Reptile hunting - pics only

so my co-worker decided to be a clown yesterday......the story goes:

I come back to the office from a lunch break and I see one of my techs on his way out to a customer.....a few minutes later, he comes back to my office and asked if I could help him change his flat tire....so, because I'm a nice guy, I say "sure, why not" (as I was rolling my eyes). He told me he had to use the pisser first so he told me to meet him at the parking lot - and that the right front tire was the one that had to be changed...so I walk up to the problem tire and saw this..............

......and so I did this:

so, can any of you reptile experts identify this disgusting creature?

Joel,

I think that's a coast garter snake.

http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/t.e.terrestris.html

I probably should stick to fish!

Brian

That's definitely a Garter of some sort. Just pick it up. Your hands won't stink like snake-shizzle for too long. Probably.

And Mooch - all the best CA smallie waters have snattlerakes on the banks. Ditto for wilderness High Sierra trout. You're giving up a lot of good fishing territory. Just be glad you don't live in the south, where kayakers have to deal with Moc's and Croc's ( ok, gators, but gators doesn't rhyme) (and yes, I know of the American Crocodile, but they are a rather small population compared to gators).

Scott

My seven-year-ol son, Max, IDs this snake as a Red Sided Garter Snake, thamnophis sirtalis parietalis.

We found the mysterious "silver snake" today which has eluded us for about 1 year.  I kept thinking it was a rubber boa that  Max and my wife were talking about seeing.

Max insisted it wa something else.

WEll, max was right.  Today, he caught a glimps and pounced like a panther!  this is what he caught.




Here is a shot of Max and the prize.



I had no idea of what it was, but it was aggressive.  you would have loved it Joel, it struck at max three times, but only connected twice.

It is a "racer" snake and the first one I've ever seen, much less handled.

Fun!

Allen

....do we really need snakes? I  think we can do without 'em 

That's Hawaii is called "paradise"...coz there's no dam snakes around 

Hawaii a paradise because of no snakes?
Right...just 15 foot tiger sharks cruising the shore .
So Mooch is not afraid to act as a big , floating root beer jig off Bean Hollow....but when it comes to little snakes; Gods little miracle to keep rats and mice down...he loses it!
     Mooch...let you male mind take over for a sec and regard this;
        Bite radius of 12 foot white shark 15 inches
        Bite radius of 15 foot tiger shark  18 inches
        Bite radius of a coast garter snake 2 centimeters
Steve
         

Gods little miracle to keep rats and mice down...

Steve - that's a job we can leave to cats and barn owls....there's really no need for snakes.

Snakes are simply evil creatures that has no place in this earth....Sharks however, keep the balance in the ocean...

just my 2 cents 

Poor barn owls aren't doing so well and are hardly widespread...
Cats are evil little fiends that kill everything they can including baby birds, adult birds, small innocent animals and many kinds of reptiles especially lizards.

        Hey, this is a reptile appreciaters thread not a reptile haters one!

 I know of a nature interpretive center that sends out vans to educate people on reptiles and their benefits to society.
 I'm going to send one to Bean Hollow on Saturday morning!
 Steve 

If you go to the pond that overlooks the 'cave rocks' in the sunol regional wilderness, there are about 200 western pond turtles in the 1 acre pond.

Nice catch Max

 That looks like a Blue Racer, very Kool. I've never seen so many reptiles than @ my Home in El Sobrante,

 Huge Garter snakes, all colors, Giant Gopher Snake, ringtails, Blue Racers and Tons of lizards, reason for

the snakes, and my intense Gopher problem helps too, but I dig the show they put on....

 I Love to come home, hang out in the Hammock by the pool, and watch the drama play out,

 Friggin Wild Kingdom in my Backyard.... Love it

 Mooch would hate it, never be able to get out of the Hammock, till night.

 Then the Trapdoor Spiders come out!!!!! ...... Danglin

Wow,
 Is the Sunol pond kayakable?
Steve

Uh, it's a 1.5-2 mile walk with about 500' of elevation gain, but if you REALLY wanted to you probably could. 

oops...
pass!
Steve