Anybody know what kind of snake this is?

[Maddy McCall]

I killed it because it was striking at Lucinda, my mini schnauzer. It was coiled up with its head in the center of the coil, prior to striking. I don't think it hit her. I have checked her all over, and she doesn't have any punctures, but because this snake was small--approximately 10 inches, I don't know if I would be able to see the punctures if she did get bitten. We had a forest fire yesterday, and I am wondering if the fire drove the snakes out of the woods. I am guessing that this is some kind of baby rattler.

What kind of snake is this?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Copperhead?

It looks a little like the copperheads that live around here.

[Kierkegaard]

2. It would be easier to tell if we could see it's head.

Not to worry. If it was a pit viper and it had bitten your dog, you wouldn't have any trouble locating the bite. The swelling would be VERY obvious.

[Maddy McCall]

8. I threw the head in the fire.

I didn't want the dogs picking it up.

[Ladyhawk]

18. Smart move.

Decapitated snake heads can bite for a long time after death.

[4morewars]

16. Plus, the dog probably....

would be dead by now.

[Kierkegaard]

19. Actually, dogs are highly resistant to snake venom.

They will be sore and swollen, but rarely will die from a single bite.

[Maddy McCall]

28. My Shar-Pei died from a water moccasin bite

even with vet treatment.

[Ladyhawk]

67. I'm sorry! No wonder you acted quickly to neutralize the snake!

Water moccasins are the worst of the pit vipers in the United States. However, our most venomous snake isn't a viper at all, but the deadly (though luckily docile) coral snake. Coral snakes are elapids, related to cobras and mambas.

[Maddy McCall]

69. We are supposed to have corals here, too, but I have never seen one.

However, if I did, I would run like hell the other way. I wouldn't get close enough to put my machete to work. :-)

[Ladyhawk]

72. LOL, they're actually quite docile and the US species are small.

Remember:

Red on yellow
Kill a fellow.

Red on black
Venom lack

The first verse refers to the coral snake, which has red bands next to yellow bands. The second verse refers to coral snake mimics in the kingsnake family (including milksnakes). All of them have red next to black, Jack.

[Ladyhawk]

20. Not necessarily.

Copperhead venom isn't as toxic as cottonmouth / rattlesnake venom. Of course, different species have different levels of toxicity. I'm not sure which species of copperhead this is, but it is my understanding that copperheads are not as dangerous as cottonmouths/water moccasins, or most species of rattlesnakes.

Copperheads are hemotoxic. Symptoms are mainly localized pain and swelling at the site of envenomation and lethargy. There may be one or two fang marks. In a snake that small, the site might be hard to determine initially. Also, despite tales you might hear, baby snakes have a smaller venom yield. Even if it emptied its venom glands into your dog, the bite would not be as severe as a bite from an adult snake.

That said, sometimes baby snake venom is more concentrated. Also, they don't have the same muscular control over their venom glands that adults have. An adult pit viper may "dry bite" without envenomating. A baby pit viper almost always envenomates.

If your dog seems sick, take it to the vet, pronto. The fangs on a ten-inch copperhead will be small and it may be hard to locate the envenomation spot, especially if the snake only got one fang in.

When I was younger, a couple of our dogs were bitten by rattlers. One was lost in the woods at the time and never received veterinary care. She still lived. The other dog received veterinary care immediately and did fine.

Dogs are usually fairly resistant to snakebite

[4morewars]

21. Replying to #s 19 &20

I did not know that! In my defense: There are many myths about snakes!! And these myths are based on SOME truth, yes? getting tagged by a big rattler a few times COULD be fatal, for an adult human? What if left untreated? Say for instance, i get hit way up in the woods, hours from the nearest hospital ? Are there pit vipers in northern Michigan ? I'm originally from NYC, and have seen rattlers in the mountains of upstate NY, but I'm not sure about MI.

[Ladyhawk]

22. Your only venomous snake is

the Massassauga rattlesnake, which has a relatively benign venom...lucky for you. :)

http:

Snakes of Michigan

You have some really nice ones. I'm quite fond of hognosed snakes.

[4morewars]

43. Thanks !!!!!

It's good to know, as I love the outdoors, especially love being in the woods! Another cool bookmark, thanks again !

[Ladyhawk]

26. Getting tagged by a rattler ONCE can be fatal for a human or a dog,

but it depends on a number of variables:

1. Location of bite
2. Size of snake
3. Amount of venom injected
4. Species of snake

Some of the most venomous rattlesnakes live in Southern California. The worst two are the Mojave and the Southern Pacific. The Mojave is generally considered one of the worst because it is neurotoxic rather than hemotoxic. There is little, if any, swelling at the site of envenomation. Instead, the victim starts twitching all over. If the bite is severe, muscle spasms follow. The victim loses control of all bodily functions, including breathing, and dies.

A population of Southern Pacific rattlers in Southern California may actually be even more toxic than the Mojave. Their venom is both hemotoxic and neurotoxic. I saw a documentary where a guy received a 30-second envenomation from a large Southern Pacific. He was convulsing uncontrollably and bleeding from every orifice in his body. Unbelievably, he lived, while another man with a less severe Southern Pacific bite died following a stroke.

When it comes to snakebites, dogs are far more resistant than are humans.

[H2O Man]

33. In 1963 in Delaware County, NY

my ex-wife's cousin died from a single rattlesnake bite near Deposit, NY. It happens. We used to catch rattlers on the rock ledges years ago.

[Ladyhawk]

66. It absolutely happens!

That's why an envenomation should always be treated by a medical professional. These days it's rare to die by snakebite in the U.S., but do you want to be that odd person who doesn't make it?

[Lex]

3. It's a copperhead.

Look at this website--scroll down a little and you will see the patterns of a copperhead--it looks just like your snake.

http://www.tswildlife.com/snakes.html

[grannylib]

4. A picture of the head would be helpful. Was the head slender, not much

different in circumference than the body? (Kind of like a garter snake) Or was it rather wedge-shaped?
Rattlers and other pit vipers will have a head that is wider at the jaw than the body; you will also (even in a baby snake) be able to see the pits (rather like nostrils) at the front of the head.

[Richard D]

5. Need to know

What part of the country you live at. It does look like a copperhead.

[Ladyhawk]

6. Yes, it is a copperhead.

Trust me. I is a herpetologist. :)

The copperhead is a small, hemotoxic pit viper closely allied with the water moccasin or cottonmouth.

[Maddy McCall]

9. Yes, we have LOTS of moccasins around.

:scared:

[Ladyhawk]

12. Luckily, the copperhead isn't as dangerous as a moccasin...

...or some rattlesnakes.

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

14. What do herpes have to do with snakes?

I just don't see the connection.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

62. Your expertise on this subject is fascinating

Just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed reading your posts in this thread.

[Ladyhawk]

76. Thanks NSMA!

I've studied wildlife my whole life and have always been interested in snakes. I feel like a n00b when it comes to politics, but I'm learning. You and H20 Man know way more about politics than I do.

:yourock:

[Maddy McCall]

7. Thanks, everyone!

I just found this picture of a baby copperhead on google. It's identical to the snake I killed. The website I just read said that litters of 3-10 are born in late august through early september. I will be walking lightly until the first cold snap. :scared:

The photo from google:

[doc03]

11. Why did you murder it?

[Ladyhawk]

17. I would prefer that people not kill venomous snakes...

...BUT if the snake is on your property, striking at pets, there's no time to call up animal control and ask for it to be moved to a safe place.

Copperheads give birth to live young and where there is one, you will often find more. So do keep a lookout and if you can, next time call animal control. If you can't get ahold of animal control, you can use a broom to sweep the snakeling into a garbage can and put the lid on. Make sure you are out of strike range. Ask someone with a pickup truck to drive the snake back into the bush where (hopefully) it will never come into contact with people again.

But if you have to kill it, you have to kill it. :shrug: Although its venom is not as toxic as that as some snakes, it's still a hospital job if you get tagged.

[CornField]

35. The problem with calling the DNR to relocate is that

they don't take the snake far enough away. If the snake was not frightened onto your property, then the snake came there for a reason. If the reason remains and the snake is not relocated a far distance (more than a couple miles), the snake will return.

[Ladyhawk]

84. Yeah, this can happen.

I was thinking at least ten miles.

If there are mice on your property, clean up anything that might be attracting them. If you have snake food on your property, it will attract snakes. :)

[Maddy McCall]

25. You're kidding, right?

I have a child who plays in the very area where the snake was. My child or a snake--not a difficult decision for me.

[Ladyhawk]

29. Even if they weren't kidding, don't worry about it.

You didn't do anything wrong. If a copperhead were striking at my dog, I'd kill it, too. And I love snakes.

[doc03]

30. I was. If one was trying to bite my dog i would kill it too. If I saw

a Copperhead in the woods and it wasn't bothering anything I would just keep my distance.

[yardwork]

27. Did your snake have a bright green tail?

It looks like your snake has a bright green tail, like the copperhead in the photo above. I've heard that baby copperheads have those green tails but I've never seen one.

Was anyone here the day somebody posted about a large rattle snake living in their drainpipe by their front door? That was one of the funniest threads I'd ever seen. Animal control came and got it after other posters suggested that the householder might want to get rid of it. They took it out in the bush.

[Ladyhawk]

31. Yes, it was a good thread. Happy ending for all involved.

Plus, the rattler was preggers. Like the copperhead, they give birth to live young. A big rattler can pop out quite a few youngsters. :)

[yardwork]

42. You remember it!

The rattler almost bit the UPS man while the thread was running. It was like reading a documentary online. Synopsis:

Post Thread: I have this large rattlesnake living right next to my front door. I don't want to hurt it or anything but it's getting kind of aggressive. Any suggestions?

Response: Dude. Get rid of the snake.

Post: I don't want to kill it. I'm just not sure I want it living right on my front doorstep anymore.

Response: Call animal control. Now.

Post: It almost just bit the UPS man! I tried to warn him but the snake was too fast for me. I think it's getting territorial. Will animal control kill it? I don't want that....

Response: Listen carefully. Rattlesnakes. Bite. People. Call animal control.

Post: Ok, animal control just came and got it. Guess what? It was pregnant!

[Ladyhawk]

85. LOL...it was looking for a nice place to pop out twenty babies. :)

That would have really impressed the UPS guy. Some rattlesnakes protect their babies until first shed. :D :D :D :D :D

[Maddy McCall]

36. Yes, kind of yellow green.

Sadly, we don't have animal control here. We have deputies with .44s and the snake would have been killed anyway, if they would have come, after they got through laughing at me for calling them to remove a snake that my machete easily did what their .44 would have done. :-)

[Ladyhawk]

87. Completely understandable.

If you are phobic, you may not like the broom and trash can idea, either. :)

[Ladyhawk]

96. I've never seen a copperhead except in pics and zoos,

so I didn't know the young ones have that yellowish/greenish tail. Thanks! It's really evident in the "butt" picture, even though the snake is belly up. I wonder why the bright tail???

Some snakes with bright tails wiggle the tip. It looks just like a worm. When a lizard or mouse investigates...BAM! The snake grabs it and envenomates. This is called "caudal luring."

I doubt copperheads use their tails as lures. I'm not aware of any New World snakes that use that technique, but there may be some. I've only seen this behavior displayed by venomous species, but again, there may be some non-venomous ones that do it, too.

On Edit: Check this out! Ha ha!

******************

http://www.uga.edu/srel/copperhead_week.htm

Copperhead
Agkistrodon contortrix

These venomous snakes are common residents of the southeastern ecosystem. Like other pit vipers, they are equipped with venom glands and fangs. They feed on a variety of small mammals, birds, lizards and even insects. Copperheads have exquisite camouflage and are almost invisible when resting on the forest floor. Young copperheads have a bright yellow tip on their tail. Most scientists believe this is used as a caudal lure to attract prey items. Small mammals, lizards and frogs probably mistake the tail for a caterpillar or other small creature. When they move in to attack the tail, they are bitten by the snake and eaten.

*******************

They don't actively wiggle their tails like some species. The Australian death adder does this, as does one species of African desert viper (can't remember which one).

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. I could be wrong, but,

it looks like a dead one.

[Ksec]

15. I still say its a snake

Its a copperhead. Easy to identify

[Bronco69]

13. Jeez!

I knew I shouldn't have clicked on this thread. I'll probably be up all night now. That's a scary pic!

[Maddy McCall]

39. Sorry :-(

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. And this is why I live in Maine

[H2O Man]

24. That is a Milk Snake.

That's a milk snake, which mimics the behaviors of poison snakes. It's harmless, except to rodents and kittens.

Two years ago, my daughter was playing with a toy snake, a little rubber one. That evening, she said she was afraid of the snake near the stairs. I went to show her it was a toy. Surprise, surprise, a 47-inch milk snake was in my living room, looking to eat our kitten.

[Ladyhawk]

32. Sir, I own milksnakes. That is no milksnake. n/t

[H2O Man]

38. with all due respect....

I am not concerned with if you think it is or not. It looks as much like a milk snake as anything. My guess would be that you are familiar with but one type of milk snake.

[Maddy McCall]

40. It's a copperhead. I read about copperheads in my area...

everything fits--more than just the photo.

For instance, they are very active in my area from August through September, and their babies have yellow or green tails. They live near hickory forests and creeks (my house is in a hickory forest, on a creek).

Babies are born around this time in litters of three to ten.

Everything fits, and I trust Ladyhawk, as she is pretty much DU's official herpetologist.

[Ladyhawk]

41. There is only one species of milksnake, but many subspecies.

The scientific name is Lampropeltis triangulum. The subspecific name is usually given as well, since these snakes vary greatly in color and size throughout their range.

I have a book that covers all the subspecies in the United States. I've read it from cover to cover many times. The only milksnake that even looks similar to this is the Eastern milksnake, as I recall. There are very few milksnakes that do not have tri-colored bands. The Eastern and the Coastal Plains are the only two I can think of right now.

Let me do a search.

Yes, here is the Eastern milksnake:

[Maddy McCall]

44. Here is an E. Milk Snake...not even close.

My snake is a goddam copperhead. :-) Ladyhawk's right. :hi:

[H2O Man]

48. That's not a common milk snake

from the northeast.

[Maddy McCall]

53. Well, how bout you google and find a picture of your snake and post it.

I live in the SOUTHEAST, and I would imagine that the snakes here are different from the snakes there.

If you are so certain that this is a milksnake, pray post a photo of a milksnake that looks even vaguely similar to this one. :-)

[Ladyhawk]

54. No, the picture she showed is an intergrade between the Eastern

and the the coastal plains subspecies. Because they are all one species, the milksnake interbreeds freely. The border between each milksnake range usually hosts an "intergrade" species that shares traits with both subspecies.

[Ladyhawk]

52. Actually that may be an intergrade between an Eastern

and a Coastal Plains.

Coastal Plains milksnake:



Most milksnakes have tri-colored bands. On most, the pattern is black, red, black, white, black, red, black, white, etc. Some have apricot or yellow bands.

Lampropeltis = kingsnake
triangulum = milksnake
triangulum = subspecies (in this case Eastern)

My own milksnakes are Lampropeltis triangulum amaura, Louisiana milksnakes. This is Bayou, my male:



I have several different tri-colored Lampropeltisspecies in my collection, including this nice Arizona Mt. kingsnake (Lampropeltis pyromelana pyromelana):

[ariesgem]

107. We moved to Roswell, GA for a couple of years

from Los Angeles. We had a pool in our backyard. One day I saw one of those snakes slithering around the backyard by the pool. I FREAK OUT. I took a picture of it and brought it to work to show the locals to find out if it was dangerous. They told me "OH NO, it's just a king snake. You should be glad to have one in your backyard. They eat cooperheads and water moccasins. I asked - YOU MEAN IF THERE ARE KING SNAKES IN OUR YARD, THAT MEANS WE HAVE COPPERHEADS & WATER MOCASSINS? They said - Yep. I NEVER used that pool again.

[H2O Man]

45. okay, okay ....

have it your way. I still insist it's a milk snake from the east coast, but you probably are in no mood for my theory about how it got lost.... looks just like the milk snakes from around here. (The workmen putting a new roof on my house found a skin between layers of shingles two stories up. Indeed, context is everything.)

[Maddy McCall]

47. Please, tell me your theory.

Even though I live in ideal copperhead habitat, I'd love to hear your theory. :-)

[H2O Man]

50. I didn't mean you....

I was refering to the other person.

[Ladyhawk]

57. Sorry, H20 Man, I've been studying snakes my whole life.

That snake is a copperhead. I admit I can make mistakes, but not this time.

Lampropeltis, the genus name for milksnakes (which are a species of kingsnake), means "shiny shield." The scales of kingsnakes are smooth and shiny. The scales on the snake jchild killed are not smooth and shiny.

[Ladyhawk]

70. Eastern milksnake picture

This is the nominate species of milksnake: the Eastern (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum). Note how jchild's "Eastern" looks like a cross between this snake and the coastal plains milksnake. It probably is. :)

[RebelOne]

34. It looks to be a boa constrictor to me.

At one time, I had 2 of them and they had similar markings. It could have been someone's pet that escaped. And they are definitely harmless.

[Ladyhawk]

37. It's a goddamn copperhead, OK? :) n/t

[Maddy McCall]

46. I live dead center in fifty acres of woods on a creek bank in a cabin.

I have no neighbors--the closest house is almost a mile away, and I know they don 't have pet boas.

I live in ideal copperhead habitat--I didn't know this until I researched today--so I am leaning towards the easiest answer, which is that it is a baby copperhead.

[4morewars]

49. That sounds nice !!!!

Except for your huge snake infestation !!!! ;)
:hi:

[Maddy McCall]

56. Snake today, forest fire yesterday.

And tornados are especially frightening. But I wouldn't live anywhere else. It's sooooo peaceful here. We wake up in the morning and go out and watch the does and fawns and turkeys.

We see many more "good" animals than snakes. I stay away from the creek...my son killed a moccasin about six months ago with the same machete, about twenty feet from where I killed the copperhead.

:scared:

[4morewars]

73. That's the trade off,

I live out side Detroit, we have high speed internet, cellphones, 85 digital cable channels, 2 or 3 hundred places to shop. We also have crime, pollution, clogged streets and highways, the noise never stops !

Luckily,My buddy has a place up north, no phone(land line or cell), 2 fuzzy TV channels, 1 place to shop,(not including the Amish farms), dirt roads(no traffic), he just got electric this year ! His backyard is hundreds of acres of national forest, deer and turkey, eagles, bears, COUGAR !!!!(Only 1 poisonous snake :hi:) Clean water without chlorine ! You can eat the fish out of the streams. I HAVE got to get up there for a few days !!!!!!

[Maddy McCall]

83. Sounds like what I imagine heaven to be. :-)

[Ladyhawk]

89. Wow, sounds great!

I live in town, but I grew up in a very rural area full of deer, coyotes, hawks and mountain lions. If you go up a thousand feet in elevation, there are black bears, eagles, etc.

The only venomous snakes we have are rattlesnakes.

(P.S. I bet your friend's venomous snake is the Massasauga rattler. It can tolerate the north, even up to Canada.)

[4morewars]

94. It's beautiful !

Actually, i just learned about the snake from you !!! I haven't seen one up there, yet.
Truth be told, it's not too bad down state either. In fact i saw a red tail hawk today !! There is a field across the street, with lil critters, squirrels, rabbits, etc, so i see hawks there alot. Also mourning doves and woodpeckers, which also come to our feeder in the winter. And the detroit river has bounced back nicely, although it still needs help.

[Ladyhawk]

74. I ran into a baby Northern Pacific rattler this spring.

It had three buttons and was rather cute. It was in an area where it was unlikely to cause problems, but was in trouble itself. It was thinking about crossing a busy road. I got a stick and dissuaded it. :)

It was actually very cute.

[yardwork]

51. I think the green tail is the absolute proof

As far as I know the copperhead is the only non-green snake that has that characteristic yellow-green tail when young.

Also, I would defer to you and Ladyhawk for the following reasons:

1. I don't argue with people who own machetes.

2. I don't argue with herpotologists about snakes.

[Maddy McCall]

55. Two good reasons to defer. :-)

:toast:

[yardwork]

60. Yep. :toast:

[Ladyhawk]

64. jchild, here is how to tell for sure.

Find the snake's tail and look at the ventral (bottom) surface. Find the anal plate (where the snake takes a shit...hehe). OK so far?

Now, are the ventral scales of the actual tail--distal from the body--straight across like the belly scales? If so, you've got yourself a baby copperhead. In America, only pit vipers have that pattern on the under-surface of their tails.

All other species have a "double-scale" pattern from the anal plate to the end of the tail.

And on that note, I go to prepare supper for my non-venomous snake collection: fourteen snakes in all.

1.1 Louisiana milksnakes
1.1 Mt. St. Helena kingsnakes
1.1 Arizona Mt. kingsnakes
1.2 Okeetee corn snakes
1.2 albino Okeetee corn snakes
1.0 crimson corn snake
0.1 hypomelanistic corn snake

[Ladyhawk]

61. A ten-inch boa constrictor?

I don't think Boa constrictor constrictor is ever that small. Newly born babies are 12 to 16 inches in length. (Boas give birth to live young.)

[yardwork]

63. I wouldn't describe a boa as harmless anyway

but what do I know mumble mumble...

I heard they get real big down in Florida and you know eat dogs and stuff but maybe that's just lies like gators in sewers....

[Ladyhawk]

100. Actually, a lot of exotics are ending up in Florida.

Parrots, monkey, snakes, you name it. Some members of the boa family get huge. In fact, the heaviest-bodied snake, the green anaconda, is a member of the boa family. I'm thinking reticulated and Burmese pythons could also make a decent living in Florida.

Have you ever seen a picture of a really big reticulated python? They're HUGE and very pretty. Too bad they're aggressive as hell.

[mark414]

58. man you fucked that thing up

kind of reminds me of the time my dad drove a pitchfork through the head of a rabid raccoon that was charging at my family

[Maddy McCall]

59. Your dad is a man after my own heart...

I can be lethal when protecting my kids, including my canine ones. :-)

[DemoTex]

65. Copperhead. Where are you?

We have had a bad summer of copperheads here in the NC mountains. My neighbors' lab got bitten by a copperhead or timber rattler a few weeks ago. He lived, but it was bad news.

If there is any doubt, get Lucinda to a vet, stat! Some say give 1mg of Benadryl per pound of weight after a snake bite. I have always keep 25mg Benadryl caps for my two 70'sh pound doggies. However, my new mountain vet believes in another snake-bite kit. It is a multi-pill cocktail that includes a pain-killer and a loading dose of Prednisodone. Then go to the vet, he says.

Keep us informed about Lucinda.

[Maddy McCall]

68. Southwest Mississippi.

I have been watching her closely. I don't think she got close enough to get bitten. She barked furiously at it, and it was coiled to strike when I walked up. I think she kept her distance.

I have benadryl here...Luci weighs about 20 lbs, so I will keep it handy. I wonder if my vet will dispense the cocktail to me that you described, just in case. It's time for her shots, so I will ask him next week.

Thanks for the concern about Lucinda! And for not making me feel guilty for killing a pit viper. :-)

Oh, and I just spent two weeks in Gatlinburg and Cherokee this past July. We had a great time. I am quite envious of you--living there all the time!

[DemoTex]

80. I remember now. SW Miss. Yazoo City?

I always associated your name with the late Julia Child. Perhaps that was you intent. If you are not really J. Child, and you are basing your name on Julia Child, then I want you to blast me with your recipes. You must have some very good southern recipes, eh?

I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours. Perhaps we should start with gumbos? In your court.

Mac

[Maddy McCall]

86. No...jchild is a distortion/abbreviation of my real name. :-)

And I live about sixty miles from Natchez--and about 100 north of New Orleans, on the Mississippi side.

But I DO love to cook and have some GREAT recipes. I make the best chicken and dumplins in the world. We'll start with that, if you don't mind. You can send me your gumbo recipe, and I'll send you my chicken and dumplins recipe. :-)

I've only made gumbo once...I have a good friend who makes it so well that I just eat his--he's a bona fide cajun from the part of Louisiana where the sun doesn't shine. I can try to get his recipe, too, and send it to you.

This will be fun! Check your PM tomorrow...I am exhausted tonight...fought forest and grass fire all day and into the night last night, and did my Xena thing on a snake today. :-)

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

71. Hmmmmm

my guess is it's a dead snake.

Was I right??? What do I get???

[Maddy McCall]

75. Ladyhawk, here's the snake butt.

Photo isn't too good, because I made it in pitch dark.

[Ladyhawk]

77. You just killed a bouncing baby...

...copperhead.

Congratulations!

:bounce: :toast: :bounce:

[Maddy McCall]

79. LOL! Thanks for your wonderful, expert opinions.

:toast:

[Ladyhawk]

93. You're welcome. Here's what the tails of non-venomous snakes...

...look like. These are all corn snakes:



Notice that there are two scales instead of one that goes straight across. It creates a zipper pattern longitudinally on the ventral surface. In North America, only pit vipers have the "straight across" pattern after the anal plate. It's a great way to determine whether or not a shed skin came from a pit viper. (Again, we're looking at scale patterns, not color.)

[demgoon]

78. viper

The Viper. He has come to vipe your vindows...

[Maddy McCall]

81. LOL! Welcome to DU, demgoon.

:hi:

[sundog]

82. I have a terrible snake phobia...

and I resisted clicking on this thread for a long, long, long time.

But I did, and I wasn't able to look at the whole thing. Even the pic in the original post. I have it scrolled OFF SCREEN as I type this now. All those pics get me freaked out.

I once killed a rattlesnake that decided to make its house under my dwelling. It would rattle at me in the pitch black of evening whenever I walked outside. It had to be done.

The fuckers terrify me and that's it and I'm outta here.

Like now.:scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

[Maddy McCall]

88. Even though you may not click back on this thread, I'll reply...

I hope my thread doesn't give you nightmares. I can't imagine what I would do if I had a resident rattler living near my doorstep! :scared:

[slutticus]

90. I'm the same way about spiders....

......even little ones.

[yardwork]

91. I think you were very brave!

I think jchild was brave to go out and take that photo in the dark with maybe one or six baby copperhead siblings hanging around. Then again, she does have a machete.

[IronLionZion]

92. BURN THAT GOD DAMN SNAKE

immediately. Or at least don't keep it near your house or anything. Its mate may come back and coil itself around it. You probably won't know the difference between the live one and the dead one until you get bit. And no, it's not some superstition, I've seen it!

[Lady Effingbroke]

95. Thank you Ladyhawk and jchild!

What a fascinating and informative thread! :toast:

[Ladyhawk]

99. Thanks. :blush: n/t

[Zomby Woof]

97. *zips ups pants*

*Didn't think jchild would post pics in public* :o

[IronLionZion]

106. one-eyed trouser snake eh?

gotta stay away from those

[alexisfree]

98. is this is bush?

did you cut off dick cheney head?

[Ladyhawk]

102. What's the use? It will just grow back. ;) eom

[EnfantTerrible]

101. Ex...

I believe.

[Ladyhawk]

103. Bwahahahahahahahahaha! :D n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

104. how funny

I must say I was very impressed with LadyHawke! Wow! What a font of knowledge! I was at my local pet store on Wednesday of last week and a cop brought in a baby snake he captured from some lady's house. The owner, who is a great lady, looked at it and said she thought it was a milksnake. She thought it was cute the way it was striking at the pencil she was using to move it.

The other employee took the bag and the owner went to help someone else. She (the other employee) and I looked at the snake...me from a distance. I appreciate the need for snakes but I follow what my momma taught me "treat all snakes like they are poisonous!" Anyway, as she was looking in, she said she didn't think it was a milksnake, so I peaked over the bag and I saw this little snake, then I saw it...a triangle head!! I have watched enough Animal Planet to know that a snake head that forms a triangle is poisonous! That was it for me..I left. When I came back on Saturday (nothing to do in this sad, little OK town), I found out it was a copperhead!!

Why did I prattle on? The little snake was the SAME coloration as the dead snake in your picture!!! I had never seen a copperhead that color...now, I have...I guess I can die happy! :)

Brightest Blessings!

[JCMach1]

105. Copperhead

:(