Help with snake ID? (1 Viewer)

Hello All,

I was recently trailing through Brazos Bend NWR in Eastern Texas when I came upon this large (to me) snake. This snake was not shy at all. As a matter of fact, as I walked toward it, it slowly came straight at me. Another man on the trail came to see what I was taking pics of, he didn't know what kind it was either. As we were watching it, the snake started going straight at the man. I always thought, "snakes are more afraid of you than you are of them." Well, let me tell you, the guy got out of the way just as quickly as I would have. The snake never slowed, just moved off into high grass at a nice leisurely pace.

It was beautiful!

Can anyone help me ID this seemingly friendly reptile?

Many Thanks,

Brian

I don't have a clue as to what species it is.

When it started to go towards the man, did it start to hiss? Open it's mouth?
If not, then he/she didn't see you or the man as a threat and wanted to go in the direction where the man was standing. That happens to me also.

Yes, snakes are more afraid of people than we are of them, but if you don't act/look threatingly to them, they soon calm down.

Personally I would go for a Texas ratsnake(Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri). It is a bit difficult to tell with the sun affecting the colours, but I am sure it is a ratsnake at least. I have kept a number of ratsnakes and in captivity mine have been very tame. But the odd few I have found in the wild have always seemed upset about something? They are not venomous and tend to stay clear of people, but unless you get excited and start to jump around shouting, they tend to just go away calmly. It was a nice snake and you were very lucky, most of my encounters leave me trying to identify it from the last 6cm of tail as it goes into a bush

Mark

Thanks,

I've done some further research on Texas Rat Snakes and it does seem to fit the bill.

He/She never made a sound or looked in the least bit agressive. At first approach it raised it's head a bit, that was all.

I did a little touch up on the Raw files to make the markings a little easier to see. I've added them here. If it makes the ID any clearer, let me know

Thanks again,

Brian