Snake identification

[ebinmaine 67,444]

23 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

We’ll be in the mid to high 90’s this week !

It's a little cooler than normal...

59⁰ right now.  

 

 

20 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

The snake you really need to watch out for down south is the Rattleheaded Copper Mocassin… never seen one, but I’ve heard they will chase you for up to 1/4 mile, bite you, then hang around to see if you die… if you don’t, they will bite you again !

Sounds kinda rugged.  

 

Mebbe the type of rotten bugger that needs ta meet up with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.  

 

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by ebinmaine

[EB-80/8inPA 1,641]

21 hours ago, wh500special said:

Ten minutes later I saw the neighbor carrying my now headless snake out into the field on a rake.  It was kind of sad.  

There was a four foot fat black snake a few years back that made the mistake of being in a neighbor’s yard a few doors up.  One day I heard this awful clanging noise and went to see this guy beating the snot out of the poor thing with a shovel.  Cut it in half!  Nobody in their right mind kills black snakes, it’s just not done.  Luckily, he moved away and raised the neighborhood’s average IQ a few points in the process.  I can’t say that I miss that guy.  I do miss the snake.

Edited May 31, 2022 by EB-80/8inPA

[clueless 2,987]

9 hours ago, 953 nut said:

The way his head is elevated makes me think it could be a coachwhip. One of them hangs out near my shop and quite often can be seen looking around to see if anything is moving. They too will keep the mouse population down for you.

Long and skinny looks like a coachwhip to me. If you see it again, scare it and see how fast it moves, coachwhips are the fastest snakes I've every seen.

[clueless 2,987]

9 hours ago, 953 nut said:

The way his head is elevated makes me think it could be a coachwhip. One of them hangs out near my shop and quite often can be seen looking around to see if anything is moving. They too will keep the mouse population down for you.

Long and skinny looks like a coachwhip to me. If you see it again, scare it and see how fast it moves, coachwhips are the fastest snakes I've every seen.

[clueless 2,987]

9 hours ago, 953 nut said:

The way his head is elevated makes me think it could be a coachwhip. One of them hangs out near my shop and quite often can be seen looking around to see if anything is moving. They too will keep the mouse population down for you.

Long and skinny looks like a coachwhip to me. If you see it again, scare it and see how fast it moves, coachwhips are the fastest snakes I've every seen.

[clueless 2,987]

Maybe three times faster, sorry guys 

[Jeff-C175 7,201]

53 minutes ago, clueless said:

looks like a coachwhip

 

I just looked at pics on the web and think I agree...

 

Rat snakes I've seen are generally fatter than that, and some of the pics on the web also show the 'ripply' body.

 

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[wh500special 2,170]

He was in no hurry to get out of there.  If he had speed, he was sandbagging. 
 

steve

[D_Mac 8,610]

What's that song ??? " I Don't Like Spiders And Snakes"

Edited June 1, 2022 by D_Mac

[wh500special 2,170]

Looked up the coachwhip.  Found they aren’t common in Illinois and are a state endangered species.  Curiously the only known population is in the county just south of mine.  So who knows.  
 

Steve 

[lynnmor 7,305]

Here is a snake that I have yet to identify, I was riding my bicycle on a country road near Mt Rainer and this guy was stretched across the road. I don't know if the lumps all over him was from injury or disease.  It is probably a racer, but this one was not winning any races.   About 3 feet long.

 

Edited June 13, 2022 by lynnmor

[Jeff-C175 7,201]

17 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

About 3 feet long.

 

If it wasn't that big I would say it's a 'worm snake' with some sorta parasitic skin infection.

 

Wait... I see you said Mt. Rainier... I was looking in PA !  I don't see anything like that in WA state.

 

Edited June 13, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

That is a classic case of snake acne probably going through snake puberty…

Edited June 13, 2022 by Horse Newbie

[lynnmor 7,305]

10 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

That is a classic case of snake acne probably going through snake puberty…

It also looks like his tail was circumcised.

[nyquil junkie 225]

I have snakes like that around the house.  I used to see them once in a blue moon and there is a big one in  my moms house roof that I have only seen the skins... last one I found was 6' long. He must be a big one.

 

After I got some ducks here, and they started laying eggs, I started seeing them more often. They like the eggs.  I saw one eat an egg then slip off into the weeds, I thought that was a big one at about 4'.

 

Not long after I came across one trying to have an egg snack, the thing was at least 6' long.  I grabbed him by the head / neck and found whatever these big black guys are they are not aggressive, and they are pretty powerful constrictors....that big one got around my arm I almost didnt get rid of him. LOL

 

They like the big compost piles.  I have found egg clutches about once  year.  I leave them alone.

I probably have a lot more of them now.  On the upside I havent seen a trace of mice or rat here in years.

 

If my sister know about that monster in her roof (mom died she lives there now) she would poop a brick.

[kpinnc 12,008]

Original pic is of a black rat snake. Very common, and non poisonous.

 

They also stink bad enough to smell before you see them, reproduce like rabbits, and eat everything that has feathers. They aren't overly aggressive, but will stand thier ground against a running mower...

 

The pic below is of my 12 foot wide driveway, which serves as a decent size comparison. That snake is close to 7 feet long and as big around as a Mason jar.  The second pic is a baby of the same species. They change quite a bit.  It's not unusual for them to reach over 6 feet in length.  They also love bird nests. They should be named black bird snake. 

 

There is supposedly some documentation of them eating other snakes. If nothing else, they offer competition to things like Copperheads, so I do my best to tolerate them around here. That being said, I hate snakes. If they get too close, they die from lead poisoning.

Edited June 16, 2022 by kpinnc

[ebinmaine 67,444]

4 hours ago, kpinnc said:

The second pic is a baby of the same species

Interesting comparison

[kpinnc 12,008]

5 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

Interesting comparison

 

I thought I was living in snake city until I looked that up, but they are the same. They turn blacker as they mature, and the pattern fades. I guess the camo makes the little ones safer? Makes them look more dangerous in my book, like a little rattlesnake almost. 

 

As I already said, I hate snakes. I got bitten by a Copperhead just two years ago walking in my yard at night. I stepped on it, and he couldn't set fangs in my ankle. Even so, it ruined a perfectly good pair of shorts.  I never thought much about them before that. Now I want an Iron Man suit just to walk to the truck ... 

Edited June 16, 2022 by kpinnc