Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on May 14, 2011 18:45:28 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Y'all know how much I love snakes and last night about ten I was up at the old pioneer stone house by our horse stables and found this pretty. He was climbing the vertical stone wall to get at some swallow nests and I removed him so no one would kill him as most Texicans are friggin terrified of snakes and kill them on sight. I took his pics and released him in a good location where hopefully he'll survive to old old age. Anyway, this is a Texas Corn Snake which I believe has been renamed the Great Plains Ratsnake. oddly, these snakes have sort of a kingsnake temperament and are very mellow while the Texas Ratsnake, a close relative, is mean on wheels. Was really tickled to find this fellow as they are not real common around here and it's the first of this species I've ever found. Anyway, just a couple of pics....Mel  Couple of head shots showing the characteristic head markings found on all corn snakes.   |
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Post by tanyafrench on May 14, 2011 18:48:26 GMT -5
I really don't like snakes but he does have some beautiful markings.
Tanya
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elementary
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,077
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Post by elementary on May 14, 2011 19:57:57 GMT -5
Snakes have always fascinated me. Great find. Beautiful animal.
I'm glad you found a home for him.
A few years ago I saw some young guy on a bike carrying one (gopher?) that was about 3 feet long. He was coming from the bikepath and I just cringed at what ultimately was going to happen to the animal. When I talk to my students about animals they find out camping or driving around, the end result is rarely a positive one.
Becca (who's now 5) loves animals, even the ones I tend to cringe from (not a fan of touching tarantulas, though they are fascinating). At a recent event, she had the opportunity to have one of those hairy monstrosities crawl over her hand and she did great - even forced myself to follow suit just so my lil daughter didn't look braver than her dad...
I'm trying to teach her to know what to watch out for though, like black widows, as I just killed one the other day and I don't want her curiosity to lead to a horrible accident.
Still, it's great to have her more interested in these things than repulsed by them.
Hope all is well,
Lowell
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Post by jakesrocks on May 14, 2011 20:05:59 GMT -5
He's a beauty Mel. All we have in my neck of the woods are garter snakes. Why don't you educate our non snake loving friends on how to tell the difference between a male and female snake ? You can probably explain it better than I can.
Don
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Post by tkrueger3 on May 14, 2011 20:22:32 GMT -5
Yep, the corn snakes are really pretty. I love how you can put one down in dead vegetation and they pretty much just disappear. It's like magic. Love those orange eyes, too.
Tom
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
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Post by NDK on May 14, 2011 20:36:28 GMT -5
Cool snake! Nice pix too Mel.
Nate
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Post by Bikerrandy on May 14, 2011 21:28:43 GMT -5
I love snakes too, got five of them in the house ;D That's a beauty, very cool!!  |
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Post by Toad on May 14, 2011 21:41:20 GMT -5
Very cool. Great pics. Always love the snakes.
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Post by stonesthatrock on May 15, 2011 0:06:14 GMT -5
YIKES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i hate snakes. I think you should have some cowboys boots made from him..... lol
mary ann
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on May 15, 2011 15:17:29 GMT -5
Don, Sexing snakes huh *L*? Well, if'n it's a rattler, you gots to sneak up real slow like and make sure yore hands ain't too cold. Then you takes a magnifying glass and very gently lift the tail and..........*L*.
*L* Actually, sexing snakes is kind of difficult as the sex organs are internal. On gross examination, male snakes tend to have longer thicker tails and the tail makes a rather rapid change in taper. This change in taper is caused by the hemipenes ( the male forked penis) being contained at the base of the tail. Females have shorter, thinner and more evenly tapered tails. Herpetologists usually sex snakes by either probing or gently pressing the tail base to extrude the hemipenes. ( Known as the "grabbing and jabbing" or "noosing and goosing " methods. Both can cause injury ( to the snake or the human *L*) and are best left to experts. Because, after all, this abuse can get the snakes a bit pissed off *L*.....Mel
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Post by stonesthatrock on May 15, 2011 17:41:20 GMT -5
ok mel you know why too much about sex and snakes. Kinda scares me. lmao.... Not a problem i won't be grabbing poking and anything else........ In fact I'd be running away as fast as i can......... lol
mary ann
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on May 15, 2011 18:29:23 GMT -5
*LOL* Mary Ann, I used to do snake presentations along with the raptor stuff. One of the most often asked questions was how do snakes do the dirty when they have no feet. Answer: Hemipenes are forked and often have spines or hooks so the snakes stay stuck together when the male apparatus is erect. Most common response from the kids was Ewwww! Gross!!!!. Other common question was, " Where is the snakes butt?" Common response after being shown snakes butt.. Ewwwww Gross!..*L* Kids are very uninhibited...Mel
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Post by Roller on May 15, 2011 20:57:40 GMT -5
another snake lover here ! thanks for the pics
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darstcreek77
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2011
Posts: 673
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Post by darstcreek77 on May 16, 2011 9:21:00 GMT -5
I have a little hog nose snake that lives under my cabin wish he would stay around back and not laying by my front door.
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Post by frane on May 16, 2011 10:19:37 GMT -5
Mel, I never would have known what this snake was at first sight. We try to get pictures of snakes, look it up and then decide what to do about them. At first glance at seeing that semi diamond pattern on his head (I say him because of your lesson Mel and the way his tail suddenly tapers off), I would have thought it was a diamond head or something dangerous.
So far, we have only seen black snakes, garter snakes and one copper head in our yard. Hope we don't see the copper head again...
Fran
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Post by FrogAndBearCreations on May 16, 2011 10:24:40 GMT -5
Very pretty snake!
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on May 16, 2011 10:44:49 GMT -5
Fran: Without even getting too close, you can tell US poisonous snakes from non poisonous ( except the coral snake) by the pupils of the eye. All snakes flare their heads to look dangerous so the arrowhead head shape is not a good factor to consider. As you can see on this snake, non poisonous snakes have round pupils. Poisonous U S species have cat's eye type pupils that are like vertical slits. They also have a pit between the nostrils and eyes but that is more difficult to see. Coral snakes are in a different group and have round pupils and no pits but are subterranean/noctural so seldom encountered and are extremely timid and non aggressive so if you don't handle them , you'll not get bitten. Corals have tiny fixed fangs too so they can barely bite through a sock. Very very toxic though so it's good to learn to tell them from all the colorful kingsnakes that have similar colors. And teach your kids too as most coral snake encounters happen when little kids pick up the brightly colored snakes. Snake guy at the San Antonio zoo says this happens now and then even in town and the corals are so docile that the kid usually carries them into the house without even being bitten.....Mel
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Post by bobby1 on May 16, 2011 17:37:18 GMT -5
Mel,
Beautiful snake!
I have a question. When I first moved here in Valley Springs I saw a couple snakes and I couldn't identify them other than I knew that they definitely weren't rattlers. I do know they are very effective eliminators of gophers. Unfortunately, one got killed by the heavy machinery working on the pad for my shop and I suspect that the other crawled under the fence in my back yard into the neighbor's yard and the idiot killed him. How do I reestablish the snake population in my yard? I'm desperate because the gophers are taking over and my cats are semi effective in controlling them. Is there a source where I can purchase and release these snakes? Is it illegal for me to do so? I suspect that releasing pet snakes would be fatal to them. Thanks for your help and advice.
Bob
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Post by NatureNut on May 16, 2011 18:10:09 GMT -5
Thank you for teaching us about the eyes, Mel. It will come in very handy in my travels. Glad you saved this little guy before Rogue reached Texas, LOL. Actually, a Hopi Ranger here told him that having rattles will make you crazy, and John looked like he's rethinking his want for a rattle. Bill just stated that John is already crazy. ;D Jo
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on May 16, 2011 19:43:07 GMT -5
Bob: Sounds like the snakes you were meeting are the common Gopher Snake. They were the most common snake species at our old Mariposa ranch and the gold country is full of them. In California, taking of snakes even to move them requires a fishing license and there are bag limits. I think the law prevents sale of snakes but I'm not sure on that. If you pick up a copy of the fishing regs at your local sporting goods store it will have all the particulars. Gopher snakes do a dandy job on gopher control but if you really want gopher control, build you a Barn Owl box. Barnies take hundreds of gophers per year while the snakes maybe a dozen and barn owl box plans and placement ideas are available on the internet. It's so popular now that if you drive through the valley, you'll see them all around the vineyards and ag fields.....Mel
Jo: Hey, crazy is cool in my book *L* but I like leaving rattles on the rattlers. I never kill snakes of any kind anymore, just move them to a safe location.
Oh yeah, I should mention another exception for any of you western mountain types or desert rats. These would be the two snakes in the Boa group, the Rubber Boa and the Rosy Boa which do have vertical pupils like the poisonous snakes but are not encountered very often. I've caught a lot of Rosys but only a couple of Rubber boas over the years. Boas really don't look like any of the poison species though, being extremely smooth scaled and very unlike poisonous snakes in body form.
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