The Coachwhip snake is found all over southern Arizona in one color phase or another. I do remember finding a black phase Coachwhip years ago at our home northwest of Tucson. Out in the grassland near our home in Cochise County I only find the red phase. Regardless of the color phase, these snakes are super fast and can also be super aggressive. These non-venomous snakes are amazing hunters and eat a variety small mammals, reptiles and birds. We’re so lucky to have these rascals out in the desert. Take a picture of this wonderful snake if you can find one holding still for any length of time, but don’t try to pick it up. Believe me.
I like the phrase in Arizona Flora about the Loasa family Loasaceae ; it is “remarkable for the diversity and peculiar structure of the...
Mammalogy was one of my favorite courses back in my college days. It was 1968 (early Anthropocene) and there were…
It is nice to have a yard full of native plants. Most of the time I have an idea what and where I want...