CRITTERS AT BRAZOS BEND STATE PARK--SNAKES non-venomous 1
This page was born 11/24/2003.  Rickubis designed it.  (such as it is.) Last update:  02/25/2017
Images and contents on this page copyright ©2002 - 2017 Richard M. Dashnau 

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Welcome to the Visitor's Center at Brazos Bend State Park. That's me on a trail (03/29/2004). As I get more pictures, these pages expand. I've gotten 
enough images of snakes to collect them here. This is the first of a group of pages featuring snakes. 

September 15, 2002 WOUNDED SNAKE UPDATE: Previously (SEPTEMBER 1) I'd taken some pictures of a water snake that was wounded.  Just one week later 
(SEPTEMBER 8), I encountered the snake again. The snake was about the right size, and was very close to the spot where I'd released the one with the badly-crushed 
head before, so I'm pretty sure it was the same one. I guess it didn't make it. (see THIN SNAKE  and THIN SNAKE HEAD below.) These pictures were taken Sept. 8, 2002.
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                             THIN SNAKE                                                    THIN SNAKE HEAD
I was somewhat surprised at how far the snake had deteriorated in just a week. There was still some wet parts adhering to the bones, and the smell was quite strong. This 
may surprise some people, but I left the snake where it was. As much as I wanted to keep it for an interpretive display (at least the head), I didn't have anything to store it in.

September 01, 2002 The image below (SMILE!) shows me taking a picture of a snake that I found on Elm Lake trail. The snake might be a yellow belly water snake. I'm
taking this picture (and holding the snake) because it appeared to be injured in the head. The snake was very thin, and appeared not to have eaten for some time. A pair
of park visitors took this picture with their camera and then were nice enough to email it to me.  The image below left (HURT SNAKE) shows what I was taking a picture
of while my picture was being taken.  I don't like to bother that animals at Brazos Bend State Park unless it's absolutely necessary.  This snake appeared on the trail as I
was hurrying back to the Visitor's Center. Before I saw the snake, though, and after I'd been photographing spiders, I saw a LARGE alligator on the trail. (See SPEED
BUMP W/TEETH, below.) As I approached him, he got up and sauntered off the trail.( See THERE HE GOES, below)
 
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                           SMILE!                                                          HURT SNAKE                                         SPEED BUMP WITH TEETH                                       THERE HE GOES
August 18, 2002 Most important news: WE GOT RAIN at the park! About 9 inches worth, and now the park looks like it should.  First thing in the morning, I found out that a baby Broadbanded
 Water snake was found on the trail. This is the one shown in the image below (see BABY SNAKE,below).  Baby snakes are difficult to feed, and this one will be released where it was found.

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                                                         BABY SNAKE

July 7, 2002  Happy 4th of July Weekend! I was able to go to the park 3 times over the last 4 days. I'll just mention one more thing that happened this past weekend. It was pretty amazing.
On July 5th, Donna and I visited Brazos Bend Park for a few hours. Around 11:00 am, we were on the bridge on at the beginning of the Creekfield Trail. We noticed that the tadpoles were 
breaking the surface regularly to breathe. Suddenly, Donna noticed a Broad Banded Water Snake (Natrix fasciata confluens) coming towards us. It had just caught a tadpole, and we 
watched it gulp it down. (see YUM! and GULP!, below) That's the tadpole's tail in the snake's mouth.  While I was trying to photograph this process, Donna noticed another snake in some 
weeds, but it submerged. A few minutes later, as I was following the first water snake along the shore (I'd taken about 2 steps), I noticed another snake on some branches. I think that this is a
Green Water Snake (Natrix cyclopian cyclopian). (see Green Water Snake, below.) I took some pictures of this snake, and slowly moved to the side to get a better view (another few steps). 
Then, I moved back to try to find the first Broad Banded Water Snake, when a third snake appeared from the grass right in front of me! I believe this snake is a Yellow Bellied Water Snake 
(Natrix erythrogaster flavigaster) (see Yellow Bellied below). We stayed around a little longer, watching this activity, which was also made more interesting by various small alligators and 
turtles moving around.  We saw all this activity in just an hour! The three different snakes appeared in an area that was about the size of a 4 x 8 piece of plywood! Is that cool or what?
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           TADPOLES, YUM!                                    GULP!                             GREEN WATER SNAKE             YELLOW-BELLIED WATER SNAKE

June 30, 2002  It had been raining all weekend.  Not steadily, but enough to make things wet and the air close and sticky.  I witnessed some alligator behavior (recorded elsewhere). The day
continued , and I'd logged my time, and was leaving the Vistor's Center (I was about 10 steps out the door!) when I saw this snake. (see Texas Rat Snake, above).  It was just curled up, as 
shown, right there in front of the bicycle racks. It wasn't very long for a rat snake; maybe about 2 feet long.  I guess there just aren't any *bad* days to see things at Brazos Bend State Park.

June 23, 2002  Not too long after I'd taken a series of photos of the Golden Silk Spider,  a park visitor pointed out a snake on the opposite side of the trail. This looks to me like a Broadbanded
Water Snake, but a very nice one. It moved slowly along the trail, and I followed it for about 45 minutes, hoping to keep it from being run over by a bicycle if it tried to cross the trail. Every now 
and then, it would stop, and raise its head about 5 inches above the ground (see WHAT'S UP?, below). Then it would move further along the trail, sometimes coming up to it (see the
flv video clip 416kb ), and then moving away. 

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                       WHAT'S UP?                                       GET OFF OF MY SPOT!                               RIBBON SNAKE                                      TEXAS RAT SNAKE
Along the way, something quite interesting happened.  To my surprise, a Ribbon Snake moved out of a clump of grass as the Broadbanded moved by. This Ribbon Snake watched the larger 
water snake move by for a few seconds, then slowly crept towards it (see GET OFF OF MY SPOT, above click here for a bigger picture. Take a close look at the image. The dark mass in front
of the ribbon snake is the water snake passing by.) It suddenly struck at the body of the the water snake! It did this once, then moved back, and moved out from its hiding spot( see RIBBON 
SNAKE, above).  I followed the water snake a few steps, then a group of park visitors came by, and I stood still, between the two snakes, and pointed them out.  The water snake moved on, and
the ribbon snake went back under the grass. Once the water snake got further away from me, it did cross the trail.

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-----                -GREEN SNAKE 1------                                 ------------- GREEN SNAKE 2-------                              -------- GREEN SNAKE 3----------------

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               ---- GREEN SNAKE 4 ---                        --------GREEN SNAKE 5

January 10, 2002  I had gone out to clear away some vegetation in front of one of the park benches on Hale Lake. As I stepped down off the trail, I looked down and saw this Smooth Green Snake
lying on the ground. It was quite cool outside, and the snake wasn't moving very quickly.  I'd cleared some of this area the weekend before, and this bank was now exposed to the sun. I suppose 
that's why the snake showed up there. The ONLY reason I picked this snake up was to move it away from where I'd be cutting. It is not normal procedure for us to catch park animals.

 MUD SNAKE 10/14/2001 The mud snake is especially noteworthy since most of the time we see them dead alongside the trails. Alligators have been blamed for this, and sometimes some of
the wading birds. Whatever the reason for their death, the snakes are then left alone, and not eaten. (See MUD SNAKE, below)

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                  MUD SNAKE 

If you'd like to know more about the park follow these links:

Brazos Bend State Park   The main page.

Brazos Bend State Park Volunteer's Page  The volunteer's main page.
 

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