Herps in the media

[ConcinusMan]

I have flying snakes. Mussurana's after dark. Open their enclosure after dark and they launch out like they're spring-loaded. And mean/irritable. By day they are mild-mannered, calm, sociable, predictable, and very handleable even though they're "warm herps" (venomous). but oh man, don't mess with them after sundown. They're the complete polar opposite especially when they're hungry. Their ability to detect a pinky mouse from across a room is uncanny and their feeding response is downright scary and violent. After dark that is. Lazy, calm, tame, and not the slightest bit interested in food by day. But after sundown, they will fly at your face and literally rip pinkies to pieces.

[infernalis]

Here is a screen cap of a really old children's TV show, the opening has a bunch of "scary" creatures....

[ConcinusMan]

Two new US turtle species described | Science Codex

[guidofatherof5]

Two new US turtle species described | Science Codex

That should upset the old taxonomy lists. 3 distinct species of alligator snapping turtles.

[ConcinusMan]

Same thing happened when they tested the so called "mexicana subspecies" of king snakes. They were considered just different localities/morphs/ssp of the same species. Turns out none of them are subspecies of L. mexicana. Turns out that each subspecies is a full species, each evolved independent of one another, isolated from one another for more than 6 million years. Then there's L. pyromelana knoblochi. come to find out, they aren't L. pyromelana, but are a full species that diverged from L. zonata and L pyromelana's common ancestor more than 2 million years ago. that group has always caused confusion and controversy but DNA testing cleared up that confusion real quick.

Testing different populations of gray banded kings - Lampropeltis alterna, hasn't been completed because of the cartel violence south of the border. They never got to complete the work, but it is suspected that what is considered L. alterna localities or morphs is actually more than one species. It's also suspected that many more species of king snakes in mexico have yet to be discovered due to remoteness of their small ranges, and difficulty in accessing the remote mountainous terrain and lack of roads.

They suspect that the population of L. zonata up here in WA isn't separated from california's populations (their DNA matches n. CA populations indicating recent gene flow between them) but if u look at a map they don't show them continuous from CA to WA. That's because where they might occur in the Oregon Cascades it's just too difficult and dangerous to survey. You saw that terrain they live in I showed you in WA. Steep, rocky, and difficult to traverse. Much of their potential habitat in oregon is all but impossible to access by anything but helicopter and even then, there's only a small seasonal window when it's reasonably safe to be up there. Who knows what else is up in those cascades waiting to be discovered. Bigfoot perhaps?

[jwolfe152]

Toddler bitten 3 times by rattlesnake in California | Fox News

[guidofatherof5]

Toddler bitten 3 times by rattlesnake in California | Fox News

Glad the little one is going to recover. Looks like the snake was lower on venom or just giving warning bites.

[ConcinusMan]

That would most likely be Crotalis ruber. In spite of them living in close proximity to people densely populated areas bites are pretty rare. They are quite shy and will flee given the chance, rather than stand their ground like other rattlers often do. It's really hard to get them to bite, let alone use venom in defense. He must have stepped on it and remained on it to get bit that much, those rattlers are quite docile. Even when cornered and teased they usually bluff strike and if they do tag you it's usually a dry bite.

[chris-uk]

Video: Inside the Narcisse snake pits

A bit about the Narcisse snake dens.

[guidofatherof5]

Makes me want to go back up there. I would like to spend a couple weeks there this time. None of this day and a half stuff.