Ambient temperature about 77° F
Smallest I’ve encountered. Shell was approximately 4” X 3”. Air temperature was 70F.
waiting on the date. I'm leaning gilberti but my first thought was skiltonianus.
Observation collected by Bill Sloan, Death Valley National Park wildlife biologist.
36.24661, -117.07641.
11S 0493135E 4011304N
The skink was living in a wash west/south of the parking lot at the charcoal kilns. It was living in the soil layer below the charcoal layer, around 20 inches down on the side of the cutout. From the Munsell scale, it was in 7.5YR 3/1, very dark gray soil.
Found at an abandoned mining camp.
Maybe? They were on almost every Arctomecon merriamii plant in the area.
She came out and began foraging after about 30 minutes.
~1 yr old based on measurement
Found on the trail. Possibly the same individual as seen before but darker in color.
Two juveniles and a larger adult.
1/2 mile above the Big Pine Road.
Grassy openings among chaparral and oaks
With Gopher Snake it had just killed. The coyote was joined by its juvenile pup and then the male. She chased the male away to have the meal to herself and letting the juvenile watch.
One of our team was called to remove a snake in San Diego. This is what he found. No idea if escaped pet or naturally occurring. Finding an albino is incredibly rare
Front left limb missing.
Large adult male desert tortoise; possible old BB shot wound on carapace, otherwise healthy
Fully black individual Found by Tim Dayton. Was crawling just off the road when found. Retreated down a hole when released.
Neonates atrox and scutulatus found just a few feet from each other. The first 3 photos are as found. This observation is for the scutulatus.
Bones & skull found in gully on hillside.
Found by another group of field herpers who were kind enough to let me photograph it. It was originally seen crossing the road from a rocky hillside about 2-3 minutes before the time stamp shown. It was huge, both in length and width, and was probably a gravid female. The cloud remnants of tropical storm Eugene were overhead during the observation.
The only other car I saw that night went right over this snake! I found it in the defensive ball position. I set it down and watched in unravel, which it did sort of in an odd manor. I felt the snake throughout its body but couldn't really feel or notice any injuries. I put it in a secluded spot off the road and checked on it periodically. The 2nd time it was in the same spot but it reacted to my touch..good sign. The 3rd visit, an hour since I found it, it was gone, so I hope that means it will be fine and have a long healthy life!
Smallest desert tortoise I’ve ever seen.
Crotalus oreganus eating Sauromalus ater
Adult male with strange body feather wear, giving the bird a very gray appearance. Flaring gorget feathers too long for Anna’s and overall gorget color intermediate between Anna’s and Costa’s. Hunched posture but seemed bigger than adult male Costa’s. Best pics I could get, the gorget looked very pink in the field.
Flipped this baby under a rock.
I'm guessing that this was mountain lion predation, but I'm not certain because the carcass is so intact. It appears to be an older male. The tips of the horns are very worn down. Hard to tell how long it has been dead
Anza Borrego
One of three youngsters seen
Anza Borrego
Tag #1075
Male and female snakes mating.
Photo and observation by M. Fleming. Emailed directly to @gregpauly.
Photo and observation by J. Feliciano. Emailed to nature@nhm.org after learning about research project on Nextdoor.
Bifurcated tail
Possibly a result of eating rodents loosened by rodenticide.
Large brown and yellow banded adult, found under a coverboard. had part of its tail tip missing. Musked and deficated when handled. San Diego County, CA
Heard a rustling noise on the side of the trail and looked down to see this large adult horned lizard.
Saw this strolling down the road and thought, "Oo, coyote!" Stopped, took pics. Didn't move. Got out, took pics. Didn't move. Pretty much walked right up to it, didn't move. Ultimately decided I had been hustled: it forces you to pull over, then waits to fed. Wiley.
10 Foot male White shark stranded off Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz, CA yesterday. The white shark appeared to be sick and stranded. Despite team effort to release it back into the water; it continuously showed up back at the shore break.
The shark did not recover. Arranging follow up recovery and formal lab necropsy, hopefully at local UCSC lab or CDFW or NOAA facility to determine causes. Speculations are that this shark, a sub adult male white shark has stranded due to a Carnobacteroum Infection documented to be killing related species of mako sharks, salmon sharks and thresher sharks (Lamnid/Lamniforms sharks)