Whatever Weds. It’s Snake Season

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Copyright ©2026 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

I saw this snake while birding last week. It was the first time I’ve ever seen this species. I believe it’s a Western yellow-bellied Racer. ( Coluber constrictor Mormon)

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com

Fun Facts:

It’s closely related to the whipsnake.

They are common in the northern half of Nevada

They eat rats, mice, small rabbits, frongs, toads, turtles, lizards, and even other snakes. Some climb trees to eat bird eggs.

Young snakes have blotches on their backs so are sometimes confused for other species like Kingsnakes. As they mature they lose the blotches and become solid colors like black, green, brown, or blue on the top with yellow, white, or tan belly. They can grow up to 5 feet long, but the record was a little over 6 feet.

This one was smallish at just over 2 feet in length.

Why are snakes so good at rapping? Because they rap around their prey!

I couldn’t resist a Dad constrictor joke. 😄

Fun facts gleaned from https://a-z-animals.com/blog/snakes-nevada/

more to come…

35 thoughts on “Whatever Weds. It’s Snake Season”

    1. I don’t mind them being nearby as they help keep the mouse and squirrel populations in check, but I like you don’t like having close encounters with them. Not too close just close enough to get a good photo of them and move on. 😊

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  14. The genus name Coluber is the Latin word for snake. The feminine version, colubra, evolved to become Spanish culebra, which you may be familiar with. More interestingly for English speakers, Latin colubra evolved in Portuguese to cobra, which has entered our language.

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    1. That’s interesting as I learned Serpent for the word snake in French not Coleuvre which I just learned this morning is the scientific name for a non venomous snake like the grass or garter snakes.

      The way this little one was posed I thought it was in a Cobra pose. 😊

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  16. Lol at the Dad constrictor joke. 🙂 Wonderful picture! We don’t have many snakes in the Netherlands. Only one is venomous: the adder. Is this racer venomous? Is it dangerous for humans? I love the colour of it’s belly!

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    1. Of all the snakes to have you get the Adder! No, thankfully, this Western Yellow-bellied Racer isn’t venomous. I don’t think it’s dangerous for humans. It didn’t even hiss.
      I’m glad you got a kick out of the Dad joke. 😊 Thank you so much, Peter!

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