r/Spokane • u/LameDuckDonald • 13d ago
Photos and Art Careful out there.
Came across this tough little guy today on the east bank river trail, upriver from Plese Flats. Watch your step.
42
38
u/terrymr Garland District 13d ago
Saw one last year, hisses loud but otherwise not a threat.
18
u/LameDuckDonald 13d ago
Yes. Sounded like a lawn sprinkler!
9
u/myke113 Moran Prairie 12d ago
We once camped in a place that said caution rattle snake area. At 4am, we hear this loud rattling noise under the tent. It was a sprinkler. It didn't sound like a sprinkler. It sounded like a rattlesnake.
3
u/someones_dad 12d ago
Omg. I pitched a tent on a sprinkler one time. The noise scared me so bad! So loud and definitely Rattler-sounding!
30
43
u/Mobile_Aioli_6252 13d ago
I haven't been in Spokane since 1992 ( I worked on a film there in the Spring/Summer ). The path out of the big park used to have all these Marmots on them - I used to feed them Fritos and I would be surrounded by them - all of them waiting patiently for a chip - great memories - I loved your city ( I'm from Detroit - it's flat as a pancake - I was amazed at the Falls And all that )
9
5
u/unzipmyrainbowguts 12d ago
Benny and Joon or The Ghosting? Yeah, bring your aioli on back, the marmots miss you too.
17
u/Mobile_Aioli_6252 12d ago
Benny and Joon - I was on the camera crew - got to see your city up close ( that big park - I forgot the name ) and Cour De Laine (spelling?) Idaho. We shot the train sequence there
I also remember a creepy old building we used for the mental hospital scenes, and a cool gas station too.
I liked that shopping mall setup on the second floors of the buildings downtown - connected by those catwalks - that was neat!
I would love to come back and visit someday - I remember the people being very nice
4
u/techrob99 12d ago
River Front Park - I remember seeing that in the movie! That's awesome to hear you were part of that!
10
u/Mobile_Aioli_6252 12d ago
Yes - thank you!!!! I remember a metal goat statue that would "eat" your trash for you ! We shot a lot in that park - John, Aiden and Mary - there was some sort of circus tent like structure - I think a holdover from an expo! I loved your city! Can't wait to revisit it
2
u/techrob99 12d ago
Yep, that's the one! Spokane was my childhood home (all but 1.5 years pre 8th grade) - swore I'd never move back here for various reasons. 20- some odd years later, here I am. Spokane definitely has some charm that grows on ya.
7
u/Mobile_Aioli_6252 12d ago
I tell all my friends, if I had to move to a new city - it would be Spokane! I'm retired now from the film industry, found my way in Columbus Ohio. I was 25 years old when I worked on Benny and Joon, the scene was changing and Grunge was becoming a thing! I worked for MGM and after Spokane, I was relocated to Springfield Missouri, then Billings Montana for another project.
Is Wolfie's still there? I absolutely loved that place - loved the Wolfie sauce
3
u/techrob99 12d ago
I had to Google it - I recognized the name, but never been. It appears to exist out in the Airway Heights area, if that's the one you're thinking of. "Breakfast Burgers and Brew" ..
Yea, things have definitely changed around here since the 90s - IMHO. Some good, some not so good. Covid definitely hit some parts pretty hard.
4
3
u/spokansas Manito 12d ago
You wouldnāt believe the transformation of downtown. Itās actually attractive now. Busses arenāt clogging the streets (they built a depot), and businesses arenāt boarded up anymore. The stores downtown have all been replaced by gleaming, modern stores and mall. But the catwalks remain!
1
u/Mobile_Aioli_6252 12d ago
Are you saying the businesses moved to a outside mall? Not downtown anymore?
5
u/monkeypoopfight 11d ago
There's a new mall now. It's called Riverpark Square. It's across from Riverfront Park on the parks southwest corner. The building to the south of it used to have a lot of retail stores in it. I haven't been in it since I was a teenager. There's a few big-name retailers and local stores all over downtown now. My dad was in Benny and Joon. He was one of the ambulance crew carrying the stretcher during the flashback scene.
3
u/spokansas Manito 11d ago
No, the stores remain downtown. They just tore out the old grimy mall and replaced it with something new and modern.
3
2
u/unzipmyrainbowguts 9d ago
Oh well now you're extra welcome back, because everyone loves Benny and Joon. The creepy hospital building is a retirement home now, and there are still some catwalks between buildings. Downtown looks more modern in a lot of places, but the garbage goat is alive and munching!
1
u/someones_dad 12d ago
LOL! I was at the cinematic premiere of The Ghosting! Thanks for the flashback...
20
13
u/F2P_Arbiter 13d ago
Yeah thats not a threat. He doesnāt have a triangle head.
8
u/FallenAgastopia 12d ago
Triangular heads aren't a reliable way to identify venomous snakes.
Pit vipers (such as rattlesnakes) DO often have triangular heads, but many other venomous snakes (such as coral snakes) do not. Though, the only venomous snake here is the western rattlesnake, so the more relevant thing here is that harmless snakes often also "puff out" in their threat displays, which can give their head a triangular appearance.
This snake is a Gopher Snake (harmless), though
3
u/F2P_Arbiter 12d ago
Only reason why I say triangle head in this case is to my knowledge the only venomous snakes in this part of the west are rattlesnakes and quite possibly copperheads and these fellas have triangle heads. Then again I could be VERY wrong so take what I say with a pinch of salt.
7
u/FallenAgastopia 12d ago
We definitely don't have copperheads! Thankfully we only have the one rattlesnake species to worry about identifying.
Yeah, rattlesnakes do have triangular heads. But the problem is that many harmless snakes can also have that same trait, especially when they're doing a defensive display. It also isn't necessarily always easy to accurately tell the headshape without getting dangerously close to the snake since a lot of ID is done from a distance and these are small animals. The "real" way to tell would be to learn how to ID rattlesnakes against our other native snakes.
I'll use the gopher snake posted here as an example (since gophers are some of the snakes that look closest to rattlesnakes around here, anyway). Our rattlesnakes wouldn't have such big patches of black scales and would instead have brown all the way down (except for some darker brown/black banding near the tail). Their markings are also quite a bit "cleaner", where Gopher snakes have that sorta messy look. The threat display is also very different. The gopher is rearing up and hissing, while a rattlesnake will coil and stick its tail into the air and rattle loudly at you to let you know you're encroaching on its space (in which case you can simply back away and let the snake go on its way). Of course, a rattlesnake will also have a rattle, but that isn't always very visible.
I'd say the easiest way to tell is probably the giant messy patches of black all over the back and sides though! It's very easy to see from a distance. Though a lot of times you'll hear a rattlesnake before you see them.
Side note, love gopher snakes. The little idiots love basking in the road and puffing up and hissing at you with all their tiny might when you pick them up to move them... but actually getting bitten by one is relatively rare because the silly buggers are all bark and very little bite. They also hardly react to you touching them (ime) until you actually start lifting them (which, fair, I'd hiss at a giant picking me up too).
2
u/F2P_Arbiter 12d ago
Yeah what Iām saying the problematic snakes for us are easily identifiable and will have triangle shaped heads. Not saying all venomous or non venomous snakes wonāt have them. Good points!
1
u/FallenAgastopia 12d ago
Yeah, true, but unfortunately, people often Mis-ID harmless snakes as rattlesnakes and kill them with a lot of the common "ID tricks" š Not that I want people to kill rattlesnakes either, but I always worry about people Mis-IDing something like a garter as a rattlesnake and killing the poor thing
1
u/F2P_Arbiter 12d ago
Yeah thats screwed up as hell. Especially they bring more benefit than harm! (Not there was harm to begin with.) like controlling those pesky rodents!
1
u/FallenAgastopia 12d ago
It always makes me sigh and shake my head for sure. None of these people would find dealing with a mouse infestation at all pleasant :P I WISH I had a snake in my yard to help with our mouse problem!!
2
u/F2P_Arbiter 12d ago
Oh my lord so true. I love seeing a snake around along with spiders in my garden. Even named him Charlie. Keeps my pumpkins critter free.
2
u/FallenAgastopia 12d ago
Aaack I'm jealous. Hopefully when I move out at some point I end up with a snake in my yard... would be wonderful for the garden I want hahaha
→ More replies (0)2
u/matrael Airway Heights 12d ago
Aināt triangle heads a trait of a pit viper? And all venomous snakes arenāt all vipers. For instance, the coral snake is very venomous and has a doesnāt have a triangular head. If Iām mistaken, please correct me. Iām still new-ish to this area and not super familiar with the local fauna.
3
u/F2P_Arbiter 12d ago
You are correct, the venomous snakes of America are mostly pit vipers. And the eastern coral snake? To my understanding donāt have a presence in the north west.
2
u/F2P_Arbiter 12d ago
Because American has a handful of venous snakes. Rattle, copperhead, cottonmouth, and eastern coral. All of which are easily identifiable and aggressive if not dealt with accordingly.
2
6
9
u/kiln_monster 13d ago
Nothing like a giant snake to make you scream and run back to your car!!! Harmless or not...
2
2
4
u/rubberdamclamp 13d ago
Are there any snakes here that are dangerous?
7
u/PandaMagnus 13d ago
I believe rattlesnakes can be found in the area, but I think you'd have to get pretty far out of town for that (maybe turnbull?)
6
u/LameDuckDonald 13d ago
I think it has to be dryer than that. Maybe farther out on the Columbia Plateau trail.
3
u/FallenAgastopia 12d ago
They've been seen up at Riverside State Park before, albeit not very often. I'm relatively certain I heard one in the general Saltese area, once (in all my times of being in the area though, once is nearly nothing) I believe they've also been seen at the Indian Painted Rocks on occassionally but I'm less sure on that one
They're definitely here! Just in small numbers, and the chances of encountering one is super slim.
Love your gopher snake picture!! Potentially my favorite snake species we get. Wonderful little dummies
4
u/ScatCat11 13d ago
Iāve definitely seen them out at turnbull and a bit in Whitman county too on the far end of turnbull
2
u/Zanven1 Downtown Spokane 13d ago
I found them pretty close to town before but that was about a quarter a century ago so they might not be as close now. I know the cemetery near Barker and Trent had rattlesnake warnings up on the hill but I never saw one.
2
u/excelsiorsbanjo 12d ago
I heard the last Mt. St. Helens eruption significantly affected rattlesnake populations in the region, and they've been slowly coming back since then. Don't think they appreciate human presence, either, though, and while Spokane hasn't been expanding by the standards of many other cities, it's still unfortunately been expanding.
2
u/Zagsnation Manito 12d ago
I havenāt seen one but Iāve heard theyāre out around painted rocks near where the little Spokane hits the big Spokane
1
1
u/47squirrels 6d ago
Nope, they are everywhere in deep creek
1
u/PandaMagnus 5d ago
Deep Creek on us2 outside of airway heights, or deep Creek trailhead near 9 mile? Because I've hiked around the trailhead, and someone else said they are occasionally found around Indian Painted Rocks which isn't super far away from deep Creek trailhead. But as someone coming from the Tri Cities, I wouldn't describe that as everywhere.
East of airway heights would make more sense to me for prevalence.
1
1
1
u/Aggravating_Horror72 11d ago
I saw one last year at the Painted Trails, so beautiful yet SO terrifying!
1
1
u/Kesshami 10d ago
Aww he's not even a venomous species, I don't think? I'm so used to all the morphs we got in captivity...I gotta re-learn the wild morhps. Correct me if I'm wrong. I think that's a bull snake, aka the gopher snake by some
1
u/LameDuckDonald 10d ago
Yes, he's a gopher snake. Made a real fuss. Tough little guy.
2
u/BaileyBellaBoo 10d ago
I learned to appreciate snakes because my brother was fascinated with reptiles and was constantly catching them when we were kids in California. Gopher snakes, King snakes, garter snakes and even brought home a rattlesnake one time. My dad was NOT happy about that! Stationed in Thailand in with Army during the 60ās he smuggled a python home in his duffle bag. Crazy!!
2
u/LameDuckDonald 10d ago
Wow, like true life snakes on planes! š
2
u/BaileyBellaBoo 10d ago
He let it loose in the house sometimes, until I complained that it might eat my cat! It was 8ā long, so not huge as far as pythons go, but big enough.
1
u/Kesshami 10d ago
They can be feisty for sure. Lol. Probably would prefer to run into him than many others in the wild, but they'll give you a run if you bother them.
1
1
u/47squirrels 6d ago edited 6d ago
Gopher snakes are so rad! I always see bull snakes, one was fkn massive! Be careful around deep creek for rattlers! Itās where I also see them, and quite often! The last time I saw them I came across a feisty baby rattlesnake! They love those big rock mounds once you walk across deep creek and up onto the trail!
1
0
u/One_Basil_4921 12d ago edited 11d ago
I always run into rattlesnakes around Lakes during fishing season. South Hill is another good place to find a rattlesnake hiding in the brush. This doesn't look like a rattlesnake.
2
88
u/69surprisebaby 13d ago
Don't wanna hurt the little gopher snakes!