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A gloomy morning sky.
Texas Longnose.
Centuroides on a stick.
I rolled out of the sack before seven o'clock the next morning, to find the sky completely overcast again. I took advantage of my early rising and took a long hot shower, and on my return found my companions still chasing snakes in dreamland. I grabbed my camera and put on a wide-angle lens. A pair of Chihuahuan Ravens accompanied me as I walked over to the empty campsite next to ours, and took shots of our camp against the cloudy backdrop.
As I walked by, a flash of color in the firepit caught my eye - it was a snake! I pulled a beautiful twenty inch Texas Longnose Snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei tessellatus) out from under a half-burned log. Now this was really something - catching snakes in camp wearing shorts and beach flip-flops! I set up my camera tripod, and took my time shooting this gorgeous snake, chuckling to myself, for indeed the early bird does get the worm!
The other fellows were amazed upon awakening to find that the tally had increased by one while they slept. After breakfast, Ken and Rick took their turns photographing the Longnose, during which the snake expelled blood and musk from its cloaca, while hiding its head in a coil. This defensive display is often seen with this species, a bit startling, since one's first supposition at the sight of blood is that the snake is somehow injured.
The morning's cloud cover eventually lifted, and we spent our day hiking around the park and exploring road cuts alongside I-90. Scaring up nothing more exciting than some Centuroides scorpions and a few merriami , we headed back to camp for a big afernoon meal. Pork steaks soon sizzled on the fire grate, and with baked beans and fiesta corn, we had a fine meal, all of us agreeing that food is much better when prepared and eaten outdoors.
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