Snakes!

Snakes!

People often ask me if I see wildlife along the road.  Yes, I saw muskoxen, caribou, deer, bears, foxes, moose, rabbits, squirrels, elk, all kinds of birds, etc.  But I also see a lot of snakes, so I thought I would share some of the pictures I took of snakes I saw along the road.

Don’t worry, I did not put myself at risk. I stayed at a safe distance and didn’t touch any of them, even if they looked dead. Unfortunately I missed some really nice ones, either because I was going downhill and didn’t want to stop, or I was too lazy.  But there are lots of snakes along the road.

This is the most common species.
Not a great picture, but you can see it is the same species, but a different subspecies.
A nicer specimen
This one had been killed, obviously
That is a subadult female
Adult male. You can tell by the bright color.
A Double-Hooknose Elasnake
Black Double-Hooknose Elasnake
These ones are often found in groups of 2 or more
This one had started moulting
Some can be hard to see.
The Forked-tailed Mamba, not uncommon
I was worried that this one would attack Laf, so I took the picture very quickly
The Californian Braided Snake
Blue snakes are quite rare
The Black Californian Slinky, can be dangerous if surprised
Dangerous too, but very slow and easy to see from a distance
These ones were mating
Looks like a giant centipede
A South Californian Sand Snake
This one I only saw once, but it is a dangerous one, it hides on the side of the road
My favourite one, very rare. Looks scary but it is easy to spot.
Another favourite, I saw it near the Redwood forest. You would think it is more coastal.
Hard to see, isn’t it? You always have to watch for those snakes.
Cute one, called the Black Espressnake
This cousin of the Python is called the Pypon. I managed to take the picture just before it escaped.
I know, I know, this looks like a snake but it’s NOT! It’s a branch! It’s easy to be fooled 😉

13 thoughts on “Snakes!

  1. I may be wrong, but I think only the first picture is a snake. Are you putting us on Catherine? I can’t open the pics closer to have a good look, but they look like road debris. Nice to see your humour is intact. [smile]

    1. Hi Vickey, yes thought I’d put a bit of humour after the more serious blog posts… You can always click on the picture to see a larger version of it.

  2. I see! your sneaking some humor onto the road trip. Watch out for entanglement, some of the small cutie town are famous for. They will entangle you so fast you wake up a permanent resident with the town keys in hand.
    Can’t blame them, I would too. 😉

  3. Beaucoup d’imagination et surtout un humour riche en identification des espèces. Est-ce que tu as vue la variété de serpents cloutés…? Si oui prends garde car ils ne sont pas menaçants pour les humains mais ils aiment tout ce qui est en caoutchouc !!!

  4. Well, you got me laughing on this cold a dreary morning in NYC. It’s a gentle and humorous reminder to carry ones trash till such time as it can be disposed Properly.

  5. Allo Catherine
    Tu m’as bien eu durant quelques minutes avec tes nombreux serpents, surtout parce que j’ai déjà côtoyé ds “rattle” et des “side winder” dans ce coin de pays en ’85. Ton blog est si bien présenté avec la 1ère photo que je me suis laissé guider parmi les autres, bizarres, jusqu’au moment où le nombre de variétés de serpents m’est apparu vraiment exagéré. Puis, en y regardant de plus près, surtout avec la suggestion finale d’une bonne vieille branche, qui pourrait nous abuser, j’ai accepté de me faire amuser en rigolant un bon coup.
    Merci
    Ça fait toujours du bien.
    Fernand

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