely a large black-headed model anyway. My camera, being handily left back in the car, didn’t even have the opportunity to malfunction for this one.
And that was pretty much that. Just a brief scare in my delirious sleep-free state after my wallet slipped out of my pocket and down the side of the seat. Finding that again was almost like finding the alterna that I’d been dreaming about non-stop all summer. And still am now. Anyway, it was after 4am and I needed to sleep, pack & leave by half 7 for the long drive east to Austin. No fairytale ending, but it was a dream trip for me. I’ll be back though, until I see some orange and grey bands on a rock wall under the crystal clear Chihuahuan desert sky at 2am, I’ll have to be. Hopefully Neil can do us all a favour and do the camera work on the next one….
**Disclaimer**; while this trip may not have resulted in my first grey-banded kingsnake, it was certainly the first time I’d ever done something I actually enjoy doing while wearing a hi-viz waistcoat. All other state herping laws/regulations were also respected during the course of the trip, including the capture/photography (albeit bad) of herps only when off the shoulder of public roads. Any herps found at night on roads were located incidentally whilst driving at a speed (between rock-cuts) respectful of the wealth of wildlife that is active in these areas after dark, and with a desire not to contribute to the death of any of it, herps or otherwise. So there you are!
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