Well...
My my, lots of consideration and speculation from fishy folk, who would have thought?
I certainly dont have 2 punctures, blackened swelling and a hospital bill to prove it, but i think...
It must be...
And based upon what i have read, studied and gleaned...
By all accounts...
It most surely IS a...
and according to Ranger Bob who affirms this too...
a...
RattleHeadedCopperMoccasin.
Seriously what everyone was debating, is also how we debated while in Tates Hell. Hognose was the strongest, knowledgable ID by a couple fellas.
However while studying the pictures later, the slit eye, yes you can see it in the pics, but the lack of a rattler, is what was really throwing my determined ID. Also the head was not very triangular shaped, in my opinion.
My buddy David kept saying, and rather increasingly intensely i might add... "Its a Rattlesnake, put it down!" I eventually listened and tho i let it go im glad i have the pics now to study more.
It was about 18" long and the 14" wide net he is in was destroyed later by Pierre in his feverish quest to net another black speckled Chrysotus.
I was not too nerved to ease the camera close for a clik, as he was not in a strike mode or position, but what do i really know! Nonetheless i am pleased to be here with my fingers a normal coloration and plumpness.
Thanks everyone, that was fun. My alleigence is with Andy, Ranger Bob, Brian and Blake.
This snake, this day, was NOT strike happy. I was very gentle with him and patient and he was tolerant.
Andy your Appalachicola pic, just north of Tates Hell, is identical to my snakes color patterning. But your head's shape is much more venomous looking to my eye. Perhaps mine had recently pump purged his venom glands?
A read in Peterson's a few days ago also lead me to the Dusky Pygmy Rattler, but their terse description was weak especially in regards to the use of the words "dusted" and obscure. Their following page 408 shows a MO Western Pygmy which looks very similiar.
Good Job.
Always caution with snakes of unknown ID!
Oh yea... the clouds were real. NO photoshopping. It was spectacular. Great time. My intensions are to offer another trip in October 2011 and stay at the Marine Lab Beach House up to a week.
TatesHellSnakeNetLeave.JPG 73.08KB
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