Local bullsnakes *pics*

[Vanan]

It suggests to me that they may be able to grow as big as their southern counterparts, but possibly do not because they are only "out of the ground" for 6 months of the year.

That pretty much sums it up.

Mark, you need to take a trip here!! lol. And as for how healthy they look, they stun me too everytime I pick one up. But then again, given the time of year, they had better got enough fat to last through the winter which is long and cold (~negative 10-20 degrees Celcius, right Ryan?). Might be interesting to see how well fed they look during the middle of summer. Mark, wait til I get my newly acquired locality bulls up to speed. Await the pics!!

Vanan

[JD@reptiles]

Vanan, you *******

[Scales Zoo]

The winters in southern saskatchewan are a frozen hell.

It is a frozen wasteland. There is much work to be done to survive the winter. After burrowing a hole through the ice to look for food, Me and my good friend Nantuk would build an igloo, to protect ourselves, from polar bears and flying hockey pucks....

Ooops, getting a bit sidetracked.

Weather dips down to -40 from time to time, average for the 4 months of cold is -30 to -10, but some years we have a lot of -10, and very little really cold.

The native snakes get under the frostline where the temperature remains 55 F (as it does underground in Florida) For some reason, that is the temperature under the frost.

Short horned lizards and kangaroo rats do not make it under the frost line. Many die. These 2 species, and the rattlesnakes and some garter snakes, can withstand temperatures below freezing.

I've been reading articles, not much work has been done in this area, but the blood of some reptiles has anti-freeze properties to withstand below freezing temperatures.

Can't wait until January, so we can go hunting snow-snakes.

Ryan

[Vanan]

I've been reading articles, not much work has been done in this area, but the blood of some reptiles has anti-freeze properties to withstand below freezing temperatures.

Suspicions have mostly been with the northern garter species.

[Scales Zoo]

I remember reading about rattlesnakes as a kid. I remember them talking about crotalus viridis, and that they had blood that didn't freeze.

I know short horned lizards are at least suspect, as they don't get under the frost line in the winter.

Have you seen that video of the gartersnake under snow. The snow melted, and the snake crawled away.

My back-alley neighbor, single bachelor farmer dude, used to teach me cool tricks when I was a kid.

One, which I was amazed at, was putting a daddy longlegs in the freezer for a couple of days, then taking it out into the sun. Got up and walked away every time.

Ryan

my WC local Pit (was young with bad neck injuries from a roadrunner) is now 3 yo and though not quite 6 ft is just over 2 pounds and will suck down 100+ grams of mice every week, she'll hiss on occassion when she's in shed, but has never struck, though she is very active outside her enclosure

[Ryan]

Nice pics Vanan! Of course you find the ones with amazing colours after the weekend I'm down there. I have been busy building enclosures anticipating the arrival of my new favourite snakes sometime next year.