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Natrix - the longest! |
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Robert V
Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1264 |
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Posted: 25 Sep 2004 at 12:09pm |
Last wednesday, I saw the longest grass Snake that I have ever seen (and believe me, I've seen hundreds). I've just got the photos back from the developers and have reduced it so as to try to fit the thing on here. The previous longest female that I have caught and measured with a traditional tailors tape alllowing the grassie to run through my fingers slowly was 49 inches or 1.256 Metres. There was no time for maxed out macro lenses or tripods on this, she was way too fast, I was a bag of nerves when I saw her and in a area of forest that I'm not familiar with. So I just took the shot knowing it was huge. Long after she had gone I measured the old rotting silver birch tree base as indicated and it was 13 (thirteen) inches. On the screen I've tried scaling it with the tape using the tree as an idicator (the best i could do in the circumstances) and come up with anything between 6 foot 3" to 6foot 6" or 1.92 -2.0 metres to the tip of the tail also shown with an arrow!!! The late Malcolm Smith gave 'maximums' of 1.83 metres for females in 1969 and to think, thirty odd years later we still have one to match it leaves me simply astounded. I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it, so for your pleasure....Be amazed. |
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RobV
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administrator
Admin Group Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Status: Offline Points: 10 |
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Rob, I've received the picture this end but photobucket.com is refusing to load it, probably just a lot of people using the site on this wet Saturday afternoon. I'll try again later.
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evilmike
Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2004 Status: Offline Points: 85 |
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cant wait to see that, a good free site to use is www.fotki.com for hosting piccies.
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Mike Lister BSc hons Ecology & Env management
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administrator
Admin Group Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Status: Offline Points: 10 |
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and as if by magic....Rob's piccy. Biggest grassie I ever saw was on Hindhead in an area of water meadow as Tony has observed, no idea of length she was coiled and off like a shot. I still can picture her head though, out of all proportion to any natrix I had seen before or since. I still wonder if I'll ever see one like that again one day. |
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evilmike
Senior Member Joined: 15 May 2004 Status: Offline Points: 85 |
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one word i think 'crikey' what a specimen :)
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Mike Lister BSc hons Ecology & Env management
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Robert V
Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1264 |
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I've got the taste for it now mike, I want to find one even bigger! haha. |
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RobV
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Robert V
Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1264 |
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Tony, is the water meadow you mention the same as a river flood plain? Don't think i've got any of those nearby.......unfortunately. Did keith manage to catch his one and if so did he take any pics? R |
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RobV
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herpetologic2
Forum Coordinator Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1511 |
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Great specimen I have heard that there was a 6 footer found last year in Bedfordshire (I think) We are trying to track down the photos as it was captured and it was in the hand with a massive head ----still havent seen the photos though they are in existence In the old london news papers in the 1850's a 9ft grass snake was found in Colchester - perhaps a slight mistake perhaps the number was the wrong way up?
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rickanstis
New Member Joined: 04 Aug 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 6 |
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Wow what a picture; you really get a feel for the size of this beauty. I had a report in 2002 of a 6' plus nn run over on Ranmore Common in Surrey, with exact location. By the time I got there (VERY fast) there was just a lot of marks on the roadside grass where something had been - either recovered and gone, or taken by scavengers, I'll never know. The guy who made the report was entirely credible and adamant about the length being 6' plus - he was a plumber, and said he knew how to estimate length of long pipes accurately. At the time I was wholly unconvinced. But now, I wonder ... Rick Anstis, Surrey ARG |
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with best wishes
Rick Anstis Secretary, Surrey Amphibian and Reptile Group 7 Arundel Road DORKING RH4 3HY |
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Robert V
Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1264 |
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Rick, a few years ago I saw a huge snake in the canal system that runs round the reservoirs in Chingford. I thought then that it was well over six feet but it was extremely dark in colour and in the water I couldn't get a photo to show it. It may have been an escaped pet, but now I doubt it. I think tony is right. When they get to this size they get extremely hard to catch and I've a feeling there are bigger examples out there. R |
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RobV
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