Florida 2003

[JD@reptiles]

http://hometown.aol.com/crazycrittersss/Florida.html

Just a little about my trip...

[BWSmith]

Great pics. Ther are a few things i wish to point out.

This is a Canebrake Rattle Snake (Crotalus Horridus). It is a venomous snake with lots of venom. It is not a very common species of snake to find in the wild. It is actually an endangered species.
Actually, it is Crotalus horridus atricaudatus (for those of us who subscribe to the Canebrake ssp). I am unaware of it being endangered and is a very common hot that we run across in the field. I know the the true Timber Rattlesnake (C h horridus) is endangered throughout much of it's range. Perhaps in other reaches of the Canebrake's range it is endangered. But int he South, it is thriving.

[Leo-Land]

Very cool trip. I'm lucky, I get to find stuff like that everyday, I live in Florida :). I plan on looking for Southern Ring NEcks tonight. They are very cool, just really small which makes them hard to find.

[BWSmith]

Just flip rocks and logs for ringnecks. Try the rocks or paving stones in your yard. They live well in yards, lots of bugs. I can usually find 3 in 5 minutes my yard. Just make sure you look close at the "worms", they may have the ring on the neck ;)

[Leo-Land]

We are talking about snakes right? I cannot seem to find many here. I wish I could find as many as you! I would start a little breeding colony for fun :)

[BWSmith]

I generally don't keep worm eaters. But I may have to for educational programs sice ringnecks and dekayi are the most common snakes here.

[Leo-Land]

I really want to keep one because it will be quite easy to take care of and even easier to hide from my parents who HATE snakes :D

[Burmies]

Cool man, I liked the pics.

Burmies

[JD@reptiles]

thank you burmese. i hope you all liked the pics:)

Jordan

[Beejay]

That looks like a fun trip Jordan! The pictures are great. Seems like you're getting into the groove of herping for years to come, for sure!

Bj :)

[shaggybill]

How did you pick up that racer like that? When I was in Florida a few weeks ago, I tried to pick up a 4 foot racer and it struck at me so many times, I decided as much as I wanted to hold it, I was going to let this one go. He seemed mad as heck.

one other thing. Are the insides of the racers mouth white?

[JD@reptiles]

i have my way with snakes. how ever he was the only one that didn't bite me LOL. he was kinda slow.. i found him beside some condo's at 7:00 AM. so he was just getting up:)

Jordan

[shaggybill]

If I was carrying some sort of tongs or something I might have gone ahead and caught him, but all I had was this 4 foot stick and I didnt want to hurt him.

I should buy a pinning hook, but I dont want pay 30 bucks for it, so I might buy a cheap golf club from Goodwill, break off the end and add some sort of "Y" and wrap a rubberband around it.

Oh! I'm so clever....:)

[Leo-Land]

Oh! I'm so clever....:)

and incredibly cheap! :D

[JD@reptiles]

you should not pin the head of a racer. it is not right. they have small teeth and if you restrain it you can injure it. head pinning non venomous colubrids should not be done.
thats what i think

Jordan

[shaggybill]

I think your right Jordan. I would probably pin it behind the head somewhere. Just somewhere close enough so they couldnt get their mouth onto my hand.

[JD@reptiles]

you can still hurt a racer if you restrain it. their bite does not hurt one bit. the only snake heads you should pin florida is the coral snake, cotton mouth, eastern dimond back rattle snake, pigmy rattle snake, canebrake rattle snake and the copperhead. i dont evan suggest pinning their heads... you should just use a hook. and evan if you find a venomous snake you just observe it unless it is on a road or somthing or you are doing somthing for education.

Jordan

[shaggybill]

I dont think you can harm a racer by just picking it up. I have handled hundreds of these snakes and ones like them and they were just fine immediately after, and when I checked back on them in the future.

[JD@reptiles]

they are a fast moving snake and if you restrain it i will more than likely thrash around and kink its self.

[shaggybill]

Im not sure we are talking about the same thing. By restrain do you mean holding or pinning? If the snake is fiesty and you try to pin it with extreme pressure, then I agree the snake could be hurt. But you have to use good judgement when trying to catch it. If the snake is acting in a way that could hurt itself, then I think the snake should be left alone. But if its just barely squirming, then I believe it would be okay to continue trying to handle it.

It also depends on how you pin it. I think its best to use a pinning hook that has the surgical rubber or something similar, not the metal hook.

I think pinning any snake can be ok, but you have to use extremely good judgement on the amount of pressure you use.