08-23-2012, 13:41
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#1
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Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: The Black Hills of SD
Posts: 5,917
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Snake ID
Gents,
Need some help ID-ing this snake.
It was found in the basement of a friend of mine who lives just south of me in Castle Rock (Between Denver and C. Springs).
She states that the snake was "Hissing and striking" at her this morning after she went downstaris.
I'm trying to get her to get a better picture, but was hoping that someone would be able to ID it with just these markings shown.
My limited knowledge and "google-fu" is showing that it could be a Western Massasauga ....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massasauga
Thanks
SD
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Last edited by Sdiver; 08-23-2012 at 13:44.
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Sdiver is offline
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08-23-2012, 14:00
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#2
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RIP Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: The Ozarks
Posts: 10,072
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No flippancy directed towards you or your friend, but-who cares as long as it's dead.
I kill snakes before they get a chance to be ID'd.
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Dusty is offline
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08-23-2012, 14:02
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#3
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Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: The Black Hills of SD
Posts: 5,917
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dusty
No flippancy directed towards you or your friend, but-who cares as long as it's dead.
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Sir Dusty,
I quite agree with you and so does she.
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Sdiver is offline
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08-23-2012, 14:02
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#4
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Area Commander
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: USA
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Some of those markings sure look like shovel or machete to me.
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tonyz is offline
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08-23-2012, 14:18
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#5
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Area Commander
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Southern California
Posts: 4,476
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Sdiver--
FWIW, the Colorado Herpetological Society, home page here, has a snake identification matrix located there.
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Sigaba is offline
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08-23-2012, 14:23
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#6
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Area Commander
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Northeast Utah
Posts: 1,712
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sigaba
Sdiver--
FWIW, the Colorado Herpetological Society, home page here, has a snake identification matrix located there.
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Good find, but I don't think she wanted to take a good look at its anal scale (or scales) to make an ID at the time.
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PedOncoDoc is offline
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08-23-2012, 14:27
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#7
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Sneaking back and forth across the Border
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It may be a bull snake? Might be easier if he was not hacked up by a hoe/shovel.
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SF_BHT is offline
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08-23-2012, 14:31
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#8
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Area Commander
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Southern California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PedOncoDoc
Good find, but I don't think she wanted to take a good look at its anal scale (or scales) to make an ID at the time.
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Sdiver could talk her into it by pointing out that reptilian patterns are fashionable this season.
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Sigaba is offline
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08-23-2012, 14:34
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#9
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Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: The Black Hills of SD
Posts: 5,917
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SF_BHT
It may be a bull snake? Might be easier if he was not hacked up by a hoe/shovel.
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Thought about that as well, but the color looks a little lighter than the pics here .... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullsnake
I've asked her if she has other pics, but as of now, it's a no-go.
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08-23-2012, 14:38
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#10
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Area Commander
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Northeast Utah
Posts: 1,712
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A quick look through a few sites and the coloraiton looks most consistent with a bull snake, a hognose snake or a glossy snake.
I'm no herpetologist, though. I stay away form the herpes as much as possible.
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"The dignity of man is not shattered in a single blow, but slowly softened, bent, and eventually neutered. Men are seldom forced to act, but are constantly restrained from acting. Such power does not destroy outright, but prevents genuine existence. It does not tyrannize immediately, but it dampens, weakens, and ultimately suffocates, until the entire population is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid, uninspired animals, of which the government is shepherd." - Alexis de Tocqueville
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PedOncoDoc is offline
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08-23-2012, 15:02
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#11
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Guerrilla Chief
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: South Africa
Posts: 911
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If it was Africa, I would say it was a juvenile Mole Snake and they way collectors bring exotic species into the States, it still may be. A Mole snakes head had a rounded snout for burrowing and quite small eyes. As it grows older, it becomes a more uniform russet brown, but as with most snakes, there are big geographical differences in coloring and that is why scale, head and fang identification is so important.
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Guymullins is offline
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08-23-2012, 15:05
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#12
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Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Harmony Church
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It's most important to try and identify a snake after you've been bitten by one so that emergency room doctors can decide what type of anti-venom to use.
Never seen one like yours though. Is it missing a rattle?
A few weeks ago I was out in the middle of the desert on a construction site and ran over a Western Diamondback that was easily six feet long. Afterwards I wished I would have taken it home because it would have made a nice skin.
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mojaveman is offline
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08-23-2012, 15:05
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#13
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RIP Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: The Ozarks
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Yeah, well, it's a good snake, now.
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Dusty is offline
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08-23-2012, 15:13
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#14
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Area Commander
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Western Carolina in the rainforest,4000' along the Eastern Cont. Div.
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It looks like a dead snake......sorry couldn't help myself. I never saw a snake like that there in Colorado. Mostly racers, garters and rattle snakes from what I remember. I have had several experiences with aggressive snakes this time of year out in the West. Once a diamond back came out of the bush to our patio in Avra Valley out side of Tucson and began to rattle ferociously which we all found unusual... we figured maybe a mating behavior as they generally avoid human activity...it was just about this time of year that it happened ....it was tasty with a little butter and garlic and the skin was dried and rubbed with glycerin.
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Golf1echo is offline
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08-23-2012, 15:24
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#15
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Quiet Professional
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Location: NorCal
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Looks like a dead Bull Snake to me.
Richard
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