New Additions in 2022

These are some of the new pictures, sounds, and video that I have added to the site in 2022.
Most of these were generously contributed by photographers other than myself. I'm too lazy to list everything that I add myself. Pictures and video are listed under the month when I added them, not necessarily when they were taken or donated.

The links lead to pages which include thumbnails and other links to the new content. You will have to search the page to find them, but most of them are usually put at the bottom of the gallery of thumbnails of the featured animal.
The most recent additions to the site are on top of the list found below.
A list of additions to the site in 2021 can be seen here.





December


Ryan Sikola contributed a picture of a Yellow-Eyed Ensatina's big eyes a picture of a Garden Slender Salamander from the population that was introduced in Bakersfield, a series of pictures of a juvenile Arboreal Salamander eating some kind of insect larva or worm, and a picture comparing the faces of a Lesser Slender Salamander and a Black-bellied Slender Salamander which occur together but are hard to differentiate.




November


Yuval Helfman contributed pictures of a Forest Sharp-tailed Snake from San Mateo County.

Stuart Young contributed lots of pictures from trips to Baja California - a very dark Peninsula Banded Gecko - C s. switaki, Mearn's Rock Lizard, Wiggins' Night Lizard, Cedros Island Horned Lizard, Coronado Skink, Baja California Nightsnake, San Diego Nightsnake, Baja California Ratsnake, California Lyresnake, Variable Sand Snake, and Three-lined (Mexican Rosy) Boa, and a Garden Slender Salamander.

Ryan Sikola contributed pictures of a juvenile Lesser Slender Salamander - a minor minor, and a Coast Gartersnake eating a toxic California Newt.

Ryan Sikola contributed pictures of some salamanders found in California only in Del Norte County - Dunn's Salamander and Clouded Salamander.

Paul Maier contributed a picture of a female Yosemite Toad.

Garth Weals contributed pictures of a Red Racer at his deser water fountain.




October


Dan Wells contributed several nice pictures of aberrant morph California Kingsnakes, including one that is missing its scales.

Marcus Rehrman contributed pictures of herps from the Pacific Northwest - Northern Rubber Boa, Pacific Gophersnake, Northwestern Pond Turtle, Skilton's Skink, Pygmy Short-horned Lizard, Coastal Tailed Frog, Northwestern Salamander, Coastal Giant Salamander, Southern Torrent Salamander, Columbia Torrent Salamander, Cascades Torrent Salamander, Siskiyou Mountains Salamander, Western Long-toed Salamander, Central Long-toed Salamander, and Oregon Slender Salamander.

Brian Hubbs contributed pictures of a bright yellow Desert Banded Gecko found near Yuma and another one reported to have been found near Thousand Oaks in Ventura County, which is out of the known range of the species.

Ryan Sikola contributed pictures of a juvenile California Glossy snake from an uncommon location - San Luis Obispo County.

Yvette Watson contributed some pictures of a Red Racer eating a juvenile Northern Mohave Rattlesnake near Barstow.




September


Lauren Clark contributed pictures of a very cool possibly xanthic Cascades Frog from a high-elevation lake in Trinity County.

An anonymous contributor let me use pictures of a very dark Forest Alligator Lizard from Mt. Tam.

Kevin Hintsa contributed pictures from the Bay Area of a California Red-legged Frog and a California Red-sided Gartersnake, and a picture of a Mojave Sidewinder coiled up and buried in sand in ambush mode.

Ryan Aberg contributed some pictures and video of high-mountain herps from Northern California - Cascades Frog, Boreal Toad with eggs, a Long-toed Salamander larva eating a Boreal Toad tadpole, a neotenic Coastal Giant Salamander video, and a Valley Gartersnake.

Ryan Sikola contributed pictures of a nice orange California Mountain Kingsnake from Santa Cruz County.

Bradford R. Norman contributed a picture of a Northwestern Pond Turtle from a rare location - Del Norte County.

Colin Miller contributed a picture of a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake with some green coloring.

Yuval Helfman contributed a picture of a juvenile Pacific Gophersnake.




August


Jaye B contributed a picture of a juvenile Long-nosed Leopard Lizard eating a juvenile Great Basin Whiptail near Bishop.

Joel Germond contributed a picture of a hawk with a freshly-killed San Diego Gophersnake in San Luis Obispo County.

Ryan Sikola contributed pictures of a Western Spadefoot from Santa Barbara County.

James McCloskey from North Bay Rattlesnake Removal out of Napa, CA contributed a picture of a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake he was called to remove from Contra Costa County that has a green tint.




July


Faris K contributed pictures of San Francisco Gartersnakes, California Nightsnakes, a Western Yellow-bellied Racer, Northern Rubber Boas, a Pacific Gophersnake, and a California Kingsnake.

Yuval Helfman contributed a picture of an unusual Northern Pacific Rattlesnake that might be lacking black pigment.

Mark Hilands contributed a picture of a very colorful Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake.

Rowan Moore Gerety contributed a picture of a black Rough-skinned Newt found in a mountain lake.

Ryan Sikola contributed pictures of an Arroyo Toad.

Travis Raszkowski contributed several pictures of a supposed Red Diamond Rattlesnake found in eastern San Diego County that, except for some divided first infralabial scales, has every bit the appearance of a Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake and made a great illustration of the problem with identifying rattlesnakes in this area.

Zeev Nitzan Ginsburg contributed pictures of a Long-nosed Leopard Lizard, a Southern Desert Horned Lizard, Chuckwallas, a Desert Tortoise, a Mohave Sidewinder, a Southern Pacific Rattlesnake, three Rosy Boas, Long-nosed Snakes, and a San Diego Gophersnake.

Peter Johnson contributed a picture of a dark San Francisco Alligator Lizard from the Mendocino/Sonoma intergrade area.

Ryan Sikola contributed pictures of a big old Santa Cruz Gartersnake.

Susan Schlosser contributed a picture of a gravid Western Sagebrush Lizard from Trinity County.






June


Grigory Heaton contributed lots of pictures: San Bernardino Ring-necked Snake, Northern Desert Nightsnake, Spotted Leaf-nosed Snake, Western Black-headed Snake, Mojave Patch-nosed Snake, Great Basin Gophersnake, California Lyresnake, Inyo Mountains Slender Salamander, Black Toads, California Treefrog, Red-spotted Toad, Desert Banded Geckos, Southern Desert Horned Lizard, Desert Night Lizard, and Sansdtone Night Lizard.

Ben DeDominic contributed pictures of a Foothill Yellow-legged Frog and a Blainville's Horned Lizard.

Noah Morales contributed pictures of a neonate Pygmy Horned Lizard, an Oregon Gartersnake, and several Siskiyou Mountains Salamanders including a bright red-striped juvenile.

Andrew Louros contributed several pictures of the newly-described Arguello Slender Salamander.

Patrick Walker contributed pictures of a colorful little juvenile Wintu Shasta Salamander and two Shasta Black Salamanders in cracks in a cave.

Fred Booth contributed pictures of a Southern Pacific Rattlesnake eating a rat.

Ryan Sikola contributed some pictures of Panamint Rattlesnakes from Inyo County, a Greenhorn Mountains Slender Salamander from Tulare County, and a dark Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake from lava fields.

Joel Germond contributed pictures of a dark green Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, a Variable Groundsnake, and a Southern Desert Horned Lizard.

Hale Garcia-Dean contributed pictures of a Desert Striped Whipsnake eating a pocket mouse.

Yuval Helfman contributed pictures of a California Whiptail and a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake.

Wim de Groot contributed pictures of a California Whiptail.




May


Bill Bachman contributed a picture of a Great Basin Fence Lizard digging a nest and then what the location looked like after she laid her eggs and concealed the location.

Adam Clause contributed pictures of California Lyre Snakes, including one from a recently-documented area in the Mesquite Mountains.

Warren & James Koch Contributed pictures of a very long San Diego Alligator Lizard that measures more than 16 inches long.

Connor Stone contributed pictures of a Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake he found in San Bernardino County.

Gail Jackson contributed a picture of a gartersnake in Mendocino County eating a banana slug. The species is hard to determine so I have filed it under Coast Gartersnake and Oregon Gartersnake. It's one of them, take your pic, but what a tasty meal...

Brian Hubbs contributed a picture of a juvenile Giant Gartersnake from Colusa County and an exceptionally green Eastern Yellow-bellied Racer from Nebraska.

Teejay O'Rear contributed pictures of a Foothill Yellow-legged Frog from the Sierra Nevada along with habitat pictures from a few different Sierra rivers, a colorful Sierran Treefrog, Sierra Newt, and Rough-skinned Newt.

Kenny Elliott contributed pictures of a mating pair of Red Diamond Rattlesnakes and a Texas Spiny Softshell.

Chris Mayer found two striped phase Pacific Gophersnakes along with a blotched snake, apparently mating, and contributed some pictures.

Phil Gervato contributed pictures of a red phase Coast Gartersnake from Monterey county and a Forest (California) Alligator Lizard with green coloring.

Ryan Sikola contributed pictures of a Big Springs Legless Lizard from Kern County, a Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snakefrom Imperial County, and a Rosy Boa, a Long-nosed Snake, a California Lyresnake, striped and banded Variable Groundsnakes, and a Mt. Lyell Salamander, all from Inyo County.

Neo S contributed pictures of a California Striped Racer.

Yuval Helfman contributed pictures of a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake with some irregular dark blotches, a Forest (California) Alligator Lizard and an American Bullfrog.




April


Ryan Sikola contributed pictures of a nice dark colorless Mohave Shovel-nosed Snake and a more typical one, a Speckled Black Salamander, and a Northwestern Salamander.

Neo S contributed pictures of a California Mountain Kingsnake from Santa Clara County along with two species that were found in San Benito County, a new location for them on this site - a Long-nosed Snake, and a California Glossy Snake.

Megan McManama contributed a picture of a Red Racer from Mono County.

Grigory Heaton contributed some pictures from Santa Rosa Island, the first for this site - including several pictures of the island itself, an Island Fence Lizard and a Channel Islands Slender Salamander.

Ryan Sikola contributed pictures of a Southern Desert Horned Lizard and a California Mountain Kingsnake with an amazing view, a Wandering Salamander, and a Southern Torrent Salamander.

JO Whitehouse submitted pictures of a California Nightsnake from Vacaville, in what might be a range extension for the species.

Yuval Helfman contributed pictures of a Forest Alligator Lizard, a juvenile Northern Pacific Rattlesnake with a huge meal inside, and a Pacific Gophersnake.

Ryne Starling contributed pictures of a male Western Fence Lizard from Napa County with an amazingly black and bright blue venter.

Faris K contributed lots of interesting pics: California Whiptail, a California Kingsnake from Alameda County and another one eating a Pacific Gophersnake in Santa Clara County, California Striped Racers, a Pacific Ring-necked snake with a very unusual venter and a melanistic one that is completely black, California Nightsnakes, California Mountain Kingsnakes, San Francisco Gartersnakes, California Red-sided Gartersnakes, and Coast Gartersnakes of various color phases including the flame phase, a brown phase, and one that is black and white.

Max Benningfield contributed pictures of a very weird Ensatina from Marin County - orange with dark blotches.

Jorah Wyer contributed a picture of a Baja California Collared Lizard from the northernmost part of its range near La Quinta.

Joel Germond contributed pictures of a Southwestern Pond Turtle, a Coast Gartersnake eating a fence lizard, and a bright yellow striped Diablo Range Gartersnake.

Ivan Vershynin contributed pictures of a San Diego Gophersnake with an unusual partly-striped back.




March


Marcus Rehrman contributed several pictures from Butte and Santa Cruz counties - breeding Sierra Newts, Coast Mountain Kingsnake, Western Yellow-bellied Racer, Northern Pacific Rattlesnakie, and Valley Gartersnake.

David R Ferry contributed a picture of a Common Snapping Turtle from a location not on my map.

Senchal and Robert Hatton contributed pictures of a bright orange Great Basin Fence Lizard they saw in Pasadena. This one does not appear to be the same as the others in my collection of spiny lizards that appear to be painted. I think it might be due to aberrant pigmentation.

Grigory Heaton contributed pictures of Blainville's Horned Lizard, San Diego Nightsnake, some Rosy Boas, and a Baja Rock Lizard.

Max Roberts contribute several pictures, most from study areas in Santa Barbara County, including an unusually-yellow Rocky Mountain Toad, California Red-legged Frogs and eggs, including one that is gray and patternless, a San Diegan Tiger Whiptail eating a Jerusalem cricket, an Arboreal Salamander, a Monterey Ensatina, Coast Mountain Kingsnakes, California Kingsnakes, a Monterey Ring-necked Snake, a yellowish Southern Pacific Rattlesnake, and a Striped Racer.

Wim de Groot contributed a nice picture of a red-tailed hawk about to feast on a Pacific Gophersnake. and two more of a different hawk flying with another gophersnake. It's tough going for gophersnakes. He also sent in an old picture of a Cooper's hawk trying to fly away with another gophersnake.

Christine Porter contributed a picture of another oddly-colored Orange County Great Basin Fence Lizard for my collection. This time it's white instead of orange or yellow. I'd sure like to figure out what causes this.

Ben DeDominic contributed pictures of a juvenile Black Salamander, a juvenile CA Red-legged Frog, and a Sierra Nevada Ensatina.

Allan Crandall sent me pictures taken by Tim Ball of a very striking male Woodland (San Diego) Alligator Lizard that was biting the head of a normal-looking female he was courting.

Isaac Krone contributed some Garden Slender Salamanders from Santa Catalina Island, which I had no pictures of before, and a beautiful juvenile albino Black Salamander found by a UC Berkeley herpetology class that took many pictures of it.

Austin Xu contributed a picture of a bright yellow Great Basin Fence Lizard he photographed in the wild and reported on iNaturalist, with a suggestion by a herpetologist that the bright color might be from fungal spores.

Yuval Helfman contributed pictures of a Skilton's Skink and a dark American Bullfrog that I think is melanistic.

Jacob H. Lloyd Davies contributed pictures of an unusual fence lizard with partially pink skin spots and stripes.

Russell Johnston contributed pictures of a Santa Cruz Island Gophersnake he saw on the island.

Ryan Sikola contributed some nice pics of a Western Black-headed Snake from Orange County and pictures of ticks on a Coast Range Fence Lizard and pictures of Tehachapi Slender Salamanders from two separate locations. Later he contributed pics of a nice littly baby Sharp-tailed Snake and a California Mountain Kingsnake.   

Cait Hutnik contributed pictures of a pond turtle eating a dead Bullhead Catfish in a Santa Clara County pond.

Noah Morales contributed pictures of Wintu Shasta Salamanders and their habitat.





February


Dave Beller contributed pictures of a large Blainville's Horned Lizard from Orange County.

Adam Gitmed contributed a bunch of pictures - Mountain Kingsnakes, Caifornia Red-sided Gartersnakes, a huge gravid Valley Gartersnake, a partly-striped Mojave Desert Sidewinder, a greenish Mojave Rattlesnake, Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes, a California Glossy Snake, a Coral-bellied Ring-necked Snake, a Long-nosed Snake, a partly-striped San Francisco Alligator Lizard, Courting Ensatinas, Santa Cruz Long-toed Salamanders, a California Tiger Salamander, a blue juvenile Arboreal Salamander, and a Rough-skinned Newt.

Emile Bado and Adam Gitmed contributed pictures of an unusually light Coast Range Fence Lizard from Marin County.

Brian Largay sent me a link to a very cool YouTube video he made underwater in a creek in Santa Cruz County showing breeding California Newts. It's so nice seeing the newts from an underwater perspective especially in such clear water.

Taylour Unzicker contributed pictures of a very strange-looking probably leucistic California Toad in amplexus with a normal-looking female.

Emile Bado contributed several pictures of a few different delta morphs of California Kingsnakes from Merced County, a Southern Long-toed Salamander, a Western Yellow-Bellied Racer, a light Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, a desert-phase California Kingsnake, a Rosy Boa, a San Diego Gophersnake, and a Sierra Gartersnake eating a trout.

Nathan McCanne contributed pictures of some frogs from Humboldt County: Pacific Treefrog, including a very unusual one that is leucistic, an unusually dark Foothill Yellow-legged Frog and a nice shot of Foothill Yellow-legged Frog eggs photographed underwater.

Marcus Rehrman contributed pictures of a few salamanders from Humboldt County: Painted Ensatina, Coastal Giant Salamander, and Northwestern Salamander.





January


Noah Morales contributed pictures of the recently-described Shasta Salamander, and its habitat, Kern Canyon Slender Salamander, Gregarius Slender Salamander, Klamath Black Salamander, and (Desert) Rosy Boa.

Randolph K Thomas contributed pictures of two California Giant Salamanders from Marin County.

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