For hognoses, the males tail is fairly long. The females tail is very short.

Definitely looks like he's mostly tail!

Kidding, thanks for the info.

Very cool!!!!

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I miss the Big Country sometimes. Worked at the Abilene Zoo for 6 years. But, love East Tenn. far more. No hot temps. Reptile-wise - it's not quite West Texas.

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I can remember seeing a sidewinder rattlesnake in the 60's in Shackelford County. I chased and caught numerous mountain boomers all over the Big Country, but I haven't seen one in years.

Horned lizards were so plentiful in Rotan that I couldn't mow my uncle's back yard without shredding a couple of them. I remember catching about 30 of them in just a short amount of time.

Butcher birds and meadow larks have largely disappeared, while black crested cara caras seem to be everywhere I look.

No sidewinders in Texas but I'm guessing you found a massasauga, which is a very cool species.

12f Mane said:

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No sidewinders in Texas but I'm guessing you found a massasauga, which is a very cool species.

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I have seen many massasauga rattlesnakes. They are mean little aggressive snakes.

I am guessing the sidewinder may have caught a ride on a grain truck, or cattle trailer. First and only time I have seen one. My wife also saw one in Throckmorton County in the 60's or early 70's, about 15 miles away from where I saw this one.

ETA: My father bought an old grain truck from my uncle, and was driving it back after dark. While he was driving, he felt something fall in his lap. He first thought it was some loose wires, but when he reached down, he could feel it was a snake. After first considering jumping out of the truck while it was going 55 mph down the highway, he slammed on the brakes and jumped out. Although they spent a considerable amount of time, they never were able to find the snake in the truck.

zooguy96 said:

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For hognoses, the males tail is fairly long. The females tail is very short.

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Every snake looks all tail to me.

This little guy was peeking out of a weephole. What is it? Saw a 3 foot coachwhip in the same area a while back so that's my guess.

You betcha

I'm fairly sure I was bitten by a snake yesterday but would love some expert insight.

Doing chainsaw/clearing work, wearing no gloves like an idiot, and I reached down to move a big branch. I reached under it and grabbed to lift, and immediately felt sharp pain in my finger tip like I had grabbed a thorn accidentally. Recoiled in pain and pulled my hand back, and in the one second I spent doing that, the pain increased to essentially 10/10 pain. There was a small blood spot at the spot, but no thorn sticking out of me. My brain was unfortunately not thinking about snakes so I didn't look down and try to see if there was one.

This intense pain continued and didn't get any better for several minutes. It was honestly a pain like nothing else I've ever felt. The people I was with thought I had just gotten poked by a thorn but I knew something living had to have gotten me. At this point I started thinking more about an insect than a snake, since I only had one puncture.

We were up on a mountain in the hill country, 45 minutes from a paved road and then another 20 minutes from a town. As we started driving back, the pain was so bad I was considering going in to the ER. My finger got a little red and swollen, but not much, considering the pain level. The pain spread to my thumb and down into my hand, but at least reduced from 10/10 to 7 or 8.

At this point I started wondering about snake bites but still not sure. After a few minutes of driving the Polaris, my tongue and mouth started tingling, and that made me nervous.

Long story short, over the next 90 minutes, the pain gradually reduced to about a 5, but it was still very tender to touch and still throbbing. Since nothing was getting worse, I decided not to go to a doctor. My tongue kept tingling for several hours but no other symptoms appeared. Visually the finger looks fine. This morning, the finger still feels tingly, but the pain is almost completely gone.

My thought after reading online is that I got a bite from a copperhead but that it thankfully didn't get both fangs in and didn't put a huge load of venom. Does that sound accurate?

I was wondering that too, but just didn't know because I've been hit by scorpions before and this was not even in the same galaxy as those were.

I've never had a blood spot from a scorpion sting so would not suspect that as a possibility.

Agreed, I feel like all the details fit perfectly with a snake bite but I'm just kinda wanting to hear from snake people to see if I'm missing something. Like would a small dose of venom from a bite affect me the way I described? Would a snake ever only land one fang when striking? Would something other than snake venom possibly cause my tongue to tingle for hours? Etc

Interesting. After reading about the tarantula hawk, I'm thinking that wasn't it, as the Internet says that pain subsides after a few minutes.

Maybe some different type of scorpion than I've ever been stung by before? Previous scorpion stings I've encountered barely bothered me. But I know there are different types.

To answer a few more of those questions... snakes can absolutely hit you with one fang. Tingling around the mouth and tongue area is not common with venom from copperhead bites or cottonmouth/rattlesnake bites save a few species of rattlesnake that you probably would not encounter in that area. However, tingling of mouth an lips due to hyperventilation after a snake bite can occur but usually subsides fairly quickly once respiration rate returns to normal. It should not last for hours.

Texas coral snakes could produce symptoms similar to what you describe, but they are generally not found off the ground. They like dense grass and leaf litter much more than woodpiles or trees, but if it were any snake (which I doubt based on the story, symptoms and location,) Texas coral snake is really the only viable option without any significant finger swelling today.

Thanks for the info. The tongue tingling was very real and was not due to any hyperventilating or anything, so I don't know what to make of that. Wish I had seen what got me.

I don't notice it but my wife swears she has metallic taste in her mouth for several days after she gets a scorpion sting.

Deerdude said:

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I don't notice it but my wife swears she has metallic taste in her mouth for several days after she gets a scorpion sting.

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My wife gets really sensitive hearing after a sting. Last a few days. Everything sounds way too loud for her

Wouldn't there be necrosis at bite site with rattler or copperhead?

That is a beauty.

I was popped by a scorpion a few months ago. Your story sounds exactly like mine. I went back to the crime scene later that day and started kicking over pieces of wood and found 3 more.
I too had the metallic taste in my mouth a day later and lasted a couple of days.

This cute little guy was just chillin. In the Yucatn, any idea of type?

Saw another Timber DOR (dead on road) this morning. Very near where I saw 2 DOR last year. Hate to see it

watty said:

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Interesting. After reading about the tarantula hawk, I'm thinking that wasn't it, as the Internet says that pain subsides after a few minutes.

Maybe some different type of scorpion than I've ever been stung by before? Previous scorpion stings I've encountered barely bothered me. But I know there are different types.

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I was stung by a scorpion recently while handling some shredded mulch. I had almost instant throbbing pain. It hurt for days, until I discovered and removed the tip of the stinger which was still embedded in my finger. The tip, under a 30 power magnification, was really wicked looking with the numerous serrations along one side.