We returned to Devil's River with Dan and crew to assist with the Rio Grande Cooter study again. It took us a while to get everything in order, so we were a bit late leaving Friday afternoon. Additionally, on the drive out we got distracted with. . .
another Western Diamondback Rattlesnake,
a multi-colored burro
standing on the side of the road,
[When we stopped for a picture, we learned that this was a very friendly burro!]
2 Texas patchnose snakes (Salvadora grahamiae lineata),
and didn't arrive until late in the afternoon. The rest of the crew had already caught 40+ Cooters by that time and were tired out, so we helped get dinner ready prior to the processing and data collection. Dan showed us the MASSIVE Gopher Snake that he had found on his drive out! It was HUGE and strong!
Kevin and I stayed up past midnight helping them process all those Cooters!
This was the smallest and the cutest of them all and is actually a different species
(a type of Pseudemys, but not sure which).
(a type of Pseudemys, but not sure which).
Even though the children had gone to bed much earlier, they slept in later than us.
Imagine that!
After breakfast, Christine took Kevin, Ian, and Erin
to release some of the Cooters and go swimming in the Devil's River.
Dallin opted to stay and play with his new friend, Forrest,
the son of one of the researchers from University of Austin, so I stayed with them.
We saw a Ground Skink and some type of Whiptail (couldn't get a good look at it).
Then I was able to noose a male Canyon Lizard (Sceloporus merriami), and
Dallin noosed a female. The male has the darker coloration on its belly.
It was exciting to find more new species of lizards!
We needed to get back for our Sunday commitments, so we left late afternoon.
On the drive out, Kevin stopped to photograph this old Scout Memorial.
And when we were back home unloading,
the missionaries stopped by for a visit and asked to play with our critters.
This is Elder Atagi holding Charcoal.
