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Found this guy this morning before sunrise in central Bell County, TX. Any opinions on the possible intergradation?

Here's a DOR specimen from 20 miles northeast, for comparison:

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Diego

SWCHR

IMHO
Looks like Emory's to me.
Dixon and Werler place your area as the eastern edge of Emory's range coincidental with prairie/grasslands.
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One thing that seems to be dramatic in Texas emoryi/slowinskii issues is that the open pine/hardwood habitat east of your area defines Slowinski's.
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Regards, Bill McGighan

That's what I thought too, but Dixon has slowinskii occurring in central Milam County, only 35 miles to the southeast. Doesn't seem that far of a stretch, really.

Also, the thick black bordering of the blotches is a characteristic of slowinskii.

Lastly, I counted the blotches, 53 for the top snake, 70 for the "classic" emoryi. All pretty consistent for differentiating the two ssp.
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Diego

SWCHR

You may be on to something, guy, based on those counts.
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My D&W also could be dated... It's a 2005 edition and there has been tons of range clarification since then.
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The most dramatic I've seen were the animals found by Troy Hibbits up in Oklahoma far from the original range maps!!!
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Here's LA Kisatchie vs Alpine Emory's.
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It's a shame you didn't get a pick of the ventral side.
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Emory's venter:
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Kisatchie Venter.
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Regards, Bill McGighan

That Kisatchie is impressive! Very different look and appears quite robust.
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

Brad,
They're rather drab looking in low spectrum light, but sunlight brings alot of the subtle hues out of them. There is quite a bit of variance as well. They are very stocky and they will eat you out of house and home, if you let them!!!!
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www.kingsnake.com/louisiana/map_corn.htm
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Some of the east Texas animals are quite striking as well.
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Regards, Bill McGighan

I wish I had taken a ventral picture as well, but I can tell you that it looked checkered, just like my pet Corn Snake. It didn't have that double row like your emoryi pic.

I'm not sure what edition my Dixon guide is. I will look at it when I get home. Also, I took some habitat pics on the way to Fort Hood today and will put 'em up for you then.

Forgive my ignorance, but is the Kisatchie considered to be slowinskii? That is a gorgeous animal!!!
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Diego

SWCHR

"Forgive my ignorance, but is the Kisatchie considered to be slowinskii?"
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Very sorry... We weird old guys do that occasionally.... Interchange common names with old, new, regional, etc.
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Yes, they are the same to some.
For years, because they were considered an intergrade between Emory's (Great Plains Rat snake) and Corns (Red Rat Snake), a common name for them was the "Kisatchie Corn", indicating the general location where where they were heralded from, the Kisatchie National Forest, LA.
To many, the "Kisatchie" name implies connotatively, animals from central LA. (Of course, the same multi-name rule can apply to the specific and subspecific names!!!! )
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Regards, Bill McGighan

Haha. No worries. Sometimes us weird new guys need to learn all of the terms associated with these animals. I had heard of Kisatchie Corns before, but always thought they were just a locality.

I think the snake I found looks a bit like third one pictured here:

southwesternherp.com/snakes/slowinskii.html

Here are some habitat shots. Sorry for the crappy quality, they were all rushed.

My neighborhood, where I found the snake in question yesterday morning:

As you can see here, there are cultivated fields and/or grazing pastures behind the trees that line the roads:

There are numerous streams, ponds, and cattle tanks throughout the area.

This is what it looked like earlier this spring:

Now 20 miles to the northeast, where I found the true Great Plains, the habitat is more of a dry, limestone-based terrain:

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Diego

SWCHR

Of course, either animal can be in either habitat, but the probabilities increase exponentially with these two based on habitat.
Your first habitat pic looks much more conducive to Slowinski's than Emory's, especially since you're right on the edge of ranges.
Thanks for sharing the pics.
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Regards, Bill McGighan

Thank you for you input. I am pretty well inclined to call this one a "slowinskii". Either way, it seems I have some work to do around here to find some more specimens!
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Diego

SWCHR

Be sure to show us more from that area....
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Regards, Bill McGighan

Slowinskii and emoryi are not considered to be the same animal. A couple of well respected corn/emoryi/slowinsii breeders classify them as separate animals. They may be a relict integrade from corn/emoryi crosses, similar to the goini and floridana kings being relict integrades between eastern and brooksi kings. However, to date they have been classified as their own species, ie, slowinskii, not a subspecies of emoryi. I have seen the old name rootbeer corn used to describe these animals from Kisatchi related localities (probably slowinskii) as well as the normal phase of the emoryi/corn crosses, so that adds to some of the confusion. However, it appears the generally accepted name for these guys is Kisatchi corns, or Slowinskii rats.

I had a pair of babies I raised for a year before selling off. They were beyond a doubt the most efficient colubrid I have ever seen at converting food into growth!! Their growth rate was phenomenal compared to other elaphe species/subspecies and this pair was taking weanling sized mice at about 8 months of age with NO problems. They should have been 18 month old breeders for sure!!

KevinM

Thanks for the info, Kevin.

Personally, I've never thought them to be the same animal, but have always considered emoryi, meallmorum, and slowinskii to be ssp. of Pantherophis guttatus.
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Diego

SWCHR

I've been raising one I collected from the Ouachita Mountains, s.e. OK, and one I got from Troy...

...They are definitely slowinskii, imho.

I think Slowinski's corns are more like a corn snake than an Emory's rat, so I call them Pantherophis guttatus slowinskii.

PS: Slowinski's corns stick pretty much to the pine woods in OK and Emory's rats tend to be more in open/prairie habitat.

Cheers...

>>The most dramatic I've seen were the animals found by Troy Hibbits up in Oklahoma far from the original range maps!!!
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>>Regards, Bill McGighan

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Conserving reptiles by helping to protect habitat...
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Wow Diego!!, that is awesome bro!

Too bad the below pictured snake met it's demise like so many others do though.

That "in-situ" bird in it's mouth is priceless man! I wonder how the little guy actually came upon it?..LOL! Do ya think it was a kill the snake made itself, or a road-kill it happened to come upon and start eating?. Either way, cool stuff man!

Uh, not for the bird though I guess..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Thanks Doug! I have a feeling the bird was constricted, otherwise it would have been a bit, um, messier if you get my drift.

It was definitely a cool find!
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Diego

SWCHR

...what kind of bird is that?
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

Dunno. I was hoping to get a friend of mine to ID for me. He claims to know about such matters, but I think he's full of crap.
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Diego

SWCHR

Couldn't be me then, I always know everything
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

Looks half Triangulum and half bird!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

...guess I shoulda posted it in the hybrid forum!
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Diego

SWCHR

Yeah I think it was an emori anyway wasn't it? I was still half asleep when I posted.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra