Snakes

Skip to 0:52 to get to see the babies.

picture by Ryan Means

Was looking for snake pictures to post here and ended up finding this website. It also has a guide to patterns on snakes which is pretty nice for people learning about snakes.

I looked up lots of snake hatching videos and at least for the ones I clicked, I didn’t see the snake actually maneuvering its entire body out of the egg. This video actually does show the snake fully exiting the egg! It’s cute!

It was surreal how close they let me get to them. The female was the largest I've ever seen. She was easily over 6ft and bigger around than my wrist.

Enjoying some rays in the yard.

Péringuey's Adder (Bitis peringueyi) from Swakopmund, Namibia. Venomous.

Spotted Skaapsteker (Psammophylax rhombeatus), mildly venomous but harmless to humans. A Southern African species.

Only a favorite because they're so skinny and wiggly, I like showing the blunt-headed tree snake to students because they're just not what people new to snakes think a snake looks like. There are definitely weirder species out there, but the big eyes and shoelace appearance amuse the non-herpers.

Honduras, June 2023

Honduras, June 2022

Sometimes, plain snakes are the most beautiful and interesting.

This stunning large specimen was just hanging out when we came across it. Absolute unit of a viper.