Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yea I'm conducting field research for my personal enjoyment.

I was watching Jeff Corwin studying anacondas with this woman named Maria. The females caught were recorded by Maria in an interesting way: by drawing the patterns on the undersides of their tails.

Now as I was watching this I came to realize the northern water snakes by my house have patterns on their undersides(as with most other northern water snakes across the globe) and it made me wonder if individual northern water snakes have unique patterns on their undersides. If they do it would allow me to keep tabs on the snakes I catch/find.

So I went out in the field today and as luck would have it, I came across my first northern water snake(actually first snake) of 2007. Unfortunately, she(I'm pretty sure it's a she) is in blue right now so her pattern is not easy to see at least on her tail. I'll try and get pictures up of her soon!
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

I caught that episode no less than 3 times Scott and I would have to say I love Jeff Corwin with his love for herps and his anitics and his humor is corrrrrrny and I like that about him. When she was writing down the patterns of the anacondas did you notice she used a pencil???? Why a pencil I kept thinking why not erasable ink or take your time and use a ink pen but I always wondered why a pencil and a book that was not encased in a waterproof envelop or something. Congrats on your first capture this season btw
Bob

...well kinda. I saw her on a dock basking and she slipped into the water but was still hanging near the shore. This is still the water snake I'm talking about....not Monstra lol. I was able to sneak up and grab her by her tail. She started thrashing and appeared to cut herself as a result because there was some blood coming out from her tail...not the cloaca but between scales. amazing how close she got to biting my hand holding her tail(she's about 2 feet long). It was a funny display....puffing up and flattening her head, she looked almost exactly like a cottonmouth lol. I was eventually able to pin her head with my snake stick(a small putter i used when I was a tiny lad lol) and pick her up. Unfortunately, that's when the musk started squirting out(they always seem to time their musk at the worst times for us handling them lol) and got on my wrists. She eventually calmed down somewhat.

I'm still trying to find someone to hold her while I photograph her underside...not many people are willing to do it. I don't get why lol.
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

bit is my favorite part of catching them, I once lifted a car hood by a stream and caught 8 of them over 3 feet at the same time, needless to say my friends thought I was crazy and couldn't fathom me being able to get them all at once like I did, I am quite impervious to most snake bites, Nothing to be proud of but, I know I have been bitten several thousand times from a large spectrum of Non-Venomous snakes, never been bit by a HOT. I have only captured Timber Rattle snakes, Northern and Southern Copperheads, and Water moccasins. I have always wanted to catch the larger diamondbacks and a coral snake as well, never seen them when I was out west and or down south, not jersey, more like Florida, Alabama, and California. Maybe some day, I get a rush from capturing them in the field, I couldn't Imagine what it feels like to handle a full grown eastern diamondback. I have also handled a 7 foot spitting cobra once, VERY Intense feeling. Note I was very cautious while handling any HOT species. Haven't handled any HOTS for about 12 years, but had to experience it, as "stupid" as that may sound.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

Frank,
...I used to love the rush from catching and handling hot snakes. I caught this Eastern Diamondback in 1970 right after I graduated from HS. We caught several big rattlers like this one and lots of smaller ones. Many of the Diamondbacks we caught were out crossing roads late in the day. They would be out moving during the last couple of hours of daylight but were not often found after dark. I caught Western Diamondbacks in Texas and they were usually along rocky outcroppings. Up until about 20 years ago Eastern Diamondbacks were common in the areas I had hunted in central Florida and here in south Georgia. I only rarely see them these days. I do still see Canebrakes DOR around here.
Jeff

That thing looks huge! What do you guess it's weight was?

Milo,
..We sold the larger ones by the pound. I think that one was around 10 or 11 pounds. Our largest weighed 13 pounds. Today those sizes are larger than nearly all that show up at the Rattlesnake roundups. The easiest way for anyone to get one that big today is to captive raise one. They will eat and grow rapidly in captivity if they can get over being stressed all the time.
Jeff

>>That thing looks huge! What do you guess it's weight was?

JUST awesome, now either you posted that before or I saw it in a magazine,I know it's you, but I can not remember where I saw that picture, it is imprinted in my mind because I have ALWAYS wanted to catch one as long as I can remember. Must have been a real "rush" for sure, the timbers in Jersey are kinda puny compared to the eastern diamondbacks. Also like you noticed by you, the snakes are much less abundant than they used to be, in jersey this applies to virtually all species. But yet the introduced "red eared" sliders are over abundant, go figure, people got them for 25 cents years ago and liberated them and now they breed like wildfire here. On a different note I have found a "colony" of breeding Mediterranean House Geckos, Hemidactylus turcicus living in an apartment complex in Edison New Jersey, my brother was the super there for years and kept catching them in all sizes for me. I went with him in the winter time and they live in all the boiler rooms, during the summer they can be found all over the building near "night lights" catching insects, but once winter comes they instinctively come indoors. They are very well established, I would imagine someone must have ordered them to combat cockroaches, they can be purchased very cheaply by the dozens I hear. Ha, there I go again talking in tangents LOL.

If anyone's interested in this species of gecko, I have included a link with some specie INFO, apparently NJ is not the only place they have established mini colonies...
Mediterranean Gecko

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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

It is one of those camera angle optical illusions. It probably is a big specimen but the positioning of Jeff with the snake extended towards the camera makes the snake look freaking huge!!
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
21.29 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

...
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

I see no records of them establishing themselves in The north, I wrote the state and told them, but they never got back to me. They are definitely "established" and have adapted or adopted survival strategies to combat the "cold" in winter, interesting stuff for a reptile nerd such as myself lol
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

Those geckos are all over my Dad's house. Since they started showing up you rarely see the anoles that used to be all over.

....
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

Nope, I live in Co. north of Denver, but my dad lives in southern Texas near Galveston. Once they started showing up there a lot he researched them and said that he found out that those geckos origination in the US was traced to a shippment of fabric.
I think that it's weird that seem to have completely displaced the anoles (chameleons to the people down there, I stopped argueing that one). For a while you would see both but now only the geckos.
I also heard that there is zoo in the northern east coast where they live in the duct works during the winter and come out during the summer. Similair to the boiler room that you described.

Here in South Georgia the Bahamian Anoles are coming on slowly. When I was a kid we went to Key West and one of the big hits of that trip for my brother and I was the Bahamian Anoles there. They were rare in the US except for the Keys and Miami and Tarpon Springs areas. By the late 60s we were seeeing them in East Central Florida and they have become incredibly common there over the years. At my parents house in Florida the Bahamian Anoles are usually on or near the ground and the Green Anoles are higher up on the plants and screens and at night the introduced Geckos are way up high on the walls under the eaves. I do think the Bahamian Anoles eat newly hatched Geckos and Green Anoles.
Jeff

>>Nope, I live in Co. north of Denver, but my dad lives in southern Texas near Galveston. Once they started showing up there a lot he researched them and said that he found out that those geckos origination in the US was traced to a shippment of fabric.
>>I think that it's weird that seem to have completely displaced the anoles (chameleons to the people down there, I stopped argueing that one). For a while you would see both but now only the geckos.
>>I also heard that there is zoo in the northern east coast where they live in the duct works during the winter and come out during the summer. Similair to the boiler room that you described.

I don't think that I have ever seen the Bahamian anoles. What do they look like? The green anoles and geckos around my dad's act exactly like you described. I used to always catch the anoles on plants and trees and the geckos I most commonly see on the eves around his porch, especailly near the gutter around the portch lights. I see them at night in his garage too and he thinks that live behind the pegboard during the day.

Have you ever seen Knight Anoles in the area? Is that name correct? They are VERY large anoles if my memory serves me correctly.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

Frank,
....I have never seen one in the wild. They are native to Cuba but have been introduced into the Miami area.
Jeff

>>Have you ever seen Knight Anoles in the area? Is that name correct? They are VERY large anoles if my memory serves me correctly.
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>>Thanks,
>>
>>Frank Roberts
>>Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research
>>

...
-----
Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

When I think Anoles, Florida is first place that comes to mind. Since they are nocturnal in habits, I would not think they would be in direct competition with the Diurnal Green Anole. Perhaps their numbers have made the anoles food source diminish to the point that the anoles are still being pushed out of the area to search for a better "home range" with a more viable food source. They have been known to out compete other nocturnal geckoes and diminish their numbers as well. It would seem reasonable that they could out compete another lizard that has opposite activity habits.

In Edison, New Jersey, they have no type of direct or indirect competition I can think of. The lizards found in NJ are restricted to the southern portion of the state. The area has several other species of Herps, but none in the "general vicinity" of this colony. If you can remember the exact location of another northern colony please let me know. Interesting how they also adapted to the cold in similar fashions
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

I have no idea where I heard about the geckos at the zoo but I'll try to find a refrence to it.

I appreciate any efforts you make, I am genuinely interested in this subject.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

...five line skinks are found throughout New Jersey. I still have yet to see one in NJ though.
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

anyone who has seen any TYPE of native 5 lined skink or any other indigenous lizards above mid/central NJ, I have seen all of them in the Pinelands "Greewood Forest" . I would imagine they may be found in pine barrens type environments thruout the state, but I have yet to see them, and sometimes fieldguides with range maps are not necessarily 100 % accurate. But, I am certain there are none in the vacinity of that "liberated" House gecko colony I was refering too. Thanks for the input!!
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

...I got a field guide from the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife to the herps of NJ and it says five-lines are found throughout the state. Maybe it's just another pain-in-the-butt-species(like the northern black racer lol) that is always found in pineland areas.
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

in All parts of NJ, the only snakes I have never seen that are indigenous, are The Queen Snake ( caught one in Alabama )and the Corn Snake ( caught a lot of these down south, as in Alabama/Florida, not south Jersey )
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

...who hasn't seen a queen snake. Last documented sighting of a queen snake in NJ was back in the 80s I believe(I'll try and find the exact date later).

As for corns, they're endangered and have been endangered since I believe 1975(Again I'll look that up). And probably thanks to the fact that they thrive in captivity, I bet more and more ignorant people caught them in large numbers. Combine that with habitat loss(stupid walmart and housing developments....who even wants to live in NJ besides herp lovers and Bruce Springsteen?) and you have a recipe for disaster.
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

I had corn snakes when they where "legal" and remember having them , I thought they where listed sometime in the early 80's, problem with them and the queen snake is that NJ is the farthest north their ranges extend, they become more and more prevalent the further south you go, so I believe they where never very established in the state from the get go.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

I remember a documentary on a biologist named Jesus (don't remember last name)and his wife that studied Anacondas in the Llanos. Looking at migration patterns, and taking blood samples from males in breeding balls and later offspring to see if more than on male can father a litter, thing like that. Anyway they identified each by the tail patterns. Apperently each is unique like a fingerprint. It was a good show though.
Good luck with your field research and happy hunting.

I remember when I was younger I used to find the same water snake ( had very unique stub tail ) at Duck Pond in sussex NJ, it was basking on the same rock 7 years in a row. Then one year she vanished, I have no conclusive data but I would assume they are either territorial or have a small home range within which they live and go about their daily activites. I remember being very disappointed because I was so accustomed to capturing her, releasing her, and repeating it yearly. Made me wonder if she moved to another location, was captured and or killed, or was predated upon, or simply died of "old age", she was almost 5 feet long, that's big for a Jersey Northern Water snake.
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

have a northern water snake here at my lake with a unique stubbed tail. I call her Stumpy. I've seen her the past 3 or four years....never tried to capture...but still have yet to see her this year. Nowhere near as big though....biggest water snake I've seen here is about 4 feet. Don't remember if it was Stumpy or not.
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

to see the same snake like that, I am older now, but back then it always made my day
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

...we also had a regular snapping turtle we'd see every year. At least I think it was the same one, because every year we'd go to this dock and this gargantuan snapper(probably about 25-35 pounds at least) would try and get pieces of hot dog off our fishing lines. Unfortunately....some dumb@$$ caught him and put him in a parking lot a coupld hundred feet from the lake. As I'm typing this....I feel extreme anger towards that person....cuz that turtle was the best. My brother and I would catch sunfish/bluegills/pumpkinseeds/whatever you wanna call them and I'd put them on my hook and he'd swim up and rip them off the hook. One time it got in a "fight" with a five pound bass(yes they exist in NJ....but rare in this lake) over a sunny on my line. The snapper eventually chased off the monster fish.
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

I can tell you two lakes that I have personally caught Bass Excedding 7 pounds ( I have a digitalscale and a no BS meter in my tackle box )

1. Assunpink Lake

2. Swartswood Lake
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Thanks,

Frank Roberts
Roberts' Realm Of Reptile Research

Scott, A lot of the old zoo keepers would track snakes by markings on the undersides of the tail.. Also in Dumerils boas, The white patch on the underside of the Chin was used to "fingerPrint" individual animals...

Best of luck with your project, and good luck getting the musk smell out of your cloths....
BHH

Well she didn't get the musk on my clothes lol.

I really can't use her tail as ID. She was in shed and I could really could barely make out anything o the tail pattern. I still took pics anyway to make with what I could.

I think the pattern under her throat could be used as There wasn't as much black there but pattern nonetheless. We'll find out soon enough if the throat pattern can also serve in ID.
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)