Monster in California!!

Gila monster, that is!


This monster was recently discovered by Ron Ruppert and his Herpetology class from Cuesta College on a field trip to the Mojave Desert. Gila monsters are seen quite rarely in California because our eastern desert hills consitute the westernmost part of their range.

Here are excerpts from Ron's description of the find:

"When we sighted the lizard it was on the road and moving slowly to the north. The road is gravel at this location. The time was 16:20h and the air temperature was 76 degrees F as measured by my vehicle temperature gauge. The date was May 2, 2009. The Gila stopped by the bush it was near and all 21 of us exited the vehicles to watch and photograph it. After a few minutes it turned back south and crossed the road under the lead van which was parked at this point. It slowly moved into a loose bush where it stayed as we watched it for about 20 minutes longer. It was in this bush when we drove away. The terrain was rocky and gully washed. The canyon was fairly narrow at this point. The area was well covered with shrubs. There was mesquite, acacia, creosote, burro bush and cheesebush in the area.

The animal was bright in color. The coral color was bright and the black was deep black and the tail was banded as you can see in the photos. It’s tail was plump and the lizard looked healthy. Estimated length was 14-16 inches total length but no measurements were taken.

I have been in contact with Kent R. Beaman (his email is Heloderma, the genus for Gila Monsters). He sent a paper he published about the status of Gila Monsters in California. Prior to our sighting there have been only 26 individual sightings in California in 153 years (and 9 of those may be of the same individual on different days). California apparently has a different "banded" subspecies, Heloderma suspectum cinctum, from the more common Arizona subspecies (although it's admittedly a small sample size!). The last sighting in the Providence Mountains ... was in spring 1982. The last sighting in the entire state was in spring 2006 in the Kingston Mountains over 70 miles to the north of the Providence Mountains ... Prior to that there was one sighting in spring 1999 far to the south (Cadiz Mountains) and previous to that there were two separate sightings in 1982. The rest were previous to 1982 extending back through the 70's, 60's, 1906 and back to 1861. This is a rare animal in California!"

Indeed, this is quiet a find, and made the morning news today in SLO Co. (although our dingbat morning news reporter couldn't keep herself from exclaiming "I'm glad they're in the Mojave and not here!").

Hail Heloderma!

New season, new quarter

I love spring! Both spring season, with the emergence of hungry, feisty amphibians and reptiles, and spring quarter, where I get to teach introductory biology and herpetology. Hail Herpetology! It's the king of classes. It just makes me... happy. Here are some random happy stories, naturally involving herps, from the last week.

We had our first amphibian lab in herpetology last week, so I went out hiking one morning with Cosmo to find some slender salamanders (Batrachoseps nigriventris) under logs on my property. This is the only time of year we have much rain, so it is green and beautiful with the oak trees leafing out:


Cosmo is in heaven on these walks (and so are the ticks who blend so stealthily into his coat, only to die an ugly death upon tasting Frontline, HA!). I might like ticks, but not when attached to the Dog-child.



About 100m from my house I spied the perfect log:

Alas, there was no slender salamander in residence. Instead I found this, a juvenile rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus). A much rarer sight!

(This snake was in the same spot and position yesterday morning, exactly one week later.)

By the way, I went on to find a salamander for lab, but my camera is macro-challenged and I don't have a photo that shows more than a worm-like blurr.

This week I took my herpetology class to catch amphibians and reptiles on some property near my old house, where the owner has converted man-made trout ponds into a herp haven. The students dove right in, quite literally, as their task included seigning (drag-netting) the pond to catch tadpoles:

One of the goals was to catch (and remove) these nasty bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) tadpoles, which are invasive species. I donated some to the professor who teaches developmental biology so the students can watch the nasty babies metamorphose into nastier adults.

We also caught treefrogs (Pseudacris regilla), newts (Taricha torosa), fence lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis), and a slender salamander and alligator lizard (Elgaria multicarinata):

Max likes gator lizard earrings:

Much fun was had by all, and I think everyone is ready for some more field trips (next on agenda: Poly Canyon lizards, Home for Wayward Turtles and Tortoises, Mojave Desert reptiles).

The next few weekend are going to be so great! Read it and weep:

This weekend: Ride in Army Blackhawk helicopter, followed by rattlesnake and lizard catching at field site

Next weekend: Roided lizard-catching in Poly Canyon (you'll see)

Next n. weekend: Herpapalooooooooooza!!!

Next n. n. weekend: More rattlesnake and lizard catching at field site

Next n. n. n. weekend: Mojave Desert field trip

Next n. n. n. n. weekend: I don't know yet, but it's a 3-day weekend and is sure to involve some sort of herping shenanigans

Speaking of shenanigans, check out the crazy pet tortoises! Blacktop decided she needed to spend the night on top of the two little ones, and they were thus pinned with no say in the matter:

Happy herping!!!

Let the Field Season Begin!

It's mid-March in sunny central California, and that means two things: reptiles and mayhem at Chimineas! Last weekend we had the first annual PERL field season kick-off party. Friends were in from out of town, many new students have joined the lab, and our favorite hormone testosterone is in the air (lizard and rattlesnake testosterone, that is), so we thought it right to celebrate. So PERL hosted a weekend event attended by about 35 people, with some snake-tracking, hiking, and evening festivities.

My students took people out radiotracking snakes, and looking for new ones. Only males were out! We found some out basking, like this one:

And some were peeking from under rocks but unattainable:

And some we managed to yank from under the rocks:

Jordan, an undergraduate in the lab, demonstrating perfect snake-tubing form:

A favorite spot for Western pond turtles:

Matt, a prospective grad student lucky to be visiting during the festivities, holding a turtle:

For the evening festivities, each student in PERL (plus some visitors) gave 5-minute presentations on their research. Here's the crowd:

My grad student Nick doing his presentation. Yes, that's a bull with a hat glued to it in the photo. We've switched from horses to cattle (and rabbits) as tick-breeding fodder.




And here are two undergraduates in the lab, Stephen and Ben, presenting their research. Yes, those are lizard tails sticking out of ice.

Now for the real fun:

The infamous hot tub:

And finally, it wouldn't be a party if Cosmo didn't join in the fun:

Honduras!!!

I rang in the new year my favorite way- Central American style, on a beautiful Caribbean island full of snakes and friends. The purpose of the trip was to continue research on the ecology of boa constrictors initiated by Chad Montgomery and others several years ago, and also to begin a new study of the host-parasite relationship between boas and ticks. I spent New Year's Eve last year on the same island, but this year's trip was much better than last year's, considering that we retained our luggage and everyone smelled much better.

It's a beautiful place, not just because it is crawling with boas and iguanas.

The island is fairly small, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in relief. To get to the really good boa spots (places with names like the "Honey Hole" and "Bee Draw"), you hike up some very steep trails and bushwhack through some dense tropical vegetation.

Look at all the airplants!

The island also has some giant orchids:

The boas tend to be stretched out on horizontal-ish branches near the ground (or, there are probably lots up in the canopy too, but the ones we see are near the ground).

When someone finds a boa, we catch it, quickly take a blood sample from the heart for later analysis of hormone levels, collect data on the habitat, and bag the boa for measurements to be done later in the lab. Here are Chad and I bleeding a boa in the field:

Since so many boas could be found with six people searching for them, entire afternoons were spent processing these boas in the lab.

Boats brought massive tourist crowds to the island each afternoon. The tourists were allowed to traipse around the island for a grand total of about 10 minutes before being herded onto the boats again, and if they were lucky enough to commence traipsing during an afternoon processing sesion, Tony or Chad would treat them to an up close and personal lesson about boas:

One new focus this year was quantifying the number and placement of ticks (Amblyomma dissimile) in order to examine how things like sex, body condition, and hormone levels of the boas relate to tick load. Ticks mainly congregated on wounds or scars on the boas:

In addition to our studies, some goofing off was had by all. There's snorkeling, hiking, swimming, exploring beaches, iguana-catching, etc. As usual my favorite extracurricular activity involved food. Our cook Jani showed us how to make tortillas from scratch. Yummy gooey manteca-filled tortillas. Yup, that's lard. That's what makes them actually tasty, unlike the heart-healthy cardboard we call tortillas here.

And of corse, no Cayos trip would be complete without a party or two or three.

New Year's Eve dance party Central American style (lots of food, straight booze, hyper children, and really, really bad hip hop music):

We finished up the trip with a day on the mainland. PJ got some choice garments at Carrion (yes, the department store does indeed appear to be named after rotting flesh):

And Honduras trips always end with some beers n cocktails at Ex-Pats:

This summer we'll be heading back down for a longer, hotter and sweatier trip!

... And here's a completely unrelated photo, simply to show off my very cute dog getting his first bath yesterday. He finally forgave me a half hour later, but a rawhide was exchanged in the bargain.

Cosmo!!!

Introducing Cosmo!

I brought him home yesterday, after six weeks of waiting that seemed like six months.

No, he's not named after the drink or the magazine. Nor is he named after Kramer, because then he would be Kosmo. Although I don't mind that so much, because he's a spaz. But, he is just Cosmo.


Right now he is spending all of his time sleeping, playing, and eating. He's adjusting well to his new home. A particularly poignant moment for me was when he spent 10 minutes sniffing every inch of Kuma's dog bed, which hasn't budged from its position next to my bed. He just wanted to know whose smell was on his new turf. :-)

There will be lots more pix later! We're going to the beach tomorrow.

The Kumonster

KUMA: May 1, 2001 - December 5, 2008

When I brought my new puppy home in 2001, I named her Kuma because she looked like a little bear cub (Kuma means bear in Japanese).




She came to be known by many other names, including Kumba, Kumbaya, Kumonkey, and especially (and perhaps most appropriately) the Kumonster. But to me, she will always just be the best dog in the world.

Kuma died unexpectedly on Friday from liver tumors that caused her to bleed internally. She felt sick in the morning, so I took her to the doggie ER, and had to put her to sleep later in the afternoon. She was 7 1/2 years old, too young. I thought I would have her with me for at least another few years. She was my best buddy.

Ever the optimist, I do have things to be thankful for. I am thankful that she got be spoiled in often ridiculous fashion for over seven good years. I am thankful that she got to snack on fancy dog treats from her nonna during visits at least several times per year. I am thankful that she got to sniper-lick the faces of many an unsuspecting house guest.

I am thankful that she got to hang out at the beach a lot.

I am thankful that she got to chase (and lose) many tennis balls in the ocean. I am thankful that my students spoiled her constantly at my house and at the field site:
Snoozing after a long day in the pool at the field site:
Playing volleyball with my grad students on Thanksgiving:
Staring longingly at the turkey remnants on Thanksgiving (and she got more than her share of scraps, if you call breast meat scraps!):
Hanging with Auntie Laini and dog brothers Darwin and Anakin.
Checking out the German Shepherd socks mom got from Auntie Christy for her birthday :
Hiking in Arizona with mom and Darwin:
Resting during a hike on the Central Coast:
Feeling nice and cool after a clean shave on a hot summer day:
Just laying around being beautiful:


I have a permanent reminder of Kuma, a "present" she gave me when I broke up a fight between her and Christy's dog. A broken finger that never healed right! (Kuma started it, by the way. :-)

I am thankful that she was loved by many people.

Last but not least, I am thankful that I had a couple of hours to say goodbye to her.

A last wrestle (kisses included, as always) with Marty:

I made a donation in Kuma's honor to the Woods Humane Society, our fabulous local no-kill shelter. Now some doggies, who weren't as lucky as Kuma to have a loving home, will get some nice holiday treats.

You can visit Kuma on Dogbook and virtually pet her. :-) http://apps.facebook.com/dogbook/profile/view/5263415#

Rest in peace, little baby. I hope there are lots of nice people to lick and quail to chase in doggie heaven.