Search found 234 matches

by WW**
August 17th, 2014, 11:55 am
Forum: Image Lab
Topic: It's been too long since we've had an in situ theme thread..
Replies: 212
Views: 868587

Re: It's been too long since we've had an in situ theme thre

Image

Nerodia rhombifera, near Tulsa, OK
by WW**
December 22nd, 2013, 6:17 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Help with two Borneo snake IDs please
Replies: 14
Views: 5052

Re: Help with two Borneo snake IDs please

The first one - pass.

Could the second one have been a juvenile Ptyas carinata? The transition from lighter crossbands to a reticulate pattern with black-edged light rectangles seems to fit quite nicely.
by WW**
December 19th, 2013, 1:20 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: You thought the milksnake changes were bad?
Replies: 32
Views: 8835

Re: You thought the milksnake changes were bad?

Brian Hubbs wrote:
Image
Congratulations to America on their epic victory in the SuperBowl and World Series against… errr… themselves!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

:P
by WW**
December 17th, 2013, 12:27 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Milksnake changes published
Replies: 62
Views: 51206

Re: Milksnake changes published

Lineage is fine in a historical context note, but we need to give names and descriptions that make sense to what we see today, and understand how these animals interact TODAY. Period. The lineage mumbo jumbo can be studied as a side note and help us understand where a future problem may lie genetic...
by WW**
December 16th, 2013, 3:52 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Milksnake changes published
Replies: 62
Views: 51206

Re: Milksnake changes published

Subsequent sampling will better define the boundaries and the picture will become even more clear. There is still a lot of work to be done collecting samples in SE Kansas, SW Missouri, N Arkansas, S Texas, and Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. - Travis So why didn't they wait to pu...
by WW**
December 16th, 2013, 3:33 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Pit Viper
Replies: 6
Views: 2502

Re: Pit Viper

Great photos!
by WW**
October 25th, 2013, 3:04 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Literature on rattlesnake roundups
Replies: 8
Views: 2599

Re: Literature on rattlesnake roundups

It's been said several times, but it really can't be overstressed: NEVER hesitate to email the author of a paper for a pdf. The email address is almost always available before you hit the paywall, and most researchers will be absolutely delighted that someone wants to read their paper, irrespective ...
by WW**
October 24th, 2013, 4:41 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Rattlesnake protective gear, thoughts and opinions?
Replies: 64
Views: 49410

Re: Rattlesnake protective gear, thoughts and opinions?

I have been taking a bunch of inexperienced UK students on a herp trip to AZ/NM for the last two years, and after a couple of close calls in the earlier years, they were made to wear Snake Guardz this year - I had no complaints about them being uncomfortable, and they certainly work well against cac...
by WW**
October 14th, 2013, 11:27 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: East Texas and West Texas, Terlingua Report
Replies: 11
Views: 3580

Re: East Texas and West Texas, Terlingua Report

In ALL my field text, it's still referred to as the Northern Black-tailed Rattlesnake, C molossus :| The paper highlighting the distinction only came out last year, so unless you only bought the guides since then, it's a bit much to expect clairvoyance of them ;) I did confirm via scale counts on t...
by WW**
October 14th, 2013, 5:37 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: East Texas and West Texas, Terlingua Report
Replies: 11
Views: 3580

Re: East Texas and West Texas, Terlingua Report

Nice photos. One ID correction: sorry to spoil a lifer, but the " Crotalus scutulatus " is a Crotalus atrox - note "salt and pepper" markings, small scales on snout, light line from behind eye meeting edge of mouth, ill-defined light edges of diamond markings. The commonly used c...
by WW**
August 23rd, 2013, 11:31 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: SoCal Closeout and Arizona
Replies: 19
Views: 6304

Re: SoCal Closeout and Arizona

Great photography! I love the "snakes at dusk" shots, esp the WDB and the Pituophis!
by WW**
August 22nd, 2013, 11:07 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Atrox or Scute?
Replies: 5
Views: 1457

Re: Atrox or Scute?

atrox. hellihooks is right: the best characters (if you can zoom in close enough) are the head shields. Another good one is the light stripes behind/below the eye: in atrox, the upper light line behind the eye meets the line of the mouth, in scutes it passes well above the angle of the mouth (and th...
by WW**
August 20th, 2013, 1:40 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Successful Southeast AZ trip
Replies: 57
Views: 28276

Re: Successful Southeast AZ trip

Great photos, happy memories!

It's very depressing to hear that the willardi spots are being hit so hard...

One ID correction: both those juvenile rattlers from the Peloncilllos area are Mohaves, including the one labelled as a WDB.
by WW**
August 5th, 2013, 5:11 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Final West Malaysia Adventure - July 2013
Replies: 14
Views: 10495

Re: Final West Malaysia Adventure - July 2013

Great post, brought back many happy memories! I am surprised you did not see more Calloselasma around Kuala Nerang! It used to be Calloselasma Central, and you would see 3-4 every night. I suppose the dry conditions would not have helped. What is the vegetation there now? Still rubber plantations, o...
by WW**
July 28th, 2013, 11:49 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatranus)
Replies: 20
Views: 6160

Re: Borneo Dispatches #71: Sumatran Pitviper (Parias sumatra

Fantastic photos of an amazing snake!
by WW**
July 4th, 2013, 4:49 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Snakes Survival after Being Run Over
Replies: 39
Views: 33564

Re: Snakes Survival after Being Run Over

simpleyork wrote:just found my lifer nightsnake . . . as We(Thom and I)got out of the car I saw a cat come out and was sniffing the snake . . . then a car ran over it . . . .
Am I a bad person for having found myself wishing that it was the cat that had been run over before reading on?
by WW**
June 26th, 2013, 6:26 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Epic Return to Taiwan
Replies: 9
Views: 4798

Re: Epic Return to Taiwan

Action shot of the week: Many-banded Krait ( Bungarus multicinctus ), "Where's Waldo" style. (Hey, I had neither flashlight nor snake hook, the camera kept jamming, and my wife was yelling from the back of the scooter "IF YOU FREEHANDLE IT, I'M GONNA DIVORCE YOU!!" So, Hans, do ...
by WW**
June 24th, 2013, 12:32 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Opinions please on this unusual hognose encounter
Replies: 7
Views: 3312

Re: Opinions please on this unusual hognose encounter

It's amazing what you can find out on the road at night.... in S. America, I have on two or three occasions found Ameiva ameiva , normally the ultimate heliotherm, running around on the road at night (dry nights, not particularly hot, no special weather conditions), and I once caught a juvenile comm...
by WW**
June 21st, 2013, 2:41 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Biology of the Pitvipers II Symposium, Tulsa, OK, 4-7 June 2
Replies: 1
Views: 1788

Biology of the Pitvipers II Symposium, Tulsa, OK, 4-7 June 2

The 2nd Biology of the Pitvipers Symposium will take place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on 4-7 June 2014. Topics will include: Ecology Behaviour Phylogenetics Phylogeography/Population genetics Reproductive biology/physiology Venom Conservation For further information, see the Symposium's web page at https:/...
by WW**
June 17th, 2013, 8:23 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Oman, June 2013
Replies: 20
Views: 9745

Re: Oman, June 2013

moloch wrote:Thanks, EJ.
Oman and the UAE are perfectly safe and the people are so friendly.
I absolutely second that (I was in UAE and Oman in 2006)! A visit to that part of the world is a real eye opener from the very negative image that most of us have formed over the last decades.
by WW**
May 25th, 2013, 7:51 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: 2 Chinese snake IDs
Replies: 16
Views: 5792

Re: 2 Chinese snake IDs

No idea about the first one. The second one.... hmmmm.... if I had to put one name to it, I'd say a juvenile Pseudoxenodon macrops, but I sure wouldn't bet the mortgage on it...
by WW**
May 25th, 2013, 2:06 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: EDB-like WDBs?
Replies: 25
Views: 7361

Re: EDB-like WDBs?

It doesn't look like a Western Diamondback to me at all. I'm surprised there was any kind of debate on it. Agreed - the only thing that prompted me to raise the topic is that in that FB discussion, a couple of links to very EDB-like WDBs were posted, which I have not managed to find again since the...
by WW**
May 23rd, 2013, 10:21 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: EDB-like WDBs?
Replies: 25
Views: 7361

Re: EDB-like WDBs?

A friend of mine removed what I thought had to be a EDB from his property out about a hour and a half west of Houston. Said he saw a larger one just like it while he was doing yard work for someone near by him. He owns a lawn service so he sees all sorts of cool snakes. Hi, I son't suppose there is...
by WW**
May 22nd, 2013, 11:00 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Photos From the Field... my adventures... 70 photos!
Replies: 34
Views: 8075

Re: Photos From the Field... my adventures... 70 photos!

Great post! And it's a great post that I particularly like not because it shows off rare species from exotic locations, but because it takes common species and shows them in a new and artistic light, and thereby shows a tremendous appreciation and love of nature.

Looking forward to plenty more!
by WW**
May 21st, 2013, 3:51 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: German lizard ID, please
Replies: 3
Views: 1352

Re: German lizard ID, please

Gern geschehen! :D
by WW**
May 21st, 2013, 3:22 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: German lizard ID, please
Replies: 3
Views: 1352

Re: German lizard ID, please

Sand lizard - Lacerta agilis.
by WW**
May 19th, 2013, 4:12 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: EDB-like WDBs?
Replies: 25
Views: 7361

Re: EDB-like WDBs?

To me, it looks like an EDB. EDBs can have a slight coontailish look similar to WDBs, but without the extreme contrast of white/black, which that animal doesn't seem to have, or else is not clearly visible (to me at least) even when blown up. Here's an example (not my photo): LOL! - I know because ...
by WW**
May 19th, 2013, 12:17 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: EDB-like WDBs?
Replies: 25
Views: 7361

EDB-like WDBs?

I am sure most of you here will have seen the photo of a diamondback rattlesnake surrounded by guinea fowl that has been going viral all over the web: http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=378284&d=1345308207 Taken from http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/for...
by WW**
May 15th, 2013, 10:31 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: The Islands of Bimini
Replies: 23
Views: 11403

Re: The Islands of Bimini

Great post - I remember reading about those islands in one of Dick's books many moons ago. It's good to see that things are still there!
by WW**
May 9th, 2013, 10:46 am
Forum: Reading Room
Topic: Journal Reviewing Advice?
Replies: 21
Views: 8544

Re: Journal Reviewing Advice?

Reviewing papers written by folks for whom English is a second language can be especially difficult, and sometimes things are just so unclear no matter how hard you try to read past the writing issues that the best you can do is say something like "This paper requires additional editing for En...
by WW**
May 8th, 2013, 4:53 pm
Forum: Reading Room
Topic: Journal Reviewing Advice?
Replies: 21
Views: 8544

Re: Journal Reviewing Advice?

If you are reviewing a research paper, the fundamental question is whether the question is phrased appropriately and whether the data presented are adequate to answer the question. If the answer to those questions is basically positive, then your job consists of making constructive suggestions to im...
by WW**
May 4th, 2013, 8:47 am
Forum: News
Topic: Anyone see the National Geographic article on Python venom?
Replies: 88
Views: 40743

Re: Anyone see the National Geographic article on Python ven

“Any other questions I can help you with?” Yes there is. I have been advised that you and your usual band of thieves are preparing a paper on Death Adders (Acanthophis) with a view to breaching the Zoological code and naming taxa formally described by myself more than ten years ago in an act delibe...
by WW**
May 3rd, 2013, 12:47 pm
Forum: News
Topic: Anyone see the National Geographic article on Python venom?
Replies: 88
Views: 40743

Re: Anyone see the National Geographic article on Python ven

Nothing beats that feeling of coffee spurting through one's nostrils...

Thanks for the laugh Ray :beer:
by WW**
May 1st, 2013, 1:19 pm
Forum: News
Topic: Does this bite look real? "Bear Grylls's Producer"
Replies: 20
Views: 10978

Re: Does this bite look real? "Bear Grylls's Producer"

Totally disagree. What you see as pink should be red. It's my opinion and I hope I'm wrong. AFAIK neither of us is a medic, but I have certainly seen plenty of seriously gruesome photos like this one where the patient recovered with pretty much full use of the limb. I sure hope so for the guy - muc...
by WW**
May 1st, 2013, 1:04 pm
Forum: News
Topic: Does this bite look real? "Bear Grylls's Producer"
Replies: 20
Views: 10978

Re: Does this bite look real? "Bear Grylls's Producer"

If it is... I can't see any reason how that foot can be saved. That foot is totally salvageable. The tendons are the white bits you see and they look intact. There has been extensive loss of skin and subcutaneous tissue, but there are no significant muscles there anyway, and all the flesh that is v...
by WW**
May 1st, 2013, 10:41 am
Forum: News
Topic: Does this bite look real? "Bear Grylls's Producer"
Replies: 20
Views: 10978

Re: Does this bite look real? "Bear Grylls's Producer"

Mystery solved - apparently it was a Bothrops asper in Costa Rica (although I am not sure how that works with the sockets....) - see https://twitter.com/steve_rankin
by WW**
May 1st, 2013, 2:29 am
Forum: News
Topic: Does this bite look real? "Bear Grylls's Producer"
Replies: 20
Views: 10978

Re: Does this bite look real? "Bear Grylls's Producer"

It certainly looks plausible as a necrotic cobra bite after a through clean-up and debridement of necrotic tissue. It was not a fasciotomy. I checked Bear Grylls' Twitter feed and apparently they have been filming in Canada for a while,which would seem unlikely. It has been pointed out in the commen...
by WW**
May 1st, 2013, 12:03 am
Forum: News
Topic: Anyone see the National Geographic article on Python venom?
Replies: 88
Views: 40743

Re: Anyone see the National Geographic article on Python ven

Wolfgang .... “So a few mistakes slipped into the Kaiser et al. paper - big deal, that was hardly the point of the paper.” Well that says something about the lack of peer review at the so-called journal you and your mates control! And to allege “a few mistakes” is also a bit rich. Try dozens! Put b...
by WW**
April 28th, 2013, 11:09 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: DON'T go jogging after getting bit by an Aussie Brown snake
Replies: 9
Views: 3069

Re: DON'T go jogging after getting bit by an Aussie Brown sn

Interesting - rapid collapse after a painless bite is usually associated with Pseudonaja, whereas mulga snakes Pseudechis australis are among the few Aussie elapids which do cause significant local envenoming. That said, they are also of a size where they could easily be confused with pythons....
by WW**
April 27th, 2013, 10:08 pm
Forum: News
Topic: Anyone see the National Geographic article on Python venom?
Replies: 88
Views: 40743

Re: Anyone see the National Geographic article on Python ven

So a few mistakes slipped into the Kaiser et al. paper - big deal, that was hardly the point of the paper. Instead, the Point of View promoted therein is that scientists should be able to ignore non-science such as yours, and that has received formal support from the American Society of Ichthyologis...
by WW**
April 3rd, 2013, 4:35 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Poisonous snakes...?
Replies: 26
Views: 8590

Re: Poisonous snakes...?

huh, interesting. Yeah, I know, it's quite shocking. I wonder how venomous R. nuchalis really is. They never attempt to bite, but it would be crazy if they are just as venomous, if not more than their relatives Colubrids that "never bite" are the ones that should worry you most. Among Asi...
by WW**
March 27th, 2013, 12:11 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Poisonous snakes...?
Replies: 26
Views: 8590

Re: Poisonous snakes...?

Awesome thread! Loved those photos of the secretions on the neck! The bit that is worth adding on (because it got lost in the media frenzy) is that Rhabdophis is both venomous and poisonous: it has a perfectly good venom (Duvernoy's) gland secreting toxins generated by the snake which it will inject...
by WW**
March 18th, 2013, 3:12 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Adder shots from today (2013-03-17)
Replies: 8
Views: 3557

Re: Adder shots from today (2013-03-17)

Fail! It's not a proper Scandinavian adder post if it does not show adders on snow :lol: :lol: :lol:
by WW**
February 25th, 2013, 11:42 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Anyone know the origin of this picture?
Replies: 18
Views: 5100

Re: Anyone know the origin of this picture?

The snake is a black mamba alright... Here is a link to the story according to the photographer with some additional notes and thoughts. http://strangebehaviors.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/black-mamba-bite-the-back-story/ There was a discussion of this on Harry Greene's Facebook wall where people who h...
by WW**
February 23rd, 2013, 5:27 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Photos from a quick trip to Oman
Replies: 23
Views: 8537

Re: Photos from a quick trip to Oman

Oman is a fantastic place to visit and herp. Good infrastructure (but with room for some adventure), friendly helpful people, and generally a safe, peaceful place. The perfect antidote to the negative stereotypes that pervade our view of that region. Your post brought back some great memories from a...
by WW**
February 20th, 2013, 4:33 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Meanwhile, across the pond, at 53 degres latitude N....
Replies: 16
Views: 4559

Re: Meanwhile, across the pond, at 53 degres latitude N....

... ha, id forgot about the other green island, hhmm mebbe w/ the pope calling it quits, we can right that historic wrong :p On a serious note tho, surely the british isles have drifted apart from each other and away from the mainland, what is the contemporary rationale for neither the grass snake ...
by WW**
February 19th, 2013, 10:09 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Meanwhile, across the pond, at 53 degres latitude N....
Replies: 16
Views: 4559

Re: Meanwhile, across the pond, at 53 degres latitude N....

... agreed; the european adders simply rock. Those look like possibly 2 gravid females? They must overwinter their progeny? Assuming the high productivity of your emerald isle; i would expect them to be viperine-plump & hopefully dense in good reasonably protected habitat. No, those are both ma...
by WW**
February 19th, 2013, 12:10 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Meanwhile, across the pond, at 53 degres latitude N....
Replies: 16
Views: 4559

Re: Meanwhile, across the pond, at 53 degres latitude N....

Probably warmer than today at 31 degrees N in Louisiana, didn't quite hit 20 C, but then I'm 2 degrees north of Mt. Everest. When I lived in the Intermountain West (northern Arizona to Montana) the snakes would vanish, regardless of temperatures, in mid-October, and reappear only in late April. A s...
by WW**
February 18th, 2013, 10:30 am
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Meanwhile, across the pond, at 53 degres latitude N....
Replies: 16
Views: 4559

Re: Meanwhile, across the pond, at 53 degres latitude N....

Ruxs wrote:Great find, mate.
May I ask where in North Wales this is? Also, have you ever seen coronella austriaca in the UK?
On Anglesey - and no, I have only seen Coronella once in the wild, and that was in Croatia 29 years ago....
by WW**
February 17th, 2013, 11:14 pm
Forum: The Forum
Topic: Meanwhile, across the pond, at 53 degres latitude N....
Replies: 16
Views: 4559

Meanwhile, across the pond, at 53 degres latitude N....

..... same latitude as the Labrador Coast or the southern end of Hudson's Bay:

Image

First North Wales Vipera berus of the season.