….combat dancing…
I came upon this a while back…pretty interesting…two male California Mountain Kingsnakes in full combat mode:
and after one male vanished into a crack under the old log in this image, a very tired second male posed for another quick snapshot:
I have found a lot of Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes combating, but never a Lampropeltis.
Hope to see you in the field, gmerker
Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Moderator: Scott Waters
Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Very cool photo series! (Probably dumb) question: How could you tell that they were males engaged in combat rather than a male and female engaged in courtship/mating?
Gerry
Gerry
Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
One thing I've noticed in my free-ranging captives is that male combat is distinct from courtship. The combat is more of a wrestling, whereas the courtship is more a following by the male, bodies aligned and utlimately an aggressive pinning of the female by her nape. In rare cases I have observed an aggresive male bite the nape of another during a combat session. Of course, those observations are under captive conditions and purely anecdotal with no controls.
Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Gerold, that looks staged to me.
Just kidding.
THAT is very cool......you need one of those smart phones to shoot video next time.
Awesome picture at the top. should be a poster.
I bet even Hubbsy hasn't seen male combat in the field.
Just kidding.
THAT is very cool......you need one of those smart phones to shoot video next time.
Awesome picture at the top. should be a poster.
I bet even Hubbsy hasn't seen male combat in the field.
Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Gerold-
That is quite the sight! Very interesting behavior that I'd LOVE to see with any non-Crotalus snake haha.
Multicincta?
Zach
That is quite the sight! Very interesting behavior that I'd LOVE to see with any non-Crotalus snake haha.
Multicincta?
Zach
Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Nice post. I've seen the same thing "once" with coastal zs. Glad you captured this in picture.
- Bill Love
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Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Very cool observation, and photos!
Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Very cool, but I'm wondering if you stuck around to see if the winning male went on to find a female that may have been nearby?
- Ross Padilla
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Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
That is absolutely amazing you came across this, Gerold!
- Will Wells
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Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Awesome observation! I've witnessed male combat with lizards on several occasions. Hope to see something like that some day in snakes.
Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Thanks to all for the very kind comments. I will try and answer some of the questions posed by several of you:
Gerry: there is no such thing as a dumb question. Just looking at the images, it does appear to be two animals in breeding mode. However, as monklet stated, it really looked more like a wrestling bout than anything else. The image below shows what happened a couple of times when one of the males appeared to throw the other male about. Soon after this image was taken, the animal (belly up in the image) disappeared into a huge granite slab.
Monklet: Thanks very much for the input. I am definitely interested in your free-ranging captive set-up. Is it an enclosure that provides animals with an outdoor experience? If you don’t mind, please elaborate…..thanks…..
Scotttriv: Definitely staged….lol….NOT….I appreciate the kind comments….I do wonder if the great Brian Hubbs has observed combat in these animals….wouldn’t be surprised if he did….
Zach_Lim: Yes they are multicinta…I too have never observed combat behavior in anything other than a Crotalid….which is still a very very cool thing to see….
condyle: it would be nice to see something like this in a tri-color that was a tad more tri-colored, like multifasciata….lol
Bill Love: Thanks for the kind comment….how have you been enjoying your new home? I am sure you are loving it….
rsmith: Both males soon disappeared into the same large fissure (under that dried up piece of wood shown in both images)….there was no sign of the female, but I am sure one was somewhere close by…
Ross Padilla: Thanks very much for the kind comment…
Will Wells: I have observed combat behavior only once in whiptail lizards…as a child. Thanks for the very kind comments.
Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
What shame that the ugly male won the battle
Would have been incredible to get the whole thing on video.
If you go buy a video smart phone for next time, there might never be a next time for something THAT cool.
Good job of immortalizing the incident!!
Would have been incredible to get the whole thing on video.
If you go buy a video smart phone for next time, there might never be a next time for something THAT cool.
Good job of immortalizing the incident!!
Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Uh...there is no such thing as an ugly zonata haha! I may be the only one, but the darker and more "crossover" the Z is, the more beautiful!scottriv wrote:What shame that the ugly male won the battle
Would have been incredible to get the whole thing on video.
If you go buy a video smart phone for next time, there might never be a next time for something THAT cool.
Good job of immortalizing the incident!!
Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Truly great stuff; thanks for sharing with us!
Re: Not something you observe every day....zonata....
Understood, Gerold, and that particular image really helped clarify the situation for me, too. Thanks!gmerker wrote:... Just looking at the images, it does appear to be two animals in breeding mode. However, as monklet stated, it really looked more like a wrestling bout than anything else. The image below shows what happened a couple of times when one of the males appeared to throw the other male about. Soon after this image was taken, the animal (belly up in the image) disappeared into a huge granite slab.
Gerry