Tag: Texas

Cat-eyed Snakes of Texas

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

A common sight around waterways south of the US are the cat-eyed snakes; mildly venomous, cat-eyed snakes (Leptodeira sp.). However, they do make it into the country in one small area of extreme south Texas. We found this Northern Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira septentrionalis) there several years ago. For friends in Arizona, these are most closely related to the nightsnakes (Hypsiglena sp.), both in form and lineage.

Vidal, N., Dewynter, M., & Gower, D. J. (2010). Dissecting the major American snake radiation: A molecular phylogeny of the Dipsadidae Bonaparte (Serpentes, Caenophidia). Comptes Rendus Biologies, 333(1), 48–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2009.11.003

https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/articles/en/10.1016/j.crvi.2009.11.003/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Northern Cottonmouth Defensive Behavior

Posted on by Bryan Hughes

A Northern Cottonmouth from a quick trip to Texas in 2024. In about 6 hours, I lost count of how many there were. These are large, interesting snakes with complex social behavior, which are unfortunately well stuck in the monster that is the American urge to believe in nonsense.

All of them, as did every one of the hundreds of cottonmouths I’ve ever seen, did one of three things:

  • – Nothing at all
  • – Escaped ASAP
  • – Coiled, rattled its tail, and gaped like this

This pretty one was near my vehicle after I wrapped up a walk through the forest, followed by another just seconds later. I’ll be back for sure.