bearklr

Man Moose, I wish I could do that again but no matter how I try the wife won't let me. I've had tons of snakes through my life all of which I'm sad to say I had to get rid of. I've had a few sinaloans, some melanistic corns, tons of rat snakes, some balls and redtails but never got into the larger ones such as burms and rocks. I guess I just never wanted a snake that weighed more than me. I've also had a few lizrds such as savanahs, uromastyx etc... I'd love to get a whitethroat but he would probably eat my dog so thats out of the question. Maybe I can show up with a redtail and tell my wife I found it on the way home...I mean, maybe she doesn't know there from Colombia.

WNY Bowhunter

Moose1915:

Thats a pretty cool looking snake that you've got there. I haven't seen on of those babies here in the western Finger Lakes region since I was a kid.

Bearklr:

From what I understand...the black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta) and the corn snake (Elaphe guttata) are not in fact the same species, although both species are found in the genus Elaphe. There are a bunch of rat snakes that are just subspecies of one another though like the black, gray, yellow, everglades rat snakes. I used to have to take care of corn snakes and a yellow and black rat snake for a herpatology class that I took at college.

bearklr

OK WNY Bowhunter, you're right. These are in the same Genus rather than species. There are actualy around 32 old world species of rat snakes in the genus Elaphe and about 8 new world species in the genus elaphe. There are also three other rat snakes that fall into two other genus' senticolis (green rat snake) and Bogertophis ( baja and trans-pecos rat snakes). Out of the Texas rat, Black rat, yellow rat, everglades rat, gray rat and cornsnake, the cornsnake is the only one that falls in a gifferent species. All the rest fall within the species obsoleta but in different sub-species. I apologize for saying species instead of genus but in my years of owning, breeding and selling nothing but corn snakes, rat snakes and milk snakes we just called them all by their common names and didn't get too nitpicky about latin names, thanks for the correction.

jhoffman

I have a hunting camp in Weedville PA - just outside of St.Mary's PA -

They strip mined the mountain that my camp is on years ago and all the snake left town. Over the last couple of years though they have been comming back and we have seen alot of rattlers and black snacks around. Mostly up on top of the mountain where it is really rocky - lost of places for them to hide and sun themselves.

I have always loved catching snakes and have had a few for pets over the years - ball pythons, red tails boas, stuff like that.

There are not many poisonous species where I live in WNY. Once in awhile you'll hear of someone running across a Rattler but not too often. Here is a question I have though. A couple of the locals near my hunting camp said that the black snakes are good to have arount they keep the mice in check but, they also said that they have been know to cross breed with the rattlers and that there is the possability of comming across a venomous black snake. Have you every heard of this? I wasn't sure if it was even possible to cross the two species in the wild -

Pa Trophy Man

that sure is a big black snake, i had one as a pet when i was a kid. She was about 5ft long but that snake makes mine look small.

bearklr

jhoffman, they are yankin' your chain. There is no such thing as a cross between black snakes and rattlers. Alot of people don't know what the heck they're talking about when it comes to snakes so when they see something they just fill in the blanks where they see fit. The two most common species of rattlers in this area are the eastern diamondback and the timber. What I'm guessing is that someone may have spotted a timber rattler and assumed it was half black snake just based on appearance. Timber rattlers can have various shades of green to black with distinctive markings down their back. Below are a few images of some darker timbers as well as a juvanile that may appear green and have more distinctive markings. All rattlers will have very keeled scales as well as a distinctive diamond shaped head and of course a rattle on the tail. If you can't tell a rattler from any other snake then I wouldn't even suggest picking up an earthworm. Basically, if the snake looks like a black snake then it is a blacksnake.






Below now is a pick of a black snake that didn't quite lose it's markings yet. If you compare it to the first pick of the timber you'll see where some people who don't know any better may assume that it's a cross but sorry...still won't happen. I hope this helps.

jhoffman

I am pretty knowledgeable about snakes in general, like I said in my previous post I have had quite a few for pets - i even had a ball Pythin that I had trained to take miec right out of my hand. Came a little too close a few times though.

I figured that it wasn't possible for the two species to cross but, would rather be sure. I get a fair share of Rattlers aroung my cabin but most stay up on the hill where there are more rocks and cover for them.

Thanks for the info...

bearklr

J, I wasn't referring to you when I was takling about not being able to tell the two apart. It was in reference to those that told you about the cross. As for feeding out of your hand that's how I fed all my snakes. Of course I had to take the mice out of the freezer and warm them up in the microwave. Believe me, you didn't train him, he was just doing what comes naturally. We're just the lucky ones who were smart enough to keep our fingers back.

jhoffman

bearklr -
I have also been told that there are copper heads in PA - Have you ever seen one there? I have never seen one but, have never purposely gone looking for one either.

I feed my Python live mice - not frozen ones - he was about 4 1/2 feet long - Did you just feed yours frozen mice for the convienience of beeing able to have them on hand?

I would like to get a King Snake if I get another one.

bearklr

J, yes there are copperheads in Pa and in my countless trips snake hunting I have found a few. The problem is that most people mistake the banded water snake for them and kill alot of watersnakes for no reason. As far as feeding my snakes frozen mice yes I did it because it was convenient. A friend of mine used to be a snake breeder and had roughly 350 snakes so he raised his own mice. He would then frreze them in baggies and I would just pick a bag up once in awhile. All you have to do is drop one in a cup of water and stick it in the microwave for a few seconds. I'm curious, what makes you want to get a kingsnake and what type of kingsnake are you looking for? Arizona, california, gray banded? I just ask becuse I know it's tough to get some species to eat due to the fact that their main diet usually consists of other snakes and lizards. That's not saying most of them won't eat mice but when my friend bred them every once in awhile he would get a few that would only eat anoles and other small lizards. Below is a pick of a grey banded. Personally I think they are some of the neatest looking king snakes.