Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on May 16, 2012 19:44:41 GMT -5
Howdy folks, As many of you know, I have a great love of animals but snakes are some of my favorite critters. This time of year I do a lot of snake hunting as I'm working on pics for a presentation on local species I have to do one of these days. Been pretty lucky lately and will post picks of a larger snake type I caught but I have to resize the pics first. This little rascal though was a big surprise. I was out hunting for a specimen of the Texas Blind Snake and lucked onto a Plains Black Headed Snake, a lifer snake for me. They are minute, subterranean and nocturnal so seldom seen even though they are pretty common. The feed on rolly pollies, and ant and termite larvae. They in turn are food for coral snakes which are also common locally but seldom seen. This is an adult and it's about 6 inches long. They never hold still so have to be photographed in hand. Anyway, a couple of pics for the snake lovers. Peeking out of my wife's hand:  A little more showing:  The full monster *L*  |
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Post by Bikerrandy on May 16, 2012 19:52:20 GMT -5
Awesome!! Is that an adult?
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Post by Bikerrandy on May 16, 2012 19:52:48 GMT -5
Ooops, you said that ;D
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Post by rockpickerforever on May 16, 2012 20:00:38 GMT -5
Does it have an orange belly? We have those here in SoCal.
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rockingthenorth
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2012
Posts: 1,637
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Post by rockingthenorth on May 16, 2012 20:05:39 GMT -5
Wow that is tiny. my son-in-law found a 5 foot bull snake today. I had found a tiny snake one time thought it was a black angle worm until I seen it's tongue. Cool way cool.
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shermlock
has rocks in the head
Member since August 2011
Posts: 612
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Post by shermlock on May 16, 2012 20:06:52 GMT -5
Those are very cool!
Scott
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Post by jakesrocks on May 16, 2012 20:12:54 GMT -5
Cute little critter.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on May 16, 2012 20:57:49 GMT -5
Rockpicker: The bright orange belly is usually found on Ring Necked Snakes. The belly on this snake was kind of pinkish in the middle and whitish along the edges. California does have another species of Black Headed Snake but I've never had my hands on one.
Randy: A ten incher of this species would be a monster....Mel
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Post by kk on May 16, 2012 21:13:24 GMT -5
I'm really glad to have singed on to the forums.
Not only can I learn things about rocks, but so much more.
Geology, history, bugs, critters, reptiles, birds. .......
The list seems endless, and something new every day.
That snake is absolutely awesome, I never knew that such small fully grown features exist.
Thanks for sharing. Kurt
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Post by BAZ on May 16, 2012 21:52:14 GMT -5
That is cool! Thanks for the pics Mel.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2012 22:14:38 GMT -5
That must be the same snake that I found many of in my yard in Grapevine TX. Just about any time I would flip over wet leaves I would find several of those. After the first time my wife would never go near wet leaves. lol I am ok with just about anything that is crawling around eating bugs and rodents. I am always watching for snakes in the hills here in Wyoming but I have not seen even one. They were all over the place in Montana and ran across quite a few in Texas. I do not know how true it is but I heard a tale that Texas has every kind of snake that is found in the continental US. Any knowledge on that MeL? I am not sure if I posted this before but this children's book on snakes has 32 of my photos inside and the cover photo is mine. All of the photos were taken in Texas zoos except for one that was taken in the wild in South Texas. Snakes are not hard to find in Texas. lol Jim  |
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on May 17, 2012 8:27:00 GMT -5
Jim, Texas has a diverse environment and lot of snakes and probably about every type but not every species of course. The most common snake we have in leaf litter and under rocks here on the ranch is the Texas Blind Snake ( not really blind). Usually easy to find but on this hunt I could not find one. Found four when I was working on my wife's new rock gardens a couple of weeks ago but didn't have my camera or collecting bags.
Great pic Jim. Man, that is one gorgeous snake on the book cover.....Mel
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Post by johnjsgems on May 17, 2012 10:19:33 GMT -5
Mel, the first year we had our property in the hill country I saw quite a few really tiny, really fast snakes when cutting down the 4' weeds. They were way too fast to get a good look at but were 6" or less. That was the last wet year and with the drought I don't see much wild life in the weeds. We have plenty of ants to feed them though.
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Post by Pat on May 17, 2012 10:36:24 GMT -5
He? is darling! Wish they were all that size!
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on May 17, 2012 12:26:20 GMT -5
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on May 17, 2012 14:14:56 GMT -5
Wow awesome snake! That's another totally new one for me. Being from Commiefornia, these eastern species are all a whole new ball game for this guy......Mel
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Post by Tonyterner on May 17, 2012 15:00:07 GMT -5
Never would have that that was an adult. Very cool.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2012 8:14:41 GMT -5
What really amazes me is how the scales grow on the face of a snake. If you look at the cover photo there are no two scales on that face that are the same. So every time I look at that face I wonder how their scales grow to fill in the skin to cover all the angles and curves. Another amazing piece of nature.
I do not know how you can hold on to a snake after it has bitten you. lol I used to pick up the tiny ones because I knew that I would not get bitten but anything bigger is way off limits for me.
Good luck in your quest. I will keep playing with my rocks and leave the snakes to you.
Jim
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Post by Rockhobbit on May 18, 2012 10:19:22 GMT -5
Here are a few pics of my encounter with a very young diamondback that I thought was dead. Also didn't realize what it was until I was showing the pics at work. I was told the little fella was full and that was the only reason I didn't get bit! I hope you can use them Mel in your presentation. Sheri     |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2012 19:37:29 GMT -5
That Tantilla is the bomb! Larry S do you ever see those but with a truly black head??
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