Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

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Ridge Walker
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Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Ridge Walker »

It's been a very hot summer in the Northeast this year, and as I went through my photos from the last six weeks or so I realize that I haven't seen a whole lot. It's been dry with lots of 90+ degree days, and some 100+ too. Man, I feel like I should be whining in the Book Of Excuses thread. :lol: Some of what I did see was really interesting though, and made it all worthwhile. In no particular order:

Nesting Redbelly Turtle.
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Wood Turtle
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Close up.
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I was pretty excited to see this. :D Nesting Pinesnake.
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Another shot.
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A couple Redbelly Snakes.
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A few Timber Rattlesnakes.
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Black Velvet.
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Close up.
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Gray Treefrog.
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Prickly pear cactus blooming.
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Box Turtle.
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Another Pinesnake found on the crawl.
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Eastern Gartersnake.
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Timber Rattlesnake.
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Northern Copperhead.
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And the highlight of my year thus far...Timber Rattlesnakes combatting. This is actually a pretty interesting story. I was poking around on a steep hillside looking for snakes, and making my way up to where I knew there were some good rocks. On the hillside above me I heard a thudding sound followed by what seemed like a bit of a rattle. I thought my ears were playing tricks on me, must have been a bird or something. I heard it again. Damn, that really did sound like a rattle....but if it's a snake, it's not buzzing and what is that thudding noise? I thought maybe a hawk was preying on a snake, picking it up and dropping it. But wouldn't the snake be full-on buzzing if that was the case? I decided to move a little quicker and see what the noise was coming from. Hiking uphill I saw a commotion deep in the scrub oak and realized it was two male rattlers combatting. :shock: I got my camera out as quickly as possible and took as many photos as I could in the 5-10 minutes they were brawling. Unfortunately taking in focus photos of the snakes thrashing around in the brush was not easy, and most of the pictures were crap. Here are some that turned out alright though.

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The combat ended after the snakes paused for a minute. The apparent loser then crawled off, buzzing loudly as he went. The story becomes even more interesting at this point. The winner began tongue flicking in the direction of the departing loser, possibly thinking of chasing him off some more. He then turned around, looked in my direction and rapidly started coming after me! :shock: I had been sitting on a rock taking photos and had to quickly scramble through the scrub oak while the male chased me. I'm sure it probably looked quite comical, in fact I was kind of laughing in disbelief as it was happening. I got back to the rock where my pack was, probably about 25-30 feet from where I had been chased off, and called a friend to tell him this crazy story. As I was talking to him I heard a rustle and the snake popped out of the brush rattling, and looking me over. I grabbed my pack, and quickly moved in the opposite direction. At this point I guess the snake decided that I had had enough, and he went back the way he came.

All in all, a really remarkable experience. I wonder what he would have done if I hadn't hightailed it out of there. Would he have eventually backed off, bitten me or wrestled me? :lol:
That's it for now, hope you enjoyed!

RW
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ahockenberry
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by ahockenberry »

Nice Timbers
Love the tree Frog shot
Great post !!
ugh

Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by ugh »

AW MAN YOU SUUUUUUUUCK!................nice pics btw. :thumb:
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R.Lynch
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by R.Lynch »

Some awesome pics in this post! Seems like you were in the right place at the right time on a number of occasions!
Cheers,
Ryan
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Tim Borski
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Tim Borski »

Wow! the 3rd or 4th Timber looks like it's made of velvet! Loved the black one with the rufous marks in the fight scene...Pine snake is awesome too! Thanks for giving us all a look!
Great job.
Tim
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by justinm »

I was mumbling expletives at the screen while reading this. What an amazing post. The third Timber was beautiful, really nice. That box turtle was a screamer and the combat, well that's just epic.
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Paul White »

I'm moving to east texas damnit :lol:
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by AndyO'Connor »

This is the second time recently that rattler combat was posted, and the second time I say, I would have werestled them! I don't think it would have acted aggressive or defensive in terms of biting had you not made any fast movements, but I do think it may have acted aggressive in approach and maybe tried to push you off using its body... Who would risk finding out.
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by brick911 »

uyiku87r
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brick911
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by brick911 »

Sorry... that was my jaw dropping onto my keyboard. Amazing, Man. Sheesh
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Tim Borski
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Tim Borski »

brick911 wrote:Sorry... that was my jaw dropping onto my keyboard. Amazing, Man. Sheesh
:lol:
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by wayne_fidler »

sweet!!!! love the timber combat.
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Chris Smith
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Chris Smith »

Great finds, but how do you know the pine snake was nesting? I see a lot of Pituophis catenifer digging like that when non-gravid. I find a lot of gravid P. catenifer hanging around 'seasoned' burrows leading me to hypothesize that they may lay their eggs below ground (i.e. within a burrow used seasonally). Just a thought.

Thanks for sharing. Pine snakes are high on my list to see!
-Chris
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Wow. Incredible and wonderful.
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Steve Atkins
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Steve Atkins »

I thought the wood turtle was pretty cool until I got to the nesting pine snake, which I thought was cool until the timbers battling :beer:
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Carl Koch
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Carl Koch »

Wow...just amazing! I envy you greatly that you can see those beautiful black-phase timbers and northern pines, and to see the former combatting and the latter nesting is just FANTASTIC! And then to be chased by a male timber...absolutely amazing! You have definitely made the most of a slow time...thanks for sharing, and congrats on some killer observations!
herpin man
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by herpin man »

super find. how big were the pines
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Correcamino
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Correcamino »

What can I say??? Just AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!! I think you got some great pics of the combat. You also just have some extraordinarily beautuful timbers in you area. Love those black heads!

Cheers,

Rich
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by DIAMONDBACK DAVE »

Man your just KILLING IT.

It soooo coool to see that big pine nesting in the same spot agian this year, wish I was there. Ill have to go see her next June.

Those TR photos are pretty snazy I must say to boot.

DBD
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by monklet »

Well, not much to say about THAT :shock: :shock: :shock:
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Joe Mahoney »

Great pictures and narrative of the timber combat. I felt like I was right there with you running from the fiesty male timber!
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Ridge Walker
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Ridge Walker »

Chris Smith wrote:Great finds, but how do you know the pine snake was nesting? I see a lot of Pituophis catenifer digging like that when non-gravid. I find a lot of gravid P. catenifer hanging around 'seasoned' burrows leading me to hypothesize that they may lay their eggs below ground (i.e. within a burrow used seasonally). Just a thought.

Thanks for sharing. Pine snakes are high on my list to see!
-Chris
Hi Chris,
Northern Pines are well documented excavating burrows to lay their eggs. This snake was digging in a spot that had been previously used for nesting, and it was nesting season when I took the photos, so....
herpin man wrote:super find. how big were the pines
I think around four foot or so.

Thanks for all the nice replies guys! :beer:
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RenoBart
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by RenoBart »

Awesome post and story...and you have a hilarious avatar.

Bart
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by billysbrown »

Wow - just so awesome to see those timbers duking it out. I am not sure what I would have done if the male had come at me; I hope I have the chance some day to make that decision.

Thanks for the awesome post,
Billy
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by WW** »

WOW! That timber combat series is amazing. What wouldn't so many of us give for the privilege of witnessing that in the wild?
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Mike VanValen »

Wow. This is one of the coolest observations ever posted here. The fact that the victorious snake challenged you makes it amazing. I wonder how often that has been documented? I agree with Billy in that someday I might have to make the decision to stay or run!

Love those big pines, too.
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Brendan
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Brendan »

Great job on the combat series! I know what your talking about in trying to get clear shots of thrashing snakes, not easy! This spring Rich and I were fortunate enough to witness combat between two Panamint rattlesnakes. The female they were fighting over was sitting peacefully under a ledge watching it all.
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Andrew Kathriner »

Beautiful photos! That is a very rewarding experience to come across? What state were you herping in?
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Ridge Walker
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Ridge Walker »

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed the post! To answer a couple questions:
Mike VanValen wrote:Wow. This is one of the coolest observations ever posted here. The fact that the victorious snake challenged you makes it amazing. I wonder how often that has been documented? I agree with Billy in that someday I might have to make the decision to stay or run!

Love those big pines, too.
I've heard from a researcher friend that males chasing-following people has been documented a handful of times. I think it's basically protection of the females. In fact there was a group of females about 50 feet or so uphill from where I saw the combat.
Andrew Kathriner wrote:Beautiful photos! That is a very rewarding experience to come across? What state were you herping in?
Thanks Andrew, I don't mention states for a couple of reasons. :)
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Travis
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Travis »

Dang, should've wrestled him and taken his territory and females.
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Verhoodled »

Wow -- fantastic photos! Thanks for sharing those.

But really now. If that was your first time to Fight Club, you really were obligated to fight. ;)
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Ross Padilla »

Wow, that's a very interesting observation. You were very lucky to see that. :thumb:
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MattSullivan
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by MattSullivan »

that timber fighting series is AWESOME!!! great find. the pine snake nesting is a sweet find too
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Ridge Walker
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Ridge Walker »

Thanks guys! If I had been wearing chaps I might have let the big guy do his thing, just to see what he would actually do. But wearing just hiking boots the risk was too great. He may have tried to wrestle me but who can say for sure? I'm sure he knew I wasn't another male rattlesnake....how would he defend his females from me, the perceived predator?

RW
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by NatureBreak »

I love your account of the timber combat! In fact, I was just shown a video of the same behavior that my dad, uncle and aunt were lucky enough to see. The funny thing is that the winner did the same thing to my dad that the one you saw did to you! After chasing off the loser snake, he turned towards my dad and started coming after him! I wish I could have been there with them to see it!

--Vanessa
www.NatureBreak.org
bobassetto
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by bobassetto »

recognized locale......guam... :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Post by TimCO »

Excellent series. Thanks.
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by rugbyman2000 »

Great pics and story. I guess the legends of snakes chasing people may not come from hepped up crackheads, after all.
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NatureBreak
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by NatureBreak »

Here's a link to the video of my dad's similar experience the timber rattlesnake combat:

http://community.naturebreak.org/video/ ... nake-fight

You'll see at the end that the snake is coming after him!
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Ridge Walker
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Ridge Walker »

I love your account of the timber combat! In fact, I was just shown a video of the same behavior that my dad, uncle and aunt were lucky enough to see. The funny thing is that the winner did the same thing to my dad that the one you saw did to you! After chasing off the loser snake, he turned towards my dad and started coming after him! I wish I could have been there with them to see it!

--Vanessa
http://www.NatureBreak.org
You know, this experience was pretty crazy and It's good to know that I'm not the only one that's been chased by a male Timber Rattlesnake. I'm sure it was as much a thrill for your Dad, Aunt and Uncle as it was for me. Thanks for the comments guys!

RW
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Notread »

Hey RW, I swear I just picked up a local newspaper with one of your combat pictures on the front. It's out in the truck, I'm going to go get it and compare but I swear it's your picture.
Notread
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Notread »

Image

I blurred out most of the article out of locality respect, and because I don't even know if its your pictures or not. Sure looks like it to me! Cool!
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by mikemike »

Nice! Your timber story is almost identical to how I found a pair of combating cottonmouths this afternoon.
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Bobbleton »

I HAVE to witness that before I die. Fantastic.
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Ridge Walker
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Ridge Walker »

Notread wrote:Hey RW, I swear I just picked up a local newspaper with one of your combat pictures on the front. It's out in the truck, I'm going to go get it and compare but I swear it's your picture.
Hey Notread, that article is about this account that was posted recently.viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1735
mikemike wrote:Nice! Your timber story is almost identical to how I found a pair of combating cottonmouths this afternoon.
Cool, really enjoyed your post too, seems like there were a good number of combat sightings this year.
Bobbleton wrote:I HAVE to witness that before I die. Fantastic.
Thanks Bobbleton, you just need a little luck and have to be in the right place at the right time I guess.

RW
Notread
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Notread »

Shoot! I didn't see that post. My bad. Wow you guys are all awesome lucky to witness combat. :)
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Mike Pingleton »

awesome. plenty of us old timers still hoping to catch the combat dance....
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Jon Wedow
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Jon Wedow »

I wish I was a LECHer! Very cool post!
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Bill Love
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Re: Pinesnake nesting, Timber combat, and more LECHing.

Post by Bill Love »

GREAT behavior shots, on both the pine and rattlers. NICE POST !
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