Quote:
Originally Posted by Cazador
Once again ssssnakeluvr, my hat's off to you. You're tha man!
Kitkat, Roy,
It looks like we bought T. ordinoides  . When I think I know something, it takes a good bit of evidence to persuade me otherwise, and I've been looking at a lot of indistinct (and probably some mis-labeled) pictures of T. ordinoides and T.s. pickeringii over the last few days. Today, I e-mailed Gary Nafis, and he wrote back with a key to certain snakes of the West & Northwest. It didn't include T.s. pickeringii, but it had other T. sirtalis subspecies. My blue snakes have 7-8 upper labials; 8 lower labials; their internasals are equal to or shorter than their prefrontals; and they have 17 scale rows... all characteristics of T. ordinoides. He has an awesome snake ID key with photos to help interpret the descriptions. Have a look ( Key to California Gartersnakes).
Rick |
Very cool site.....see this is what we need for all of them. Of course it'd also probably help to have a little bit on snake anatomy. I'm sure there are those who have no idea what internasals are or that blush when you ask them about labials
. I'm seriously thinking about getting something like this in gear after the holidays. It's the slow time of year at the lab, so I'll have plenty of time for research. I'll see my publisher buddy this weekend at the herp club meeting, so I'll see what he has to say.