Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I live in mesa, AZ and have found about 7 snakes in my back yard, they were all under bags of soil, and they are all the same type of snake, I ran in to get my camera and by then they were gone, they werent banded like a coral snake, but they had some types of band, the colors were black/red/yellow/red/black and the colors were very faded, I thought that it was a kingsnake of some type, but am not sure, I am almost positive that it wasnt a coral snake, and just wanted to know if anyone might know what snakes these are, I have quite a few herps but I never got into the colubrids at all and I have never learned about our native reptiles except for the rattlesnakes, they were all around 8-9inches in length were they possibly starting to hibertnate? Any help welcome
thanks
tony butler

http://www.reptilesofaz.com/Snakes-Subpages/h-s-semiannulata.html

It sounds like it cold be a banded phase Ground Snake

The yellow band were far more apparent, and the snout was more pointed, and the colors were very faded, much more so than on that snake but that could be it.
thanks
tony butler

http://www.arizonahighways.com/custom.cfm?name=c_nature.cfm&secid=34&id=166

Looks an awful lot like that but I am in Mesa, AZ which is in the southwest are those found here?
thanks
Tony Butler

Did you check out this species -

http://www.reptilesofaz.com/Snakes-Subpages/h-c-occipitalis.html
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

...but unlikely in this case...the backyard & 7 of them drives the banded unknown... to most likely be Sonora....unless he has a broad arroyo (Chilo hab) running thru it...unlikely in Mesa...mi ciudad tambien!

RxR

NP

Take a look at this link, it should help you out.

http://www.reptilesofaz.com/herp-snakes.html

Hope this helps
Brian

>>Hello, I live in mesa, AZ and have found about 7 snakes in my back yard, they were all under bags of soil, and they are all the same type of snake, I ran in to get my camera and by then they were gone, they werent banded like a coral snake, but they had some types of band, the colors were black/red/yellow/red/black and the colors were very faded, I thought that it was a kingsnake of some type, but am not sure, I am almost positive that it wasnt a coral snake, and just wanted to know if anyone might know what snakes these are, I have quite a few herps but I never got into the colubrids at all and I have never learned about our native reptiles except for the rattlesnakes, they were all around 8-9inches in length were they possibly starting to hibertnate? Any help welcome
>>thanks
>>tony butler
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RATS
1.0 Corn snake "Warpath"(KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Great plains rat snake "Reign Fire" (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Ya I looked at that site earlier and the long nose looks almost exactly like it, but I dont know if they are found around my area the map says it doesnt.
thanks
tony butler

Longnose snakes are all over your county. Look at the map on the bottom of that link. They are very common.

...

I think I should have specified, I am in unicorporated mesa, outside the maricopa county and in between the pinal county, I have no county, the small area I live in has no speed limit signs or any thing, and my mail is alway sent to the wrong adresses and I have to go to the post office to pick it up and I dont know If I am looking at the correct snake, it say that it is found in the west part of maricopa and into the pima county, is this correct, regardless could this snake possibly have a wider range of habitat then thought? ALso someone said that it probably wasnt a long nose snake because there were seven of them. Why is this, can you explain so I can understand?
thanks
tony butler

Yes, you are in Longnose range. I guess I'm not sure why you don't think you are. Even the range map on the link we gave you shows you on the edge of the range. Even the issue of finding 7 in your yard doesn't sound like a big deal to me. There are areas near me here in Tucson where they are very, very plentiful. It was probably nice and warm under those bags of soil and young snakes just took refuge there. he only other banded snake even left on the list that might match is the Variable Sand Snake. If you have a wash in or near the backyard, that is a possible one. Here is there link from the same page as the others.
http://www.reptilesofaz.com/Snakes-Subpages/h-c-stramineus.html
Look at all of the snakes on these pages and decide what you have. All of the options are there. If your house in anywhere close to the edges of the range map, that is good enough. They maps are approximations and the snakes don't read them.

Could it be one of the shovel nosed snakes?

NP

If your going to guess, use common knowledge. Without a pic its a guess based on a poor discription. Mesa has ground snakes commonly, it doesn't have shovelnosed, to far east and wrong habitat. It has longnose snakes, but ground snakes are very common in colder weather(on the surface) Ground snakes come in all manner of patterns and color. From striped to unicolor, to banded, to bicolor to tricolor.

So unless the person gives better details, or a pic, the best guess is what its most likely to be, a ground snake. Of course it could be a retic. FR

Its like you were reading my mind. Personally I figured guessing was the only option short of ignoring him. I didn't realize Ground Snakes were cold tolerant. Nice little bit to add to my brain.

Mesa doesn't get all that cold, in fact, it rarely experiences nights below 32F, think, oranges, then think Mesa.

In the time I have been in Tucson(seems like a bizillion years) we average somewhere are thirty nights below freezing, and have two to five cold fronts that drop the lows into the high teens to low twenties. So them Mesaites are darn right hot in winter.

I was going down today but life got in the way. Dang it. FR

Mesa - oranges - cool not cold nights. I can wrap around that point.
We had a training session at work today and I was all set for an early finish and a run south. naturally, we fought computer hang ups all day instead. No south trip today but maybe I can work out something soon. I very well might just go down to the Ritas for a quick look tomorrow evening after hours and see what it looks like there. These very warm days but rapidly cooling nights are kind of interesting. Checking temp changes around sundown is intriguing. Intuitively I would think that early afternoon would offer the best movement options for snakes because the temp ranges are more stable than around sundown. In other words, teh temp stays in a reasonable range for a longer time period as the surface warms. Surface temps seem to change very quickly at night. Extrapolating into mass temps may not be fair so i need to look at that too. i know I need more measurements tomake conclusions but I'm talking out loud.
I'll look for your wheels when Codie and I are down that way this weekend.

the orange trees are gone , they have turned into houseing tracs.

Mesa has ground snakes commonly, it doesn't have shovelnosed, to far east and wrong habitat.

Oh, you mean we are supposed to know where Mesa is? Oops. I considered looking it up, but decided to rely on the person's rejection of Sonora as a possibility.

Next time I guess I will have to break out a map of AZ!
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I didnt take the time to see exactly where in az he said he was, just took a guess.
Didnt realize you had to be perfect to take a guess on these forums.

Careful before your posts get pounded with uneeded logic

Although sometimes you might be cautioned that snakes don't read maps by the same person...flip a coin and some can/will argue either side.

For all we know the snakes came in the bags of dirt they were under. I still say long-nosed snakes, and I have nothing to back that guess up but the "poor" description offered.

I would say this..."If you don't know, let it go!".