Weekly snake thread

Mack270 said:
I’ve never really had a problem with a cottonmouth. We used to actively hunt them incidentally to frog gigging and I’ve stepped on a few and killed a bunch. Never had one that I would call aggressive. Did have one swim across a small pond at me but I was using a halogen spotlight and I honestly think he was coming toward that the way he acted.
The most “aggressive” snake I’ve run into is a red bellied water snake. They sometimes won’t back down though still I’ve never had one come after me.
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My two cottonmouth/water moccasin stories: we were doing swamp training on Eglin AFB, and a mean, nasty 6' chased us all over the damn swamp. It was hunting us I think lol.

I was kayaking on the sound and we were along the mainland side of the shore, and going underneath some overhanging trees. We saw one hanging on a branch about 4' above the water and one guy thought he'd be cute and whack it with his paddle. When he did, it wrapped itself around the paddle and slid down into his kayak. He un-assed that boat, dumping the whole thing over. Snake just swam away. It knew it won.

@rodell , what the others said: they really aren't that bad, leave them alone and they will leave you alone. 99% of our snakes--venomous or otherwise--are pretty docile unless you provoke them or scare them.
 
ChickenHawk said:
I hate to be that guy, but it is "piqued." I got harangued for that recently.
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I should've specified that he looked like he needed a sammich- as in peaked, or puny.(south GA term)
Not angry= piqued
 
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ronn47 said:
I've got an 5'+ Oreo Cobra (Eastern Kingsnake) and have never seen any cottonmouths around and I live in a place there should be plenty.


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That's a beautiful snake. I've seen two king snakes (don't know the variety) in NC, one of which was on Ocracoke Island which surprised me.
 
In a year and a half here I've seen one snake. A little 5' blackie. A little disappointed actually.

I just tell my wife that if you're going to pick up sticks in the yard, make sure they're not moving
 
I was working a job in Onslow County, and we pulled up on site to go check in at foreman trailer. I noticed a group of fellas standing around one of those homemade construction dumpsters, and they were just hooting and hollering, so we went over there first to see what was going on. They had caught a king snake and put it in this box. That box was probably 8 feet long by 4 foot wide and 4 feet tall. Every time they catch a rattlesnake they throw it in there with the king snake. People will bet on anything!
 
How many times a year do blacksnakes shed? This is the second snakeskin I've found this year, it was behind a door that hasn't been closed in a while.
What's left of this one is almost exactly 6'. I'm just trying to figure out how many of these little fellows are in my building. 😁

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stickman61 said:
How many times a year do blacksnakes shed? This is the second snakeskin I've found this year, it was behind a door that hasn't been closed in a while.
What's left of this one is almost exactly 6'. I'm just trying to figure out how many of these little fellows are in my building. 😁

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They can shed several times a year depending on available diet
 
rodell said:
I'm relocating to RDU from the Pacific NW. You guys are NOT encouraging me ...

I hate snakes, triangular heads even more.
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Eh…they’re not much different than any other animal, or people, really. They just want to be left alone…

But just like other animals…and people…they have defense mechanisms…plural. Rarely is a bite the first resort. They’ll coil up, take a defensive posture, rattle or hiss. These are all warnings. Now, if they keep getting messed with or feel threatened enough, then yeah, they’ll bite. Step over a deadfall onto a copperhead and yeah, you’re probably gonna get popped, but it didn’t bite you because it’s a snake…it bit you because you stepped on it.

Here’s the thing though…the venom (if they are venomous) serves a purpose. It is used both to incapacitate prey and aids in the digestion of what they eat; they do not want to use it unless they absolutely have to. That’s the reason many bites, at least the first one or two, are “dry bites”.

They’re not out looking for a fight, just because they are a snake.
 
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Walked up on this guy in Linville Gorge yesterday. One of my sons didn’t see him and walked past him within inches and he never moved. Second son saw him and we got a long stick to hasten him off trail. 11 or 12 rattles.

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You guys have got some great pics!
All I've got is this worm snake. After it chewed a hole in my arm and killed my dog, it disappeared back into the leaf litter. 😃
I'd bet those lifted scales are from mites. Had I noticed them when I was handling it I would have coated him in a little mineral oil before letting him go.
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And then there was Fluffy. I finally had to re-home her to a breeder. She simply would NOT calm down. That snake put more holes in me than all other snakes combined. I've never seen a captive bred snake as crazy as her. Once she reached around 5 feet long she could hit me in the face when I handled her. It was time for her to go. She is a couple of years old and maybe 3 feet long here.

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JoeR said:
You guys have got some great pics!
All I've got is this worm snake. After it chewed a hole in my arm and killed my dog, it disappeared back into the leaf litter. 😃
I'd bet those lifted scales are from mites. Had I noticed them when I was handling it I would have coated him in a little mineral oil before letting him go.
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And then there was Fluffy. I finally had to re-home her to a breeder. She simply would NOT calm down. That snake put more holes in me than all other snakes combined. I've never seen a captive bred snake as crazy as her. Once she reached around 5 feet long she could hit me in the face when I handled her. It was time for her to go. She is a couple of years old and maybe 3 feet long here.

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I just looked at pic without reading and was like omg dude caught a python! 😂
 
Width wise the king snake will be fine. Would be interesting to see how the lengths compare. It might not be able to actually eat it if it's too long.
Would regurgitate if so.
Too bad they weren't smart enough to start in the middle and fold the snake in half while swallowing.
 
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No picture, but I now know my dog's "snake bark". At a friend's house the other day having a few beers. She is on a farm road about 20 yards behind the shed. Low guttural bark, definitely a "dude there something here" bark. See nothing and am taking the ground apart in small grids as I slowly move closer. Look between my legs and I am straddling a standard mature copperhead about 20" long. Big high step for me! Totally nonaggressive. Just laid there trying to blend in. The pattern is one hell of a camoflage. This was on pretty much bare ground with some grass clumps, not leaves or something you would think it would blend in with. Walked my buddy step by step in toward the snake and he was probably within 2 ft. with me pointing it out before he could make it out. On the trail he walks his dogs on, so this one took a .17 to the head. Always wonder how many I step over in turkey ad bow season and never know they are there.
 
Waterlogged said:
Width wise the king snake will be fine. Would be interesting to see how the lengths compare. It might not be able to actually eat it if it's too long.
Would regurgitate if so.
Too bad they weren't smart enough to start in the middle and fold the snake in half while swallowing.
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From what I have heard that the snake doing the eating can somehow fold the eaten snake in his body. And they also said that it could kill the snake doing the eating.
 
Found this little guy on the side of the house. What's it called? I don't care for snakes, but he's little enough to be tolerated so long as he stays outside and eats the bugs.

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