Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yearling CB Sarasota county Fl mugitus.

Big Kankakee female I hatched in '04.

CB western Ky female northern pine.

CB Dekalb county Al northern pine.

Thanks for all the great posts that have been put up recently!

Thanks,

Phil

Phil, Those are all beautiful...do the Kankakee hatchlings vary a lot, or do they end up pretty much like the parents?
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Dale....dgoins222@yahoo.com
www.LibertyReptiles.com

Thanks Dale. There is a classic Kankakee look, but like any population of snakes there is some variation.

Phil

That hot pink Alabama number is a screamer, Phil! The others I wouldn't kick outta my snake room either!
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Todd Hughes

Thanks Todd. She is certainly a pine snake of a different color lol!

Phil

Nice snakes Phil.
That Mugitus is just about the nicest Normal I have seen.

Thanks durras,

That particular snake is developing into a real beauty. I like the reddish blotches on the posterior end.

Phil

Very nice, Phil!

Note to self, fieldherp Sarasota county......
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

Thanks Lloyd,

How have things been in the field for you this year? We are haiving a really nice year over all, but no pines have come our way as of yet.

Phil

No Pines, although a friend found one.

Did see all 3 endemics at the Gulf Hammock two weeks ago!!
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

Nice work on the endemics Lloyd! Its always nice to find the local flavor of a region.

I guess our best finds this year in Ky have been the western mud snake and Mississippi green water snake. The Miss green has a very limited range in our state and is only rarely seen. The muds have a wider distribution but have been the thorn in our side until now. Before we had only come across DOR's.

Good luck the rest of the season!

Phil

>>Very nice, Phil!
>>
>>Note to self, fieldherp Sarasota county......

Lloyd,

those are also very high on my list, hahaha.
btw, what else are you incubating besides ruthveni and lodingi?

daveb
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in the light, you will find the road...

Photos only for me. I already have my one legal Florida....

Sonorans and Northerns are my other Pits this year.
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Lloyd Heilbrunn

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.

Ok, so I have said this several times but I have to say it again...... Does any one else think that the western KY animals bear a striking resemblence to P.ruthveni? They have that same "dirty" melanoluecus-sayi intergade look IMHO!!!!!

Maybe some kind of Pleistocene fracturing effect?

Has any one run any genetic comparison work on those animals yet? I know a guy at UNLV out in Las Vegas who is the grad student of Xavier R. (the guy that published the genetic work up on Pituophis a few years ago). If you want send me a shed and I will pass it on. Maybe run a comparison with a sayi, a more traditional melanoluecus, a ruthveni, and that locality and see what shakes out. Of course I will fully understand if you guys are already working on this and don't want to share the topic.

JG

John,

I know of someone that is doing a comparitive study but I have not heard what the results were as of yet. This population of pine snakes has a distinctive look to them but I am not convinced that there is any sayi influence myself. Morphologically they fall in line with the other populations of northern pines. There are color and pattern differences between groups of northerns throughout their range. Just as an AL northern is patterned differently than a Jersey pine, a Ky pine has its own distinctive coloration as well. I would like to see what the results were in a comparitive DNA analysis.

This is another example of a Ky northern from the cave region population in the southcentral part of the state.

Phil

Phil, any mention of who is doing the study you are referring to?
I sent out a number of sheds several years ago but w/o hearing anything so far...
thanks for posting the pics.

daveb
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in the light, you will find the road...

Hello Dave,

Gary Johnson of the Louisville Zoo is over seeing this project but I'm not quite sure who he is working with on it. Next time I talk with him I'll see if I can get an update or if anything is to be published soon on this.

Thanks, Phil

Phil, if you post that picture one more time I'm going to have to where a bib when I'm cruising the forums from all the drool! That is just a fantastic animal. Thanks for the info and please keep us posted if you hear of anything further. Take care!

Jeremy
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Jeremy Pierce
Shade Tree Exotics
shade-tree-exotics@att.net

I always do a double take when I see that pic. My problem is probably that I see what I want to see, hahaha. What a gorgeous animal.

daveb
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in the light, you will find the road...

Thanks Dave. He is certainly an amazing animal!

Phil

snake of the year right there, baby.

daveb
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in the light, you will find the road...

I agree with you that there is some strong similarities between the Ruthveni and this locality. Maybe that is why I like the Ky. pine Phil posts.

One major difference (IMHO) is the lack of the lateral "banding" Most lateral blotches on the Ruthveni seem to "strech" out and appear similar to a tiger stripe. The Ky pine he has posted seem to be more atypical to the Northern Pines

Just my opinion and probably not worth much

dc

They are an interesting locale for sure and have some unique characteristics. The shape of the anterior blotches in particular are generally quite different than those in pine snakes from the east coast.

Phil

Man, you are killing me Phil.I almost want to get back to breeding pines now.Thanks allot man....LOL...

Awesome stuff especially the Ketucky animal.

L8r Shannon

Thanks Shannon. Its the dilema we all face. So many cool Pits, so little room lol!

Phil

Some very impressive pits as usual Phil. That dekalb county, AL one is especially nice. Very unusual coloring for a pit.
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Randy Whittington

Thanks Randy. I have never seen a pine colored quite like her. Its hard to tell in the photo but her dorsal blotches are very brownish in coloration.

Phil

Locality pits rock!!! LOL I love that southern pine,hopefully there will eventually be some nice regular colored animals like that circulating in the pet industry. The northern pines are great! Good luck with those projects!!! Kevin

Thanks Kevin. I really enjoy the natural variation that occurs in Pituophis throughout their range.

Phil

Gorgeous Pits Phil. The yellow on that Ky. pine is just gorgeous. Good luck this season. I hope you guys find another pine. Steve

Thanks Steve. Good hearing from you buddy! Hope things are going well for you this year in Va.

Phil

phil great looking animals.the southern pine is fantastic when you breed them let me know pleeeeeeeaaaase. hope you have a great year out in the field and breeding be safe Joe

Thanks Joe! I will keep you posted on their progress.

Phil

That AL Northern is stunning and all are top notch quaility animals. Thanks for sharing those jems.

Jason

Thanks Jason. Much appreciated!

Phil