The snake below is the smaller of the two, measuring about 2 1/2 feet in length.
The snake below is the larger one. It's a little over 3 feet long.
The two were found only feet about, while Devin and I were walking around at night. We heard them rattle before we saw them.
Devin holding the snake for the photoshoot.
Jeff keeping the rattler at a safe distance. (This should not be attempted by amateurs...only freaking studs.)
Basking in its habitat.
We ended up finding six spotted leaf-nosed snakes, but 4 of those were freshly killed (one even still moving).
Spotted leaf-nosed snakes aren't typically this common on roadways, but it was nice to see them out in good numbers. The one above was pretty little.
We were glad to see a large specimen alive on the road, too. It was the last snake found of the night.
We also found a couple shovel-nosed snakes, and thankfully, no dead ones. We got some nice defensive posture shots. I had never seen a shovel-nosed snake posture like this and strike, so it was a lot of fun to see.
This little one gave us some good pics. I like how he's almost totally black and white. There's a very slight pinkish hue.
This little shovel-nosed was our first snake of the night. It was out on the road just after dusk.
This was the larger shovel-nosed snake we found.
This guy had more of the usual coloration with the alternating red, yellow, and black.
Shovel-nosed snakes are an attractive species. Seeing the habitat during the day the next morning was a little bit of a surprise, though, because it was more rocky than I was expecting.
We went to the Laguna Mountains the next morning to look for mountain kings, but we would have no such luck this day. We did, however, find good habitat and uncovered four western skinks. Mountain kingsnakes will have to wait until next time, I guess.