Weekly snake thread

We saw a beautiful king snake on Ocracoke a couple years ago. First one I've seen here in NC and apart from the little neon green job I saw at the street when I was wheeling out the trash bins, the coolest snake I've ever seen.

I worked on a golf course outside of Albuquerque NM in high scool. This place was in the middle of the desert and was an oasis of green. This brought tons of rabbits, which brought coyotes and rattle snakes. We workers got called by golfers often, to dispatch rattlers they encountered. I always refused and advised that if they kept walking they'd be fine, but if you start wailing on them with a 5 iron, you'd stand a decent chance of getting bit.

I did remove some from the inhabited areas of the course. (These were western diamondback rattlers). When they would coil and rattle, I'd gently pick them up with a rake or shovel handle and flip em a few feet towards the desert. They'd land, coil and start rattling again. I'd repeat until I flipped em over the windrow into the desert scrub. They'd IMMEDIATELY scoot off at high speed as they're way more afraid of us than the other way around.

I respected 'em but I don't fear them. I am pretty careful about walking around here after dark bare footed however.
 
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From a friend near Memphis, TN...

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I don’t like snakes but have a respect for the purpose they serve. I had a black rat snake climb a metal column on my front porch last night and eat the baby swallows out of a nest that is there. I moved the snake but it had already cleared the nest.
 
Several species of snakes do very well huntin' bird's nests. I'm impressed that you bothered to move the snake... most folks would kilt it if'n they could!

Can you imagine a worse way to die? Little babies chirpin' in the nest, and along comes a serpent that eats you an' yer siblings alive. <Shiver!>
Mother bird could dance all over that snake, an' it would do no good.
 
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MacEntyre said:
Found this Black Rat Snake on Wednesday...

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Found two more on Thursday!

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They have been gettin' into a storage shed for years, but last year we put doors on it. Caught 'em all tryin' to get inside!
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My crawl space seems to be a favorite hangout for the black rat snakes around our property. I don't see as many as I used to, since the land behind us is now covered with houses.
 
Pulled this little fella out of a tree for a neighbor.
Third i've come across in a week or so.
Came across a copperhead a couple weeks back, that one didn't make it, found it with the weedwhacker or I'd have myself a hatband.
Seems like a busy year for snakes around here.

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Been a slow snake year, but was startled by a black snake while clearing weeds a week or so ago, bout stepped on him. Have found a few more blacks on the side of the road, but far fewer copperheads than in any prior year. Could be the lack of construction in my neighborhood this year.
 
sr30 said:
This one swam up near us this afternoon. We were out of the water and it bolted once I got close enough.

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He wouldn’t have hurt ya. Was waiting to see if you’d throw him a fish
 
Burt Gummer said:
He wouldn’t have hurt ya.
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...until ya picked him up. Them water snakes are the most vicious biters... they keep hittin' ya 'til ya drop 'em!

Ya gotta take 'em Steve Irwin style, by the tail, 'til you can control the haid.
 
Are the water snakes venomous? I’ve seen a couple snakes crossing water when I was fishing this year, but haven’t gotten close enough to see them. The patterns look similar to copperheads, are they a different color.
 
One of our cats brought a brown snake in the house this morning. That’ll wake you up better than any coffee will. I know it’s harmless, but your cat bringing in a writhing snake sure gets your attention. Lol. Not a great picture, but a grey color with dark spots side by side going down the back with a pale belly.


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dman24 said:
Are the water snakes venomous? I’ve seen a couple snakes crossing water when I was fishing this year, but haven’t gotten close enough to see them. The patterns look similar to copperheads, are they a different color.
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No.
The easiest way to recognize the difference between H20 snakes and copperheads:
- look at a bunch of copperhead pictures.
- N Water Snakes are the most common ones we see, their pupils are round, don't have a spade shaped head and have verticle lines on the scales around their mouth. https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LK3mEIthAe0/UQK7wMrACjI/AAAAAAAALYg/HdLuLIucUCE/s1600/nwater1.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/55/a6/3a/55a63a5f50357e74a73ea4809d5d3893.jpg

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=copperhead&atb=v77-3_u&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images
 
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Copperhaids ALWAYS have a pattern that's like barbells bent over their back.
If the pattern isn't narrow at the top and wide at the belly, on both sides, connected, separate from the other barbells, which barbells go all the way down their body... then it ain't a copperhaid.
 
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The same cat brought in another small snake this morning. I’m sure you can guess that she is not my wife’s favorite.
 
Clinet said:
I'd nail the cat door shut
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Infamous1 said:
She has figured out where to find them now!
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She has the highest predator drive of any cat I have ever seen. When she brings them in she doesn’t kill them though. Both snakes were still alive, and the countless skinks that she brings in are never bleeding or injured. That juvenile black snake(I think) from this morning took a swipe at her after she let it go.
 
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This guy chased the wife yesterday. Today he lost his head altogether.

ETA: Not a he, another pregnant female. 2ft or so. Hide soaking, for what? I dunno.
 

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No pic, but took grand dog out for late night pee, copperhead bout got her, she is a city dog.....had to run for the shovel.
 
Some people have guard dogs, but my buddy this summer had a guard snake on his porch. It started coming around in May and we'd move it to the field next to the house, but it would come back in a few days. Extremely docile and would let you hold it and never musked and only bit once (human at fault). So after a few moves and returns it was decided he could stay. In the day he would lay on this bark and at night crawl under the wood pile. We told the hand that cuts the grass to not kill him but he brought his son one day for help in the last week of July and his son ran it over while it was sunning in the grass. This was small for a snake at this farm as the normal size for yellow rat snakes that I find there and move is in the 4-6' range. (I'll see if I can find a picture of the last 6 footer) it was impressive.)

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My daughter's pit was nailed three times on the inside of her jowls by a Copperhead. That dog is dumber than a sack of hammers!!! Lot of tissue damage but after two days she was one the worse for ware.
 
Found this dude on my walkway this AM. Something had already got him, maybe a cat?
Anybody able to ID him? Saw a smaller one near the same spot after mowing last week

Thanks

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After some googling and reading about the checker board belly.
I’d say you nailed it!
Black corn snake
Thank you.




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looks like a juvenile rat snake. I've yet to see a corn snake in NC but I also don't go out snake hunting like when I was a kid.

our corn snakes in Florida were wayyyy more red/orange.

the juvenile black rat snakes are patterned like that, but the bits of red are interesting
 
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