Police dog bitten/snake ID needed

[tminc]

Thanx Steve,She is one lucky snake,9times out of ten she's history.

[guidofatherof5]

Thanx Steve,She is one lucky snake,9times out of ten she's history.

To be honest, I first thought I'd be identifing this snake from it's dead body.
Jeff, I made a point in letting them know Bull Snakes are protected.

[ssssnakeluvr]

Ironically here in NY it is illegal to kill a rattlesnake.

A local den site near my home is fenced with heavy chain link fencing to keep people away from the dens, To protect the snakes.

The D.O.T. even closed a highway rest stop because gravid females were basking on the asphalt.!

thats great!!! snake dens are protected by law here too.....but unfortunately it isn't working. I am sure DWR would jump up and protect a rattlesnake den, but they let a garter snake den be pretty much destroyed.... also, it's illegal to kill reptiles in Utah, with the exception of rattlesnakes in your own yard as a public safety issue.

[Snakers]

nice save(as usual)

[guidofatherof5]

I can only hope that the word is getting out. Since I will probably retire within the next month, I hope I will continue to be used as a resource.

[Spankenstyne]

Nice to see a happy ending, good work. Usually those incidents end up as you say with someone identifying a corpse

[guidofatherof5]

Bull snakes in Iowa have been and continue to be on the decline(loss of habitat). They are such a awesome and powerful snake. One can be docile and the next psycho.
My momma always said: "Bull snakes are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get" Momma always did have a way with explaining snakes to me

[Jeff B]

Steve I think that loss of habitat, may be some of the cause but I really don't think it is the major one, I think it is human encroachment in general, because even when the CRP was at it highest whitetails, pheasants, mice, hawks, coyote, fox populations all rose dramatically, but not the bull snakes. But all the new roads, more traffic and more roadkills, and also peoples mentalities have changed, farmers used to love having them around because they new that they would eat the mice and rats in the corn crib, and that equated to putting more food on the table, I know this because my grandparents, aunts and uncles farmed, but now with more people building houses out in the country and many of them not realizing the benifits of bull snakes or they come from another part of the country were venomous snakes live, the assume the only good big snake is a dead one and go out of their way to kill them, and bull snakes are very vunerable because they are so big and easily seen. I used to see bull snakes all the time even in suburban area as a kid with less than ideal habitat, but people didn't automatically kill them, they respected them, and knew there value, and left them alone. I can't remember the last time I even saw a road kill bull around here. Just my thoughts

[guidofatherof5]

I totally agree with you Jeff. What you said is exactly what I was thinking. Thanks for clarifying it.
It's a shame to see their numbers dropping the way they have. They are a magnificent snake and a benefit to everyone.
I know that Allen Andersen, President of The Iowa Herpetological Society has been doing a couple year study on Bull snake numbers in a few of the Iowa counties. When I talked to him the last couple of times he was very concerned. He too remembers the days when finding/seeing Bull snakes was common.

[mustang]

cool steve the police man who prefers reptiles over dogs (almost everyone here deservs a title like this with blank spots for "insert your proffesion")