Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am back on the forums now. I guess it was a severe form of food poisoning that kept me on the chair and couch for a few weeks. I have been very weak barely able to move until last friday. Then we whent camping to lake lurleen, where there used to be waters every where. turns out I did not see a snake at all. Just turtles and one big frog. My dad and i went to a lake yesterdady right before dark. I saw waters every where there. When it was nearly dark you could just see them poking there heads up every where. I caught 2 large yealings under a black tarp half way in the water. the little guys are easy to catch. They just praticcaly swam up to me. one is 15" and the other is 12". The bigger one has a nice tent of a little redish orange to it. my pics are not the best but oh well.I still have to catch 1 or 2 gravid females. I can't find any yellow bellies, because i can't go where i found that one last year. Someone else owns it now.How big are they when they can have the babys. I saw a lot of big fat ones they either ate alot of fish or are gravid. I saw no frogs there. My dad said he saw a 4 foot snake out there. and as big as his fist. i showed him pic of a cotton mouth and he ssaid that was it. So I need to whatch out. I usualy donn't have to worry because Cottonmouths are too commmon here but they are hear. I have only seen a few individuals around here. I tied a fluke to my fishing line and threw out there by the snake to try to scare it towards me. It grabbed the fluke and tried to eat it. It looks just like a minnow and if you jurk right it does like a minnowI tried to reel it in but it let go seeing me slumbering towards it. If I don't use a hook could I just let it swallow it and then reel in next time and make it trow it up? It is one of those rubber like worms for fishing. I thought about doing that but worried it might hurt it. I realy want at least one gravid female before there are no more gravid females left. I layed that tarp back outhalf way in the water but this time not wodded up and everything so mayeb today when i go back i will find a ten foot midland and a ten foot yellow belly. Now that would be a good pic and a good record. Sorry it is so long a sloppy. I do know grammer and all but just don't use it much when typing.
Justin

another pic

last one

i caught 2babies myself but the patterns are not as good as the one u got..Alex

Nice looking Midlands. I hope they do well for you. Try looking in shallower, swampier areas for Yellowbellies. You generally don't find them in the same habitat as sipedon.
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Pierson Hill

Herpetology and Herpetoculture

Are you sure those are Midlands? They look more like Northerns to me. I thought the dark bands are narrower than the light ones on Midlands. Just wondering, michaelb

They look like Midlands too me but the distinction between sipedon and pleuralis is sometimes difficult. The defining characteristics in my mind are the overall orangish coloration and the lateral spots (not dorsal) being narrower than the spaces between them.

Where did you find them Justin?
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Pierson Hill

Herpetology and Herpetoculture

Nnorthwest Alabama. It seems that someone on this forum said that it looked like a subspecies of the northern. I thought it was you peirsonnn. It was when i first started posting pics on here.
Justin

Oh, thanx, I did not know that. i found that one yellow belly in a very cold runny water stream. Thats the kind of places I've been looking for them. I'll try that.
Justin

Thank heavens you don't use punctuation! For a minute there I thought you said that all in one breath! If that was the case, it's no wonder you've been bed ridden for so long. I, myself, often use ( or ) and " with ", even !! from time to time.
Notwithstanding, you have great taste in snakes. Off hand, it looks like a pair of male midlands. At least that was my "gut" reaction before I noticed the debate brewing below. The capture site may help with ID but if there's been any integration in the parents' history, flip a coin.
Anyway, having baby season is'nt over yet! Some of those fat snakes you saw could well be females, gravid ones at that!
Michael

How can you tell that they are males? I thought you could only probe them to know. Can you use that poping method with them like you can with some other colubrids? I can use it with baby rat snakes, but can't realy tell with waters. I'll start using a little bit of grammar, on the smaller stuff, but on the big stuff, you might as well forget that. It hurts my back to sit to long in this computer chair.
I did not get to go yesterday, because a storm was here and it was raining cats and dogs.
Justin

I think "popping" should be reserved for only the youngest snakes, done with care and caution (same as you'd want it done to youself)!
As for sexing without probing, nerodia specifically and no need to go further, males tend to be "shapeless" such that they are about the same diameter over the greatest part of their length excluding head and tail. Females on the other hand, are significantly more massive from the neck to tail. Like, girls got hips! Of course this applies to healthy specimens as yours appear to be.
I have a match pair of pictiventris which I'll try to get photos of, side by side. Same age, raised from babies. one male, one female. True,the one eats more by size and volume but this is a case of the dimorphism between the sexes and naturally enhances the differences.
Michael