Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The strand started last week is getting buried and some new info has surfaced. Check the link for a post from Gus Renfro and lots of new pics.

Here is a photo of my yearling, male, Brazos Island Ratsnake showing the venter which is pinkish and has very little spotting, except on the tail....

Behavior is one of the things you don't see when looking at a picture of a speciman. When you have a unique habitat, the behavior of the animal changes to adapt and survive in that habitat. I'm mostly interested in the ecology and behavior of snakes that are adapting to special habitats. The color and pattern are bonuses.

Until I can find time to get down to Brazos Island at the right time of year, I'll have to be content to study habitats here at home which offer somewhat similar conditions. The dunes ecosystem along Lake Michigan is somewhat similar and here are some reptiles that can do well in that system.

The smooth green snake....

The Eastern milksnake....

The Eastern garter snake...

The Eastern hognose snake...

The Northern ringneck snake....

And the Eastern box turtle...

The Fowler's toad also occurs in this habitat, and only in a few other sandy places in MI.

I would imagine Brazos Island has some equivalent species as these. Northern Michigan is the northern limit in the ranges of many species, and I think s. Texas may be the southern limit in the ranges of many similar species. Of course, the dunes habitat in MI certainly has some differences from the dunes habitat on Brazos Island. Check the link below to go to the previous strand and get more info and pics.

All comments welcome.

TC
Brazos Island Ratsnake

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Ratsnake Haven: Calico and hypo Chinese beauty snakes, Mandarin ratsnakes, Chinese twin-spotted ratsnakes, South Korean Dione's ratsnake, leopard snakes, Great Plains ratsnakes, and corn snakes

>>The strand started last week is getting buried and some new info has surfaced. Check the link for a post from Gus Renfro and lots of new pics.
>>
>>Here is a photo of my yearling, male, Brazos Island Ratsnake showing the venter which is pinkish and has very little spotting, except on the tail....
>>
>>Behavior is one of the things you don't see when looking at a picture of a speciman. When you have a unique habitat, the behavior of the animal changes to adapt and survive in that habitat. I'm mostly interested in the ecology and behavior of snakes that are adapting to special habitats. The color and pattern are bonuses.
>>
>>Until I can find time to get down to Brazos Island at the right time of year, I'll have to be content to study habitats here at home which offer somewhat similar conditions. The dunes ecosystem along Lake Michigan is somewhat similar and here are some reptiles that can do well in that system.
>>
>>The smooth green snake....
>>
>>The Eastern milksnake....
>>
>>The Eastern garter snake...
>>
>>The Eastern hognose snake...
>>
>>The Northern ringneck snake....
>>
>>And the Eastern box turtle...
>>
>>The Fowler's toad also occurs in this habitat, and only in a few other sandy places in MI.
>>
>>I would imagine Brazos Island has some equivalent species as these. Northern Michigan is the northern limit in the ranges of many species, and I think s. Texas may be the southern limit in the ranges of many similar species. Of course, the dunes habitat in MI certainly has some differences from the dunes habitat on Brazos Island. Check the link below to go to the previous strand and get more info and pics.
>>
>>All comments welcome.
>>
>>TC
>>Brazos Island Ratsnake
>>
>>-----
>>Ratsnake Haven: Calico and hypo Chinese beauty snakes, Mandarin ratsnakes, Chinese twin-spotted ratsnakes, South Korean Dione's ratsnake, leopard snakes, Great Plains ratsnakes, and corn snakes

They're supposedly in my area, but I've yet to see a single one. Are they hard to find, in out of the way places or just very rare?
Regards
John

>>They're supposedly in my area, but I've yet to see a single one. Are they hard to find, in out of the way places or just very rare?
>>Regards
>>John

They're hard to find, John, except locally in very good habitat. Human encroachment has taken its toll on this sensitive species. They're most common in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, since there's less human activity up there.

I used to correspond with a herper in Massechusettes who said they were common along the coast, especially in se. Maine, where he found lots under debris very close to the beach. They can live in pretty barren areas.

TC

I'm not near the coast. And undisturbed habitat outside State Forest is pretty rare. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled.

Hey I've got about 28" of new snow in my backyard (and still coming) and they were saying on TV there were 85 mph winds, 36" of snow and crazy tides on the coast east of here. Are you guys out west going to stop sending this stuff east? It's getting a little old.

John

>>Hey I've got about 28" of new snow in my backyard (and still coming) and they were saying on TV there were 85 mph winds, 36" of snow and crazy tides on the coast east of here. Are you guys out west going to stop sending this stuff east? It's getting a little old.
>>
>>John

Hey, John. With that much snow I could build an igloo which would be lots warmer than my house was this morning...(-27*F. outside, not including wind chill). We didn't get much snow at our house, but they got blizzards south of us. We're keeping the water running in the kitchen sink by wrapping heat tape around the pipes and letting the faucets drip at night. Otherwise they would freeze and the pipes would burst. I just stick to the Herp Room most of January, crank up the heat, and turn the humidifier up full blast.

There's supposed to be some warm weather coming though. I'm looking forward to that. I can't go outside when it's below 20* because it affects my asthma. I haven't been out to check on habitat or cut new wood since about Christmas time. It has gotten up to 10* above at about 1pm. When it hits twenty I'm going out for a walk. Hopefully, that won't be sometime in February...LOL.

Sorry to hear you're getting worse weather than us, but you know what they say, "Better you than us, haha." I'll try not to send anymore, ok? Wah, wah, hahahah.

Terry