First red racer of spring for Andrew Muzi

Dear Andrew,

Today I saw what may be the first red racer of spring:

http://i10.tinypic.com/2vdii60.jpg

As usual, this red racer slithered off the path where it had been
basking and headed for the distant cottonwoods at the high speed that
gives it its name.

After I dumped my bike and trotted fifty feet to catch it, this small
3-foot racer obligingly posed for a few minutes without making any
fuss, no hissing, coiling, striking, or tail-vibrating--they're very
mild-mannered serpents.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Mar 23, 9:12 pm, A Muzi wrote:

Thanks. We are familiar with them here. I have never encountered any
(live) snake while riding a bicycle.


When I was living in San Diego, I came upon a 6-foot rattlesnake
sunning itself on a bike path. Since it was occupying a majority of a
10-foot wide path, I was obliged to wait for it to move along before
continuing. It was either that or take a 5-mile detour.

I haven't seen any snakes that large here in Washington State. Elk,
though, are another matter.

Jeff

wrote:
Dear Andrew,

Today I saw what may be the first red racer of spring:

http://i10.tinypic.com/2vdii60.jpg

As usual, this red racer slithered off the path where it had been
basking and headed for the distant cottonwoods at the high speed that
gives it its name.

After I dumped my bike and trotted fifty feet to catch it, this small
3-foot racer obligingly posed for a few minutes without making any
fuss, no hissing, coiling, striking, or tail-vibrating--they're very
mild-mannered serpents.

Thanks. We are familiar with them here. I have never encountered any
(live) snake while riding a bicycle.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Mar 23, 9:12 pm, A Muzi wrote:
Thanks. We are not familiar with them here. I have never encountered any
(live) snake while riding a bicycle.

JeffWills wrote:
When I was living in San Diego, I came upon a 6-foot rattlesnake
sunning itself on a bike path. Since it was occupying a majority of a
10-foot wide path, I was obliged to wait for it to move along before
continuing. It was either that or take a 5-mile detour.

I haven't seen any snakes that large here in Washington State. Elk,
though, are another matter.

My daughter ran into this guy on a century ride:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/juli/juli4.jpg

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 00:27:24 -0600, A Muzi
wrote:

On Mar 23, 9:12 pm, A Muzi wrote:
Thanks. We are not familiar with them here. I have never encountered any
(live) snake while riding a bicycle.

JeffWills wrote:
When I was living in San Diego, I came upon a 6-foot rattlesnake
sunning itself on a bike path. Since it was occupying a majority of a
10-foot wide path, I was obliged to wait for it to move along before
continuing. It was either that or take a 5-mile detour.

I haven't seen any snakes that large here in Washington State. Elk,
though, are another matter.

My daughter ran into this guy on a century ride:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/juli/juli4.jpg

Dear Andrew,

Ah, the fun of trying to guess snake species from pictures! So many
ways to look foolish!

The size, the scale pattern, and the assumption of Wisconsin suggest a
fairly rare Massauga rattlesnake, a common plains hognose, or the less
well-known fox snake.

It could be a Massauga rattler with its head on the right and its
rattles either missing, obscured by the camera angle, or too fuzzy to
make out.

But the snake isn't coiled and your daughter appears less concerned
and closer than customary to a live rattler.

Of course, roadkill or a rattler/daughter who hadn't heard about
normal behavior would remove these objections.

A more hopeful guess is a live plains hognose, given the short, thick
body, the scale pattern, and the postures of the snake and daughter:

http://www.hognose.com/images/gloydi...n_gloydi07.jpg

The scale pattern in the picture looks widely spaced, which suggests a
hognose instead of a Massauga.

A fox or pine snake has the same scale pattern, but lacks the cheerful
rattle of the Massauga and charming pug snout of the hognose.

For the curious, coloring on these particular snakes is almost
meaningless (a black and white picture is almost as good as a color
photograph) and the scale patterns vary more than they ought to. With
that warning, here's a list of Wisconsin serpents:

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/herps/snakes

So was it alive? And could anyone identify it?

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On 24 Mar, 09:12, wrote:
Ah, the fun of trying to guess snake species from pictures! So many
ways to look foolish!

Hi Andrew&Carl,
dear you two!
May I use your expertise to retrace the pedegree of what I found?
Its downstairs in a jar, sleeping in alcohol, ready for a portrait to
be taken.
I brought it home in the water bottle of my vintage bike.

Sergio
Pisa

A Muzi wrote:
Thanks. We are not familiar with them here. I have never encountered any
(live) snake while riding a bicycle.

JeffWills wrote:
When I was living in San Diego, I came upon a 6-foot rattlesnake
sunning itself on a bike path. Since it was occupying a majority of a
10-foot wide path, I was obliged to wait for it to move along before
continuing. It was either that or take a 5-mile detour.
I haven't seen any snakes that large here in Washington State. Elk,
though, are another matter.

A Muzi wrote:
My daughter ran into this guy on a century ride:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/juli/juli4.jpg

wrote:
Ah, the fun of trying to guess snake species from pictures! So many
ways to look foolish!

The size, the scale pattern, and the assumption of Wisconsin . . .
-snip-

Sorry, photo taken in Indiana

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

A Muzi writes:

A Muzi wrote:
Thanks. We are not familiar with them here. I have never encountered any
(live) snake while riding a bicycle.

JeffWills wrote:
When I was living in San Diego, I came upon a 6-foot rattlesnake
sunning itself on a bike path. Since it was occupying a majority of a
10-foot wide path, I was obliged to wait for it to move along before
continuing. It was either that or take a 5-mile detour.
I haven't seen any snakes that large here in Washington State. Elk,
though, are another matter.

A Muzi wrote:
My daughter ran into this guy on a century ride:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/juli/juli4.jpg

wrote:
Ah, the fun of trying to guess snake species from pictures! So many
ways to look foolish!
The size, the scale pattern, and the assumption of Wisconsin . . .
-snip-

Sorry, photo taken in Indiana

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Possibly hillyhundred.org, in case any resident ophiophilias or
ophiologists are so inclined to research the fauna of Ellettsville,
Indiana. I was just reading about the kindred "Horrible Hilly
Hundreds" in Mt. Horub, WI, which I've riden, and a hop/skip/jump from
Madison, and was amused at the description of "toruous climb of 900'
in 3.5 miles", and wished I could find such level terrain here in NW
MT. Yesterdays flat ride yielded 2300' in gain/loss. Oh, how I yearn
for the prairie (not!)

Bill Westphal

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 09:52:16 -0600, A Muzi
wrote:

A Muzi wrote:
Thanks. We are not familiar with them here. I have never encountered any
(live) snake while riding a bicycle.

JeffWills wrote:
When I was living in San Diego, I came upon a 6-foot rattlesnake
sunning itself on a bike path. Since it was occupying a majority of a
10-foot wide path, I was obliged to wait for it to move along before
continuing. It was either that or take a 5-mile detour.
I haven't seen any snakes that large here in Washington State. Elk,
though, are another matter.

A Muzi wrote:
My daughter ran into this guy on a century ride:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/juli/juli4.jpg

wrote:
Ah, the fun of trying to guess snake species from pictures! So many
ways to look foolish!

The size, the scale pattern, and the assumption of Wisconsin . . .
-snip-

Sorry, photo taken in Indiana

Dear Andrew,

Indiana? An entirely different story!

http://www.yellowjersey.org/juli/juli4.jpg

In comparison to benign Wisconsin, home of friendly folk on bicycles
and kindly serpents, Indiana seethes with twice as many venomous
reptiles, all dangerous to daughters:

http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/index.htm...nakeList.htm&2

Well, at least the south-east corner of Indiana seethes with poisonous
snakes. By crawling into the bottom of the Hoosier State, the
copperhead and the water moccasin turn south-east Indiana into the
U.S. version of south-east Asia.

Given the scale pattern, the vast increase in herpetological
possibilities afforded by the jungles of Indiana adds Kirtland's snake
to the list of Massauga, hognose, and fox snakes:

http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/index.htm...nakeList.htm&2

So, does anyone remember rattle or no rattle? Pug nose? Live or
roadkill?

Cheerssssss,

Carl Fogel

On 24 Mar 2007 04:02:08 -0700, "sergio" wrote:

On 24 Mar, 09:12, wrote:
Ah, the fun of trying to guess snake species from pictures! So many
ways to look foolish!

Hi Andrew&Carl,
dear you two!
May I use your expertise to retrace the pedegree of what I found?
Its downstairs in a jar, sleeping in alcohol, ready for a portrait to
be taken.
I brought it home in the water bottle of my vintage bike.

Sergio
Pisa

Dear Sergio,

Alas, even live specimens can be amazingly difficult to identify.

Most European snakes lack the rattles, hog noses, vivid orange
stripes, dusty pink color, and strange behavior that make it easy to
identify rattlesnakes, garter snakes, red racers, and bullsnakes in
Colorado.

A close-up of the head showing the scales around the eyes and the
mouth open to show the fangs may help:

http://www.kingsnake.com/reptilia-it...kesgeneral.htm

The technical phrases boil down to plain fixed fangs, poisonous hinged
front fangs, and poisonous fixed rear fangs.

Here's an online guide with lots of excellent pictures:

http://www.herp.it/index.htm

Sadly, the more you browse such pictures, the more you realize how the
snakes vary in color and markings. Often the only way to tell one from
another is a detailed scale diagram of the head and anal areas.

(The snakes themselves rely on scent to avoid embarrasssing mistakes
in the breeding season.)

For Italian snakes, browse down the left-hand menu to Colubridae and
Viperidae and then browse the numerous species. (Be prepared for the
latin names to change according to the date and whim of whatever
source you use.)

Below are some likely suspects near Pisa. After enjoying the pictures,
you can always take your snake to the local zoo or biology department
for identification, much like a puzzling bicycle part.

***

Tropidonotus natrix:
http://www.herp.it/indexjs.htm?Speci...NatriNatri.htm

Tropidonotus tessellatus:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/NatriTesse.htm

***

Coronella austriaca:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/CoronAustr.htm

Coronella girondica:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/CoronGiron.htm

***

Elaphe quatuorlineata:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/ElaphQuatu.htm

Hemorrhois hippocrepis:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/ColubHippo.htm

Hierophis viridiflavus:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/ColubVirid.htm

Zamenis lineatus:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/ElaphLinea.htm

Zamenis longissimus:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/ElaphLongi.htm

Malpolon monspessulanus:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/MalpoMonsp.htm

***

Vipera ursinii:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/ViperUrsin.htm

Vipera berus:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/ViperBerus.htm

Vipera aspis:
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/ViperAspis.htm

Vipera ammodytes (unlikely):
http://www.herp.it/SpeciesPages/ViperAmmod.htm

Cheers,

Carl Fogel