Don’t turn away. Read on. It’s a funny story. And snakes are really important to the ecosystem.
So. Everyone agrees, it’s a Schott’s whipsnake – a snake whose preferred habitat is “sandy, dry, open lots, fields and woodlands . . . often seen in shrubs along grassy roadsides.” (snakesnap.co/schottswhipsnake)
“In Texas, this snake occurs in savanna (mesquite-live oak; dry, rocky, and often sandy areas) and Tamaulipan thorn woodlands; . . . often associated with streambeds and ponds.” (Herpedia™.com)
They have spoken; that’s where you’ll find these benevolent Schott’s whipsnakes. But, if none of that’s available, they make do with – what? A manmade playground perhaps?
Since October, a couple of curious happenings in the courtyard caught my attention while I was sitting indoors at the kitchen bar having lunch.
The first attention-grabber appeared to be a snake head and neck floating down from the roof. Truly. I can prove it. I got photos.
I thought the snake was going to inch down until it reached the porch tiles and then slither off into the grass. I was prepared to wait, camera in hand. But I think it detected me on the other side of the glass door, so I backed away and scooted through the garage so I could peek into the courtyard and get more photographs, but it spooked and disappeared. To where? I’m not exactly sure. It was not on the roof. It was nowhere to be found.
More recently, the same scenario: kitchen bar, lunch, courtyard, snake. Except this time a snake head and neck were rising from out of a brick in the courtyard wall, very much like those old movies where a cobra rises from a wicker basket. I photographed it through a screened window.
With both courtyard happenings, I got clear (enough) photos for identification via iNaturalist.org. Both photos quickly reached research grade as a Schott’s whipsnake, Masticophis schotti.
Researching this snake, I didn't find where it prefers manmade habitats, roof gutters, siding-covered soffits and other enclosures or brick and mortar to sand, grass and trees. I have discovered that they are nonvenomous, slender, long, alert and agile. Another site mentioned that they are agile climbers and may often be seen basking while elevated in the branches of a shrub. (Keep that thought.)
Nowhere has it been mentioned they are playful tricksters, popping up in weird places, but it is interesting. I keep alert; my camera handy.
This young’un’s playground preferences aren’t without precedent. In June of 2012, a much thicker snake entered the brick wall where we needed to make repairs. I didn’t grab my camera quickly enough. It took a moment for me to realize what I was seeing not five feet from where I stood, so I only captured the last half of the action. Who would have thought snakes lived inside of brick walls. Checkout the slideshow below:
This occurrence was prior to iNaturalist.org being established, even prior to my becoming a Texas Master Naturalist, but I knew to seek answers at the local AgriLife Extension Office. The agent who helped me knew a snake expert at the Brownsville Gladys Porter Zoo and sent him my photos. It was a Schott’s whipsnake. I never saw that big one again but have seen others through the years.
Believing the text earlier, that the snakes are “often seen basking while elevated in the branches of a shrub” and remembering the cool young great plains rat snake I found on a guava branch in September, I wandered around the acreage this morning looking into branchy shrubs. The only two things I found were a big bug and a pretty soldier fly, Hoplitimyia subalba (photos below left and center).
The bug identified as a Tamaulipan Copper-spotted Buprestid, Lampetis cupreopunctata, a species of metallic wood-boring beetle. (Photo below at right.) Check this link to read about it: https://bugguide.net/node/view/336346
Back to Schott’s whipsnake. Its range extends from the Balcones Escarpment of central Texas (from Del Rio north to Waco) south to the Gulf Coastal Plain of Texas and in western Mexico. The iNaturalist observations are mapped south of New Braunfels with the highest numbers observed in Cameron County.
Schott’s whipsnake can grow to five feet in length. I was lucky to find a somewhat sluggish one in March of 2020 and captured a full body photo.
Other times, I managed a quick head shot -- they're really swift -- and once, nearly missed one as it, believe it or not, entered the metal fencing tube through a rust hole, and I got only a tail end shot.
Some identification points for a Schott's whipsnake: The throat is white with orange spotting. The sides of the throat are orange. The belly is multicolored—off-white anteriorly, blue-gray posteriorly, and red-orange on the underside of the tail. Their scales are smooth. Schott’s whipsnakes primarily feed on lizards, small snakes, mice and nestling birds; they also eat insects.
A subspecies, Ruthven’s whipsnake, Masticophis schotti ruthveni, visited briefly in August 2021, and was identified via iNaturalist. A couple of differences: in Schott’s whipsnake the lateral stripes are more subdued and the coloration of the body is darker than on Ruthven’s whipsnake. The junction of the belly and sides is darker, not pale white as on Ruthven’s whipsnake, according to Jerry Cates, Editor-in-chief of an online Bugsinthenews.info, a viewer/participant website.
Fun Facts. Snakes are important. You might say, they are in the middle of the food web, being both predator and prey. They are preyed upon by birds of prey, coyotes, raccoons, opossums, feral cats and hogs. As predators, they may eat other snakes, and rodents, worms, insects, fish, lizards, frogs, bird eggs and nestlings.
In Texas, snake season is nearly all year although they may be slowing down about now as temperatures cool.
Texas can boast that of the 254 counties in the state, not one of them is snake free. There are 76 species of snakes in Texas; if you include both species and subspecies, that’s a total of 115 or more – the highest number in all of the United States! Yay, Texas! The Central Texas region has the largest number of species. The Rio Grande Valley is home to 33 species of snakes. West Texas, Central Texas and South Texas are great places to go to find snakes. Statewide, only 15 percent are venomous. (tpwd.texas.gov/education Snake FAQ online document.)
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