2005 Lifers:
Plains Narrow-Mouthed Toad
Yellow Mud Turtle
Pygmy Rattlesnake (DOR)
Prairie Rattlesnake
Rough Green Snake
Plain Belly Watersnake
Diamondback Watersnake
Horned Lizard (DOR)
Prairie Lizard

My all time favorite herping moment was my trip to Phoenix a couple of years ago. Me and my brother took a weekend trip there right after the 9-11 bombings. I planed it before that happened and my tickets were already purchaced so luckilly my trip wasnt cancelled despite the tight security at the airport. We arived around 2:00 and the temps were high so we scouted out areas. We hit the spots hard for the next two days in the mornings and evenings with no luck. The last night we tried a dried up creek bed that led into the mountains. After about 2 hours of walking we were set on cuting our lossed when our perrsistance paid off. There in perfect ambush pose was a beautiful tiger rattlesnake. I couldnt believe my eyes. My first rattlesnake ever and one I didnt even expect to find. All I had was a disposable camera so the pics werent very good but clear. That will always be one of my favorite moments and places to herp.

New Life listers for 2005

Central Plains Milk
Red/Central Plains Milk Intergrade
Speckled/Desert Kingsnake Intergrade,
Speckled Kingsnake
Northern Blacktail Rattlesnake
Mojave Rattlesnakes

Great Plains Skink
Western Slender Glass Lizard
Reticulate Gila Monster
Yarrow's Spiny Lizard
Texas Horned Lizard
(probably a couple of other lizard species from AZ that I am not thinking of at the moment)

Desert Tortoise
Desert Box Turtle

Plains Narrow Mouth Toad

Favorite herping moment of this year was coming across the Gila monster on an unpaved road in Saguaro Natl Park. I was so excited I almost literally rolled out of my car and into the dirt road--forgetting my camera and everything in the process. Fortunately it stuck around long enough, though my pics didn't turn out real well.

Lifers from this year:

Lined Snake
Smooth Earth Snake
Western Worm Snake
Midwest Worm Snake
Rough Green Snake
Red Milk Snake
Flathead Snake
Osage Copperhead
Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake
Common Musk Turtle (down here on the SIU campus)
Eastern Collared Lizard
Prairie Racerunner
Eastern Narrowmouth Toad
Wood Frog
Central Newt
Southern Redback Salamander (and lots of em'!)
Northern Slimy Salamander

Non Herps:

Black Widow
Tarantula
Bald Eagle

I still hope to find a last a few of the following this fall: Southern Black Racer, Western Mud Snake, Mississippi Green Water Snake, Copperbelly Water Snake, Green Tree Frog, Bird-Voiced Tree Frog, Marbled Salamander, or Mole Salamander

My favorite herping moment of the year would have to be when I found my first ever Red Milk Snake. I had found a bunch of junk laying on a wooded hillside while looking for salamanders during late winter. Later on in the spring, after one of my baseball games, I decided to stop by the area and check it out. Under the very first board I flipped, I saw the red and white snake! It wasn't the prettiest, but I didn't care, I had found my first Red Milk Snake! About a week later, I stopped by the spot again, and the snake was still there!

My 2005 lifelisters:

Eastern Coachwhip Snake (Black Phase)
Central Plains Milk Snake
Intergrade Red/Central Plains Milk
Intergrade Speckled/Desert Kingsnake
Western Plains Garter Snake
Sonoran Mountain Whipsnake
Sonoran Gopher Snake
Mojave Rattlesnake

Great Plains Skink
Western Slender Glass Lizard
Mountain Short Horned Lizard
Zebra-tailed Lizard
Sonoran Spotted Whiptail
Madrean Alligator Lizard

Desert Box Turtle

Great Plains Narrowmouth Toad
Sonoran Toad
Mexican Spadefoot Toad

Some of my favorite herping moments of the year (in chronological order):

1. The startling discovery of a 5 1/2 foot long Eastern Coachwhip Snake (while showing Eitan Grunwald around) under a rock when my eyes and brain were adjusted to ringneck snakes and earth snakes.

2. Finding 4 adult Timber Rattlesnakes and a Racer under a corner of tin. That piece of tin had 8 snakes total under it and the tin pile produced an additional timber and a speckled/desert kingsnake as well.

3. Finding pairs of Central Plains Milksnakes with Chad as our guide.

4. Wading at night among the cottonmouths with herpfriend.

5. Finding my lifelist mojave rattlesnake.

6. Getting tagged five times by a gorgeous Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake.

It's been an enjoyable year and fall migration in Missouri and Southern Illinois is still to come..

Wayne,
I think you have 2 and 3 in reverse order.

Aside from the Gila Monster, my other best herping days were the days in Kansas with Chad finding CP Milks, the Arizona road cruising for Diamondbacks and Mojaves, finding my first Missouri Timber Rattlesnake under a rock, and that glorious glade where we found a speckled king and hognose on a drizzly May afternoon.

Keith,

Yep. #2 and #3 should be reversed chronologically. I also meant to mention the Hognose Snake among the year's highlight reel.

I forgot to mention the first great herp outing of the year.