Reptile & Amphibian Forums

some kind of rat snake?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opPf1PMOYVg

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yellow ratsnake

Pseustes poecilonotus the Neotropical Bird Snake.

If you'll notice the lateral compression of the snake's neck as it grabs that woodpecker. That is not a yellow rat snake.

Check this link.
Link

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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
0.3 P. c. sayi Kingsville X Stillwater red bulls
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

In Florida? The bird is a pileated woodpecker, a US species. Is the snake an escaped exotic?
Thanks

I have to go with yellow rat as well. The stripes are fairly faint, but still there. Kinda surprised it kept letting the woodpecker go,though. It must have just eaten everything in the nest, otherwise the bird would've been a snack.
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0.2 cb'09 loggerhead musks
0.2 cb'09 razorback musks
1.1 cb'09 crested geckos
1.0 cb'09 gargoyle gecko
1.1 crazy ass dachshunds (Mr. Peanutt, Daisy Mae)
1.0 cb '03 homo sapien(Kaelan,7)
"jesus is coming-when i count to 3,everyone jump out and yell SURPRISE!!"

I've seen this video before and it was then labeled as a Poestes.

Pileated woodpeckers don't have the white V on their backs as this one does. Nor does the red head go down the neck like this one. Breast feathers in the video are scaled in white, pileateds have dark breasts. Pileateds have a red slash along the lower mandible, the vid does not. The actual name of this woodpecker is the Lineated (Dryocopus lineatus) woodpecker from SA.

http://www.avianweb.com/lineatedwoodpeckers.html

This vid was not shot in Fla it's from SA and has been reposted and mislabeled.

My bad I had it as a Poestes poecilonotus when it is actually a sulphureus.
Link

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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
0.3 P. c. sayi Kingsville X Stillwater red bulls
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

I agree with you. When I saw "northern Florida" in the heading, I assumed yellow ratsnake, even though it did not look quite right. Thanks.

Thanks bigtattoo, I am glad to know it's not florida

I would definitely agree that this is not Florida. Southern Central or Northern South America. It certainly looks quite alot like Pseustes sulphureus. At 39 seconds in there is a good profile of the snake showing the characteristic lateral compression along with the throat inflation which are trademark defensive displays of the giant bird snake. Also shows well the yellow interstitial skin where the snake gets its specific name sulphureus. As for the woodpecker it is certainly not a Piliated, but I'm inclined to believe it is not a Lineated either. The amount of red on the head and the fact that the white stripes converge to form a full V make it look more like a Crimson Crested Woodpecker Campephilus melanoleucus or one of the other Campephilus spp. However this is a snake forum so that's not really what's important Regardless, it is not in Florida, not a yellow rat snake and instead most likely Pseustes sulphureus the giant bird snake.

Below is a photo of a large (8 foot) P. sulphureus I found in Ecuador.
-Zach

Yep a good chance I may be off on the exact woodpecker that it IS but I'm dead on as to what it is NOT. LOL
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
0.3 P. c. sayi Kingsville X Stillwater red bulls
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

I'm embarrased to say that when I first saw this post, I didn't look at the video, but saw that the question had been answered so I moved on. Oops...

I've seen this video a number of times before. It is a Crimson-crested Woodpecker whose nest has been raided by a Pseustes sulphureus. I can't remember where, but it is in northern South America somewhere.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Excellent call Big T!!

I saw ALL those exact same things when I looked at it late last night. There were far too many things that didn't jive.

First was the two South American's in the boat with their accent giving some tourists a nature cruise along the Amazon River..LOL! The laterally-inflated neck stance of the Pseustes, then the zoomed in closeup of the side of the head, then the body structure being more rounded as opposed to the "breadloaf" shape of the ventro-lateral area of A Yellow Rat, etc..

All these things said Pseustes to me too.

Ahh yes,...well-done Grasshopper! next feat will be walking the rice paper without leaving a tear

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

LMAO Doug. I'll get right on the rice paper after I snatch the pebble from your hand.
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
0.3 P. c. sayi Kingsville X Stillwater red bulls
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

HAHAAAHA!! too funny man!

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

determined bird. lol ,lol ,lol

Big Tat, you may have difficulty snatching the pebble from Doug's hand...he's good! I agree that film clip was done way south of us. The bird is not a pileated, & the snake is not from Florida either. Y'all keep havin' fun! ~~Greg~~