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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. For most of my identification,
I'm using "Texas Snakes-a field guide", by James R. Dixon and John E.
Werler (2000, 2005)
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I turned
around, and a man sitting on the bench pointed at a snake slithering almost
between his feet. I ran over and picked it
up (it
was about 8 inches long), and discovered that it was a
Western Mud Snake (Farancia abacura reinwardti) ! So,
after I explained (I did this a number of times)
that
I ONLY picked up the snake so it wouldn't get stepped on, I talked about
it; and
about a hoop snake, and about "stingers"
on snake's
tails, and so on. About 5 or 10 minutes later, I heard another shout, of
"ANOTHER SNAKE!". I turned, and it was the same guy
who'd
seen the first one. He was still sitting on the end of the bench. And,
ANOTHER young Mud Snake was crawling right towards him!
This
time, it got to the grass under the bench before I
could catch it, and
I lost that one. That was pretty funny.
That
guy wouldn't sit on the bench any more, even though he stayed around for
a while. When it finally got quiet, I let the snake go.
Before
I did, I took a few pictures, and a few short video clips. You can see
one clip here (wmv 2126kb).
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SNAKE
IN MY HAND
SHARP TAIL OVER HEAD
BRILLIANT UNDERSIDE
UNDERSIDE, CLOSER
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CLOSEUP
OF THE HEAD
FRAME FROM THE VIDEO
CLIP (WMV 2126KB)
A lot
of people (including me) have been seeing the Bitterns eating small snakes
lately. I couldn't tell what kind of snakes I saw
then.
The Mud Snake is easily identifiable by the glossy, sometimes iridescent
dark back and brilliant red with black underside.
Mudsnakes
have small eyes, with round pupils, and a head that
is no wider than its
neck. It also has a sharp spine at the end of a short
tail. This spine looks like a stinger, but is harmless to humans. Here's
some more information about this snake, from my
copy of Texas Snakes, by
Werler and Dixon.
1 species
of Mud Snake is listed, the Western Mud Snake (Farancia abacura reinwardti).
The adults are generally 3 or 4 feet long. According
to
the book, this is one of the most docile snakes likely to be encountered
in the field. The favored food of the
Mud
Snake is said to be amphiumas or sirens.
Both
of these are long amphibians
that resemble eels. Mud Snakes are also known
to eat salamanders, tadpoles, and fish. While feeding,
the Mudsnake has been observed to be a ferocious antagonist when attacking
prey such
as an amphiuma which can
violently
defend itself. Now here's something especially interesting. Mud Snakes
are one of the few snakes in the entire world
that
actually remains with their eggs
throughout incubation.
Some
older readers may recall a legendary critter called a "hoop snake". I used
to see mention of this from time to time when
I was
younger. In the Werler and Dixon book,
the critter is said to have been
able to grab its tail in its mouth, make its body into
a hoop,
and roll downhill after a victim. When it got close enough, it would then--on
the fly--straighten its body into
a spear shape
and
impale the victim with the point on its tail. Within seconds the victim
would be a goner. Pretty amazing, eh? Remember, this
was
all folklore.
Anyway,
THIS snake, the Mud Snake, is generally believed to be the "basis" for
the "hoop snake". If captured, the Mud Snake will
sometimes
poke or probe with the point on its tail; and this
probing could cause
a predator to drop it in surprise. The Mud Snake will
sometimes
suddenly curl its tail or portions of its body, which shows the brighter
underside. This can also be a method
of intimidation.
This
flipping over is sometimes accompanied by the tail being raised and curled.
Finally, the tail is said to be used to help control
prey
that the snake has caught.
Other
sources mention that Hognosed snakes also have a secretion in their mouths
that is thought to neutralize the effects of toad venom. All of this
sounds pretty harmless, right? It is.
It's
the Hognose Snakes defensive show that might cause humans to kill it.
When a Hognose snake is threatened, it will first lie still, like many
other animals. If that doesn't work, it may try to crawl
away. If these
first two ploys don't work, then the show starts. First, the snake can
flatten its head and the neck area behind it, so that from above
or the front, this area can
appear
almost 3 times
bigger. At the same time, it will take deep breaths which
cause its body to expand and contract, and it will also hiss loudly. How
do you think a typical homeowner would react to this; especially
if
there are gardening tools close by? If this acting hasn't driven off
an attacker, then the snake begins striking repeatedly. However, these
strikes are almost always done WITH THE MOUTH
CLOSED, and no contact is
made. It's all a bluff! Can you imagine the snake surviving an encounter
with most humans after all of this? Finally, if its antagonist
is still around, and perhaps touches
the snake, the snake begins to twist
and contort. It acts as if it's been mortally wounded. During this time,
the snake will void material from its bowels, and if it's eaten recently,
it will regurgitate. A
strong musk is also expelled from glands near
the tail. After a while, the snake will stop moving, with its belly up.
It will play dead, with mouth slack, and even with its tongue lolling out.
The snake
will lie there until the antagonist loses interest or leaves.
Then, the hognose snake turns back onto its stomach and crawls off.
I took a few pictures of the young "red" Hognose snake, (see CUTE
LITTLE
ONE and ROUND PUPILS, below) and while I was taking the pictures, the camera
flash might have annoyed it. It widened its head a bit.
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CUTE LITTLE ONE
ROUND PUPILS
SLIGHTLY ANNOYED
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COOL ARROWHEAD
VIDEO
CLIP (435KB)
You
can see the slightly widened head. (see SLIGHTLY ANNOYED and COOL ARROWHEAD,
above). With the shades of orange, and the "triangular-shaped" head
shown here, I can imagine this
snake being mistaken for a copperhead and
killed--even though it doesn't really resemble a copperhead. Note the interesting
dark band that goes from one "cheek", across the eyes, and down the
other
cheek.The snake only showed this head display for a few brief intervals.
I finally took a short video
clip of the young snake, just to show how it moved.
We also
have an adult Hognose snake,
and I thought it might be interesting to contrast
with the young one. So, the images below show the adult. (see BIGGER HANDFUL,
FORKED TONGUE, and WARM PULSE below) Notice the short
keel, or ridge just
behind the upturned nose. (see NOSE PLOW, below). In the same picture,
that band across the eyes is also visible. Also note, as on the young snake,
the round pupils. I took a
video
clip of this snake on my arm as well.
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BIGGER
HANDFUL
FORKED TONGUE
IT LIKES MY WARM PULSE
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THE NOSE PLOW
VIDEO
CLIP(336KB)
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TRAIL CROSSING
I was
able to crop a closeup of the head (GREEN WATER SNAKE, below). Some time
later, I watched at one of the small ponds as 3 to 5 water snakes foraged.
They appeared to be Broadbanded
Water Snakes.
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GREEN
WATER SNAKE
BROADBANDED HUNTING
JUST
ATE A
FROG
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ANOTHER ONE
AND ANOTHER ONE
The
snakes weren't obvious at first, because they were foraging underwater.
From time to time, though, there was turbulance as the small fish would
flee, and then sometimes a snake would appear! I watched
one move to the
bank (see BROADBANDED HUNTING, above); and then rested near a log. As I
turned to watch another snake, the first disappeared. But, it reappeared,
chasing a small frog hopping towards
the water. It missed that one, and
continued into the water. It came back out, chasing more frogs, and caught
one. It stopped and rested while it swallowed the frog (see JUST ATE A
FROG, above). I watched
as more snakes appeared (see ANOTHER ONE, and AND
ANOTHER ONE, above). I was able to slowly move closer, and took a few more
pictures of this last one (see WAITING FOR PREY, and BEAUTIFUL
FACE, below).
I believe the Broadbanded Water Snake is one of the prettiest snakes we
have. That orange coloration and large dark blotches make it easy to identify. 
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WAITING FOR PREY
BEAUTIFUL FACE
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RIBBON SNAKE ON THE BRIDGE
THE RIBBON SNAKE'S HEAD
When
I got to the Spillway Bridge, I saw this good-sized Ribbon Snake (see RIBBON
ON THE BRIDGE, and SNAKE'S HEAD, above). Because of the exposure, and the
distance away, I can't tell exactly which
Ribbon Snake it is, though. I
tried getting a little closer, but it vanished between two bridge planks.
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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