Snake Track Identify, please

[Clifford]

".38 for perspective"
lol

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/electric-fence-snake.shtml

C

[CactusGulch]

Recently my cousin said her son reported seeing the biggest snake he's ever seen. He used to go out in the desert a lot with his grandfather, so I think it's possible it really was a snake.

Randy's was about a mile from here. 'My' snake was a mile in the other direction.

Actually, the .38 is for dogs that most people out here don't seem to think have to be kept in their own yards.

There is one group of three that comes tearing out after me to surround me on my bike when the gate is left open.

I probably wouldn't shoot a snake, but those dogs chasing me are wearing my nerves just a bit thin.

[Clifford]

Hah, I totally empathize. Maybe you could get some rubber bullets and teach them a lesson before sending them to the "big dog in the sky".

C

I probably wouldn't shoot a snake, but those dogs chasing me are wearing my nerves just a bit thin.

[reptilist]

I strongly recommend carrying bear spray instead of a sidearm

[Clifford]

So THATs how they keep all that fur looking so good and stylish!
JK, seriously I had no idea such a thing existed, would be perfect for general critter defense. Good to know.

Funny story- I was camped south of Superior Dry lake and one morning these 2 dogs appear and the smaller bony one comes right into camp sniffing my stuff even after I yelled at it. The bigger one stayed off a ways but I had no idea if they were tame or feral or what. I got in my truck until they left. 6 or 9 months later I am in same area one valley closer to the lake and a guy named Jim pulls up to camp looking for his dogs. I say I saw some like 6 months ago and when i describe them he starts nodding, "yep, those are them"
nutty.
C

I strongly recommend carrying bear spray instead of a sidearm

[CactusGulch]

We got the bear spray from a friend while up in Montana hiking in Glacier National Park. He insisted we carry it.

Later when we came back to Florence, he told us about a few encounters....like bears prowling around where we parked our camper in his yard.

But you know, walking around with a gun on your hip does look a lot more menacing to the owners of those dogs. When I finally reported them to Animal Control I told them I was carrying and they told the owner. A day or so later, as I rode by, the gate was closed and the guy was coming out his door and looked right at me.

Wish I could say it did the trick. Still several days off and on that the gate's been open.

The thing about the bear spray is that if I catch the wind wrong, I've got it all over me. From what my friend said, it's not good.

I've got snake shot in the gun right now.

[reptilist]

In an emergency "shoot/don't shoot" situation, people who carry guns but are not trained to fire under stress are very likely to miss the intended target. Missing an attacking animal/miscreant person is bad news, as is sending errant bullets flying into the neighborhood....
With bear spray I am certain that I won't miss the target, and it's a lot lighter on the hip too. Non lethal force can keep you out of prison too.
There is a concern about over spray to the defender, but I feel the benefits I just mentioned outweight the potential for accidental exposure.

[cerastes]

Frontier Fannie -- I'm a returning member from the earlier days of DUSA forums and thought I'd give the snake track ID a try.

I agree with Retilist. That heavy-bodied track doesn't look like a colubrid (non-rattler or boid etc. group) track. Even the largest, most robust gophersnake (Pitiuophis) I've ever seen in the wild or long-term captives (up to 6'2") in collections, could not possibly produce such a broad and deep track.

I've seen many of these tracks made by very large, but not necessarily long, Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox). While cruising dirt roads in late afternoon and early mornings during spring and summer, I've seen such tracks in the dirt and also have come across several large 'atrox' in the process of making such tracks! What an impressive sight!

Hope I've helped-out and not overdone it -- Danny M.

[coazon de oro]

Howdy CactusGulch,

I also agree with Reptilist's ID of the snake that could have made that track. However, if you look at the track next to the shoe, you can see that the snake was not more than 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

A flat surface like that road, does not give a rattlesnake much to push against to move it's self forward. The sliding of the snakes body trying to get traction makes the track appear to be that of a much larger snake.

Homar