Rat Snake?

1 reply

7 July 2007 - 12:43pm

SImon D

Joined: 23 Apr 2007

Far be it for me to contradict an expert.
I remain just an enthusiastic amateur.

I had not answered as this was difficult without more information, and I feel that is what our expert felt too.
It was a good statistical guess, being in an urban park (rats), and the most common (most likely choice).
The slenderness worries me, especially as the word 'very' was used.

I have encountered snakes in parks that had water (rock waterfalls and fish) that were keelbacks and racers. Showing my ignorance because if I cannot identify a slim, fast snake I put it in the racer category, knowing only the mountain racer in HK. Mountains not normally being found in parks.

Keelbacks like fish and are common, I have seen them close to urban areas. The colour might not be right though.

I fear, mystery unsolved.
But statistically the expert should be correct.

3 January 2008 - 4:57am

#1

toni

Joined: 2 Jan 2008

Re:Rat Snake?

I didn't know your story it's just for your reference.

The 2 native ratsnakes (Ptyas korros and P. mucosus) are actually not ratsnakes. They don't belong to the ratsnake genus. They still eat rats but they favorites are frogs and toads.

If you find snakes in an urban area, even in parks, that could be something not native. I've seen many times of snake escape and also snake release.

Post new comment

Subject:

Comment: *

Input format

Filtered HTML

Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <br> <p>
Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
You can use BBCode tags in the text. URLs will automatically be converted to links.
Textual smileys will be replaced with graphical ones.

Full HTML

Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
Image links with 'rel="lightbox"' in the <a> tag will appear in a Lightbox when clicked on.
Image links with 'rel="lightshow"' in the <a> tag will appear in a Lightbox slideshow when clicked on.
Links to HTML content with 'rel="lightframe"' in the <a> tag will appear in a Lightbox when clicked on.
Links to video content with 'rel="lightvideo"' in the <a> tag will appear in a Lightbox when clicked on.
Textual smileys will be replaced with graphical ones.
You may insert videos with [video:URL]
You can use BBCode tags in the text.
Slideshows can be added to this post.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Math Question: * 16 + 2 =

Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.

Site Keywords

air pollution asiatic marine beaches birding birds bluff island bride's pool buffalo cheung chau cheung sha chi ma wan concept plan for lantau concrete coral country park cycling diving dragon's back eco-tourism explore wild hong kong hei ling chau high west hiking hoi ha wan hong kong hong kong island hong kong tourism board hong kong wetland park hong kong zhuhai bridge Kadoorie Farm kowloon park lai chi wo lamma island lantau island lion rock luk keng mai po marshes marine life maxicab minibus mountain biking mui wo music new territories ngong ping ng tung chai outlying islands over-fishing peak pollution po toi pui o rock n roll sai kung scenery Shalotung sham chung shek o shing mun reservoir snorkeling snorkelling soko islands sokos south china sea super-prison surf sustainable development tai long wan tai mei tuk tai mo shan tai o tai po kau trail transport tropical cyclone tropical storm tsim bei tsui tung ping chau typhoon victoria harbour victoria peak walking wang chau water buffalo waterfalls weather wildlife wu kau tang

Hong Kong Outdoors is hosted by the highly reliable pair.com, which I found after fair amount of research online, following troubles with former webhost.