Name that snake

Let'sgoflying! said:
Number of snake varieties which actively pursue people? Zero
Number of people bitten solely because they were playing with a snake, or were meandering around with their head up their azz*? Almost all of them. (* @SCCutler got to witness me in this state once, my fault.)
Number of snakes killed out of ignorance ("It's a snake, it must die") when in fact some of those killed are not a danger to domestic animals or humans, kill vermin, and may actually prey on venomous snakes? Well, you get the idea.
The only time I had a potentially hazardous rattlesnake presence around the house or barn was when we were storing grain to feed wildlife after a rangefire. Some spilled, and we were pretty busy with stuff at the time so rodents got into it. Then we had snakes going after the rodents. Our fault. They do like to hide under lumber/firewood/etc as noted above so take care of that too.
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Not sure what qualifies as "actively pursues", but I've seen plenty of blue racers and cottonmouths chase people for long stretches.

We live in the country, too, and my approach is a mix. Round headed snakes get to stay. Plenty of black, rat and king snakes around here to do the work. But I have dogs and kids running all over this place, so pointy headed snakes meet an untimely end.
 
Frogs97 said:
But I have dogs.
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I've only owned one dog that didn't learn his lesson after the first bite: A Cheseapeake Bay Retriever. I don't think it'd be a bit exaggerated to say he was bit two dozen times in his life. Dogs are pretty tolerant though. Stuff some benedryl down their throats and they're fine. Swollen up for a few days, but fine. At least I've never had a dog die from a snake bite.

Frogs97 said:
and kids
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Those are admittedly untrainable.
 
Frogs97 said:
Not sure what qualifies as "actively pursues", but I've seen plenty of blue racers and cottonmouths chase people for long stretches.

We live in the country, too, and my approach is a mix. Round headed snakes get to stay. Plenty of black, rat and king snakes around here to do the work. But I have dogs and kids running all over this place, so pointy headed snakes meet an untimely end.
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I've seen that cottonmouth pursuit weirdness before too. Fun to watch some hefty rancher in good boots high tailing it away and cussing the stupid snake to just stop and knock it off. Haha.

Same MO for snakes here, also. Same reasons, the dogs are too stupid to leave them alone. My dog trainer does have a "snake avoidance" course for dogs that will teach them to back off quickly from snakes of all varieties if you train them young, but ours are too old and the big boy is too curious.

Was happy to see someone had run over a big rattler on the county road the other day. I hear that some years they get frisky and breed heavy out here and then all of them are hungry and aggressive. Most of the time we won't see one for an entire summer.

And as much as I know the difference between the poisonous and non, it's still a creepy feeling if you're working under a car or truck and a non-poisonous decides to hide from the hot sun under the car with you... Haha. I still come out from under the vehicle in a damned hurry even though I know why they decided to join me.
 
My wife, too. She grew up on a farm in rural south Georgia where the only good snakes are dead. It took some work but I have changed her. She still doesn't like snakes, but recognizes their place in the natural balance and doesn't kill them unless they are venomous and near the house. When we're out in the north Georgia mountains, she understands that all snakes go free, venomous or not.
 
I grew up in central Florida and lived on a lake next to a large swamp. Brown water snakes by the hundreds and green water snakes and banded waters snakes by the dozens every year. Cottonmouths were such a rarity that the average person would never see one in his lifetime. Sadly, every nonvenomous water snake was a "moccasin" as far as they were concerned and needed to be killed.
 
SkyDog58 said:
I've heard of rattlesnake roundups but never a rattlesnake rodeo. How does that work?
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I really don't know, never attended. Here's their web if interested: opprattlesnakerodeo.com
 
Killed a few cotton mouths around my house when it was first built. Venomous snakes die if they are near my yard but everything else can stay and go about its business. Ive never seen a coral snake, but have seen a couple milk snakes (their wanna be cousins). Red on black you're ok jack, red on yella kills a fella.
 
That just does not fit the copperhead viper head in the picture...maybe the angle and most I have dealt with are thicker...in Texas we have rat snakes and corns that mimic the pattern but at first look and looking at the head it just does not say Copperhead but the markings are spot on...wish I could see the eyes and the nares...
 
I hate snakes, Jacques, I hate 'em... but I see no need to kill something because I have disdain for it. I understand their place, and we have very few poisonous ones up here in the cold north.

My brother had pythons, one was around 15 feet. He had a younger one, and one day I wasn't wearing a shirt, and he had it out. I decided to hold it to try to get better about snakes. It wrapped itself around me, put its face in mine, and hissed in my face.

That was pretty much it, I asked him to take it back, and never tried again. I'll stick with dogs and the like, you can have your snakes.
 
This is a Rat Snake my son caught the other day. The snake in the OP could be a Corn Snake. It is hard to tell without seeing the head.

I have a black snake I see in the in the shop from time to time that is almost 6' long.

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You all are wrong. The op asked to name the snake. I'm going with Carl. Carl is his new name.


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The only snake I'll dispatch to the afterlife is a cottonmouth. They have a temperament and will chase you down. Copperheads will typically run unless it's a baby and a rattlesnake will warn ya. The worse are baby snakes because one they haven't learn to be afraid of things and two they haven't learned to control their venom output.

We use to, or may still, have a kingsnake that lived(s) under the pool. Those will keep both the rodent and venomous snake population down. My grandmother took a shovel to a farm hand after he killed one. He had the "the only good snake is a dead snake" mentality.
 
Karen and I are kinda torn about the non-poisonous snakes.

They do help with some undesirable varmints, but we've also seen them going for bluebird eggs.

It is open season on the water snakes, since they threaten our smaller Koi.

When we can, we "relocate" the black snakes a mile or so away. Hate to kill things unless absolutely necessary.
 
FastEddieB said:
Karen and I are kinda torn about the non-poisonous snakes.

They do help with some undesirable varmints, but we've also seen them going for bluebird eggs.

It is open season on the water snakes, since they threaten our smaller Koi.

When we can, we "relocate" the black snakes a mile or so away. Hate to kill things unless absolutely necessary.
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Well, none of the killings you propose are "absolutely necessary". Black racers and black rat snakes ("black snakes") don't need to be relocated. They absolutely help keep the populations of all sorts of animals in your area in balance. When naturally occurring predators (and at some level, just about every animal is a predator) are removed, the entire population balance is thrown off kilter. Too many of any species can become a problem.
 
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Lived around rattlers for quite a while, they don't really bother me they don't mess with you and give you plenty of warning.

The mass, mass majority of bits are from people trying to mess with the snake.
 
BTW... He's back. Bob is sunning himself in roughly the same place. Seems to be a bit more relaxed today.
 
FastEddieB said:
It is open season on the water snakes, since they threaten our smaller Koi.
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And we all know how important koi are for maintaining a balanced, healthy ecosystem. :rolleyes:

(Sorry, I couldn't resist, I laughed out loud at the way you said it.) :)
 
timwinters said:
And we all know how important koi are for maintaining a balanced, healthy ecosystem. :rolleyes:

(Sorry, I couldn't resist, I laughed out loud at the way you said it.) :)
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Got it!

Not sure where in a "balanced, healthy ecosystem" our pets fall, but we kinda feel a need to protect them from a sense of stewardship - or something.
 
I found one about an hour ago
 

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Field mouse problem or not, the copperhead goes. In pieces. I won't argue which I'd rather get bit by, the answr is none of them.
 
ktup-flyer said:
I found one about an hour ago
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King snake I think - eats rodents and birds. Non venonmous I believe but I'm not an expert. They still can bite abd still can hurt.

The reason I am up at 3am posting is that I had a dream about being bit by a snake.
 
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