SC Mt. Herping

A few weeks back a handful of us went out for a little spring herping in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We had a productive day even if we struck out once again on L. zonata. I am bordering on Adam Dunn territory for this species. On the day we got 9 species of herps. Not pictured in this blog post are: Arboreal Salamander, Slender Salamander, Alligator Lizard (Likely Southern), Western Fence Lizard, and Ensatina. To make up for it I included photos of two non-herps.

Neonate Western Rattlesnake, Crotalus oreganus

Uroctonus mordax, I believe. Two different subspecies have been described in the area.

The prize of the day. A very small Pacific Giant Salamander, Dicaptodon tenebrosus

Young Western Skink, Plestiodon skiltonianus

Adult Western skink with an almost thrown tail (not because of anything we did. We found it that way)

A missed focus shot of a juvenile Santa Cruz Black Salamander, Aneides niger. There is little to no yellow in the armpits which distinguish it from the juvenile Arboreal Salamander which we also saw. I really should have taken a picture of one for comparison.

Banana Slug AKA Dicamptodon dinner

And a few additional images of two of the individuals above.












All in all a good day.