Here are three miscellaneous snakes from Southern Arizona.
The Western Coachwhip is a long and very fast snake that can reach up to nine feet in length. They are diurnal, and hunt lizards, small birds, and rodents. They tend to be sensitive to potential threats, and often bolt at the first sign of one; they are extremely fast-moving snakes. They are curious snakes with good eyesight and are sometimes seen raising their heads above the level of the grass or rocks to see what is around them.
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| Western Coachwhip |
Snakes are often hard to identify do to their color variation. Some people will pick up snakes to examine them for proper identification. Not me. As a general rule, I don't want to be invasive. I want to get my photo and watch animals with as little stress (for them as possible -- well, for me too). I believe this to be a Western Hognose. But, don't know for sure:
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| Western Hognose |
The Western Long Nosed Snake is ground-dweller and almost exclusively nocturnal in Arizona. In Arizona it is normally active from April through September and it hibernates underground during the cold months of late fall and winter. It uses its enlarged and pointed rostral scale to burrow undergroung for shelter and to unearth shallowly-buried lizard prey. When captured or threatened it may writhe and hide its head beneath its coils, vibrate its tail, evert the lining of the cloaca, and releasing musk and foul-smelling waste. Females have been observed to release blood from the cloaca, nostrils, and mouth during defensive displays. This one must have come out at night and ended up in the pool, where I found here in the early morning.
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| Western Long Nose |
