Some of my recent finds from the field

[Loren]

Since Jerry posted his finds from the field, I will post some of mine from the past few weeks too. Just some of the nicer phots, I actually found many of most of the species below. I dont think I found anything that Jerry didnt in the past few weeks, but here they are.
My camera didnt do night time shots well at all, as the flash was way too bright- so I put like 7 layers of scotch tape over the flash as a difuser- working pretty good now.

California king snake
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/California_Kingsnake.JPG

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Cal_kingsnake.JPG

Pacific Gopher Snakes
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Pacific_Gopher_snake.JPG

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Pacific_gopher.jpg

Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/young_nor_pac.jpg

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Northern_Pacific_Rattlesnake1.JPG

[Loren]

Night Snake.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/night_snake.jpg

Long nosed snake.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/long_nose_snake.jpg

I also found a nice glossy snake, but that was the night I forgot my camera.
So heres a terrible cell phone pic as proof. :)
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/california_glossy_snake_Cell_phone_pic.jpg



Not bad for one road, eh?


.

[jeanette]

oooh pretty rattlesnake there, if they werent so dangerous i would want one as a pet. but as i have no interest in getting a DWA (dangerous wild animal) licence i will just have to admire from afar.

[ssssnakeluvr]

Nice photos.....can't wait til I can get out!!

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol nice pics i would not like to find a rattler around here though.........:D

[Lori P]

Loren, awesome pics!! One road... unreal!! I really adore the looks of the rattlesnakes but I would never have one. I'm waaaaay too complacent around my animals... got bit by one of the balls last night because like a dumb-arse I reached in (to get her water bowl to change it) right after she'd eaten a live mouse and was looking for another. D'oh!!

But gosh, they are gorgeous animals. I like the night snakes, too... what's up with them? Are they not kept much as pets? Never hear of them.

[dashnu]

Ya know that is pretty awesome.. I would love to do something like that. Im afraid up here in Maine "ah yup" we only have a couple different kinds of snakes. On top of that I would run into a 500 pound moose who would crash me.

[Sid]

Really nice find and shots, Loren. Congrat's.

[Loren]

But gosh, they are gorgeous animals. I like the night snakes, too... what's up with them? Are they not kept much as pets? Never hear of them.

Yes, Night snakes are really neat, underappreciated snakes.

Night snakes have a fairly large range in the western U.S., with part of their range going as far n.w. as washington (state), and as far S.e. as Texas, with the bulk of the range being in the desert southwest and into much of Mexico.
Although common, they are rarely seen by anyone other than herpers, because they are nocturnal and very small. The feild guide says 26" max, but I have never seen one over about 12", with many being 7-9". So, being that size, and their color, they are not easy to see on the ground at night unless you are driving really slow and looking really hard.

They are mildly venomous, rear fanged snakes, but not considered dangerous to humans. I handle them with bare hands. Their venom is just enough to subdue a small lizard.
They are not common in collections due to their diet of lizards, frogs, and salamanders. They also are not very easy to handle- mine have never bitten yet, but they are very darty, very fast, and nervous when handled.
I have a couple that I have had for about 2 years. They are fed frozen/thawed(f/t) treefrogs (to help avoid parasite issues), or occasionally f/t small lizards. I cut the legs off the f/t frogs for my little ringneck snake.
They can eat suprisingly large meals for their size, and not hardly show a bulge the next day, yet seem to do fine on 1 large meal per feeding, about 3 feedings a month average. They are doing very well, and seem very calm as long as I leave them alone. I hope to get them onto scented small pinks someday.
One looks just like those we have pictured- the other is lighter colored(found a couple hours away from these), and very nice looking.

By the way- I did not collect any of the snakes pictured above (in case anyone wondered).

So, anything else you would like to know? :)

[ssssnakeluvr]

I have had night snakes. kinda small here in Utah. do just fine on sagebrush and sideblotch lizards. a friend caught one in Idaho that was around 24" long!! big one!!!! :eek:

[Loren]

Yeah, I feed mostly frogs just because I have better access to them. My parents house has at least a few(if not hundreds) around at any given time, so I grab a couple as needed, when I go there, and freeze them for later.

I'd love to see a huge nightsnake. Maybe I can grow mine to a couple feet or so in about 10 years. :)
Mine are growing and nicely filled out, but growing slowly.

[Lori P]

Loren, thanks so much for the info!! You are such a wealth of knowledge... just full of it. (Knowledge, I mean... :D)

Can you send pics of your nightsnakes??

[anji1971]

Nice finds, Loren!
I love the rattlers, they are such beautiful creatures. But I'm not sure what I'd do if I ever ran into one. We have a few Massasauga's around here, but my husband will never ever take me out to where they're found.........probably not sure whether he can trust me not to bring one home!!:eek:
Part of me would love to find one, the other part would run screaming!

[drache]

thanks for the cool pics and great info, Loren