Cold weather snakes

[Calfirecap]

This morning some of the guys at work brought me a juvinal Ring-necked snake that they found out in the open in a shallow puddle of water on some pavement. It was 7AM and there was a light rain throughout the night, and when the snake was found. I took the air temp at 9AM and it was 40 degrees so considering it was two hours later I would suspect the temperature when the snake was found to be below 40 degrees. I first saw the snake an hour after it was caught and taken inside and it was still pretty sluggish.

Anyone else out there run into Ringnecks or other snakes for that matter at these temperatures?

Lawrence

[concinnusman]

They tend to stay hidden in somewhat moist places in your area and get real hard to find once things dry out and get hot. Maybe it got too wet where he was and drove him into the open. And to answer your question..

Yes. In the Pacific Northwest, Thamnophis ordinoides are often seen basking on top of rotting logs in cold weather. Not only do these snakes function at fairly low temperatures, but they sometimes overwinter in rotting logs where there is sufficient shelter from the rain. The decomposition creates a little heat for them too. I've seen them outside on top of the logs when it's as cold as 40 F, but usually only when it's sunny.

[Calfirecap]

What you are saying makes sence, he probably got flooded out.

[jonathan]

Over Thanksgiving break in 2007 my wife spotted a juvi ringneck on the gravel road as we walked away from my grandfather's property in Missouri. I assumed it was DOR at first but then it started moving around normally in my hand. The low for the day was 40 degrees and the high was 62 - it was probably somewhere around 50 degrees at 10am when we found him. No idea when he first went out though - the previous days had been significantly cooler.

[hellihooks]

I believe Zonata and Charina function at significantly lower temps than do most herps. My buddy flipped a Z under Ac in the snow, and Hoyar's posted pics of Rubbers basking on snowbanks... jim

[Ross Padilla]

Even a baby Gopher snake was found crawling in the snow one year up in the San Gabe's by one of our former members.

From back east. Can't remember where I got it.

[hellihooks]

Looks like an Eastern Bull to me... Chi-go perhaps?

[Ross Padilla]

Not sure but I'd say somewhere around there.

[Ryan Sikola]

I found this adult while it was snowing last year, don't ask why I still try in those conditions

[FunkyRes]

I found this adult while it was snowing last year, don't ask why I still try in those conditions

Know why I have never found a reptile in those conditions?
Probably because I almost never look in those conditions.

Winter 2009 I think it was (maybe 08), I went out looking for Black Salamanders in harsh winter conditions. I found fence lizards brumating under cover, several times. It was after a short Indian summer, I was worried they would die and I would find their skeletons in spring, but they all survived.

I sometimes wonder how much I miss because I don't go out as much in brutal conditions.

Only herp I ever found in snow was a Southern Long-toed Salamander in the vicinity of Truckee. It was under a log.

[concinnusman]

I believe Zonata and Charina function at significantly lower temps than do most herps. My buddy flipped a Z under Ac in the snow, and Hoyar's posted pics of Rubbers basking on snowbanks... jim

Indeed the only times I've ever found Charina out in the open and on the move, (on several occasions) was around sunrise when the temperature was in the low 50's.

[concinnusman]

I found fence lizards brumating under cover, several times. It was after a short Indian summer, I was worried they would die and I would find their skeletons in spring, but they all survived.

I've seen western fence lizards that somehow got themselves inside a metal garbage can and got trapped in there. This was at 5,000 feet in NE California. They spent the night in that can, with lows around 20 degrees F. (well below freezing) once they warmed up in the sun, (heading for a high of 85 degrees that day) I took them out and set them free. They seemed to be just fine, in spite of freezing.

I found this adult while it was snowing last year, don't ask why I still try in those conditions

I think the answer to that question is clear enough.


Oh, hey Ryan, I was born in Bakersfield and went to Wayside elementary. There's (or was) some piles of broken concrete along the banks of the canal that runs by the school. Great place to herp for lizards. Quite a few of them there, and lots of different species. I found that bakersfield area Uta's are among the prettiest I've ever seen, and fairly easy to catch too. Any place along the irrigation canals that has sufficient cover is a great place to find them but I'm sure you know that by now. Tons of fun spending the summer morning hours chasing lizards by the canal. Too darn many rattlesnakes in the evening hours though.

[bewilderbeast]

Tried my luck last week, on DEC 26th, looking for Charina south of SF.... it wasn't really that cold and the sun was out most of the day, but the temps were high fourties low fifties and I didn't expect to see much under ground cover...

Which is why my target was Charina... I know they can take pretty low temps and have seen pics on the board of them out in snowy conditions...


well, no boas, but we did find reptiles... 2 tiny coastal garters, 2 juvenile skinks and a Ringneck snake.... All of these were juvenile animals flipped under surface objects. they obviously hadn't found the most ideal places to hibernate...
the Ringneck was special too because the spotting on it's underside was absent or very very faint...

What surprised me was that we found no amphibians... well ok... tons of slender salamanders.... I was expecting to find a bunch of Taricha out and about or at least under cover but didn't see so much as a single warty-bump...

[jdustin]

Even a baby Gopher snake was found crawling in the snow one year up in the San Gabe's by one of our former members.

From back east. Can't remember where I got it.

That is sick. I have a hard time believing it.... So cool.

[TimCO]

Even a baby Gopher snake was found crawling in the snow one year up in the San Gabe's by one of our former members.

From back east. Can't remember where I got it.

This bull was found last November by my good friend Joey Kellner across the road from my house, in Bear Creek Lake State Park. There is a NAFHA record for it.

[Ross Padilla]

Wow, he must have been surprised, I know I would be.

[FunkyRes]

What surprised me was that we found no amphibians... well ok... tons of slender salamanders.... I was expecting to find a bunch of Taricha out and about or at least under cover but didn't see so much as a single warty-bump...

I thought I would find Taricha on the 3rd but did not see any (West Contra Costa County).
I found a migration at same locale previous year, though later in the year.

Why didn't I find any? I don't know, it had rained several days previously, but maybe it was a tad too cold for them. They weren't even in vernal pools.

I did not find and Pseudacris either, though I did hear two individuals doing warm-up croaks from inside holes, and after sun set, I could hear a small chorus in the distance - but not from the local pools / creeks at the locale.

[Natalie McNear]

Found four cold-weather snakes next to my house today, cloudy with air/surface temps in the mid-40s...