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CRIS Field Activities Coordinator
Posts: 3179
   
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas | Another lifer!
I flipped this Nerodia rhombifer rhombifer (Northern diamondbacked waternskate) Nerodia sipedon pleuralis (Midland watersnake) this afternoon under a large rock along a grassy, shaded riverbank while fishing... well... I was actually herping, with fishing as a byproduct to keep me occupied in the 100ish degree heat...
He held true to the rumors of Nerodia attitude... and their musk.. man. Let me put it in perspective for you guys. Take the musk of a CalKing, mix it with the musk from any CA garter, let that sit in the sun for 3 days, then add something that has been dead for another 5 days. Yup.
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Member
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Location: Folsom CA | Sweet... Reminds me of my old pair of herpin shoes I just threw away, after creek walking on sunday! lol Cool find, Mike!
Edited by Porter 7/27/2010 6:15 PM
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Posts: 841
Location: Manteca CA | It's beefy! |
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Location: Hayward | I used to catch these at Lafayette resevoir in the east bay . I once put a really pissed off one in my buddys daypack. I thought my friend would hear it hissing and dump out his pack. Things did not go as I planned. I guess the snake quit hissing because my friend dug all the way to the bottom of his daypack before he noticed it. Talk about screaming like a girl. I now know that it is not nice to play tricks on people that are deathly afraid of snakes. Funny as hell...Yes, nice ...no. It has been over 15 years and my friend has still not forgiven me. |
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Posts: 745
Location: Lathrop, Ca | Awesome find Mike!!!
scully - 7/27/2010 6:21 PM
I used to catch these at Lafayette resevoir in the east bay . I once put a really pissed off one in my buddys daypack. I thought my friend would hear it hissing and dump out his pack. Things did not go as I planned. I guess the snake quit hissing because my friend dug all the way to the bottom of his daypack before he noticed it. Talk about screaming like a girl. I now know that it is not nice to play tricks on people that are deathly afraid of snakes. Funny as hell...Yes, nice ...no. It has been over 15 years and my friend has still not forgiven me.
Hey Allan,
Are you sure it was this species? I may be mistaken, but Mike flipped that species back east in Arkansas. The only two Nerodia species we have here, are
N. Fasciata ( Southern Watersnake ) and the N. sipedon ( Northern Watersnake ). According to the range maps on CalHerps.com, there is only a very small population in Placer, Los Angeles, and Sacramento Counties.
edit: http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/snakes.html
http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/n.sipedon.html
http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/n.fasciata.html
Cheers
Brian |
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CRIS Field Activities Coordinator
Posts: 3179
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas | Thanks, Richard!
Somebody brought to my attention that it might be N. sipedon pleuralis (Midland watersnake), so I asked the FHF dudes to tell me what they think, so I'll update it accordingly...
Brian Cathcart - 7/27/2010 9:41 PM
Awesome find Mike!!!
scully - 7/27/2010 6:21 PM
I used to catch these at Lafayette resevoir in the east bay . I once put a really pissed off one in my buddys daypack. I thought my friend would hear it hissing and dump out his pack. Things did not go as I planned. I guess the snake quit hissing because my friend dug all the way to the bottom of his daypack before he noticed it. Talk about screaming like a girl. I now know that it is not nice to play tricks on people that are deathly afraid of snakes. Funny as hell...Yes, nice ...no. It has been over 15 years and my friend has still not forgiven me.
Hey Allan,
Are you sure it was this species? I may be mistaken, but Mike flipped that species back east in Arkansas. The only two Nerodia species we have here, are
N. Fasciata ( Southern Watersnake ) and the N. sipedon ( Northern Watersnake ). According to the range maps on CalHerps.com, there is only a very small population in Placer, Los Angeles, and Sacramento Counties.
edit: http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/snakes.html
http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/n.sipedon.html
http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/n.fasciata.html
Cheers
Brian
Thanks Brian! there used to be a population of N. rhombifer in Lafayette Reservoir. They were eradicated in 1999 and one hasn't been seen since. I spent quite a bit of time there in the summers of 2001 and 2002 looking for them when I was staying with my dad in Concord, but never found one.
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Posts: 745
Location: Lathrop, Ca | mikemike - 7/27/2010 7:50 PM
Thanks, Richard!
Somebody brought to my attention that it might be N. sipedon pleuralis (Midland watersnake ), so I asked the FHF dudes to tell me what they think, so I'll update it accordingly...
Brian Cathcart - 7/27/2010 9:41 PM
Awesome find Mike!!!
scully - 7/27/2010 6:21 PM
I used to catch these at Lafayette resevoir in the east bay . I once put a really pissed off one in my buddys daypack. I thought my friend would hear it hissing and dump out his pack. Things did not go as I planned. I guess the snake quit hissing because my friend dug all the way to the bottom of his daypack before he noticed it. Talk about screaming like a girl. I now know that it is not nice to play tricks on people that are deathly afraid of snakes. Funny as hell...Yes, nice ...no. It has been over 15 years and my friend has still not forgiven me.
Hey Allan,
Are you sure it was this species? I may be mistaken, but Mike flipped that species back east in Arkansas. The only two Nerodia species we have here, are
N. Fasciata ( Southern Watersnake ) and the N. sipedon ( Northern Watersnake ). According to the range maps on CalHerps.com, there is only a very small population in Placer, Los Angeles, and Sacramento Counties.
edit: http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/snakes.html
http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/n.sipedon.html
http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/n.fasciata.html
Cheers
Brian
Thanks Brian! there used to be a population of N. rhombifer in Lafayette Reservoir. They were eradicated in 1999 and one hasn't been seen since. I spent quite a bit of time there in the summers of 2001 and 2002 looking for them when I was staying with my dad in Concord, but never found one.
WOW, ok thanks for the education, Mike! I wasn't aware of this. Please forgive my lack of knowledge Allan.
Cheers
Brian |
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CRIS Field Activities Coordinator
Posts: 3179
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas | Okay. It is actually Nerodia sipedon pleuralis (Midland watersnake). Oh well.
Brian Cathcart - 7/27/2010 10:07 PM
mikemike - 7/27/2010 7:50 PM
Thanks, Richard!
Somebody brought to my attention that it might be N. sipedon pleuralis (Midland watersnake ), so I asked the FHF dudes to tell me what they think, so I'll update it accordingly...
Brian Cathcart - 7/27/2010 9:41 PM
Awesome find Mike!!!
scully - 7/27/2010 6:21 PM
I used to catch these at Lafayette resevoir in the east bay . I once put a really pissed off one in my buddys daypack. I thought my friend would hear it hissing and dump out his pack. Things did not go as I planned. I guess the snake quit hissing because my friend dug all the way to the bottom of his daypack before he noticed it. Talk about screaming like a girl. I now know that it is not nice to play tricks on people that are deathly afraid of snakes. Funny as hell...Yes, nice ...no. It has been over 15 years and my friend has still not forgiven me.
Hey Allan,
Are you sure it was this species? I may be mistaken, but Mike flipped that species back east in Arkansas. The only two Nerodia species we have here, are
N. Fasciata ( Southern Watersnake ) and the N. sipedon ( Northern Watersnake ). According to the range maps on CalHerps.com, there is only a very small population in Placer, Los Angeles, and Sacramento Counties.
edit: http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/snakes.html
http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/n.sipedon.html
http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/n.fasciata.html
Cheers
Brian
Thanks Brian! there used to be a population of N. rhombifer in Lafayette Reservoir. They were eradicated in 1999 and one hasn't been seen since. I spent quite a bit of time there in the summers of 2001 and 2002 looking for them when I was staying with my dad in Concord, but never found one.
WOW, ok thanks for the education, Mike! I wasn't aware of this. Please forgive my lack of knowledge Allan.
Cheers
Brian
Of course, man. We're all here to help one another. |
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Member
Posts: 35
Location: Hayward | When I first found one, I didn't know what the hell I had. I only knew that it was non-native, mean and stinky. I gave one to one of my friends at UC Berkeley and he told me what I had.
No need to appolagize Brian. I joined this club to learn a few things from you guys, and that I have. |
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Member
Posts: 190
Location: 209 | awsome snake. I like Nerodia species alot, they have the physical attributes that attract me to certain species of snakes, the thick builds and big blocky heads. I definitely wouldnt mind getting my hands on a tame or laid back pair of them. Thanks for sharing that, really neat!
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Member
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Location: Hayward | I found several diamondback watersnakes at Lafayette resevior in the early 90's. I havent gone back to look for anymore since. I heard that they pretty much dissapeared by the late 90's. Now I just found out that they starting to show up again. If anyone decides to go look for one, make sure to bring your fishing pole. The fishing can be awesome at Lafayette. |
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CRIS Field Activities Coordinator
Posts: 3179
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas | Ogre - 7/28/2010 11:56 AM
awsome snake. I like Nerodia species alot, they have the physical attributes that attract me to certain species of snakes, the thick builds and big blocky heads. I definitely wouldnt mind getting my hands on a tame or laid back pair of them. Thanks for sharing that, really neat!
Due to the few established populations of Nerodia spp. in California, and the fact of how well they can acclimate and spread, Nerodia sp. are actually illegal to even bring in to California. They're one of the few nonvenomous snakes that are not allowed to be possessed in the state. |
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Member
Posts: 190
Location: 209 | mikemike - 7/28/2010 11:13 AM
Due to the few established populations of Nerodia spp. in California, and the fact of how well they can acclimate and spread, Nerodia sp. are actually illegal to even bring in to California. They're one of the few nonvenomous snakes that are not allowed to be possessed in the state.
whoa bummer. I worked at exotic birds and pets for a few years in the late 90's to early 2000's and they would show up on the supplier lists, we ordered a few but their antisocial behavior won them no friends aside from me, lol. |
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CRIS Field Activities Coordinator
Posts: 3179
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas | I went back out to where I found the Nerodia yesterday afternoon, and flipped the same rock, and...
I flipped another one. This one was a smaller female. She didn't musk, but she made me shed a lot more blood. Haha
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Location: Lathrop, Ca | HAHA Nice, Mike! |
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Member
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Location: 209 | 2 for 2.. great spot lol. better bring bandaids and neosporin with you for the 3rd trip eh? |
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CRIS Field Activities Coordinator
Posts: 3179
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas | Ogre - 7/28/2010 10:55 PM
2 for 2.. great spot lol. better bring bandaids and neosporin with you for the 3rd trip eh?
Haha. A little blood never hurt anyone. I've been bit by much worse that these guys. It did leave a bunch of teeth in my hand though. they're like little thorns. |
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Member
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Location: Folsom CA | The belly on that thing looks rad! |
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CRIS Field Activities Coordinator
Posts: 3179
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas | Doesn't it? I just switched it with a little bigger pic so you can see it better.
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Member
Posts: 147
| Cool... I remember finding northerns up at my grandparent's place in southern Michigan.... some of the first snakes I ever caught and the first snake bite I ever got... I experienced localized numbing in the bite area... any effects you noticed from the bites of this species, Mike? |
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CRIS Field Activities Coordinator
Posts: 3179
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas | bewilderbeast - 7/30/2010 8:27 PM
Cool... I remember finding northerns up at my grandparent's place in southern Michigan.... some of the first snakes I ever caught and the first snake bite I ever got... I experienced localized numbing in the bite area... any effects you noticed from the bites of this species, Mike?
The bite I took between my right thumb and index finger swelled up enough that it was noticeable when comparing hands, but that's it. There was no effects with any of the other bites, nor did this one become numb or itchy. The bite between my index and middle knuckles, and then the one between my middle and ring finger knuckles were all one bite that I let her chew on for a bit to see if there would be any negative reactions. There was lots of blood and it seemed to have a hard time clotting, but that's most likely because of the fact that I'm slightly anemic and have thin blood... so I always bleed a little more than average. |
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Member
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Location: 209 | that things belly is pretty cool looking, do they all look like that or did you just find the first hypo translucent striped belly cherry whipcream pie nerodia morph 
I would imagine the bite to be filled with nasty bacteria given that they are semi aquatic? |
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CRIS Field Activities Coordinator
Posts: 3179
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas | Ogre - 7/31/2010 12:26 AM
that things belly is pretty cool looking, do they all look like that or did you just find the first hypo translucent striped belly cherry whipcream pie nerodia morph
I would imagine the bite to be filled with nasty bacteria given that they are semi aquatic?
I think that's how most of the ventrals look for this subspecies at least. Both I found looked like that, and the ones my dad has found a few miles away he said looked about the same as well.
I imagine their saliva isn't all too healthy, due to the amount of fish they eat, but like I said, I didn't have any reactions more than a little swelling and some good bleeding. I've had some reactions from garters back in CA though that ended in swelling, itching, and numbness, but not on too bad a level. |
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Member
Posts: 156
Location: Folsom CA | Cool, Thanks Mike! |
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| reservoirs are great places to look for non native animals. There is a resevoir around here were i live were i like to fish, go there in the summer and you can catch oscar cichlids........ |
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Diamondback!!!!!!!... edited with bonus features.
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