Hello Everyone,
Walking my property a few days ago I ran across a decent sized water moccasin. Being the friendly type gut that I am I introduced it to my Mossberg 500 20ga. and some birdshot. The shot got it just behind the head and tore about 3 inches of flesh from him, essentially decapitating it. Wierd thing is it’s body and head remained connected with what looked like a spine. I didn’t know things that slithered had spines.
Snakes are nothing but spine (and ribs) from head to tail.
I don’t know how to link a google image search, but it would prove my point, handily.
Snakes are reptiles, and all reptiles have spines.
Slow worms (which are a kind of legless lizard) also slither and have spines.
Photo, from Wikipedia.
That mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds are all vertebrates is taught in junior high biology, I should think.
Yes, yes they do. They only bend at the joints, but they do have vertebrae and ribs.
Now that’s wot i’m talkin’ 'bout !!!
You didn’t see spines in those rattlesnakes you dispatched? (And, if your snake identification skills haven’t improved, you probably killed. . . something else.)
Definitively moccasin. I’ve got a few good pictures of it, I’ll link to layer when I have time.
Yes, snakes have spines. Why would you think they don’t? Because they bend so much? That just means a lot more joints. And perhaps a bit different assembly for more flexibility.
In fact, all vertebrates (which include reptiles, mammals, birds, and fish) have spines, by definition. This is in contrast to invertebrates, such as insects, arachnids, and crustaceans, which do not. Both vertebrates and invertebrates are considered animals. Non-animals, such as bacteria and fungi, also lack spines.
Here’s a couple of pictures of said moccasin. I’m positive my id is correct. Either way, I don’t like snakes so no bad feelings on my part.
WARNING, dead snake photos.
https://db.tt/onplehkV
Since you are unfeeling toward snakes, I will have your feelings for you. I feel bad that you needlessly killed that animal.
Well, you got the ID right this time.
obbn, just curious, do you live along the Gulf Coast or Mississippi River Valley?
Crotalus, this Wiki map shows the Cottonmouth geographic range as extending south only to Central Texas and staying north of the Rio Grande and Mexico. That surprises me as I figured South Texas coastal rivers including the Rio Grande and then into Mexico would be prime habitat for them. Do you think the southern drier terrain is a natural barrier limiting them or is it something else?
I live in Central, Florida. We live in what’s called the Green Swamp area. Los of wildlife and lots of snakes.
FWIW, I didn’t particularly find any joy in shooting that snake. But, the fact is it’s a venomous snake that was on our property. We have the kids and dogs and cats. Not to mention two horses and a donkey. That snake was a danger to all of us, so it had to go. Had it not been venomous I would have gladly let it go on it’s way.
lieu - The present-day ranges of species are influenced by a lot of factors, some of which go back to the ice ages and beyond. The dry terrain you mention would certainly be a factor for cottonmouths, which eat fish and frogs and prefer to be near water.The northern edge of their range along the Atlantic coast is in southeast Virginia. There are swamps north of there in Virginia and Maryland that look like ideal habitat and which have the same climate but contain no cottonmouths.
In Mexico, there is a snake of the same genus called the cantil which is sort of the mexican moccasin.
obbn - I like snakes, and especially poisonous snakes, more than most people, but if I had young kids at home and found a moccasin or rattlesnake on my land I would probaly bust out the scattergun myself.
“This species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2007).”
I’d never heard of the cantil before. Good to know!
