SWCHR BULLETIN Volume 4, Issue 3 Fall 2014 ISSN 2330-6025 Conservation – Preservation – Education – Public Information Research – Field Studies – Captive Propagation The SWCHR BULLETIN is published quarterly by the SOUTHWESTERN CENTER FOR HERPETOLOGICAL RESEARCH PO Box 624, Seguin TX 78156 www.southwesternherp.com email: [email protected] ISSN 2330-6025 OFFICERS 2013-2014 COMMITTEE CHAIRS PRESIDENT AWARDS AND GRANTS COMMITTEE Toby Brock Gerald Keown VICE PRESIDENT COMMUNICATIONS COMMITEE Gerry Salmon Gerald Keown EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS COMMITTEE Gerald Keown Toby Brock BOARD MEMBERS AT LARGE NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE John Lassiter Gerald Keown Orion McElroy D. Craig McIntyre MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE Toby Brock BULLETIN EDITOR Chris McMartin CONSERVATION COMMITTEE Robert Twombley ABOUT SWCHR Originally founded by Gerald Keown in 2007, SWCHR is a 501(c)(3) non-profit association, governed by a board of directors and dedicated to promoting education of the Association’s members and the general public relating to the natural history, biology, taxonomy, conservation and preservation needs, field studies, and captive propagation of the herpetofauna indigenous to the American Southwest. THE SWCHR LOGO JOINING SWCHR There are several versions of the SWCHR logo, all featuring the For information on becoming a member please visit the Gray-Banded Kingsnake (Lampropeltis alterna), a widely-recognized membership page of the SWCHR web site at reptile native to the Trans-Pecos region of Texas as well as http://www.southwesternherp.com/join.html. adjacent Mexico and New Mexico. ON THE COVER: Banded Rock Rattlesnake, Crotalus lepidus klauberi, Hidalgo County, NM (Travis Dimler). This photograph is from a portfolio that won Travis ©2014 Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research. The SWCHR the SWCHR’s 2013 H. F. Koenig Award for Excellence in Herpetological Photography. Bulletin may not be reproduced in whole or in part on any web site or in any other publication without the prior explicit written consent of the Southwestern Center BACKGROUND IMAGE: Elephant Tusk, Big Bend National Park, TX (Chris for Herpetological Research and of the respective author(s) and photographer(s). McMartin) SWCHR Bulletin 27 Fall 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS A Message from the President, Toby Brock 28 Highlights from the NAFHA 2014 Field Meeting, Mike Pingleton 29 An Observation of Coachwhip (Coluber flagellum) Predation of a Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) in Texas (Serpentes: Colubridae), David Kneer 30 Musings of a Desert Tortoise Naturalist, Hanna Strauss 31 Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) Use of Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus sp.) Root Structures as Refugia (Serpentes: Viperidae), Terry Cox 35 A Series of Unfortunate Escapes: Jumping/Climbing Ability of Two U.S. Coleonyx Species (Lacertilia: Eublepharidae), Chris McMartin 37 Comments on the Recent Proposed Revision of the Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum) Complex (Serpentes: Colubridae), Tom Lott 39 Book Review: The Invisible Ark: In Defense of Captivity, by Dave and Tracy Barker, Robert Twombley 42 A CALL FOR PAPERS Are you a field herpetologist or a herpetoculturist working with species native to the American Southwest? Do you have a paper or an article you have written for which you would like to find a permanent repository? Want to be assured you will always be able to share it with the world? Submit it to the SWCHR Bulletin for possible publication. Submitted manuscripts from SWCHR members, as well as non- members, will be considered. To be accepted for publication, submissions must deal with herpetological species native to the American Southwest. Such topics as field notes, county checklists, range extensions, taxonomy, reproduction and breeding, diseases, snake bite and venom research, captive breeding and maintenance, conservation issues, legal issues, etc. are all acceptable. For assistance with formatting manuscripts, search ‘scientific journal article format’ on the internet and tailor the resultant guidance to suit. Previously published articles or papers are acceptable, provided you still hold the copyright to the work and have the right to re-publish it. If we accept your paper or article for publication, you will still continue to be the copyright holder. If your submission has been previously published, please provide the name of the publication in which it appeared along with the date of publication. All submissions should be manually proofed in addition to being spell checked and should be submitted by email as either Microsoft Word or text documents. Send submissions to [email protected]. SWCHR Bulletin 28 Fall 2014 A Message from the President It is fall again, which means “back to school” for many people, of all ages—and on that subject, I would like to remind everyone that we are sending the SWCHR Bulletin to various universities, and it can be easily accessed by the students and faculty of these institutions. I would also like to speak to any students of these universities who may be reading this, and let you know that we are always looking for articles, papers, and natural history notes—you don’t have to be a member to submit and have your work published here. Though the SWCHR Bulletin is not currently a peer-reviewed publication, it fills a needed niche as a good home for amateur works (as well as those of degreed biologists) which may inspire further research. Although you do not have to be a member to submit articles or papers, we hope that you will have a look around the website, check out our other Bulletin issues, and consider joining us a member—Student (under 18) and Collegiate (any age) memberships are available at discounted rates. In this issue of the Bulletin, we have some very interesting observations and articles to offer. Tom Lott offers some comments about the recent proposed revision of the Lampropeltis triangulum complex. Our editor, Chris McMartin, details his experiences with escapes of captive specimens of two species of Coleonyx. Mike Pingleton gives us his account of the recent NAFHA meet in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, which several SWCHR members attended. Terry Cox tells us about a Crotalus atrox residing on his property in southern Arizona, and its interesting choice of refuge. Robert Twombley reviews The Invisible Ark by Dave and Tracy Barker. Hannah Strauss gives a nice account of being onsite naturalist at the Desert Tortoise Research natural Area. David Kneer notes an interesting field observation of a Coachwhip preying on a Copperhead. Much of the southwest has recently been experiencing excess precipitation, and hopefully this will work to the good for the herpetofauna and other wildlife of the region. This is often the time of year during which I see the most herps of the year here in south Texas—this being the wettest part of the year, on average, in this area. I often think of the fall as “rat snake season”, as I usually see lots of our two species of Pantherophis out and about during daylight, as temps begin to cool down. I hope it is a great fall season for herps all across the southwest! SWCHR Bulletin 29 Fall 2014 Highlights from the NAFHA 2014 If NAFHA meetings and field trips were simply about padding Field Meeting one’s life list and other selfish pleasures, there would be little point in writing up reports like this one. Data collection in the by Mike Pingleton field is an established element of recreational field herping, and NAFHA members are very good at recording photo vouchers Over the Labor Day long weekend, field herpers from all points and locality data for herpetofauna encountered in the field. of the compass converged on the southern borderlands of Dave Weber (AZ) and Tim Warfel (CO) were instrumental in Arizona and New Mexico. The occasion was the annual field obtaining scientific permits from Arizona and New Mexico that meeting of the North American Field Herping Association covered data collection activities for the assembled group. The (NAFHA). The meeting location changes each year; the 2012 permits allowed attendees to detain animals for photographs, meeting was held at the famous “Snake Road” in southern and to record localities and physical data, before releasing the Illinois, and in 2013, the coastal pine forests of North Carolina herps at their point of capture. Arizona herps found “Dead On played host. It was time for a swing out west, so this year the Road” (DOR) were handed in to Dave Weber, who turned them meeting was held on the eastern slope of the Chiricahua over to the fish and game folks. In the first two weeks since the Mountains, with activities centering around Portal, Arizona, and meeting ended, several hundred data records have been entered nearby Rodeo, New Mexico. Many of the attendees booked in the Herp Education and Research Project (www.naherp.com) rooms in the lodge at Portal, or camped nearby in the ‘Cheery and HerpMapper (www.herpmapper.org) databases, with more Cows,’ as the mountains are sometimes called. The very fine to follow (as per usual, I am behind everyone else in this regard). Chiricahua Desert Museum in Rodeo was another focal point for visiting herpers. The Orianne Society’s Dirk Stevenson presenting on some of the organization’s current projects. Photo by the author. A Chiricahua Mountains vista, Cochise County, Arizona. Photo by the author. NAFHA meetings also feature one or more presentations related More than seventy people attended this year’s event. NAFHA to field herpetology. Speaking at the community center in meetings draw a fair amount of local and regional herpers, but Rodeo, guest speaker Dirk Stevenson described the projects and license plates on rental cars can be deceiving—herpers came activities of the Orianne Society. Orianne describes its mission from all over the United States, and from Ontario as well. For as “science-fueled, boots-on-the-ground conservation;” some of some, it was their first taste of the Sonoran life zone and its rich its species-based projects include Appalachian Timber herpetofauna.