Banded Mystery Snake, Oregon

[Nanci]

Anyone??? A friend of mine spotted it on a bike ride.

****Edit****the picture was taken in Oregon, not Washington.

 

[Nanci]

Family Boidae (boas)

* Charina bottae, rubber boa (nope)

Family Colubridae (common snakes)

* Coluber constrictor, racer (nope unless there's a juvie banded pattern)
* Contia tenuis, sharp-tailed snake (nope. Not the same STS we have in Florida!!)
* Diadophis punctatus, ringneck snake (nope)
* Hypsiglena torquata, night snake (maybe???)
* Lampropeltis zonata, California mountain kingsnake (closest thing but it's not red!)
* Masticophis taeniatus, striped whipsnake (nope)
* Pituophis melanoleucus, gopher snake (nope)
* Thamnophis elegans, western terrestrial garter snake (nope)
* Thamnophis ordinoides, northwestern garter snake (nope)
* Thamnophis sirtalis, common garter snake (nope)
o T. s. concinnus, red-spotted garter snake
o T. s. fitchi, valley garter snake
o T. s. pickeringi, Puget Sound garter snake

Family Viperidae (vipers and pit vipers)

* Crotalus viridis, western rattlesnake (nope)

 

[airenlow]

Do Long-Nosed Snakes live that far north? My other guess would be juvi California Mt. King...

 

[Nanci]

Family Boidae (boas)

* Charina bottae, rubber boa (nope)

Family Colubridae (common snakes)

* Coluber constrictor, racer (nope unless there's a juvie banded pattern)
* Contia tenuis, sharp-tailed snake (nope. Not the same STS we have in Florida!!)
* Diadophis punctatus, ringneck snake (nope)
* Hypsiglena torquata, night snake (maybe???)
* Lampropeltis zonata, California mountain kingsnake (closest thing but it's not red!)
* Masticophis taeniatus, striped whipsnake (nope)
* Pituophis melanoleucus, gopher snake (nope)
* Thamnophis elegans, western terrestrial garter snake (nope)
* Thamnophis ordinoides, northwestern garter snake (nope)
* Thamnophis sirtalis, common garter snake (nope)
o T. s. concinnus, red-spotted garter snake
o T. s. fitchi, valley garter snake
o T. s. pickeringi, Puget Sound garter snake

Family Viperidae (vipers and pit vipers)

* Crotalus viridis, western rattlesnake (nope)


******************WAIT!!**************

That picture may have been taken in E or SE Oregon! Quick, get that list...

 

[Nanci]

Virtually the same:

Boas and Pythons (Boidae)

* Rubber Boa (Charina bottae)

Colubrids (Colubridae)

* Racer (Coluber constrictor)
* Sharptail Snake (Contia tenuis)
* Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)
* Night Snake (Hypsiglena torquata)
* Common Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula) (possible, but I'm thinking not)
* California Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis zonata)
* Striped Whipsnake (Masticophis taeniatus)
* Pacific Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer)
* Western Ground Snake (Sonora semiannulata) (Gets my vote!)
* Santa Cruz Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus)
* Western Terrestrial Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans)
* Northwestern Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides)
* Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

Pit Vipers and Vipers (Viperidae)

* Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus)

************Okay, my guess is Ground Snake*********

 

[Nanci]

Do Long-Nosed Snakes live that far north? My other guess would be juvi California Mt. King...

That was my first thought, too, but they aren't up there. But now I have more info from a friend of the friend who posted it on FB.

I want to live where they have rubber boas!!!

 

[tspuckler]

It looks more like a Variable Ground Snake than anything else.
It could be a Mountain King if the photo bleached out the red.
How big was the snake?
Was a flash used to take the photo?
Are there any additional photos of this snake?
Ground Snakes aren't shown to live in Washington in the field guides I have, but disjunct populations do turn up from time to time.

Here's one I found in Vegas in June:

 

[dionythicus]

I want to live where they have rubber boas!!!

They are almost impossible to find, due their natural habits of hiding in remote areas, and in Washington its illegal to even touch one in the wild because they are endangered. No joke, you cannot pick one up without breaking the law. But it's funny that you can supposedly own one as long as it wasn't collected in Washington state. :shrugs:

 

[Chris Olson]

Long-nosed snakes are in northern Idaho, I thought they were in Washington as well......that was my guess.....

Chris

 

[Chris Olson]

They are almost impossible to find, due their natural habits of hiding in remote areas, and in Washington its illegal to even touch one in the wild because they are endangered. No joke, you cannot pick one up without breaking the law. But it's funny that you can supposedly own one as long as it wasn't collected in Washington state. :shrugs:

I used to catch them in Idaho....they're awesome snakes. BY FAR the most docile snake I have ever encountered. There is a trick to finding them in the wild.....cool overcast days are good in the fall. Summer, in the mountains, if you wait until the temp drops late at night you can find them out and about, too.

 

[vetusvates]

IMHO.....I'm leaning toward a not so great picture of Lampropeltis zonata ssp.......

http://faculty.unlv.edu/jrodriguez/19.pdf
http://depts.washington.edu/natmap/maps/wa/#reptiles

Of course, the location of the bicycle ride could remove this (or fail to remove this) as a possibility.

 

[tspuckler]

I'd be interested in knowing if the person who photographed it would describe it as a tri-color or bi-colored snake. I think it's impossible to accurately identify the snake based on that photo.

 

[Vinman]

yo Tim it is vinny from the bronx

 

[DaGiant]

Virtually the same:

Boas and Pythons (Boidae)

* Rubber Boa (Charina bottae)

Colubrids (Colubridae)

* Racer (Coluber constrictor)
* Sharptail Snake (Contia tenuis)
* Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)
* Night Snake (Hypsiglena torquata)
* Common Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula) (possible, but I'm thinking not)
* California Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis zonata)
* Striped Whipsnake (Masticophis taeniatus)
* Pacific Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer)
* Western Ground Snake (Sonora semiannulata) (Gets my vote!)
* Santa Cruz Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus)
* Western Terrestrial Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans)
* Northwestern Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides)
* Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

Pit Vipers and Vipers (Viperidae)

* Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus)

************Okay, my guess is Ground Snake*********

Mine Too Nanci!

 

[tspuckler]

I see the original post was edited to indicate that the snake was found in Oregon. Knowing the county would be helpful. Both mountain kings and ground snakes live in that state - though their ranges are far apart.

 

[Cflaguy]

Going with the....

Western Ground Snake.

 

[Nanci]

Malheur County, Oregon is where it was found.

 

[tspuckler]

Reptiles of the Northwest by Alan St. John states that there are Ground Snakes along the Owyhee River in southeastern Oregon. So I'd say all the Ground Snake guessers are right.

 

[vetusvates]

I see the original post was edited to indicate that the snake was found in Oregon. Knowing the county would be helpful. Both mountain kings and ground snakes live in that state - though their ranges are far apart.

OK.

Malheur County, Oregon is where it was found.

Big OK.

Western Ground Snake.

OK,...agreed.

NOTE : Thanks, Nanci. Knowledge is good. Nice couple of days there of researching Natural History of Washington State. :laugh:

 

[Jynx]

I also agree on ground snake. That pattern is one I've seen all too many times. Love those itty bitty snakes!