my first post and best find so far(California)

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brad123
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Joined: March 30th, 2022, 4:11 pm
Location: Carlsbad, CA
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my first post and best find so far(California)

Post by brad123 »

Hello everyone, much love! Here is my lifer L. Zonata, found around the bay area. Released where found:) Wish I could post more photos, but the rest are over 2 MB. Some photos are screenshots from Iphone video. Hope you guys enjoy this California Mountain Kingsnake. I'm from Carlsbad CA, would love to go herp with other guys from the SD area!
my z underbelly.jpg
my z!!!.jpg
my z & I.jpg
my z 14.jpg
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Kevin Messenger
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 3:00 pm
Location: Nanjing, China
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Re: first post and my best find so far

Post by Kevin Messenger »

oh wow! that head! very cool. welcome welcome
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Porter
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Joined: March 19th, 2011, 7:43 pm

Re: first post and my best find so far

Post by Porter »

That’s rad head on that thing :thumb: You should make a Flickr account. It’s free and easy. You can post any size you want from there. Definitely some more head shots…
brad123
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Joined: March 30th, 2022, 4:11 pm
Location: Carlsbad, CA
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Re: my first post and best find so far(California)

Post by brad123 »

Thank you Porter and Kevin! I appreciate it :beer:
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gheaton98
Posts: 23
Joined: August 24th, 2021, 5:47 pm
Location: Los Angeles County, CA

Re: my first post and best find so far(California)

Post by gheaton98 »

Woah that is a crazy looking one with the white head! Awesome find!
mark buck
Posts: 102
Joined: March 30th, 2015, 11:01 am
Location: Bakersfield, CA

Re: my first post and best find so far(California)

Post by mark buck »

And with a white belly!!

Great find Brad and welcome to the forum. A few years from now when you have some more Zonata finds under your belt your gonna look back and realize how special that snake was. Very uncommon to have that much white on the head.

Thanks for sharing with us here on FHF!
brad123
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Joined: March 30th, 2022, 4:11 pm
Location: Carlsbad, CA
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Re: my first post and best find so far(California)

Post by brad123 »

thank you gheaton! Yeah I was so amazed at how this snake looked Mark. I'm really stoked and exited to compare my future mt. king finds to this one. Thank you guys for the support!
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zeevng
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Re: my first post and best find so far(California)

Post by zeevng »

Crazy find. People hunt for Z's their whole life to find one like that.
Might as well retire now. :lol:

Keep it up, man!
Happy Herping! :thumb:
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Fieldherper
Posts: 252
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 10:46 am

Re: my first post and best find so far(California)

Post by Fieldherper »

Congrats on an exceptional specimen. That area can produce some very interesting mountain king snakes. A subset of the population will have that overall reduced black pattern/white head phenotype. Similar animals are not typically found anywhere else in their range (Washington to Baja). Most of the other ones in that range have a more standard pattern, however that area tends to produce more snakes with reduced black and fewer crossovers than anywhere else. The first one that I found there was similar to the one that you posted. The white ventral surface is known from there, but even more rare. It all comes down to genetics coupled with thermal conditions under which the eggs develop.

You could find 30 more animals in that area and they will All have different Colors/patterns, but essentially have the same behavior and be the same animals. Illustrative of the beauty of genetic variability/natural selection/evolution.

Also, you did not post the locality, for which I commend you, however I can tell where you found it. ;)

FH
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