THE COLORADOAN (Fort Collins, Colorado) 21 September 08 A mighty fine catch for a bullsnake (Gregory Mayse)
Photo at URL below: Gregory Mayse of Fort Collins caught this image of a bullsnake trying to make a meal out of a trout along the Poudre River. (Gregory Mayse)
I was coming back from camping on the Poudre River on Sept. 7 and was amazed at how low the water level had dropped.
I got out to take some photos of the lack of river about a mile or so upriver from Picnic Rock when I came across this most unusual site near where the river's edge usually is.
A bullsnake had caught a trout limit for the day. This could only have happened a few minutes before I came upon this scene. The trout was still flipping its tail. The snake didn't pay much attention to me. I would estimate the trout to be 7 inches and the snake at least 3 feet.
I left them alone and walked out into the middle of where the water should have been and continued to take photos for about 15 minutes. As I came back, I checked in on the snake and nothing else had changed. I also do not know the reason for the drop in water levels in this section.
I'm assuming that the fish had gotten stuck in a shallow puddle of water when the river level dropped. Then it managed to survive until the puddle had nearly dried up. That must have been when the snake made its move.
Not sure what eventually happened to the trout. But this is one moment in nature I'll never forget.
A mighty fine catch for a bullsnake
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CO Press: A fine catch for a bullsnake
Replies (3)
Looks like a garter-perhaps a wandering?
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG
The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....
good point...
at first all I focused on was the head and said, oh what a neat story. Then after you posted I looked closer and saw there weren't 4 prefrontals, the rostral is all "wrong", and if you happen to look at the rest of the pic you can see all those nicely keeled scales in tidy little rows over on the left which would support your garter I.D.
mystery solved...
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in the light, you will find the road...
not a bull but still is a cute story, hahaha
