25 water snakes!
We decided to walk along the mission reach of the San Antonio River today to survey the damage after last night's impressive storms. The trees were not impacted in that part of San Antonio, but immediately on arrival we noticed watersnakes swimming through the river. That whet our appetites and with our eyes open we then proceeded to find 25 different diamondback watersnakes hidden along the banks! We saw them swimming in the water, basking in the sun along the banks, on falling trees over the water, even in bushes along the trails. We had a fun time looking for more and pointing them out to other tourists. We even found them in groups of 3 to 6 individuals in the same spot! It was an unexpected pleasure to find so many beautiful (and some big!) snakes in the city!
Observations
Photos / Sounds
What
Diamondback Watersnake (Nerodia rhombifer)Observer
kjhurmeDescription
Lots (25!) of large individuals out sunning themselves after the huge rain last night.
Photos / Sounds
What
Diamondback Watersnake (Nerodia rhombifer)Observer
kjhurmeDescription
A really big individual!!
Comments
Awesome!
Amazing. I now believe reptiles have a way to survive catastrophic flooding - at least those aquatic species. I assume the snakes were activated by the flood and were on the move from wherever they had found refuge. Of course, I may be full of bull and just blind luck enabled a few lucky ones to survive. Your floods reached almost all the way up to the Pedernales River, just did make it to the Blanco River at Blanco which did not see a record rise as those living on the river experienced downstream towards Wimberly. At any rate, my wife and I visited Blanco afterwards and I took some snapshots of the river. I noticed the riverbed was stripped of all living matter; the chalky basement mud/rock was visible but not a single plant was to be seen making me think the event would have an impact on living species long after the river returned to its normal level (which is drought driven trickle). But I did find two survivors - two aquatic turtles as you see in my observation. These were some hefty specimen compared to many you see in the river, so their size may have been a determining factor in their survival. I have no way of knowing. Thanks your your observation. More diamondbacks then I have ever seen period, LOL.
BTW, I am glad that SARA has undertaken the habitat restoration on the San Antonio River in downtown and beyond. We need more of that type of sensitivity and understanding in our urban areas in Texas. We have to make space for our fellow earthlings to remain in their own homes.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7389062
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