It’s Sunday, and that means a group of photos from biologist John Avise. Today we have snakes. John’s IDs and captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Oh, and send in your photos if you want this series of posts to continue.
Other Snakes in SoCal.
Last Sunday I showed my pictures of rattlesnakes, but certainly not all snakes encountered in Southern California are to be feared. Indeed, most of the snakes you might see are non-venomous and not at all dangerous. This week’s post shows several non-aggressive snake species that I’ve seen on my nature hikes in the region.
Two-striped Gartersnake, Thamnophis hammondii:
Two-striped Gartersnake, headshot:
Two-striped Gartersnake, another headshot:
Two-striped Gartersnake, yet another headshot:
Common Kingsnake, Lampopeltris getula:
Common Kingsnake, another view:
Common Kingsnake, headshot:
California Kingsnake, Lampropeltis californiae:
Gopher Snake, Pituophis catanifer:
Gopher Snake, another view:
Gopher Snake, headshot:
Gopher Snake, another headshot:
Nice snakes! We had a Black Racer living in our attic when we lived in rural southwestern Virginia. We named it “Slither,” which rendered it friendly and harmless. It would go from the attic to the basement via a stud cavity in the wall, going after mice in the basement we could never get rid of. Slither kept them in check.
Goodness – these are impressive…
Lovely, all of them! King snakes are especially exciting to see.
Yesterday I visited a friend who once rescued a tiny baby kingsnake from crows. 25 years later, it still lives in a comfy terrarium and eats baby mice bought frozen from a pet store. My friend has arranged for her nephew to inherit it if it outlives her!
Was the getula photographed in California? The californiae appears to be inbred, perhaps an escaped captive? I’ve always contended that despite the genetic drift that inevitably happens across a 3000 mile range, that kingsnakes across the continent are all the same species. That doesn’t include milk or short tailed snakes, just common kings.
Yes, all of these snakes were photographed “in the wild” in Southern California. Of course, that doesn’t exclude the possibility that one or more of them were inbred or escaped captives.
Cool!! Years ago I came across an enormous California Kingsnake. It was much like the first one in that it was chocolate brown with yellow markings. I tried to tail-catch it, and it was having none of that!
Small niggle – it’s Pituophis catenifer, not catanifer.
Nice pictures.
Gorgeous critters.
Did you see any of these snakes in San Diego? I travel there a few times a year.
I’m liking this series a lot. I’m wondering if (hoping that) you did some trekking into Arizona. It’s all good, though. Whenever I start to get the willies I just tell myself to imagine them with cute little legs and feet 🙂
Beautiful photos, John! Thanks!
We love our Gopher Snakes!