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Any guesses. I know the genus for sure, but I'm still unsure of the species. Just to make things more challenging, I avoided any hints.

The genus is easy, Psammophis. That I knew without help.

For species, I had to use google. I think it must be P. leightoni.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

P. leightoni has a very similar pattern on its midbody and the posterior end, however, the anterior end lacks the markings that are present on the snake in question.

I should mention that I am comparing it to this image of P. leightoni:
academic.sun.ac.za/capeherp/cederberg/images/Snakes/Psammophis%20leightoni_Andrew%20Turner.JPG

>>The genus is easy, Psammophis. That I knew without help.
>>
>>For species, I had to use google. I think it must be P. leightoni.

I don't think it's leightoni - the striped head fits, but the blotched sides of the neck don't really, to my knowledge. Looking at it, of the species I have seen in the flesh, it reminds me most of P. sudanensis, an E. African form, or possibly P. rukwae, but then again, the head stripes don't fit. From the literature, the nearest thing seems to combine these features to some extent is the true (i.e., Egyptian) P. sibilans - I'll go with that, but hell, this is a difficult genus, especially without locality info....

Thinking aloud,

WW
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WW Home

Cape Sand snake, I am kinda guessing off the top of my head. It looks almost exactly like it.

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-Emily: The snake gal