Juvenile specimen imaged (only) by Tawni Osborne and image sent to Gerald Keown for identification. Found in a plastic flower pot in January 2014. UTA-DC 8109. Verified by Carl J. Franklin. First record for Kleberg County, Texas. Published in Herp Review 45(3) 2014, 466 (Keown and Salmon) which also corrected an earlier specimen recorded in error for Kleberg Co. (MVZ 75963). Research determined that specimen to be from Kenedy County (11 miles S of Sarita on Hwy 77, near "Mifflin", collected 16 April 1963 by Earl Turner, deposited by Jay Savage). See comment by Dixon (in Dixon, 2013. Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas, third edition. Page 247). "An isolated museum record for Kleberg County is questionable." Dr. Dixon was correct as interview with the collector and subsequent correspondence with the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (at U.C. Berkeley) amended this specimen's data accordingly. Data on tag had been correct, except for the county.
See second image for close-up (crop).
Saw this guy struggling on the side of the road tangled up in some plastic netting. Called my dad to come help me free it. As I was waiting, another snake (darker & longer, but same species) appeared. Not sure if they were trying to mate, or the bigger one saw an opportunity for an easy meal, but they rolled around & he bit at the trapped one a couple of times. We cut the netting off & she safely went on her way. Best guess, Central Texas Whipsnake? Dark brown/black, faded stripe, peach belly, small bodied, about 5 foot long & moved through the grass with their heads high.
Juvenile specimen imaged (only) by Tawni Osborne and image sent to Gerald Keown for identification. Found in a plastic flower pot in January 2014. UTA-DC 8109. Verified by Carl J. Franklin. First record for Kleberg County, Texas. Published in Herp Review 45(3) 2014, 466 (Keown and Salmon) which also corrected an earlier specimen recorded in error for Kleberg Co. (MVZ 75963). Research determined that specimen to be from Kenedy County (11 miles S of Sarita on Hwy 77, near "Mifflin", collected 16 April 1963 by Earl Turner, deposited by Jay Savage). See comment by Dixon (in Dixon, 2013. Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas, third edition. Page 247). "An isolated museum record for Kleberg County is questionable." Dr. Dixon was correct as interview with the collector and subsequent correspondence with the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (at U.C. Berkeley) amended this specimen's data accordingly. Data on tag had been correct, except for the county.
See second image for close-up (crop).
Saw this guy struggling on the side of the road tangled up in some plastic netting. Called my dad to come help me free it. As I was waiting, another snake (darker & longer, but same species) appeared. Not sure if they were trying to mate, or the bigger one saw an opportunity for an easy meal, but they rolled around & he bit at the trapped one a couple of times. We cut the netting off & she safely went on her way. Best guess, Central Texas Whipsnake? Dark brown/black, faded stripe, peach belly, small bodied, about 5 foot long & moved through the grass with their heads high.