# Found these whist spotlighting



## elapid68 (Aug 29, 2007)

Went spotlighting a couple of nights ago and here's a couple of critters we found.

1. Western Toad _Bufo boreas _
2. Glossy Snake _Arizona elegans
_3. Neonate Western Diamond Rattler _Crotalus atrox_
4. Western Diamond Rattler _Crotalus atrox
_5. Some big ass spider


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## bredli84 (Aug 29, 2007)

good stuff, still in daytona?


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## pugsly (Aug 29, 2007)

Na...

Thats just in Suburban Melbourne!


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## elapid68 (Aug 29, 2007)

Back home now (came back a couple of days early). 
We found them in southern Arizona on the last night we were there.


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## bredli84 (Aug 29, 2007)

got pics of the expo? 
that glossy snake is pretty cool


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## jamesr (Aug 29, 2007)

thats alsome!!
and ive never seen a glossy snake before


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## elapid68 (Aug 29, 2007)

Yeah the Glossy is a beautiful little snake. Vibrates its tail like a rattler (of course there's no rattle so it's silent) which is quite a strange sensation if you're not used to it.

Got quite a few shots of the Expo but they're on the laptop which belongs to one of the other guys I went with so I'll have to get them at a latter date.


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## planks (Aug 29, 2007)

are the glossys venomous ??


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## planks (Aug 29, 2007)

elapid68 said:


> 5. Some big ass spider


your rite it is big what type is it anyway


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## marcus09 (Aug 29, 2007)

cool pics


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## elapid68 (Aug 29, 2007)

The Glossy is a non venomous colubrid.
As for the spider, no idea what it is, just some bag ass spider with a huge nasty set of fangs.


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## elapid68 (Aug 29, 2007)

Just a couple of non herp shots :

1. Sunrise at the Grand Canyon
2. Rainstorm near Tucson
3 & 4. Sunset near Tucson


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## pugsly (Aug 29, 2007)

Awesome mate, must have been a great trip


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## elapid68 (Aug 29, 2007)

Apart from the multitude of flights, we hired a car and drove about 2,600 klms so we got to see some of the small towns and stuff away from the tourist type places. Once you get out of the big cities and onto the back roads, the country is quite pretty. Actually felt strange when I came home and tried to drive. I got quite used to driving on the wrong side of the road.


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## elapid68 (Aug 29, 2007)

elapid68 said:


> Went spotlighting a couple of nights ago and here's a couple of critters we found.
> 
> 1. Western Toad _Bufo boreas _
> 2. Glossy Snake _Arizona elegans
> ...



Damn I need to get some sleep, 1. should read Sonoran Desert Toad _Bufo alvarius_ & 2. should read Gopher snake _Pituophis catenifer_


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## dazza74 (Aug 30, 2007)

they are great pics you must have had a great time in the USOFA


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## reptilegirl_jordan (Aug 30, 2007)

the spider from a guess is a bird eating spider,iv keep a few bird eaters and that one looks like them...i could b wrong


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## mr_muesli (Aug 30, 2007)

Great pics Elapid68, the grand canyon sunrise and WOW, that's one big spider lol, hairy too,
Was the US a nice holiday, away from the perfectness of Australia??lol


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## Bung-Eye (Aug 30, 2007)

some great shots there mate. That glossy snake is awesome, and so is the spider.


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## moosenoose (Aug 30, 2007)

Fantastic pics. Looks like you had fun


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## hornet (Aug 30, 2007)

The spider is a bird eater but quite different to our aussie species. I'm not real good with north american T's but looks like an Aphonopelma sp


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## DiamondAsh (Aug 30, 2007)

*Good pics Elapid68, like the cactus one.*




elapid68 said:


> Went spotlighting a couple of nights ago and here's a couple of critters we found.
> 
> 5. Some big ass spider




*Pretty much how I describe most spiders I come across.*


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## whiteyluvsrum (Aug 30, 2007)

Some Nice Pics


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## Hickson (Sep 2, 2007)

The spider is a tarantula, one of the real ones (not the huntsman's that are often called that here). From memory, hers two r three species that range up into the States from Central America.



Hix


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## Retic (Sep 2, 2007)

Yes the spider is an Aphonopelma chalcodes, a tarantula. There are no bird eating spiders in North America.


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## Gugoil (Sep 5, 2007)

If you're ever in Arizona again check out Los Dos Molinos on Central Ave down near South Mountain, best Mexican food I ever did eat!


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## hornet (Sep 6, 2007)

boa said:


> Yes the spider is an Aphonopelma chalcodes, a tarantula. There are no bird eating spiders in North America.



Bird eaters is just another name for tarantulas altho half would never encounter birds small enough in their natural environment. Lucky for us aussies we have some true bird eaters.


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## Bendarwin (Sep 6, 2007)

Love the Gopher snake, should have snuck into the white house while George Dubya was out here.


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## Hickson (Sep 6, 2007)

hornet said:


> Bird eaters is just another name for tarantulas



The name Bird Eating Spider has always referred to species indigenous to Australia. Those in the America's are tarantulas.



Hix


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## hornet (Sep 7, 2007)

south america has plenty of species referred to as bird eaters.


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## Sdaji (Sep 7, 2007)

Hix said:


> The name Bird Eating Spider has always referred to species indigenous to Australia. Those in the America's are tarantulas.
> 
> Hix



That's weird, recently in the USA I met a few people who referred to their local tarantulas as "Bird-eating Spiders". Australians often call our Theraphosids 'tarantulas' and many argue that it's a correctly used term, taxanomically. I'm not sure how commonly used the term is over there, but I think as an Australian you could call a foreign tarantula a 'bird eating spider' just like you can call a foreign monitor a 'goanna' if you want to. Bird-eating Spider is a pretty bad name, but common names aren't exactly prone to being very good, and there aren't many strict rules about their usage (which is why they're so purely used and cause so many problems!).

In Texas I heard about Nephila spiders (Orb Weavers) which ate the local Humming Birds once in a while! Very impressive. I saw the birds but not the spiders


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## JasonL (Sep 7, 2007)

That because "Bird Eating Spider" sounds heaps better than " Bug Eating Spider" but then again, some large Sp. of tarantuas have been known to eat snakes, and "Snake Eating Spider" sounds even better


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## hornet (Sep 7, 2007)

i always use scientific name for australian Theraphosids as they dont really have common names unlike some exotics i.e. indian ornamental (Poecilotheria regalis), king baboon spider (Citharischius crawshayi), metallic blue ornamental (Poecilotheria metallica) etc. The best we have for common names is the australian blue leg (Phlogius sp PQ113), Stents bird spider (Phlogius sp "stents") and thats all i can really think of with ausse T's


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## Sdaji (Sep 7, 2007)

I went spotlighting and found a solifuge! Cooler than any Tarantula (at least to me!)  It was the highlight of the night... until I found a rattler - then all arachnids for forgotten for a while


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## Hickson (Sep 8, 2007)

Sdaji said:


> I went spotlighting and found a solifuge! Cooler than any Tarantula (at least to me!)



Cool! I've always wanted to see one, but never had the opportunity.



Hix


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## $NaKe PiMp (Sep 9, 2007)

sick picks,rattlers are awsome ive only seen the ones they have out the back at the reptle park
and the sound they make is quite loud


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## Sdaji (Sep 9, 2007)

Hix said:


> Cool! I've always wanted to see one, but never had the opportunity.
> 
> Hix



I was dying to right from the moment I found out that they existed!


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