Howdy.. these pretty little critters are the northernmost representative of a large family of tropical and subtropical snakes. They are common in much of deep South Texas.. including in suburbia.. I observed this one while I was watering near my front door recently..
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My gardens are NOT their natural habitat.. I do see them foraging out in nature when the weather is not too hot or dry on the coastal plain and Mesquite (Tamaulipan) association early and late in the day.. Yet these snakes do take to the way we humans change things (edificarious).. and especially the way we make moisture almost constantly available.
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Their diet includes very small amphibians, IE: chirping frogs and Gastrophryne and invertebrates too.
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I'm in-to the subtle behaviors of snakes and other animals.. things like these are so small it makes it difficult many times to see more than the obvious.. shape, pattern color.. GONE. But in what way can a snake make expression? This is one area of inquiry that is an 'undiscovered country' .. so to speak.
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I managed to prevent this one example from quickly escaping without physically restraining it.. here are some of the snake's comments on the whole proceedings!
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.. in my opinion.. reptile BEHAVIOR; where and how it lives, what it uses in the habitat, what stresses them or even eliminates the animals in habitat (and much more) is the brass ring for field observers.. For me, that's way beyond adding a particular animal to a list and moving on..
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Thanks!
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Gus
A. Rentfro
RioBravoReptiles.com
www.riobravoreptiles.com
"Perfectly healthy animals are a minimum requirement.. everything else is just salesmanship" gus
