Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was riding with a co-worker today when we passed what I thought looked like a DOR bull snake on the opposite shoulder.
Although they are native to my home state of IL & neighboring Mo. I have never found one & was excited at the prospect of seeing one, even a DOR. So, I talked him into turning around so I could ID it but, it turned out to not be a bull snake. Bummer!

Well, we turned around and started heading back toward our destination & moments later, I saw a large snake crossing the highway in almost the "exact" sport where we had first turned around to go back to ID the DOR. I assumed it was probably a rat snake or a racer but, as we got closer I was able to see what it was & started yelling PULL OVER, PULL OVER!!!

He finally got stopped and I ran back to find not 1 but 2 bull snakes stretched out,laying side by side in the road way! One was about 4' & the other about 5'
I've kept a few captive born pits in the past & they pretty much all had attitudes so I figured these would be really nasty but, I didn't want them to get killed by on coming traffic so, I tailed them both. The smaller one struck at me once but that's all. I ran back to the van & excitedly exclaimed "THEY'RE BULL SNAKES"! And then asked, you got a bag? You should've seen the puzzled look on his face. He sat there for a second thinking about it & then say's no, but I think there's a cardboard box in the back...

These snakes are great, they don't attempt to bite, rattle their tails or hiss! I haven't sexed them yet but, I'm certain they must be a pair since they were laying right next to each other like that. It'll be great to hatch some babies, wish me luck!

Eric
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If Jesus is your co-pilot, you'd better change seats!

wow! if you hadn't turned around, you would've driven right by them never knowing and you most likely saved their lives too. i keep some kankakee co., ill. bulls and they are very dark w/ alot of black on them. do yours look like that eric? i really like the northern bulls, can you post a pic?

Great story, you could get babies this summer.
We want pics!

Pits are great snakes. A little on the messy side, but they have personality. Always have been one of my favorites. Ive kept Bulls and Gophers for years. Congrats on the find!
God Bless,
Fred

I sexed and photographed them tonight. Here's the male. He's probably slightly smaller than I first thought. Probably about 3.5'

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If Jesus is your co-pilot, you'd better change seats!

Here's the female. She's also probably slightly smaller than I first thought. Most likely about 4.5'
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>>If Jesus is your co-pilot, you'd better change seats!

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If Jesus is your co-pilot, you'd better change seats!

yeah eric, those are typical of bulls from that area, blackish and boldly marked. you are so lucky! we don't have any bullsnakes around philly.....but we do have a beluga whale.lol! good luck w/ them, she may already be gravid.

Congrats on the ground score of those two pits Eric. Some guys have all the lcuk...some guys get all the pain.....

God Bless You,

Fred Albury

Very exciting. Good looking animals and they appear in great shape. Interesting that they were breeding (I assume) at only 3.5'!

Go forth and help them propagate!

Good luck
Dean

yes, thanks eric, excellent road work! northern bulls rarely exceed the 5' range dean, unlike their more enormous southern counterparts. a 3.5' illinois male is good to go. a 4.5' illinois female? wish i had one! :>/

The Mo. field guide says 37-72" & IL. field guide says up to 180cm so, evidently they don't get as large as some of the other populations. Although, the museum in Springfield has one mounted that appears to be between 7 & 8'

Eric
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If Jesus is your co-pilot, you'd better change seats!

I thought it was common knowledge that heat rocks were bad news? Nice bulls, wish I were that lucky!

I knew i'd hear about that...
I use a dimmer switch to control the heat, so it's fine.

Eric
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If Jesus is your co-pilot, you'd better change seats!

If you look close enough you can see ancient engravings saying.........made in China!

*Snicker*

Fred Albury

Sorry sometimes im a real little cuss!

Eric,
I'm from Illinios but this bull is not. Heres what an 8 foot bull like Ron

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The Crawl Space

Nice loking Bullsnakes. Funny how many keepers of Drymarchon like and keep Pituophis. Kindred souls....

God Bless,

Fred Albury

Where in IL. are you? I'm in Quincy.

That's certainly a big bull but, not as big as the one in the museum. Have you ever seen it?

Eric
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If Jesus is your co-pilot, you'd better change seats!

Eric,
Born and raised in Chicago but now I live in Greenfield,Wisconsin. DA BEARS !!!
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The Crawl Space

My Albertan bullsnake is slightly over 6 feet (tape measure/wall) and looks aboutthe same length as yours but less girthy.

Where about's is Greenfeild? I'm traveling to Wisconsin and then making a quick trip into Illinois to see Carmicheal's herp collection. I'd say I'm a packer's fan through marriage Go cheese!

Greenfield is a suburb of Milwaukee. The red bull pictured was measured at 8 foot 2 years ago, definately bigger now. I decided to get out of pits and hopefully have that pair sold. Not enough marriages in the world could convert me into a Packer fan.
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The Crawl Space

I'm hitting the Milwaukee Zoo on my trip, how's it for herps?

lol, actually I'm a hockey fan, but with football it's the Edmonton Eskimo's in the CFL for me Best part about the packers is making fun of Favre or Farve or whatever !

ron, i think you need to seriously re-measure that snake. i have one or two 8' bulls and they blow that snake away sizewise in every direction. it's not even close. he looks much more like a 6.5 plus[perhaps] to me........