Snakes?

I just fed mine I have been raising for a long time.

 

I had thirty at one time when my eggs hatched.

 

Guy wrote me a bad check at the reptile expo.

 

I worked so freakin hard for them then the bottom fell out.

 

Down the hatch!

 

He didnt eat that turd, I wiped it off.

 

The longest Milksnake shed ever recorded.

 

I totally love snakes, although I've never had one as a pet. All too often I'm reading NextDoor only to find some moron who has killed a harmless snake, simply because they're "afraid and don't want it in their yard" then complain about having rodents. DUH!!

I had a coral snake slither between my feet while I was hiking in the Florida woods. Snakes are more intent on getting away from people rather than have an actual confrontation. In the same area of hiking, I had an Eastern Diamondback two feet away from where I was walking, and he never even alerted with a rattle because he was in the one bit of sunlight available on what passes as a "cold" Florida morning.

Snakes are cool. More pics please!

 

Snakes I've ran into this year. The Western Diamondback did warn and wouldn't get off the trail.

 

Juvenile Racer or Coachwhip? Ive never found a poisonous snake.

 

Grew up in Los Angeles and had kingsnakes and gopher snakes growing up (as well as slender salamanders). Kept boas, gopher snakes, kingsnakes as pets for years. Used to walk 4 miles to the pet store to buy feeders. Paid for books while in Jr. College by selling rattlesnakes to the old Hermosa Reptile (predecessor to Reptile Kingdom) in Hermosa Beach.



Worked in pet stores where I received my only "hot" (e.g. venomous bite) from a mangrove snake (mildly poisonous) and a close call from a "rhino" viper. Kept up as a hobby and as a member of the San Diego Zoo Association and Southwest Herpetological Society member; One pretty close call from a Mojave (those guys ALWAYS made me nervous, unlike sidewinders which were just "nasty" but predictable). Didn't actively collect snakes until I went back to college. Took herpetology in grad school and went to work for US Fish and Wildlife, where I was species expert for the Federally listed blunt-nosed leopard lizard and giant garter snake. Then moved to the PNW, where I just stop occasionally to see what I find on the road. Now, I'm just old, with poor circulation and slow reflexes!

 

Same here but on the East coast!

 

Racer!

 

The first pic reminds me of when I lived in NC and was out riding my Arabian horse right across the border in SC, which was very close to my home. Snake popped his head up out of the grass at my horse, who spooked in grand fashion, twisting out from underneath me while wildly bucking. My ass hung mid-air for a nanosecond before hitting the ground in time to see my horse halfway down the trail heading home. I ran a good half mile before clearing the woods and hitting the main road, finally making it back to my house. I ran inside to get car keys to go looking but noticed my answering machine blinking wildly. Had four phone calls "I saw your horse...where are you?" Ran into the backyard to jump in car and found my horse peacefully grazing like nothing happened.

 

That's the spot i laid my milksnake shed down to measure. See Racers, eat other snakes. Must of smelled the shed. And was checking its surroundings hunting.

 

My first smoothie of the year i think.

 

Lake Erie water snake. Non-venomous but very aggressive.

 

Nope... #unsubscribe!

 

That head up position is characteristic of racers as they are sight hunters. Western coachwhips (aka red racers) do the same.

 

Ya it was pretty awesome. And that was the exact spot i laid out a milksnake shed. They DO eat others snakes.

 

Non-keeled scales.

 

I'm personally terrified of snakes, BUT this was about March, 2020 when I saw a speckled king snake. Absolutely beautiful. I generally give ANY snake a wide berth. Snakes serve a purpose in keeping rodent populations in check.

 

And this was another snake sighting from Feb. 2019. I was a dispatch supervisor at the campus police for Ole Miss. And we had gotten SEVERAL calls about a snake outside the student union. It wasn't being aggressive, but wasn't setting right with the students (as it was a school day and plenty were walking by it). I rode with the shift LT to the call, and low and behold, there was a water moccasin (aka cottonmouth) was right there. If I remember correctly, the snake was probably in the process of shedding its skin, but in later winter (really odd timing). Spring/warm weather wasn't for a few weeks. I remember the LT saying it had a film over its eyes. But regardless we got the snake into a sack and relocated to a more appropriate place (nearby creek).

 

Well used his baton to press the snakes head down to the ground. And the snake I think was still very much in a state of "hibernation." It wasn't active really.

But I"m with you. Again, why I give them a very wide berth.

 

Im so glad the Moccasin is south of me. When I was little we would do "Basic Ninja Training" in swamps and I would dive on water snakes.