It is spring here in Portal in the foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. The days are in the 70s and 80s now and the local reptiles are beginning to pop up from the winter rest of hibernation. A new year of reptile and amphibian life is beginning. What a great time to start a reptile blog!
The Ornate Tree Lizards and Eastern Fence Lizards are out sunning on the walls of our outdoor turtle enclosures. We have observed some rather large Sonoran Gopher Snakes in the yard or crossing nearby roads. Nancy has moved some smaller gopher snakes and a small rattlesnake from the road and placed them in safer environs away from the road. We found a rather dull looking male Desert Spiny Lizard on a recent outing. Soon all of the local herpetofauna will be out and around I can hardly wait.
On our facility the Russian Tortoises were the first to pop up this spring. Several came out to rest in the sun during warmer days in February. Now the Ornate and Desert Box turtle have started to join them. All of our aquatic turtles and Eastern Box Turtles are out now and all enjoy sunning beside their pool. About three weeks ago we found our first Red-Eared Slider hatchling swimming in one of the pools. These turtles quite often hatch in their underground nests during late fall or early winter (November-January) and remain in their nest until the weather becomes suitable for them. Past experience tells us that once the babies come out, freezing weather is a thing of the past. A new herp year is beginning.
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