Uncle Ron Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Yo All ... On my way into LSD yesterday I came across a type of snake I've never seen before ... It was about 5' to 6' long and very slender ... The weird thing was that it was very bright red, virtually the same color and brightness of an automobile tail light ... The body and head shape were very much like a typical red racer, which I've encountered many times, but I've never seen anything like the bright red color ... Any ideas? Cheers, Unc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garimpo Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Unc was you looking down through your tri-focals and saw a "trouser snake"..... :gig: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry2197 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Maybe a mature corn snake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertsunburn Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 No corn snakes in AZ. Might have been some variable of a Ground Snake, although they are normally small and 5 or 6 feet is way out there for those. I've taken two pictures of snakes in the last year that no one can ID. Strange. Both at Gold Basin I might add! :hmmmmm: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Coffee Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Unc.....I'm taking a shot in the dark here, but did the snake look like this?http://www.snakesofarizona.com/groundsnake-ds-1.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacGump Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 One of those that just shed its skin... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Did it look like this snake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 What really narrows it down is the length, as we dont have to many 5 to 6 foot snakes out here. must have been a subspecies of coachwhip. I wonder if it is possible that it could have adapted to red soils, and like mentioned above, it could have just shed its skin too......Sounds pretty cool regardless 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Ron Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Chris, it did look like that but much brighter...Maybe it did just shed it's skin ... it was in the middle of Castle Hot Spring Road right at the turnoff to that orange dirt landscaping rock pit ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garimpo Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Did it look like this snake?Skip where do you come up with pics like that? Do you see the mice(?) in the bush....probably what the snake is after... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Skip where do you come up with pics like that? Do you see the mice(?) in the bush....probably what the snake is after... Got them from the internet, searching Arizona snakes, not to many red ones of that size that I could find. Yes I saw the critter, not sure if it was lucky and got away or not!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oredigger62 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Hi Ron , found a fire engine red one here about 15 years ago. ODNR and a couple herpetologists believed it to be a milk snake . Supposedly it was a mutated variety like we do with corns and rat snakes. They claimed that in most cases these would not live long due to the bright color ... to easy to be spotted by predators. There was also a report of one seen here in ohio that was posted on cryptozoology.com . Cheers , Lou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whylee Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 It was more than likley a Coachwhip Racer. They come in a variety of colors. They get pretty long and they can really move when they want to. I have seen them anywhere from yellowish to purple in color. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nugget Shooter Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 It was likely a Red Whip Snake/Red Racer/ or as Whylee said Coachwhip Racer lots of common names for "Masticophis flagelliformis" and they are super fast and can climb a desert tree like lightning to get a bird or lizard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank c Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Well I'm sure glad you guys nailed that one.I was starting to think ,.....maybe that snake Uncle Rod spotted wasn't really red colored, that is untill he spotted Unc Ron lookin at him and got all embarresed an turned red cause he couldn't find them nuggets like Unc Ron can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Ron Posted April 14, 2012 Author Share Posted April 14, 2012 That's it, Bill ... Looked just like that! Thanks for the info, guys! Cheers, Unc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 It was likely a Red Whip Snake/Red Racer/ or as Whylee said Coachwhip Racer lots of common names for "Masticophis flagelliformis" and they are super fast and can climb a desert tree like lightning to get a bird or lizard. That the same snake as the pictures I posted "Red Coachwhip", in Bill's picture that snake is just more embarrassed!!! :hahaha: :hahaha: Skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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