It was mid evening and all I heard was the playful bark of our miniature Dachshund, Julio. This is his usual way of barking when he finds something playful. There in front of him was this little snake in the process of devouring a frog that was at least three times larger than its head. Excited about my find, I ran in the house seeking a material witness! After leading my youngest daughter to the scene, the thought of documenting this encounter struck me. But by the time we returned with a camera, the snake had retreated leaving its prey behind. We missed the photo op!We searched for our little hunter in the yard and found it trying to burrow. We snapped these pictures and proceeded to identify it. After several minutes of googling, we concluded that it was a North Carolina Pygmy rattlesnake.
What's a Pygmy rattle snake doing this far north? All the information gathered indicates its range up to Southeastern North Carolina. Could this be a case of Global Warming? In addition it is listed as a Special Concern under State Endangered Species Act of 2004. Could it be that this protection has allowed it to thrive? In any case, we decided to let it be, and be careful not to let Julio to close to it.
1 comment:
That's not a carolina pigmy. It's an eastern hognose snake (Heterodon platyrhinos).
There aren't any pigmies in your area.
Anecdotally, there was one record of a pigmy rattler found on Rte 17 years and years ago. The thought was that it fell off a logging truck coming from Hyde County (the northernmost portion of their range).
Chris
http://www.kingofkingsreptiles.com
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