It was early April of 2009 and Dick Bartlett and I had been on the road for eight days, stopping for various herps along the way. From Florida to Tennessee to the Winding Staircase of the Ouachita Mountains and then due south to a number of locales in central and eastern Texas. At the tail end of the trip we would end up in Brownsville, Texas. A border town at the southern tip of the state that we had high hopes for seeing several species. Above all else I wanted to see a Speckled Racer (Drymobius margaritiferus); the most hoped for animal of the entire trip.
In this portion of the Rio Grande Valley a few species venture over from their southern ranges to inhabit the sabal palm groves, Tamaulipan thornscrub and sandy lomas along the boarder. The Specked Racer is one of these limited range occupants and we had very limited time to locate it.
We arrived at a park on the outskirts of Brownsville at an hour that would make birders envious. We entered a path and began walking one of several loop trails that took us through mesquite groves, sabal palm and oak hammocks and a smattering of small resaca ponds. The habitat seemed ideal...and it proved to be when a snake came into view. It was wrapped around the base of a large sabal palm, periscoping slightly exposing the cream colored chin and throat. It was about 10 yards off the side of the path but I was eminently aware of what I was looking at, so of course I yelled "Green Snake!" It was not a Green Snake at all, but was a Speckled Racer. My overwhelming excitement and adrenaline made my mouth spew something my mind was not thinking. Dick, judging by my enthusiasm, deciphered my misidentification and figured out it must be a Speckled Racer (though Rough Green Snakes do exist in the area in large numbers). Unfortunately, the snake had seen us and our camera draw was slower than the snake's need for self-preservation. One step and it was gone in a flash of green. We saw one other individual later in the day, but it ended with a similar outcome.
A Sabal Palm hammock along the banks of the Rio Grande.
We had only one day left in the area before our long trek back to Florida. In the hotel room we talked about our misfortune; the bothersome feeling of failure sat heavy on our thoughts and words.
The night was cool, so we figured we needed to be on the trails when the sun was up and making its way to the forest floor. These patches of UV would be a great place for a cool snake to heat up.
We arrived at the path and we were greeted by a few morning Green Jays eating seeds at a feeder and several Plain Chachalacas laying lazily along the brush line. We heard a Great Kiskadee in the distance calling boisterously. The forest was alive with winged wildlife and we hoped the scaly versions would show themselves next.
Green Jays can be a common sight in deep south Texas.
After about an hour of hiking the day started to really heat up and Texas Spotted Whiptails (Aspidoscelis gularis) were now darting across the path and actively hunting. Just as we thought our morning was a wash from the onset of another hot day, we see a coiled snake on a fallen palm frond just feet from the path edge. It was a beautiful Speckled Racer and it was just sitting there motionless. We could not believe our luck! We rushed to get our cameras ready as silently as we could, but you know how that goes; the quieter you try to be, the louder you will end up being. We fumbled with our equipment while keeping an eye on the snake that seemed apathetic to our presence. We ended up taking far too many photos (not realistically possible) and marched on. The only other snake we saw that day was a juvenile Gulf Coast Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis proximus orarius) and a fresh shed from a large Texas Indigo Snake (Drymarchon melanurus erebennus).
A Texas Spotted Whiptails (Aspidoscelis gularis) doing its best ostrich impression; "out of sight, out of mind"
Speckled Racer (Drymobius margaritiferus) atop of fallen palm boots and fronds.
The intensly beautiful scalation of a Speckled Racer (Drymobius margaritiferus).
To me, this snake represents one the prettiest snakes in the world. Not just the New World. Not just the Old World. Both worlds and probably countless others. Each scale is jet black with a turquoise highlight on one side and a single, circular yellow spot within the turquoise. When it glides across the ground the color flows together in a light green swoosh. We were as happy as we could be for two people who still had to drive 1,200 miles back to Florida. I'd do it all again for just a glimpse of this gem of the Rio Grande Valley.