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PRDATR

Found this little Corn Snake

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One of the most commonly-seen snakes in semi-urban areas in Arizona is also one of the most confusing. It’s brown, it’s big, it’s bad (if you ask its opinion, that is) and it’s … a Bullsnake? Gophersnake? Are those the same thing? Not really. If you live in Arizona telling the difference between a Gophersnake and a Bullsnake is easy:

Bullsnakes do not live in Arizona. All of the snakes that seem to be interchangeably called either Gophersnake or Bullsnake are all Gophersnakes. In Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima counties (where most of us live), they are all Sonoran Gophersnakes.

Bullsnakes and Gophersnakes are both real snakes, subspecies of the Gophersnake species Pituophis catenifer. In Arizona, we have two subspecies of Pituophis catenifer: the Sonoran Gophersnake, Pituophis catenifer affinis, and the Great Basin Gophersnake, Pituophis catenifer deserticola. What you do not see in this list of Arizona subspecies, however, is Pituophis catenifer sayi … the Bullsnake. And even more confusing, since sayi is a subspecies of the larger Gophersnake species, that means that while some Gophersnakes are also Bullsnakes, all Bullsnakes are also Gophersnakes. Whew.

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7 minutes ago, LifeFeedsOnLife said:

I was going to say I didn't think corn snakes were native to AZ.

I think the closest we have is the Green Rat Snake.

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4 hours ago, PRDATR said:

This is actually a rattle snake. I believe it is a Twin Spot, found in Unit 22 East of Pine.

20180930_083916.jpg

Juvenile Arizona Black Rattlesnake.

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PRDATR and Coffeeman, you both have Arizona black rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerberus).  The one in PRDATR's photo is a neonate that doesn't appear to have shed yet.  That's typically when they get more than a button for a rattle. Twin spotted (C. priceii) are only found in SE Arizona, with the Pinaleno Mts being their northernmost range.  When cerbs are young, they are very grey or light brown/tan.  As soon as I saw your first pic, PRDATR, I knew what it was.  Wicked cool find!

 

 

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3 hours ago, IA Born said:

PRDATR and Coffeeman, you both have Arizona black rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerberus).  The one in PRDATR's photo is a neonate that doesn't appear to have shed yet.  That's typically when they get more than a button for a rattle. Twin spotted (C. priceii) are only found in SE Arizona, with the Pinaleno Mts being their northernmost range.  When cerbs are young, they are very grey or light brown/tan.  As soon as I saw your first pic, PRDATR, I knew what it was.  Wicked cool find!

 

 

about a year ago Amanda posted up photos of a twin spotted she found down south someplace.

and as far as blacks go-adults are very, very black-hard to see the patterns-and aggressive beyond belief during mid-summer bear season!

lee

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I knew that was a rattler but I couldn't identify the species, so I didn't say anything.  That's one I have never seen.  The Arizona Black, I see around Camp Wood/YoLo Ranch area.

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6 hours ago, biglakejake said:

about a year ago Amanda posted up photos of a twin spotted she found down south someplace.

and as far as blacks go-adults are very, very black-hard to see the patterns-and aggressive beyond belief during mid-summer bear season!

lee

Adult AZ blacks will go from light brown to dark brown/black (like you describe) depending on the temperature. The warmer they are, the darker the color.

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