Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was curious if any of you out there take field measurements of getula ssp in the field and document size. From what I understand L.g.getula is the largest subspecies with a documented length of 84". Does anyone know where this snake came from? I have seen large L.g.getula from the southern part of their range in Ga for example and I'm guessing this record snake most likely came from Ga, Fl or S.C. I also have the impression that eastern kings from more northerly locales do not get as large in the wild. N.C., Maryland and Jersey for example. Do any of you have any field observations on this? I have also found that there is a recorded length for holbrooki for 72". Does anyone have any info on the locality of this record? I have noted that a number of the field guides list record specimens from individual states and for holbrooki the listed lengths are generally much smaller than that. I have also seen where the record length for floridana is 69" and I have seen some field pics of those that were absolutely huge. What I'm wondering is whether overall size is generally corralated to north/south distribution or whether there is simply regional variation within the subs. We found several nigra last year that we felt were over 60" but did not take field measurements. We decided to field measure the larger specimens this year and see if we could document a record length for nigra. As luck would have it we have not come across any really large specimens this year with the longest seen being 56". Anyhow, I would be very interested in hearing what you other field guys have found out about the kings in your area. Attached is a field pic of a 51" nigra we found Tuesday in Trigg county KY. Thanks - Phil

phil, one suggestion: snap a picture from overhead of each snake you find in the field, including something you carry with you always when you're hunting--maybe something as simple as a dollar bill, or if you carry a gardening tool for flipping tin or whatever, that would do. Just anything you can get a measurement on once you're home, and that online size caluclator can then be used to easily determine the length of each animal, without having to measure them in the field.
terry

Thanks Terry. We have a set of tubes for field measurments so it really doesn't take too long to get a good read in a short order. We only measure the ones that we feel are going to be 50"+, which this year has mean't only several snakes. - Phil

Hi Phil,
I've been catching Eastern Kings in North Carolina for the past 17 years and the largest that I have seen was around 60" and was caught in Catawba County near Lookout Shoals Lake. All of the other's I have seen (probably around 30 total) were 3"-4" as adults.

Michael

Thanks Michael. It sound like what you have seen over the years is similar to the sizes we are seeing here. - Phil

>>... I have also seen where the record length for floridana is 69" and I have seen some field pics of those that were absolutely huge. What I'm wondering is whether overall size is generally corralated to north/south distribution or whether there is simply regional variation within the subs

well, earlier records for floridana probably refer to what might be called peninsular getula/brooksi intergrades now? I'm not fully up-to-date on the current status of the diff subspecies.

regardless, here in pinellas county (st pete, in the tampa bay area) the largest "florida king" i caught was a good 5 1/2 feet, possibly an inch or two more.

terry

Thanks Terry. I was thinking that most of the truly big getula were from the more southerly parts of their range. I wonder how big holbrooki gets in eastern Texas and southern Louisiana in the deep south. That would be interesting to know. Thanks once again. - Phil