...or an escapee or intentional release. I read the result above but kinda dismissed it as anything Washington is GB range, not bullsnake range. Now I've been wrong with these "what kind is that" scenarios plenty before because the natural variation within even locality groups can be fairly wide.



That looks more like a bullsnake than otherwise but if it was wild caught in eastern Washington, it's a case like my GB that was wild caught deep within San Diego Gopher range. A beautiful and classic southeastern Cal. GB but I'm betting it had some two-legged help ending up in coastal southern Cal.



Anyrate, awesome looking snake regardless, it would be a keeper in my book regardless of the source location. The only way to know source without much doubt would be to tag onto a bullsnake genetic eval if anyone is currently doing that. I'm a big believer in the power of microsatellite markers for determining relatedness and tracing linage. Aside from that, it's a game of pouring through locality records and hoping that external morph features alone get you in fairly close. Currently playing that game with my southern Cal GB.



There are a lot of great keepers and enthusiasts out there so please don't get me wrong or get offended but I often wonder what happens to the snakes (and other pets) that end up with people as the result of an "impulse buy", somehow survives some neglect and then they get tired of it. Others simply escape and are never found (at least by the original owner). Sorry for the diatribe but there it is...

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