A Speckled Racer cruising through the undergrowth in extreme southern Texas. These snakes just barely enter the United States at this point, and can be found throughout tropical Central America and northern South America.
Prior-Magee, J. S., & McKerrow, A. (2018). Speckled Racer (Drymobius margaritiferus) rSPRAx_CONUS_2001v1 Habitat Map. U.S. Geological Survey.
Berlandier’s Tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri) from south Texas last year.
A Trans-Pecos Ratsnake (Bogertophis subocularis) from the border region of Texas.
Close up with a Trans-Pecos Ratsnake (Bogertophis subocularis). I found this one in South Texas, though they also range through much of New Mexico, and into Mexico.
A copperhead from the western edge of their range in Texas.
Northern Cat-eyed Snake from late last year. This animal is found in thornscrub and tropical forest habitat throughout much of Central America, and just barely makes it into the United States, in south Texas.
A Speckled Racer (Drymobius margaritiferus) from a visit to South Texas last year. This species is found throughout Central America and just a bit into South America, ranging north to just barely enter the United States.
A pretty young Texas Indigo Snake we found on a visit to friends in South Texas last year.
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
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:
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.
