>>John, thanks for posting the photo of that juvenile; I've never seen one before. When I looked at it, I immediately thought: hey, that looks kinda like Gloydius.
>>The snake you posted:
>>
>>and Gloydius blomhoffi:
>>
>>Probably some mimicry going on there, as I imagine schrencki and continental Gloydius sp. share a lot of common range. I'll have to dig into it a bit more when I get a chance.
>>
>>Happy Holidays,
>>Shane
>>-----
>>Lifelist


Shane and John, interesting photos.

Yes, there is at least one Gloydius sp. that shares the range of the Russian ratsnake. It's been a while, but I was very interested in the ecology of these snakes in the past, and was surprised at what kind of lifestyle they had. The Russian rat, Elaphe schrencki, has a very short active season, mainly May to September, because s.e. Siberia is normally very cold. During this active season, however, it is like "subtropical". I've seen some video footage and the change in summer is amazing. I think the Russians are most like the fox snake in parallel ecology. Not only is schrencki similar to Gloydius sp. in color/pattern, but they share their realm with some other pretty interesting creatures too, such as the Siberian tiger, and some neat herps, etc.

Just thought I'd throw a little tidbit in there to keep things going a little. Ya'all know this is pretty much my favorite kind of topic, heheh!

PS: I've always liked the Russian rat a lot. If you want to keep a large snake that's only active about half the year, it's a great choice.

Terry

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