Anyone on facebook see this???

Originally Posted by vetusvates

Well, I tend to agree with you, in general, Mike. As I often do...you are very insightful and wise.

Which is why, regarding your quote above, when I see sincerity, well-informed and/or even very new and amateurish, I personally strive to be very understanding.
However...there is a vast difference between having patience and understanding while watching the newbie take their first few baby steps in the herp world...and standing by in silence (which implies approval) when a charlatan is knowingly perpetrating a farce, with motives less than noble, shall we say.

I'm still going to sit on the fence.... He isn't a newb so I don't see why he would perpetrate a scam..... A joke, yes.... But this is moving beyond that....
I really can't see the point in doing it....
I know he hates forums, and made a point in saying his pic was stolen... Maybe thats why he joined us, to see his pic in all the cs.com glory..

Well said Eric..

Mike, I too dont understand why he, being so well into the herp world, would play a joke like this.. Though I have heard from someone having personal run ins with him, that he can be a cruel person.. Although, yes its just hearsay, but it was not nice what he supposedly did.. I always though he was an ok guy, even talked to him once on chat on FB.. So I dont get it.... All I ever wanted ffrom him was for him to answer a few questions.. I was not rude, or mean or anything to him.... What set him off was me saying that a friend of mine, who is an expert per say in the scales and head shapes etc of corns and rats, suggested that it most likely is a ratsnake, most likely grey rat.. I told him the possibility that it might not be a corn in a nice way, and he ran off with it and started accusing me of having bad social skills etc.. It was never my intention... I am not a mean person. Everyone here knows that..

For now I reserve my opinion for later. Like everyone else, I would like to see clearer and closer photos of the animal if it truly exists. All that said, if I were to believe it was a photo shop creation, I think it would be an entirely different combination that what has been mentioned here so far. There are a few things that really stick out. The shape and coloration of the colored "blotches", the coloration of the brown on the head and finally, the smootheness of the brown colored areas.

To me, the coloration and shape of the "blotches, the coloration of the head and the smoothness looks like a ball python. I have included a pic that really compares nicely to the look of the snake in question. Maybe I am off base? Looking at the blow up pic posted recently, the scale shape and sizes also seems to match the ball python.

Mohr stated Chuck is more into hots and IF this were a hoax or joke, he would have likely used a hot. That might be true, but who knows. Again, I am just going along with the possibility of a photoshop creation and if I were disecting this pic, I would say it was a combo of a ball python and a leusistic cottonmouth. I have included a pic from Chuck's page of a Leusistic cottonmouth owned by one of his close friends. However, the body shape is very similar to a cooperhead.

OK, trying to wrap this up here. Several people have stated the snake in question has keeled scales and I am wondering if they are making this statement based on the fact the scales seem to stick out from the body a little. From the pic posted, even the super blown up version, I can not see the keels. Maybe it is just the assumption people are making and that is likely a good assumption, but I just can't see them clearly enough to make that statement. Enough of my thoughts, you be the judge.

dc

I don't know the head scales on his pic were definitely of a copperhead- they even matched perfectly. The body may be the leusistic cottonmouth does match the body shape of the snake in question, but the brown areas of Chuck's fake snake are definitely not BPish IMO. Even with the BP you posted you can see the scales even though they appear smooth they are noticeable- the other snake appeared to have no scales in the brown colored areas. Why not just say it was a joke that went too far? Seems weird to me.

Originally Posted by Camby

I have included a pic from Chuck's page of a Leusistic cottonmouth owned by one of his close friends. However, the body shape is very similar to a cooperhead.
dc

I was pondering how hard it would be to photoshop an Agkistrodon body to white. This certainly solves that problem.

Originally Posted by danielle

I don't know the head scales on his pic were definitely of a copperhead- they even matched perfectly. The body may be the leusistic cottonmouth does match the body shape of the snake in question, but the brown areas of Chuck's fake snake are definitely not BPish IMO. Even with the BP you posted you can see the scales even though they appear smooth they are noticeable- the other snake appeared to have no scales in the brown colored areas. Why not just say it was a joke that went too far? Seems weird to me.

Thank you Danielle.
Agkistrodon head = Agkistrodon head, whether white or non-white.
As for the tail.....what do we see here? A corn snake tail, or a heavily keeled snake's tail?
We've all caught north american hots,...and water snakes, right?

[IMG]blow up of screen capture removed, in good faith, at photographer's request/vv319/vetusvates/FacebookSnakeTail2.png[/IMG]

NOTE : I am not being mean or argumentative. At all. This has totally been fun and a great exercise.
So please, don't anybody think I am being mean or female-doggy-like, because I am most certainly not.
And I don't even need to see the snake. All I want is one whiff. Just one whiff...and I will tell you what it is.

I have been looking at the tail as well... it shows scaling... Also looks more rough than a corn.. I like the tail actually..

IDK... I just want to see better pics..

O_o is the tail different... widths in that enlargement?

Originally Posted by RavenSpirit360

I have been looking at the tail as well... it shows scaling... Also looks more rough than a corn.. I like the tail actually..

DYK, kind of makes me hungry. It reminds me of the tender little baby corn thingies at the chinese buffet.

Originally Posted by Shiari

O_o is the tail different... widths in that enlargement?

I thought it looked stumpy...like maybe an injury. It does end abruptly.

No, I mean follow the top line of the tail. The white sticks out from the colored area.

I re-read my post and realized I did a very poor job of clarifying something from the start. I am not saying I think the snake is not real, I have an opinion of what it actually is but want to see more pics. In my post I was just saying IF it were a photo shop creation, "these are my thoughts on what was used".

dc