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Storeria dekayi texana
found this guy while gardening in my yard...took him out and take a shot and set him free. The Texas brown snake (Storeria dekayi texana) is a nonvenomous snake in the Colubridae family, and is a subspecies of Storeria dekayi. Adults and young have reddish brown colored bodies with dark brown spots around the eyes. Adults average 12 inches in length. They feed primarily on slugs and earthworms. One notable example of an extremely large specimen, some two-and-a-half feet in length, was once circulated virally, but proof of the "Super Hog"-sized specimen has since vanished, and the story passed into legend. This is contrary to the smaller or more minute subspecies of the Texas brown snake. The smaller subspecies, also known as the "Joshua snake," is primarily found and handled by small children and teenagers playing in their back yards or wooded areas near their homes, as the brown snake can find refuge there from larger predators.
They can be found in moist flowerbeds, gardens, and moist woodlands, from eastern Texas to southern Minnesota.
@ccm7 I found this guy while gardening in the yard...dig some dirt and you will be surprised! there are lots of neat stuff in the dirt!
OHHHHH!! that one would be awesome to see!!!! I had a picture that I cannot find now, of a garter snake after it secreted it's musk, (stinky stuff) all over and put that on a black cloth with a black light over it. It was pretty cool to see the "glowing" snake! ;-)
Brandon is right...Thanks though Davesh!
Sometimes I find one that is lime green from the dirt...I will see if I get lucky to get a shot at it next time.
:-D You are welcome Susan! I love snakes! One of my favorite all time families of animals. The variations in the species, and their ability to adapt to almost every single environment on the planet makes them an extremely special animal.
Darvesh, the striped keel backs are generally only found in Asia. The spotting above was in Texas, USA. Although there are similarities between the two species, the Texas Brown is quite a bit more drab in it's coloration as it's found mainly in scrub brush type areas.
This looks like a red phase of Texas brown snake.
Storeria dekayi texana
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storeria_de...
I could be wrong, however the markings are almost exact, the color looks a bit more red than the one identified in wiki. I know that many of the garter snakes that we have here in NY come in various color phases (mutations/adaptations).
Great spotting and awesome pictures!! :-D
Spotted on Oct 11, 2011
Submitted on Oct 11, 2011
