First, please forgive me. Just to see how good you guys are, I'd like to see if someone can identify this Coluber constrictor subspecies. I do not know the answer. The locality is the most important factor and is the reason I don't know the ID and why I'm leaving it out initially. No cheating, don't go onto my Flickr and look at the tags/albums.
I'll post the location tomorrow.
Which Coluber subspecies is this?
Moderator: Scott Waters
-
- Posts: 1165
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:25 am
- Location: Mobile, AL
Re: Which Coluber species is this?
Coluber constrictor.
Re: Which Coluber species is this?
I maybe should have stated subspecies, not species, to be more accurate. Yes, it's some form of Coluber constrictor. It is NOT Everglades Racer based on locality.
Re: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
I'm guessing C. c. priapus, particularly from Missouri or S. Illinois, where it might be expected to have a little bit of influence from C. c. foxi and/or C. c. flaviventris.
Re: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
Ok, so the locality is Grand Bahama Island at the Rand Nature Center. It was seen perched about 5 ft up in a Saw Palmetto.
- regalringneck
- Posts: 563
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:20 am
Re: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
wow thats very interesting, as the nearest mainland colubers to the bahamas are all los negroes (black) ... i'da said south central tx s / se of san-tone or possibly in the NE wherever foxii interfaces w/ the eastern blacks, because most azules (blues) i have had the pleasure to see have had ventral yellow @ least in the gular region. Did you talk w/ anyone @ that nature center about your find ? Bahamas are a long way offshore & floridas apparently havent made it to cuba, a much larger land mass to hit via random flood debris ...
so lets here ( edit hear ) some more, you've thrown out what you know is a teaser, & we've played along ... please share day/time / temp/ any other pix/ / & who was w/ you .. curious minds want to learn ...
& since you've been so generous ... here let me share one of mine w/ you that has some pretty cobalt too ... especially when freshly shed in the right lighting, tho i was looking for pix of my missouri blues, but am too lazy to re-upload them; lordy they are gems, ... people miss alot if they've never taken the time to study these mini-indigloes ...
& thnx for posting,
... a classy chandelier ...
so lets here ( edit hear ) some more, you've thrown out what you know is a teaser, & we've played along ... please share day/time / temp/ any other pix/ / & who was w/ you .. curious minds want to learn ...
& since you've been so generous ... here let me share one of mine w/ you that has some pretty cobalt too ... especially when freshly shed in the right lighting, tho i was looking for pix of my missouri blues, but am too lazy to re-upload them; lordy they are gems, ... people miss alot if they've never taken the time to study these mini-indigloes ...
& thnx for posting,
... a classy chandelier ...
Re: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
Any chance it could have been a cargo stow away on a boat or aircraft? Maybe if some plants were brought to the island from the US, an egg in the potting material? I would agree that the racer in question appears to have some C. c. foxii influence.
-
- Posts: 1165
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:25 am
- Location: Mobile, AL
- regalringneck
- Posts: 563
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:20 am
Re: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
...anyone ( a' hhmm johnathan ... ) gotta sps list for the bahamas? & while its l8te, ... i'm trusting the OP will give us more details in the following daze ... theres nothing florida about this snake / everglades or wherever ... cept its ventral blanca ...
edit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shQ9f6JvM-E
edit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shQ9f6JvM-E
Re: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
Racers SE of San Antonio don't look at all blue, they are greenish brown at best.regalringneck wrote:wow thats very interesting, as the nearest mainland colubers to the bahamas are all los negroes (black) ... i'da said south central tx s / se of san-tone
- regalringneck
- Posts: 563
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:20 am
Re: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
... nice shot CH, that one on the chandelier is from between san-t & harlingen & is quite a nyce steely blue when freshly shed, but it also has a hint of gular amarillo ... yours looks like some of the cali & mormon racers ive seen, apparently theres some variability besides where they are in their shed cycle, its odd we dont see many of the really stunning blues on this foro like we used to see on kingsnake once in awhile, a turquoise serpent is a sight to behold ... i also note w/ a limited experience, that the black versions seem alot more ill tempered than the blues, tho all will bite :p
& just to complete my thoughts on coluber; while abundant in most locales they occur in, here in azabama, they are the rarest snake purportedly in the state ! ... go bernie : }
& just to complete my thoughts on coluber; while abundant in most locales they occur in, here in azabama, they are the rarest snake purportedly in the state ! ... go bernie : }
Re: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
The snake was found the first week of July 2015 in the early afternoon or late morning at Rand Nature Center near Freeport. I told the guy manning the front desk about it. He only said it had been captured on another part of the island and brought there. No mention of it being foreign.
- regalringneck
- Posts: 563
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:20 am
Re: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
Bout time you returned, & good on you for reporting it,as i suspected their is an indigenous racer to the island(s) & so having Coluber there is not likely to be a good thing for them, but who knows, mebbe theres just the one.
All should be aware of the effect brown tree snakes had on the pacific island avifauna & the expense in trying to control them, & then theirs the getulus some bonehead introduced to the canary islands off africa ... bad stuff, leave your pets @ home.
http://www.bnt.bs/_m1758/reptiles-of-the-bahamas
but note the coluber & lateralis depicted in this site ???
https://www.google.com/search?q=brown+r ... DGIQ7AkILg
I hafta wonder too ; how many places corn snakes have become established ? I have pix of a DoR out in the rural desert N of Phx! insert banging hed icon ...
& heres the jpg i was looking for ;
All should be aware of the effect brown tree snakes had on the pacific island avifauna & the expense in trying to control them, & then theirs the getulus some bonehead introduced to the canary islands off africa ... bad stuff, leave your pets @ home.
http://www.bnt.bs/_m1758/reptiles-of-the-bahamas
but note the coluber & lateralis depicted in this site ???
https://www.google.com/search?q=brown+r ... DGIQ7AkILg
I hafta wonder too ; how many places corn snakes have become established ? I have pix of a DoR out in the rural desert N of Phx! insert banging hed icon ...
& heres the jpg i was looking for ;
Re: Which Coluber subspecies is this?
The cruise ship docks in Port of Palm Beach. It only visits Freeport, Bahamas. I can't say if this ship was the source of the racer, but thought it might be useful information. Had I known the Bahamas did not have a native Coluber species I would have captured it. It would have been easy up in the saw palmetto like it was.