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Old 05-23-2010, 02:03 PM
 
Location: 78731
629 posts, read 1,653,777 times
Reputation: 347

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This 5 foot long (at least) snake was just chilling outside my apartment balcony this morning. Needless to say, I was totally . Although I do live next to the Bull Creek nature preserve next to 360, I doubt snakes THIS big live in the wild out here, correct? So do y'all think this is an escaped pet?

I sure hope so!!!! Gawd I'd die if I was enjoying an otherwise wonderful Sunday on my patio completely clueless that THIS thing was slithering around next to me.











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Old 05-23-2010, 02:27 PM
 
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Looks like a big rat snake... which would mean it's not a pet, probably. There is some serious wildlife in those greenbelts. It's not totally unexpected.

Texas Rat Snake
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Old 05-23-2010, 02:30 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
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Sort of looks like the rat snakes we get out here, and, yes, they get pretty long. (I think the longest I've seen here on the ranch was in the 4-1/2 to 5 foot range.) Austin Reptile Service has photos on this page, and they say they've found one 7 feet long near Zilker Park.
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Old 05-23-2010, 02:34 PM
 
Location: 78731
629 posts, read 1,653,777 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atxcio View Post
Looks like a big rat snake... which would mean it's not a pet, probably. There is some serious wildlife in those greenbelts. It's not totally unexpected.

Texas Rat Snake
Yeah, someone else just told me it's a Texas Rat Snake as well. Eeeek!

My next question would be how in the world did it get on my balcony, which sits at least 8 feet off the ground, but I read this link: Texas Rat Snake (http://www.houstonherp.com/TxRat.html - broken link) "However, if rodent prey is not readily available, they can climb quite high to get to a bird nest. In fact, the author has documented cases of Texas Rat Snakes in trees as much as 40 feet above the ground."

Eeeek again! The good news is that they're not venomous, although they're supposedly "aggressive". And I guess it makes sense. I do occasionally hear/see various rodents chewing on my patio plants at night. I'll have to be more aware when I go out on my patio now...
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Old 05-23-2010, 02:38 PM
 
Location: 78731
629 posts, read 1,653,777 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady View Post
Sort of looks like the rat snakes we get out here, and, yes, they get pretty long. (I think the longest I've seen here on the ranch was in the 4-1/2 to 5 foot range.) Austin Reptile Service has photos on this page, and they say they've found one 7 feet long near Zilker Park.
Yeah, this snake was probably the longest I've ever seen "in the wild" (if it can be called that). Those edge roof tiles are probably around 16" long, so this guy was between 4 and 5 feet.

And here I thought the wildest of our 360 wildlife included deer and rabbits.
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Old 05-23-2010, 06:58 PM
 
Location: central Austin
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My kids loved these photos!! Thanks
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Old 05-23-2010, 08:29 PM
 
10,130 posts, read 19,882,004 times
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I guess the bad news would be that for a rat snake to get that big, there are probably a lot of rats/rodents around...
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Old 05-23-2010, 09:06 PM
 
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
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I would guess it's not a pet.
Nice pics.
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Old 05-24-2010, 07:38 AM
 
Location: Austin, Texas
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yep, no collar, not a pet
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Old 05-24-2010, 07:43 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ROY DUBOSE View Post
yep, no collar, not a pet
LOL
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