Saturday, November 7, 2009
We have had several friendly snake visitors to our house the past few months. While I often dismiss them as harmless, my wife is always concerned that we have poisonous rattlers roaming the yard. I usually try to get a picture of each one so that I can try and make a positive identification. Here are two of the most recent vipers.
This little guy appears to be a Eastern Ribbon Snake, Thamnophis sauritus.
I believe that this is a Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta), although my wife is convinced that it is a Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). What do you think?
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Have you ever found yourself next to a Rattle Snake? Last year while hiking in the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, I had the opportunity to find myself in that exact situation. Torrey Pines Park is the home of our nation’s rarest pine tree - Pinus torreyana. Once this tree covered a larger area, but the fragile environment it requires now only exists here and on Santa Rosa Island off the coast near Santa Barbara. As my wife and I walked down a trail leading to the ocean, which was completely obscured by an incoming fog bank off the coast, we suddenly heard a very loud buzz. This was a sound I had never heard in my life, and immediately started my heart racing. I jumped backwards and sprinted back up the trail. Turning back, I pulled out my camera and took a few shots before he slithered off into the brush. He was easily over six feet long and as wide as the business end of a baseball bat.
When I got back, I signed my kids up for this great magazine (ZooBooks) that teaches children all about animals. Give it a try, I am sure your kids will love it to.
