Help identifying a snake

[rfari]

Thnx fellas

fari dais a buss up bicycle tyre tube

Dat was meh first guess unno buh it was still twitching.

[stev]

sorry i dont have any pics...i saw a very thin, orange black and yellow snake d other day....its colours was along its body, not in circles like the water coral....it was about 12 inches...any idea what it might be? normal garden snake?

[d spike]

sorry i dont have any pics...i saw a very thin, orange black and yellow snake d other day....its colours was along its body, not in circles like the water coral....it was about 12 inches...any idea what it might be? normal garden snake?

Anyways, What kinda snake is this?

Rfari, that is a "Beh Belle Chemin" or "Beauty-of-the-Road" (Liophis melanotus nesos). Stev, is that the same snake you saw? If not, could you describe it better with regard to the width of the stripes? (Lines along the body length are known as stripes, around the body are known as bands, e.g. the Coral snake is banded, while the Beh Belle Chemin is striped.)

What snake is this?

TrinbagoMan, Bizzare is right, it is an Amphisbaena alba.

i believe the old people used to call them 'a wheel'. mainly because they were fat like the wheels on a tractor.

Yeah they still call em wheel in biche. Generally vipers have a diamond shaped head with bulbous looking edges due to the venom sacs. Good rule to keep when trying to figure out if the snake is most likely venomous and has a bad disposition. I'm not sure about the rattlesnake, but there's a viper locally that beats its tail on the forest floor when it feels threatened.

No stev, the name sounds like the English "wheel", but it is Huille that is their name, and that is patois for "oil" - if you have ever seen one, you will know why (the iridescence )

Meccalli, the more mature of both mapepires are known to vibrate or beat their tails... hence the name of the Zanana - Lachesis muta (silent rattlesnake).

Question: has anyone ever encountered the Tropical rattlesnake Crotalus terrificus in Trinidad? (Figure E-16 in above link). The distribution range is listed as all of South America but it looks so similar to the Bushmaster here, except with a rattle.

There is a species of venomous and dangerous coral snake in Trinidad that does not follow the venomous pattern of typical coral snakes found in North America as shown in the manual (red next to yellow kills a fellow). It should not be mistaken for a mimic rat snake.

The Tropical rattlesnake Crotalus terrificus does NOT live here in Trinidad. The two strapping lads we have here representing the Crotalids (Viper family) are the "Balsain" Bothrops atrox, and his bigger, rarer cousin, the "Zanana" Lachesis muta muta.

Ive been lookin for dis ched...
Saw this in the office a while ago... It came in under a door after some heavy rain... The pic quality isnt that good... Anyone have an idea what type of snake it is?

Lostboyscrew is correct about the head not being that of the mapepire. While the markings in that light do look rather like a Balsain, there is something ANYONE who has seen small Balsain would know, namely, the last two inches of the tail would be a creamy-white colour. Considering the shape of the head, I would guess it to be an annulated night-snake, or Cat-eyed snake - I think a picture of one was posted much earlier in the thread. However, this snake does NOT have a clear diamond-shaped pattern of a darker colour along its back - the darker patches are more kidney-shaped. What do you remember? Also the Cat-eyed snake has eyes that are relatively larger than other snakes.

Someone sent me these. Said they were found online.

This snake was caught wrapped around a T&TEC pole in Chotoo Street, Aranguez trying to escape from the flood..

Definitely a macajuel (boa constrictor)

[meccalli]

Meccalli, the more mature of both mapepires are known to vibrate or beat their tails... hence the name of the Zanana - Lachesis muta (silent rattlesnake).

Great info spike. Thanks! Always wondered what made a zanana and mapepire different.

[rfari]

Nice explanation d spike!

[Bizzare]

Meccalli, the more mature of both mapepires are known to vibrate or beat their tails... hence the name of the Zanana - Lachesis muta (silent rattlesnake).

Great info spike. Thanks! Always wondered what made a zanana and mapepire different.

meccalli, why did you respond to yourself here?
Wrong account?

[meccalli]

?? that was dspike's post that i just copied and pasted rather than quote the entire response. I didn't put in quotations. :/

[caliw]

Fellas, i find this snake in meh back yard. anybody know what kind it is?

looking like a green anaconda to me.

[Bizzare]

> a year later......

[Rooki3]

Spike u well informed on these things

[d spike]

Meccalli, the more mature of both mapepires are known to vibrate or beat their tails... hence the name of the Zanana - Lachesis muta (silent rattlesnake).

Great info spike. Thanks! Always wondered what made a zanana and mapepire different.

Wait a bit, Meccalli... A Zanana is a mapepire - one of the two mapepires that live here.
Mapepire is an Amerindian name... most likely based on the Amerindian word for the woven tube-like apparatus that is suspended with a stone at the other end to squeeze the liquid out of ground cassava, a wappipi. It is assumed that the scales and patterns of these two vipers recalled that most-loved instrument, which was used to extract the main ingredient for their only form of alcoholic beverage.

Here, and in South America, there can be much confusion where snakes are concerned, as many of the Amerindian, Spanish and Patois names used simply described the type of animal (snake, cascabel), what it looked like (mappipi) or what you saw it doing (snake sleeping in a tree, dormillon mapanare) and had very little to do with the snake itself... so quite often different snakes share names. For example, a fer-de-lance here in Trinidad is NOT the cascabel, while on the mainland, "cascabel" is their name for the fellow.

Spike u well informed on these things

I grew up in the bush.
Sometimes I wish I grew up in a bank, surrounded by good-looking women and smart-men...
...because I fear I know less about money, good-looking women and smart-men, than I do about snakes... and between money, good-looking women and smart-men on one hand, and snakes on the other, snakes have done me absolutely no harm all my life.

[meccalli]

Oh yeah, i knew they were the same but how you differentiated between the more mature ones being called a different name. Like A big kingfish being called a tarza.

[Yodins]

Someone sent me these. Said they were found online.

This snake was caught wrapped around a T&TEC pole in Chotoo Street, Aranguez trying to escape from the flood..

i really hope nobody kill that snake OR minin him in some fish tank home.
PLEASE tuners, if you bounce up any snakes/caimans/turtles/birds/pests in your yard, do not kill the animal. Secure the animal and contact the zoo who will then come and relocate the animal.

A little known fact is that it is illegal to kill or own any snakes in Trinidad because snakes eat pests like rats, agoutis and manicous. You are only allowed to kill venomous snakes on your property (Mapepire Zanana [bushmaster], Mapepire Balsain [fer-de-lance] & Coral snake) and you require a permit to own a snake.

Nice nice. I see ched progressing with all manner of evil.
Anyways, What kinda snake is this?

reminds me of
Liophis melanotus

is a local snake found near swamps etc

i believe the old people used to call them 'a wheel'. mainly because they were fat like the wheels on a tractor.

d spike fix u up correct. not wheel but Huille.

mustard not so? i see he does be in saghs mayfair an any zoo expos it does have. ppl get dumbfounded by his/her beauty. where the zoo get it from in the first place?[/quote]

Yep, looks like him. Taken a few years ago at the zoo.

[/quote]

^ I think i posted how it reached there.

if that was the snake they let you hold then it ain't the snake that RS talking about. RS brought in Bullet who was shot in an apartment complex. Mustard was bought by the zoo as a baby (about 18 inches long) the one in the case is Bullet (RS snake ) and mustard and another named Saffron are kept in the back. It helps being a volunteer in de zoo. PS, i go be there this sunday so come out and get to hold mustard from 1 to 2

[d spike]

Nice nice. I see ched progressing with all manner of evil.
Anyways, What kinda snake is this?

reminds me of
Liophis melanotus

is a local snake found near swamps etc

Liophis melanotus nesos the "Beh Belle Chemin", or "Beauty of the Road". It probably does live near swamps, as it preys on frogs, frogs' eggs, tadpoles and fish among other little animals, but all the ones I have seen have been on the estate and surrounding areas, and this is in the middle of North-east peninsula... secondary and primary forested areas, and cocoa plantations.

[rspann]

Big snake so in aranguez?I think it's time to move.

[nervewrecker]

so yodins, how do I convince people to not kill snakes if it illegal?
It have any literature to show them or who do I call if the crime has been committed?

Please let me know.

[meccalli]

If a snake poses a threat, i don't think you can stop anyone (particularly in Trinidad)from killing it, Legal or illegal. Snakes have never bothered me. There was this one time where flood came into the backyard and my mom was washing clothes. Within inches from her feet, was a baby mapepire just striking non stop, thank God it never made contact and she saw it in time.

[d spike]

nervewrecker, all you can do is explain the good that snakes do. A macajuel eats about 3,000 rats in its lifetime. Most snakes eat rats and other vermin. I just ask folks if they prefer snakes or leptospirosis.

As far as adventures go...
A few months ago, I took the kids up to the estate, to help me do some planting. When we reached the estate on Saturday evening, the driveway was blocked by a fallen tree - and to make it worse, it was one of those that is covered with vines and lianas... so there I am, playing trapeze artist, tiptoeing along a slippery log that was suspended a foot above the roadway by vines and all sorts of leafy crap, with Nicky behind me holding a rope and the "come along" (my answer to most immovable objects)... I happen to look down and see the fattest mapepire balsain I have ever seen in a long while. All three feet of scaled nightmare was slightly ahead and almost below me, and was far too much interested in my Fred Astaire antics just above his head. The cutlass was TOO short to reach (my hand would be by my ankles if I fired a chop, my arse waving at the heavens, and overbalancing then falling (a most likely outcome) would be rather awkward - especially if I MISSED.

Understand my predicament clearly. While I believe in "live and let live", having a three foot long balsain strolling around so close to the house is like leaving a loaded shotgun lying around the house - sooner or later you won't be paying attention and step on it, or some little kiddie will attempt an up-close inspection, and then the question will be "how soon can you get to the hospital". Next year, that bugger will be four feet long... the following year might result in five feet of signed and stamped death certificate... (and I have no wish to meet THAT!)
Even if I wished to let him go in peace, we still had to clear the roadway. The possibility of me (or worse yet, either of my children) meeting him again in the fading light as we hauled large tangled masses of vines and logs off the road was not something I even wanted to contemplate - spotting a master of camouflage ONCE was luck... a second time, the luck would most likely be his.

Getting the kids to stand clear was the EASY part. Cutting and trimming a staff while balancing on a swaying log WHILE keeping an eye on a one-way ticket to Grande hospital is not an act I am versed in. As the possibility of the snake dying in a fit of hysterical laughter existed, I continued my performance. You know, after all that, when I jabbed at the reptile with my new weapon, he thrashed around (with a balsain, that is NOT a sign that you struck him, merely his reaction to being surprised) and ended up right under me (possibly facing the other direction) with only a few inches of his tail showing.
I am most proud of the fact that I did not instantly perform the act that Exlax claims to take 20 minutes... but I almost did.

I couldn't see his head. Moving forward or backward into the vines would severely limit my movement - and not knowing where was the end of him that had teeth, was a major problem. He wouldn't move, despite my yelling, banging, cursing and pleading. He was waiting to see what else I could do - probably idly sharpening his left fang on a handy stone in the meantime.

There was no spear-gun in the vehicle, no nothing... just two little wide-eyed kiddies watching their father do his best not to wet himself down... and the inevitable argument about whether one should lance a snake-bite or not, and where to apply the tourniquet. The only time I ever felt so helpless was on my wedding day - thank God for divorce, but all that is another story.

Then I made up my mind: I was taking that bugger out. I told Nicky to toss me the gasoline container, and Sarah to toss the lighter. (Thank God she found matches instead - I'm not sure how I would have safely accomplished the following with a Bic.)

Gasoline was sprinkled liberally everywhere, and then I ably demonstrated to my offspring how to perform a standing leap, and how not to light a gasoline fire. A lit match was thrown, and the almost-instantaneous surge of flames ensured that I had no possibility of a body-lice infestation.

We spent the rest of the evening dragging singed material off the roadway, using the "come-along" for the larger logs, and the Sportage for the masses of lianas (pass a rope around a few large ones, fasten the other rope-end to the hitch, then drive down the hill, with the mother of all tumbleweeds clearing the road...)

I didn't find his carcass. He most likely is out there, nursing a singed arse and a grudge... I hope if I meet him again, it will be soon, before he adds more inches.
I will make an extra attempt to have a greater area around the house cleared, and use harsher language with guests who think flip-flops are suitable wear...

I thank God that nothing unfortunate happened to me or my kids... I thank God for my father and all that he has taught me about the bush... But MOST OF ALL, I THANK GOD THAT NEITHER CHILD OF MINE HAD THE PRESENCE OF MIND TO USE THEIR PHONES TO FILM ANY OF MY ANTICS...

[nervewrecker]

d spike, I always try to explain that but people seem to think all snakes venomous and that most will eat them. So they kill the snakes.
I get so vex everytime I see a snake carcass eh.

Glad to hear you made it through that ordeal btw, its been years since I last saw one of those and I am very thankful.

[rfari]

U should do a weekly 'bush column' for one of the dailies. Thts a bess read

[shogun]

That's a beauty, right there.

[Rooki3]

nice story spike, was on the edge if my seat, was waitin to see pics of the dead fcucker tho

[d spike]

nice story spike, was on the edge if my seat, was waitin to see pics of the dead fcucker tho

Personally, I would love to see pics of the said "dead fcucker " too!

[shake d livin wake d dead]

idk if repost but wtf at the following vid:

http://www.break.com/index/snake-vomits ... ow-2391091

if real,idk??

[nervewrecker]

wish I had that for a pet.

[Mark!]

wa kinda snake d rasta man on maracas have? d one who does charge u to take out pics wit him/snake?

[rollingstock]

^ The elusive trouser snake.

[Mark!]

shouldda seen that coming






....no pun intended

[Rooki3]

i,m guilty of driving over any snake i see in d road, wud try to curb that tho

[Yodins]

wa kinda snake d rasta man on maracas have? d one who does charge u to take out pics wit him/snake?

2 large macajuels.

so yodins, how do I convince people to not kill snakes if it illegal?
It have any literature to show them or who do I call if the crime has been committed?

Please let me know.

I eh know what to say nah dan. Ppl nowadays VERY stubborn and just don't want to listen. even in the zoo when ppl pass in the reptile house and I try to tell them that snakes do good and eat rats/vermin etc they lol and say something like "well dey go eat de rat an dem in hevm cuz it eh go live once i dey" and such

I don't know of any literature to prove of the law but I believe you cal call Forestry Division/ the Zoo if you know of someone who has killed a snake/ are killing them for meat, skins etc