Posted by:
Phil Peak
at Sun Mar 7 10:06:49 2010 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Phil Peak ]
Not wanting to get too far off the original topic but I find this interesting.
Some of the earlier descriptions of Pituophis in KY and TENN were labled as bullsnakes. The locals still refer to them as such. Its easy to see how some of these early field workers were thrown off a bit by what they were looking at since these snakes are far different in appearance than the typical Jersey pines that they were no doubt familiar with. KY specimens tend to have a fairly heavily patterned belly much like the bullsnake and tend to be yellowish in coloration. The above photo is one of our CB animals as seen through the bottom of its hide. She is preparing to shed but the dark patterning is still very evident. It should be mentioned that not all KY specimens necessarily have this characteristic but it is a tendency.
A couple of the above snakes siblings that demonstrate the yellowish tone. This characteristic tends to increase as the snakes age.
Phil
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RE: From what I understood... - Phil Peak, Sun Mar 7 10:06:49 2010