Recent Snakes

Here are some somewhat-recent snakes.

Red-tailed rat snake and skin. Columbus Zoo, January 2, 2024

 

 

 

A red-tailed rat snake's tail. WikiPedia says the tail is sometimes red but is usually brown. Columbus Zoo, March 25, 2025

Lake Erie water snake. Columbus Zoo, January 2, 2024.

Canebrake rattlesnake. Columbus Zoo, February 11, 2024. Focus stack of 5 images

Red spitting cobra. Columbus Zoo, February 11, 2024. Focus stack of 5 images.

Mandarin trinket snake. Columbus Zoo, April 23, 2024

Scrub pythons. Columbus Zoo, November 6, 2024

Arizona black rattlesnake. Toledo Zoo, March 1, 2025. Focus stack of 3 images

Russell's viper. Toledo Zoo, March 1, 2025

King cobra. Columbus Zoo, February 11, 2025:

Rhinoceros Hornbill

I've seen rhinoceros hornbills at three zoos.

Kirana at the Toledo Zoo in 2018. Females have white eyes.

 

Andaru at the Toledo Zoo in 2019. Males have red eyes.

Cincinnati Zoo in 2021

A juvenile at the Minnesota Zoo in 2024

Kirana and Andaru have lived at the Toledo Zoo since 2008. They seem to be compatible, but there have been no chicks.

In January, 2025, the missing gardener and I attended a rhinoceros hornbill keeper talk. The keeper was inside the enclosure, tossing grapes to the birds, and he said the hornbills have excellent beak-eye coordination. He also explained that their upper and lower mandibles meet only at the tips of their beaks, so they catch the grapes at the tips and toss them into their mouths. I don't have shots of that, but I did catch a silvery-cheeked hornbill's toss in 2023.

Here, Kirana and Andaru share a tender moment and a grape: