Yet another snake ID request

D

DaveTNC

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Found this guy going across my front yard I had just seeded, into the woods down at Snead's Ferry (Topsail) area. About 3-1/2 to 4 foot long.

Rat snake? Doesn't look quite like the pictures I've found online but can't find anything exactly like it.

SnakeHead1024.jpg Snake1024.jpg
 
Rat snake -- common coloring for those found in the eastern part of the state. Mountain ones are solid black, both varieties can be seen in the Piedmont.
 
We've got plenty of the yellow and the black rat snakes in our area. Most people around here call the yellow ones chicken snakes.
 
I’m about twenty miles west of there and that’s the snake I see most often. Good ones to have around. My mother accidentally killed one last month going into her pump house. She didn’t know it was there and kept trying to slam the door.
 

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I like this posting.

Many people who post pics of snakes tend to ask "what is this and is it venomous?" (Actually, most people use the term "poisonous"...like me, when I want to get on my wife's English major nerves.)

In the United States, there are only FOUR venomous snakes:

Rattlesnakes
Copperheads
Cotton Mouths/Water Moccasins
Coral Snakes

While there are many varieties of these snakes (for example, there are nearly 3 dozen species of rattlesnakes), if people would learn to identify these four they'd go a long way towards reducing their snake anxieties. Then it's more like this thread: "Hey, what kind of snake is this critter?", where we just wanna know what it was we ran across.
 
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RetiredUSNChief said:
I like this posting.

Many people who post pics of snakes tend to ask "what is this and is it venomous?" (Actually, most people use the term "poisonous"...like me, when I want to get on my wife's English major nerves.)

In the United States, there are only FOUR venomous snakes:

Rattlesnakes
Copperheads
Cotton Mouths/Water Moccasins
Coral Snakes

While there are many varieties of these snakes (for example, there are nearly 3 dozen species of rattlesnakes), if people would learn to identify these four they'd go a long way towards reducing their snake anxieties. Then it's more like this thread: "Hey, what kind of snake is this critter?", where we just wanna know what it was we ran across.
Click to expand...

...and of the 12 types of coral snakes, there is only one in the US. Of the venomous snakes in the US, the only ones with neurotoxins are the coral snake, Mojave rattlesnake, and the timber rattlesnake. To make it more interesting, only some timber rattlesnakes have the combo neuro and hematotoxin.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
I like this posting.
In the United States, there are only FOUR venomous snakes:

Rattlesnakes
Copperheads
Cotton Mouths/Water Moccasins
Coral Snakes
Click to expand...

I didn't realize that, but I pretty much knew it wasn't one of those, unless there was some kind of venomous water snake other than the cottonmouth. The property is on a creek and has some marsh so I didn't know if there was some other type of water snake it could be. I didn't think it was venomous with the slender head, but didn't get close enough to check it's pupils. :)

So he's still prowling around, keeping the rat population (or what ever he eats, as long as it isn't grandchildren) down.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
I like this posting.

Many people who post pics of snakes tend to ask "what is this and is it venomous?" (Actually, most people use the term "poisonous"...like me, when I want to get on my wife's English major nerves.)

In the United States, there are only FOUR venomous snakes:

Rattlesnakes
Copperheads
Cotton Mouths/Water Moccasins
Coral Snakes

While there are many varieties of these snakes (for example, there are nearly 3 dozen species of rattlesnakes), if people would learn to identify these four they'd go a long way towards reducing their snake anxieties. Then it's more like this thread: "Hey, what kind of snake is this critter?", where we just wanna know what it was we ran across.
Click to expand...
You learn something here everyday.
 
DaveTNC said:
I didn't realize that, but I pretty much knew it wasn't one of those, unless there was some kind of venomous water snake other than the cottonmouth. The property is on a creek and has some marsh so I didn't know if there was some other type of water snake it could be. I didn't think it was venomous with the slender head, but didn't get close enough to check it's pupils. :)

So he's still prowling around, keeping the rat population (or what ever he eats, as long as it isn't grandchildren) down.
Click to expand...

Speaking of the marshes. There are Cottonmouths out there. I have personally never seen one but my grandparents had a neighbor at Topsail bitten by one while marsh hen hunting. There’s a lot of wildlife on the dredge spoil islands. Deer, rabbits and the occasional bear.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
I like this posting.

Many people who post pics of snakes tend to ask "what is this and is it venomous?" (Actually, most people use the term "poisonous"...like me, when I want to get on my wife's English major nerves.)

In the United States, there are only FOUR venomous snakes:

Rattlesnakes
Copperheads
Cotton Mouths/Water Moccasins
Coral Snakes

While there are many varieties of these snakes (for example, there are nearly 3 dozen species of rattlesnakes), if people would learn to identify these four they'd go a long way towards reducing their snake anxieties. Then it's more like this thread: "Hey, what kind of snake is this critter?", where we just wanna know what it was we ran across.
Click to expand...

Might be of interest that technically there are others like the Hog-nosed snake that are rear fanged and venomous. Although of little to no danger to humans.
 
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