Desert Gecko
 

Just caught this Gecko out near El Paso.

John,

When I was out in the desert of southern California many years ago, I brought home several geckos that I had caught. A couple of the females were gravid and laid eggs for us.

I wish now I hadn't gotten rid of them, because they were all extremely personable lizards and a lot of fun to keep. They learned in no time at all that Connie was the bringer of food, and would all run to the front of the cage to await her whenever they noticed her nearby.

Really neat little animals!

I remember those lizards.
 

I actually thought of you when I found this one.
Regarding your CA trip; was that the time we met up out there?
I have some old photos of you on that trip buried somewhere around here.

John,

Heck I can't remember or not. I think when I met you out there I was out in LA for a month for school. I kicked around in the desert during the weekends but the only things I brought back with me were a couple of zonatas I found up in the mountains.

I think it was the trip that Martin Leidy and I took out there that I brought back the coleonyx. Darn that was a fun trip! I really wish I had time for that sort of thing again. We caught quite a few zonatas, a couple of rosy boas and some of the desert geckos. We chased around sidewinders at night in the desert, and found some rattlers up in the mountains as well. Camped out the entire time and had a hell of a good time.

What are (were?) you doing in El Paso?

El Paso
 

I was interviewing for a job. I've been laid off since May. My severance ran out over a month ago.
I just got an offer from the El Paso interview a coule hours ago. I'm thinking about it. I'd sure love to live there with all the reptiles and everything, but I'm not sure it's the smart thing to do family and profession wise. Decisions, decisions. The only other thing I got going is a possibility in Denver.
Sometimes I wonder why I didn't just keep that aztec/zigzag and lavender line going. Then I'd be sitting pretty like you!
lol.

John, I guess I would say go for the El Paso gig. One regret I have this late in life is that I did not spend more of it living in different parts of the country. Of course, I should have moved to Florida a whole lot sooner than I did as well. Problem is, you don't really learn the important things in life until most of the more influential decisions to make have already passed.

And if you call what I do, "sitting pretty", you really have no idea what it is like around here... ;)

I'm surprised you didn't stop in at the Raleigh show at the end of August. You're living in North Carolina now, aren't you?

Close but....
 

I'm in South Carolina. I love it here. Less than 2 hours away from Ridgeland. Hard to beat that. Except maybe El Paso, which is right on the edge of Graybanded Kingsnake range, and right smack in the middle of Trans Pecos Ratsnake land. :)
I could spend the rest of my life catching platinum subocs and Hueca Graybands. I guess maybe it's not TOO hard of a decision afterall. There, I feel better already!

Hey John, having moved from Milwaukee to Tucson to SC and now to FL it's tough because you always miss something about some other place during every time of year.

Oh well, just wanted to say I love the Coleonyx, when I lived in Tucson I had a group of 1.7 in a 60 gallon and was lucky enough to get tons of eggs.

Just wanted to share a good tip for anybody looking for them.

I always did this as it was VERY EASY to find them this way and I felt more like I was saving a life then taking one out of the wild.

Drive golf courses, they have so much irrigation (sp?) that there are those 10"x12" boxes everyplace covering the motors/valves.

If you lift those covers you will almost always find one or two, not to mention a few scorps. They live well in there as it's always dark, there is always dew to drink and fresh bugs falling in. Since they're basicly dead to their echo system I never felt bad about collecting those.

Thanks~!
 

That sounds like a pretty good tip!