Critters
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Eywadude
Lunatic Member
Atlas moth in the butterfly house at Tucson Botanical Gardens. They have them infrequently and I lucked out. They get even larger sometimes.
Reminds me of the cecropia moth I saw about 6-7 years ago. It was about the same size. It had made its cocoon inside the hose holder on the side of the house and I never saw it until it hatched, and it was hanging upside down drying its wings. It sat there for a few hours and eventually flew off. I was so lucky to see it. I'm sure there are entomologists who work their entire careers and never get to see that in the wild.
Afterward, I cut away the cocoon that looked like the husk of a coconut and the amazing thing was there wasn't even a single exit hole anywhere on it! Not even a pinhole! It was brown and very fibrous looking, and the inside of it was filled with a fluffy white silk, almost like fine cotton batting or goose down. But the other crazy thing was that it smelled EXACTLY like fresh popped popcorn!
It literally smelled like something you'd want to eat! It was the weirdest thing. lolI don't know if I posted pics of it here already, but I may have to find some pics.
Eywadude
Lunatic Member
Looks like I did post about it here. Here's the link to my post from 2016...
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/critters.460541/page-21#post-9663536
I had to get a stick to carefully remove as many of the spider webs as I could so it could get out, but I couldn't get all of them without disturbing it. Had I not done that though, it never would have gotten out without getting entangled. I really hope to see one hatching again in my lifetime.
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/critters.460541/page-21#post-9663536
I had to get a stick to carefully remove as many of the spider webs as I could so it could get out, but I couldn't get all of them without disturbing it. Had I not done that though, it never would have gotten out without getting entangled. I really hope to see one hatching again in my lifetime.
Eywadude
Lunatic Member
It's hard to tell from that pic, but it doesn't look like it has a diamond-shaped head, which leads me to believe it's non-venomous and not a pit viper species. It looks like a type of rat snake, but I can't say for sure which one. We have very similar looking species of rat snakes here in my part of Canada.
I am far, far from an expert, but looks like a bullsnake/gopher snake from what I can find on line.
Bullsnakes mimic rattlesnake markings and also make a noise with their mouths that is like a rattle when defensive. They are not venomous. I learned this much from the fire department when I had a bullsnake in my garage. It had crawled under the car and I couldn't see the head or tail, so I was glad to let the FD handle it.
Bullsnakes mimic rattlesnake markings and also make a noise with their mouths that is like a rattle when defensive. They are not venomous. I learned this much from the fire department when I had a bullsnake in my garage. It had crawled under the car and I couldn't see the head or tail, so I was glad to let the FD handle it.
Eywadude
Lunatic Member
I am far, far from an expert, but looks like a bullsnake/gopher snake from what I can find on line.
Bullsnakes mimic rattlesnake markings and also make a noise with their mouths that is like a rattle when defensive. They are not venomous. I learned this much from the fire department when I had a bullsnake in my garage. It had crawled under the car and I couldn't see the head or tail, so I was glad to let the FD handle it.
That's a neat snake, but I don't think that's the one. The markings don't quite look right (vertical bars on the sides and straighter, narrower bands on top), and its overall colouration is very different from the snake pictured by @Dave59 (including other examples of bullsnakes online). The bullsnake's head is also shaped differently and is lighter coloured as well.
However, I had a look into it and my guess is it's a Western Rat Snake. It's the only non venomous snake in the DFW area with those kind of markings and colouration. It doesn't have a rattle, so it's obviously not a rattlesnake and it could never be mistaken for other venomous snake species in the area like the Cottonmouth, Copperhead or the Texas Coral Snake.
In the pictures below you can also see the colouration of the Western Rat Snake's head which is dark on top and light underneath. That's my guess as to what it is.
I agree - looks more like a rat snake to me too.
