Here will be info about whats new with Snakes !!
Last night around 9 pm a neighbor was knocking on my door. I let him in and he told me that the neighbor next to him had a snake in his yard. I asked him if it was right now, and his answer was Yes! I said let’s go, I grabbed my head-lamp and we were there in 5 minutes. The owner said the snake had climbed up there and he pointed to the lawn tool add-on shed which was 2 by 5 by 8 feet tall. I could not see the snake from where I was, so I put my foot on something there and raised myself up to see a 5 foot long Northern Bird Snake. (Phrynonax poecilonotus) i reached up to grab him.The snake was cool and did not try to bite. I was surprised that he didn’t try to bite, but on 28 trip hunting snakes I have been bitten only 3 times, one Boa and two Bird Snake, all harmless. I was holding him lightly and let move as he wanted to. If you try to hold a snake out of the wild behind the head, he will start trying to bite. Snake are like us in the sense that they do not like to be strangled. The homeowner reached out and touched it, the first time he ever touched a snake in his life. He was very proud of himself. i released the snake this morning in an area that was not near houses. He was one cool guy. My wife and I enjoyed holding him!!
4/19/19 Today I received a photo of a snake on WhatsApp asking for a ID of the snake. I checked out my books and did not come up with anything. The head opens the possibility of the snake being venomous, not there a 100% but maybe a little more than 50%. I’m going to be looking for a little help on this one. This snake turned out to be a juvenile of the snake in the photo right above. A Bird Snake.
4/17/19 Yeterday I received a photo of this snake and asked for an ID. No need for books on this one, I had a pair that I bred in the early 2000’s. It was one of my favorite snakes.
It is a Spilotes Pullatus. The pet trade name is Tiger Rat Snake, common name in Panama and CR is Mica. A great snake!!
ofMarch 20th 2019: I’m usually thinking about snakes every day, it’s kind of my job. But today things are coming at me fast and furious. First thing Mark and Laura and their dog Midnight came knocking on our door. They had taken a photo of a dead snake in front of their house. I looked at the photo and didn’t recognize the snake. I knew it was a harmless snake, but I didn’t know the species. I asked him if it was still there and they said right at the edge of the road in front of their house. I told him that I would go there after we took care some business. I picked up the dead snake and took a couple photo at the right angles. I went to my reference book and I Identified the snake within a couple of minutes. The snake turned out to be a juvenile Mussurana (Clelia clelia) which is a harmless snake and was a good find; it would’ve been a great one if he was alive. This snake grows to 8 feet and eats other snakes as his main food item, and it is immune to pitviper venom. Its favorite snake to eat is a Fer-de-Lance. We need to keep those guys around.
In the area (Boquete Canyon Village) where, I live we have a neighborhood forum on Whats App. Anne heard signals on the phone and knew something was going on by the number of signals. Someone posted the photo to the left and asked if it was venomous? Paul was bitten by the snake. Anne showed the photo and I said it was a Central American Coral Snake. And he should go to hospital in David immediately. I asked Anne to send the message to them and tell them that any symptoms from the bite may not occur right away, sometimes taking up to five or six hours. Also that sometimes the snake has not injected in venom with the bite. This is called a dry-bite. We as homeowners have anti-venom in the refrigerator in the clubhouse. I said It would be a good idea to stop at the clubhouse and bring it with you in case they don’t have it at the hospital. We got a message a short while later. They were on their way to the hospital with the anti-venom with them. A while later we got an update after Paul had been examined with no symptoms at this time. All our neighbors were sending messages praying for a dry-bite. Later the doctor told him if there were no symptoms after 10 hours go home
Good news: Paul went home with no symptoms! IT WAS A DRY-BITE!!
Later I received a text on WhatsApp. “at about 1:30pm Oh, Dear. I found a snake in my laundry room. Stuck on the sticky pad”. Jessica. I called her and told her I would come over and ID the snake. But, my wife had the car and would not be back until 4:30 when bridge was over. I asked her house number and she told me it was not too far, I said I would walk over. I didn’t want to wait until 4:30; I wanted to know what snake is now. I cut trough the vacant lots, and in 5 minutes I was there. This was the second time I went to ID a snake off a Sticky Pad. I recognized this immediately, but I couldn’t think of the name. I came across a live one a couple years ago about the same size as this one. They had put down the sticky pad because they had seen scorpions in the laundry a few days before. The snake was a harmless Calico Snake (Oxyrhopus petolarius).
This was my third snake of the day that came my way!
If you see a snake, please take a picture of it and send it to my WhatsApp number +507 305 2732 Thanks! Jim ~~~
