MOUNT CHARLESTON & VALLEY OF FIRE
I paid a visit to Mount Charleston.

I had no idea that Jerusalem Crickets lived on the mountain, but we ended up finding several.

The Sagebrush Lizard is commonly found in mid to high latitudes in the western United States. Like the Spiny Lizard, it belongs to the genus Sceloporus.

A Ponderosa Pine Tree with severe lightning damage.

Snake Crossing on the way to Valley of Fire State Park.

The Desert Horned Lizard is a small, round lizard found throughout the West. They are well camouflaged in their surroundings, and body color can be beige, tan, brown, slightly reddish to match the rocky soils found in the desert. They are very flat-bodied with rough looking horns and bumps on their body.

The Desert Horned Lizard can be found throughout Nevada, and in many different types of habitats. They like sandy flats, alluvial fans, washes, sand dunes, and among rocky areas.

The Chuckwalla is a large, bulky lizard reaching nearly 16 inches with folds of loose skin on the sides of its body. Strictly a rock dweller, the chuckwalla is found in rocky outcrops, lava flows, and rocky hillsides. They feed almost entirely on plants.

Desert Horned Lizards are ant specialists. The bulk of their diet is made up of large-bodied harvester ants that they use their specialized sticky tongues to capture. When ants are not available, they may eat other insects, spiders, and vegetation.

This "lifer" Speckled Rattlesnake was a great way to close out the trip.