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Holy Beauty came back for *Leyla*:)


Holy Beauty came back for *Leyla*:)
Photo Information
Copyright: Bayram Gocmen (boreocypriensis) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5100 W: 178 N: 12477] (34071)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-05-25
Categories: Reptiles
Camera: Nikon D-5000, AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED, @ ISO 800, SIGMA 62MM EX DG MC UV Filter
Exposure: f/10.0, 1/1250 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Turkish Herpetofauna-II, Bayram's Dedications-II [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2009-06-13 0:42
Viewed: 632
Favorites: 2 [view]
Points: 64
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Dolichophis jugularis (Black Whip Snake) (in Turk. Kara Yılan)

Hi friends, yesterday was the birthday of my Sister Leyla (yasemin) and she wished to see this holy black beauty on TN as a Birthday present:) thus I would like dedicate this photo to my dear unique sister Leyla who living in central London! Gratitudes for everyting sister! and Happy Birthday once more!

TFL and Have a nice saturday!
Cheers,

©Bayram GÖÇMEN, Ege University, Faculty of Science. All Rights Reserved.

*****************************
Black Whip Snake, up to maximum 2.5 -even 3 m in Cyprus -total length, black when adult but grey peppered black and white when young (up to approx. 1 m), is an active diurnal snake with its ferocious, “relatively docile” behaviour. It is widespread in Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel with a vertical distribution up to 1400 m. and represented with three subspecies in known distribution area:

• C. j. jugularis, with red throat, in Anatolia and northern Syria,
• C. j. asianus, with black and white throat, in southern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Mediterranean Israel, and
• C. j. cypriacus, with mostly black venter, anteriorly speckled with some red, which is an endemic subspecies of the island of Cyprus.

It lives in dry, open places, rocky river banks, rocky-stony slopes, fields and swamps; can also be seen in gardens, vineyards and cemeteries. It shelters under stones and in rodent galleries. It is known to feed mainly on rodents (especially mice and rats) and lizards; sometimes even on other snakes. Since it consumes crop-harming rodents, it was used in agricultural pest control in Cyprus.

This snake species is, despite of its virtual harmlessness, one of the most feared snakes by the natives, thanks to its large size, diurnal lifestyle, intense hissing and striking when cornered. Therefore, it is often confused with uniform black venomous snake, Walterinnesia morgani (=W. aegyptia) (Desert/Egyptian Cobra) in some distribution areas (such as SE Anatolia, Syria and Jordan) where they were found in sympatric. It can be distinguished by the presence of a loreal scale on the head and the only divided subcaudal plates, also bigger eyes, diurnal life and different striking behaviour. In Desert cobra the loreal plate is lacked on the head, there is the mixture of divided and undivided subcaudals. Also the later is mostly nocturnal with a smaller size around 1 meter, and in comparison with Black whip snake, it moves slowly and mostly strikes with closed mouth.

Ps. This beauty is accepted as "holy" by Cypriots. And that many old people believe that each Black Whip snake represent "the spirit of the late son". Thus when they a black whip snake around their home, a dish full up with milk is put on the near of the threshold for its drinking.

References:

1. Göçmen, B. (Unpub. results). The results of herpetological trips.
2. Budak, A. & Göçmen, B. (2005). Herpetology. Ege Üniversitesi Fen Fakültesi Kitaplar Serisi, No. 194, Ege Üniversitesi Basimevi, Bornova-Izmir, 226 pp. [2nd Edition, 2008].
3. Göçmen, B., Franzen, M., Yildiz, M. Z., Akman, B. & Yalçinkaya, D. (2009). New locality records of eremial snake species in southeastern Turkey (Ophidia: Colubridae, Elapidae, Typhlopidae, Leptotyphlopidae). Salamandra, 45 (2): 110-114.
4. Göçmen, B., Werner, Y. L. & Elbeyli, B. (2008). Cannibalism in Dolichophis jugularis (Serpentes: Colubridae): More than Random?. Current Herpetology, 27 (1): 1-7 [In English with English Summary].
Hay_kes, nkasot, cypturk, cirano, SMYRNA, xTauruSx, oki, sandpiper2, zulfu, goatman04, bahadir, eqshannon, yasemin, Hormon_Manyer, nglen, Gert-Paassen, albert, eng55, goldyrs, dejo, montivipera, magiqa, anemone has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To eng55: :)boreocypriensis 1 06-14 15:29
To alliturnam: Selamboreocypriensis 1 06-14 15:28
To yasemin: :)boreocypriensis 1 06-13 14:30
To zulfu: Selamboreocypriensis 1 06-13 14:29
To oki: Hiboreocypriensis 1 06-13 04:52
To cirano: :)boreocypriensis 1 06-13 04:46
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Critiques [Translate]

Merhaab Hocam,
Müthiş bir portre çalışması.Eline sağlık.
Selamlarımla..

hAyAti

Bayram hocam süper bir kare yine.
Sanırım bir bayanın bana yilan et demesi olsa olsa bir tek sizin ailede olur:)
Leyla abla bunu sevecektir. Şiparişi zaten kendi vermiş:)
Elinize sağlık. Selam ve saygılar.
Nazım

Hello MF Bayram,
another wonderful portrait of the Black Whip Snake, outstanding sharpness and splendid colours, excellent POV with a great eye contact, i like the impressive texture in a very nice composition. Very lovely dedication to Leyla
TFS
Have a good weekend
MMaurizio

Hehehe:) another masterpiece work from you uncle Bayram. i am sure that my mum will love this Turkish delight:) as a birthday present.
Kind regards,
Mel

striking closeup, TFS Ori

I love this guys, awsome photo Bayram.

Greetings from Serbia

Bayram Merhaba,
Her gördüğümde ona dair gerçeğe dayansın efsane olsun tüm bilgilerimi uyandıran harika bir kara yılan karesi daha.Çok korktuğum halde doğada hayranlık duyduğum canlıların başında geliyor yılan;çünkü insan dünyasında kendine genişçe bi yer açıp efsanelerine bile girmeyi başaran ender canlılardandır.
Kardeşinize güzel bir armağan olmuş.
Eline emeğine sağlık.

Dûrzan

Ciao Bayram, an other fantastic portrait of this splendid snake, superb capture with fine details and wonderful sharpness, very well done my friend, have a good week end, ciao Silvio

Kankam yine yaptın yapacağını:) Ablamıza doğum günü hediyesi olarak yılan pek güzel durmuş:) Kendi istemiş ama nede olsa. Süper çekmişsin an bu karaoğlanı.
Eline sağlık. İyi çalışmalar.
Gökhan

Leyla Hanımın doğum gününü biz de kutluyoruz Bayram Hocam. Harika bir hediye olmuş.
Emeğinize sağlık.
Deniz

  • Great 
  • lousat Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1978 W: 6 N: 5527] (19673)
  • [2009-06-13 4:09]

Hi Bayram,the perfect DOF on the head make a difference.Another wonderful close-up on your friend snake.Surely i like butterflies,but your pics of reptils are really fantastics and must to be vote!!Have a nice day my friend,Luciano

  • Great 
  • oki Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 81 W: 10 N: 114] (584)
  • [2009-06-13 4:44]
  • [+]

Hi Bayram,
I love snakes and it is a pity that there are only few pictures on TN. Perfectly shot, great colors and presentation. Text was very informative!
Tfs Oki

Hi Bayram

Stunning shot of this whipsnake. DEtails of the scales is exceptionally good. Great composition of this portrait and I like the OOF background too.

Chris

Hello Bayram,
Thanks for sharing the spirit of the late son. I like the snake's morphology especially in terms of patterns and colours.
TFS
Annick

  • Great 
  • zulfu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1065 W: 0 N: 162] (870)
  • [2009-06-13 6:45]
  • [+]

Bayram hocam Diyarbakır'dan selamlar. Yine harika bir kara yılan çalışması olmuş. Leyla abla'nın doğum gününü biz de ailecek kutluyoruz. Temmuzda görüşmek üzere.
Selam ve saygılar,
Mehmet

Salam Bayram,

Excellent capture with beautiful colors, deatails & sharpness. A belated "Happy Birthday" to your sister Leyla(Yasmin).

Bayram, this is a nice dedication/birthday gift!

Regards

Umar

Well done continuing series of this one Bayram. And dedications to family are so much appropriate in a timne3ly fashion as this....Very nice addition!
Bob

Merhaba Hocam, 4/4 lük bir portre çalışması. Çok güzel olmuş.
Leyla ablanın doğum gününü ben de kutluyorum. Beğeneceğinden eminim. Saygılar,
Bahadır

Hi Brother.
Thanks for your present, this is what I excepted...Extraordinary picture .. Beautiful portrait with clear details and bright color....I contact make me afraid to look but very good catch....Always dont like to look snake but we have story and history about black snake so thanks again also all TN friends who said happy birthday for me.....Best wishes and warm regards.
Leyla.

Hi Barea,

Absolutely wonderful macro shot, quite minimalistic composition, the viewer's eyes aren't lead to somewhere else from the snake's head. Really professional way of composing, and interesting note as always from You. Without reading it I may think the snake's skin is bloody.

Also a wonderful dedication to Your sister, I wish her happy birthday (even if it was yesterday). Tfs and congrats for this perfect photo. Have a nice weekend, friendly regards, László

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2916 W: 34 N: 8651] (32250)
  • [2009-06-13 12:18]

Hi Bayram. You have sharp focusing where it is needed on the head. The eyes are so clear and bright ,with fine detail in the skin. It has some beautiful colours which show up so well. TFS.
Nick..

good notes too.

Hi Little bro Bayram,

another perfect portrait picture from an snake and this time the Black Whip Snake.

Exellent pov sharpness and bg.
Fine colours.
This one are really good.

I have also phothographed an snake but maaybe I place that one someday.

Gert

Hello Bayram,
Very impressive macro, you are getting the best of your new D 5000 !!!
Very good control of DOF
Well done
Albert

merhaba hocam,
çok güzel bir çalışma daha.
mükemmel bir makro.

Merhaba Bayram
i like the point of view of this shot, and also the great sharpness, the details on the face and especially the eye is amazing
great contrast between the soft color of the the BG and the dark color of the snake
I hope your sister has a nice birthday
Jacqueline

Merhaba Bayram Bey,Leyla'nın doğum gününü gecikmiş olsamda affınıza sığınarak bende yürekten kutluyorum.Uzun,sağlıklı ve mutlu bir ömür diliyorum.Lütfen selamlarımı iletin.Leyla için tabii ki şahane bir hediye seçmişsiniz.Nefis bir çekim,ellerinize sağlık,tebrikler :)

  • Great 
  • eng55 Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1151 W: 32 N: 1192] (3654)
  • [2009-06-14 12:11]
  • [+]

Merhaba Hocam,
Az kalsın bu güzel kare gözümden kaçıyordu.Leyla Hanımın Doğumgününü ben de kutluyor,yaşını sormuyorum:)Bu serinin hepsi çok güzeldi bu da ayrı güzel.Netlik,detaylar,renkler herşey mükemmel.
Selamlar,ellerine sağlık..

A lovely dedication to our sister, Big bro!
Why is it holy?
A superb close-up!
Goldy

  • Great 
  • dejo Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 375 W: 51 N: 519] (2238)
  • [2009-06-17 15:13]

Hello Bayram,

I'm not on TN much lately and i missed a lot of beautiful pics!
This one is fantastic, real beauty, great composition, focus & details!
TFS
Dejan

Merhaba Hocam,
Güzel bir doğumgünü hediyesi olmuş.
Saygılarımla

The snake looks poisonous! Glad to hear that it is not, otherwise I might not dare to visit Turkey again! Beautiful photo and interesting note!

Muhteşem bir macro Bayram hocam... heyecan uyandırıyor:)
Elinize sağlık..
Saygılarımla,
Özgür

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