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Can snakes bleed from eyes as defense tactic?
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by herperadam on June 21, 2005
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I was out doing my night herping and stumbled on a western ribbon snake (Thamnophis proximus proximus)and when I tailed it and started taking pictures I noticed there was blood coming out of it's left eye. My question is can snakes squirt blood from their eyes like some lizards as a defensive tactic? This snake didn't appear to be injured noticably except for the blood, and it's other eye was not doing this. It did go a bit nuts when I first grabbed it and might have hit something shaking around..but really I have no clue what happened here, never had it happen before. Heres a zoomed in pic of the snake:
http://home.earthlink.net/~saleenadam/ribbonsnakezoom.JPG
the nonbleeding side:
http://home.earthlink.net/~saleenadam/ribbonrightside.JPG
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RE: Can snakes bleed from eyes as defense tactic?
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by agkistrodude on June 21, 2005
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Adam, to my knowledge, snakes do not squirt blood from thier eyes.It probably got hurt while thrashing around, hopefully not internally.Do you still have the snake?Why would you tail a ribbon snake? Try holding it with some support rather than tailing it to keep it from thrashing around.
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RE: Can snakes bleed from eyes as defense tactic?
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by timberrattlesnake89 on June 21, 2005
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Marty,
One good reason he was tailing it was to get a good photo. I sometimes have to too since mostly snake refuse to sit and let you take a photo. I tail them and then I am able to take better photos of it.
Phillip
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RE: Can snakes bleed from eyes as defense tactic?
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by agkistrodude on June 21, 2005
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I've tailed snakes for photos too,but in my experiance usually they will calm down some if you handle them for a little while first.(non-venomous of course)I'd rather miss a photo than risk injury to the snake.
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RE: Can snakes bleed from eyes as defense tactic?
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Anonymous post on June 21, 2005
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Adam: You let the ribbon snake injure itself by grabbing it by its tail and letting it thrash around. As Marty said, there is no need to do this, even if it makes it somewhat easier for you to get your photos. Use some patience, and take some time handling the snake until it calms down. Use the "hat trick" and place a hat, or can, or box, or snake bag over the snake for a few seconds. It will calm them. Then pre-focus the camera, and lift off the cover from the snake. You will usually have several seconds to take photos before the snake starts crawling away.
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RE: Can snakes bleed from eyes as defense tactic?
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by herperadam on June 21, 2005
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Sorry here guess I should have explained it better. I first tried to tail the snake for about one second and it went nuts so I let it go for a bit and just got in its way so that it didn't go off the sidewalk into the grass and dissappear. After it calmed down I held it by the tail so that it didn't slip away...by that time it was calmed down and didn't even try to move away when taking the pictures. This is an area where I saw about 10 people go by on bicycle the same night on that exact stretch of sidewalk so possibly one of them ran it over I couldn't say for sure. I always handle snakes by the tail never by the head that's just how I learned and have never had a problem or a single one bite me (venomous or nonvenomous) out of hundreds up until noticing the blood on this one. My experience with ribbon snakes is that they always have tried to bite until they calm down, which is why I did it the same way I always do, I only took about two pictures and then let it go once I saw the problem.
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RE: Can snakes bleed from eyes as defense tactic?
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by bush_viper17 on June 22, 2005
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Actually......I was reading a book that talked about snakes bleeding from the eyes as a defensive mechanismn. I dont think that the snakes were North American snakes. Are you sure it wasnt blood and just ketchup?
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RE: Can snakes bleed from eyes as defense tactic?
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by GREGLONGHURST on June 23, 2005
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BV: What was the book? Was the section of the book paerhaps titled Myths & Folklore?
~~Greg~~
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