Where is the tell-tale tail?

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pcg
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Joined: May 31st, 2011, 7:46 pm
Location: Chehalem Mountain

Where is the tell-tale tail?

Post by pcg » November 4th, 2017, 7:32 am

Chip Down’s posting of a picture of a snake that general consensus agrees be a rubber boa, even though the giveaway blunt tail is not showing, prompts me to post this picture. I (actually my wife spotted it) found this snake in the Owyhee Canyonlands this past September. It was mid-morning, the sun had not hit this spot yet, and temps were a bit below freezing the previous night. I was surprised any snake would be out in the open , and not holed-up somewhere, in those conditions.

I immediately called it a western rattlesnake, then thought twice and said it could be a gopher snake, since I couldn’t see the tail for positive ID (or the head for that matter). My first impulse was to wake it up so I could make a better ID, but it was in an obvious torpor state so I left it alone. When I got home I Googled “gopher snake” and looked at the images and decided it was a gopher snake. Then I Googled “western rattlesnake” and decided it was, indeed, a western rattlesnake. My call is based on the appearance of the skin, which appears to be more scaly and “drier looking” than that of a gopher snake?

General consensus?
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adamschneider
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Re: Where is the tell-tale tail?

Post by adamschneider » November 4th, 2017, 7:56 am

There's no head OR tail. It's a Möbius Snake.

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sgyoung
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Re: Where is the tell-tale tail?

Post by sgyoung » November 4th, 2017, 11:07 am

I have no idea, but just wanted to say it's a cool picture either way. Your wife did a nice job spotting that well camouflaged snake!

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adamschneider
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Re: Where is the tell-tale tail?

Post by adamschneider » November 4th, 2017, 11:26 am

Kidding aside, I'm inclined to say rattlesnake. Having looked at both of them via Google Image Search, it seems like gopher snakes usually have an additional row of darker spots on their sides, whereas rattlesnakes are more likely to have paler low-contrast markings on their sides. The wide dark spots on the back are pretty variable in both snakes, and don't seem to help much with ID.

(Of course, every page that claims to help you "know the difference" just talks about the head and tail!)

pcg
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Joined: May 31st, 2011, 7:46 pm
Location: Chehalem Mountain

Re: Where is the tell-tale tail?

Post by pcg » November 4th, 2017, 1:14 pm

adamschneider wrote:...Having looked at both of them via Google Image Search, it seems like gopher snakes usually have an additional row of darker spots on their sides, whereas rattlesnakes are more likely to have paler low-contrast markings on their sides...
Good observation. Thanks!
adamschneider wrote: (Of course, every page that claims to help you "know the difference" just talks about the head and tail!)
Yes!

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